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Congratulations to Goodie Bhullar, who has received one of the 2014 Writing Intensive Teaching Excellence Awards in recognition of her contributions in serving on the Writing Board, coordinating library instruction for many writing intensive classes and being an excellent teacher. She was honored at a reception at the Benton Bingham Ballroom in Memorial Union on April 18th at 2:00pm.
To learn more about the award, visit http://cwp.missouri.edu/awards/WI_Excellence.php.
On display in the Ellis Library Colonnade are eight prints from the Heritage edition of the St. John’s Bible. The leaves are part of a traveling exhibit from the St. John’s Project, a subsidiary of St. John’s University in Minnesota and will be on display until April 27th. More information about the St. John’s bible can be found on their website at : http://www.saintjohnsbible.org/.
Stop by the Health Sciences Library on Thursday, April 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m for a chance to meet with the friendly faces at your library as they hand out refreshments. There will also be opportunities to win prizes!
Libraries today are more than repositories for books and other resources. Often the heart of their communities, campuses or schools, libraries are deeply committed to the places where their patrons live, work and study.
New Offsite Storage Facility for MU Libraries (May 9, 2014)
The MU Libraries has selected a new temporary storage facility for the materials that were stored in the UMLD2 (Subtera) storage facility at the time of the mold outbreak. The lease for this new facility began on May 1, and is renewable annually for five years unless another agreement is made before that.
Books held there or at our other storage facility must be requested through the libraries or our online catalog, to be picked up on campus or in the case of many journal articles, for electronic delivery, usually within 48 hours and often more quickly. The new facility will not be fully operational until later this summer, but the libraries are fulfilling requests for items through interlibrary loans.
The climate controls at this facility are superior to those at the previous facility. This facility has heating, ventilation, air conditioning and cooling that meet library preservation standards.
MU Libraries, Mold Update (April, 2014)
Background
In October 2013, MU Libraries staff members discovered mold growing on books and bound journals in the Libraries’ secondary offsite book depository, in underground caverns north of I-70 in Columbia. The mold growth likely occurred due to inappropriate environmental conditions, specifically a spike in both temperature and humidity in July and August. A private environmental recovery company was retained to investigate, and they reported that the entire collection of some 600,000 volumes is presumed to be contaminated.
Because mold is destructive to printed materials, any volumes to be retained for use in the library collections must be treated to remove the mold before they can be used. Over the past several months, library staff members have been determining what portions of the contaminated volumes should be treated and retained and what portions must be permanently withdrawn and destroyed in order to remove any chance of contaminating other collections of print materials.
In order to meet the considerable costs involved in addressing this disaster, the MU Libraries will be using a special insurance fund established eight years ago to deal with such losses. However, estimates to decontaminate the collections, and to obtain new and more secure storage for materials retained for use, amount to far more than the current total on hand in the fund. With special insurance funding and potential added revenues from gifts and grants, the MU Libraries expect that approximately 400,000 volumes will be salvaged from the total volumes contaminated by mold.
Disposition of Collections
MU Libraries staff have identified three broad categories of materials to guide decisions in prioritizing items either for mold remediation or for permanent withdrawal from our collections. It is important to note that these categories are tools for informing decisions, rather than prescriptions for identifying items for either treatment or destruction. Likewise, examples listed are intended as illustrations of what kinds of materials will be considered for a given category, not rigid rules that will govern final disposition.
Category 1 – rare, distinctive and scarcely-held items to be treated and retained.
Examples in this category include:
· Materials published prior to 1871
· Materials that have unique characteristics or that form part of a distinctive collection
· Materials that have local significance or value
· Materials held by 10 or fewer libraries worldwide (as determined by OCLC analysis)
· Materials with distinctive characteristics (e.g., non-English language works; graphic arts, illustrations or photographs; mathematical formulae; etc.)
Category 2 – multiple copies or readily accessible items that may be withdrawn permanently.
Examples in this category include:
· Materials duplicated elsewhere in the MU Libraries, or in UM Library Depository.
· Materials duplicated at one or more of the other three UM System libraries.
· Materials duplicated within the MOBIUS consortium of Missouri libraries.
· Materials not in MOBIUS, but readily available via interlibrary loan from Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) and other regional partners.
· Materials duplicated electronically in trusted digital repositories of academic journals and books (e.g., JSTOR, Hathi Trust, etc.)
· Federal documents published post-1950. (Other libraries in the state have generously offered to replace mold-damaged copies with documents from their collections.)
Category 3 – decision deferred until more information is gathered and consultation is completed.
Materials not immediately placed into categories 1 or 2 will be retained until final decisions can be made either to retain or to withdraw permanently. We will be leasing a new space in which to hold these volumes while awaiting final decisions on their disposition. Because we are committed to having MU faculty assist in selecting materials to be salvaged and retained for our collections, having this holding space is essential.
Recent Developments
The MU Libraries have received many expressions of sympathy and support since news of the mold outbreak was released. A special fund has been established to assist in salvaging the thousands of books and journals that require special treatment to eradicate the mold, and a challenge gift of $5,000 has been offered by an anonymous donor to match any donations up to that amount. Individuals can contribute to the “Collection Enhancement Fund” via the MU Libraries website:
https://donatetomu.missouri.edu/givedirect/GDItem.aspx?item_id=117
In March, a proposal was submitted to a major private foundation seeking grant funding to pursue the plan to remediate contaminated volumes. We expect to learn in early June whether the proposal is accepted, and if so, the funding will begin July 1.
With guidance and approval from MU Facilities Planning and the UM Procurement Office, steps have been taken to obtain a contractor for treatment of volumes identified for salvage and to secure new and environmentally stable storage space for treated materials.
Proposals from mold-remediation contractors were solicited over the past two months, and seven bids were received on March 14. A preferred bidder has been identified and negotiations are now underway with the contractor. We expect to have a contract signed on or about April 1, with work to commence by the middle of the month.
After a search for suitable above-ground storage facilities in close proximity to the MU campus, three potential sites were selected for further review. From these, a preferred facility has been selected and negotiations for a lease are nearing completion. The new rental facility is above-ground, and the lease specifically addresses the need for stable climate control. We expect to have the lease signed soon and preparations underway to take occupancy on or about May 1.
Future Plans
This disaster has underscored the need to pursue purpose-built, environmentally secure space for long-term storage of our physical collections. Since 1997, the UM Library Depository (UMLD), the primary storage facility used by MU and the three other libraries of the UM System, has worked flawlessly in this capacity. Located on LeMone Blvd., off Highway 63 in Columbia, the UMLD contains about 1.2 million print volumes, which are used by the four UM campuses and are also available to all libraries in the state via the MOBIUS network. The facility was designed to accommodate an addition which would double the space of the original structure when it reached its maximum limit. Approaching that limit in 2006, a request was made to the UM academic officers to consider funding the UMLD addition, but that option was deemed to be cost-prohibitive. Instead, leased storage space was judged to be the preferred course of action.
The MU Libraries proposes to work actively with the campus administration to return the construction of the UMLD addition to the priority list for capital projects. The MU Faculty Council and the Library Committee have both expressed support for this option, and it is our hope that this request will be put before the University Board of Curators early in the new fiscal year.
Submitted by Jim Cogswell, Director of Libraries
April 3, 2014
Tuesday, March 18th OR Wednesday, March 19th OR Thursday, March 20th OR Friday March 21
TUESDAY & THURSDAY: Room 213, Electronic Classroom II, 2nd Floor, Ellis Library
WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY: All Workshops take place online using BlackBoard Collaborate
LITERATURE REVIEW & BEYOND: TIPS AND TRICKS FOR RESEARCH
Learn some of the more sophsticated features of database searching to yield the results you want. Using a variety of databases, we'll focus on practical techniques that can save you time and effort.
CREATE BIBLIOGRAPHIES WITH ZOTERO
Zotero is a simple, open source tool for organizing, managing, and formatting bibliographic citiations. Learn to extract citations from PDFs and web pages at the click of a button, and create in-text references and bibliographies.
KEEP CURRENT WITHOUT THE STRESS!
Is trying to keep up with new developments in your field stressing you out? We'll show you some tools, such as Browzine and alert services, that can make keeping up with the latest research easy and painless.
MAXIMIZING YOUR RESEARCH IDENTITY AND IMPACT!
Utilizing ORCID, Google Profile, MOspace and impact factors to maximize your professional impact. Learn how to set up accounts and make these tools work for you!.
CREATING BIBLIOGRAPHIES WITH ENDNOTE
Endnote is a powerful program for storing citations data and producing in-text citations and bibliographies in a plethora of formats. Learn how to put this tool to work your academic writing.
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REGISTRATION for workshops: http:/library.missouri.edu/secure/workshops/
Each workshop is limited to 30 students
Questions: Contact Goodie Bhullar, bhullarp@missouri.edu
On March 13 the State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO) and the MU Veterans Center are honoring those who have served in the armed forces. Proud to Be: Celebrating Veterans, to be held on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., will capture your senses as authors read excerpts from a recent anthology of essays, fiction, poetry, and interviews by and about veterans and their families.
The evening will begin at 5:00 p.m. in Memorial Union’s Stotler Lounge III with veterans sharing their stories from Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors. These important written and oral histories provide an opportunity for retrospection and can create public awareness that is helpful in facing future conflicts, according to Carol W. Fleisher, director of the MU Veterans Center.
“Securing and sharing veteran oral histories is our only hope of people learning from it [war] and not sending our men and women as our first option,” Fleisher said. “War should be the last option. No one goes to war and comes back exactly like they left.”
SHSMO Executive Director Gary Kremer said that is why the Society participates in the Missouri Veterans History Project, which reached the milestone of recording its 500th oral history in 2013.
“The Civil War, Vietnam, the War in Afghanistan—war shapes our history like few other things, no matter which era,” Kremer said. “Without an honest appreciation of what it was really like for our troops and their friends and families back home, how can we expect to heal our wounds and learn from our experiences?”
From 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. there will be a book signing and reception at the SHSMO Research Center-Columbia. Attendees can talk with veterans, view artifacts from the Society’s military collections, and see Thomas Hart Benton’s interpretation of World War II in his Year of Peril series. The first 50 veterans at the signing will receive a free copy of Proud to Be thanks to the Missouri Humanities Council, and tours of the MU Veterans Center will also be available.
Proud to Be: Celebrating Veterans is cosponsored by SHSMO and the MU Veterans Center, in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council, Southeast Missouri State University Press, the Warrior Arts Alliance, and the MU Army ROTC.
Update, May 6:
Loss of Study Spaces in Ellis Library
The Renew Mizzou project will require two large rooms in Ellis Library – the West Reading Room on the second floor, and the former Current Periodicals Reading Room on the main floor – to be used as office space for staff being relocated from Jesse Hall.
The two reading rooms will be closed to students beginning with the week following Commencement (May 17), and they will remain closed for up to one year until work in Jesse Hall is finished.
The two study rooms will be open for students to use through the busy final exam week this spring. However, workmen may be present during the day, and those rooms will not be designated as “quiet study” when workmen are present.
The closure of the two study rooms will mean that 437 study spaces will be unavailable for students during this summer and continuing until the end of the spring semester next year. The University is working to find alternative areas for study beginning with the fall semester.
Update, March 18: Rooms 114 and 202 will be closed to patrons on March 20 and 21.
Update, March 17: All computers have been moved out of room 114 in preparation for Renew Mizzou.
Due to the Renew Mizzou building renovation project, some changes are coming to Ellis Library.
What are the changes?
· Rooms 114, 201 and 202 will no longer be quiet-study areas for the remainder of Spring Semester due to renovations to those areas. However, during weekends and evenings, when workmen are not present, these rooms will be designated as quiet-study areas.
· Books and other materials located in rooms 114 and 202 will be moved to other locations in Ellis Library and to the Law Library. (See list below.)
· From March 19 through April 4, drilling will be done in room 202 to install new wiring. Rooms 202 and 114 will be closed to the public during this time to perform the work. We sincerely regret this disturbance, which was not expected to begin until after Commencement.
· From April 5 through Commencement weekend, May 18, rooms 114 and 202 will be open to the public for study. However, a portion of room 114 that is being renovated to create an area for group programs, will remain closed until after the completion of the Renew Mizzou project.
· After Commencement weekend, May 18, rooms 114 and 202 will be closed to the public and will become office space for MU’s Admissions and Financial Aid offices. They will occupy this space for the remainder of the Renew Mizzou project, which will continue at least through June, 2015.
Where can I go for quiet study space in Ellis Library?
· Quiet study space is available on 3 east and 4 east.
Where are the materials that have been moved from 114 and 202?
· Current periodicals and DVDs are at the south end of the Reference stacks.
· Newsprint is in the Colonnade.
· Microprint from room 201 is now in the Law Library.
· Most materials from room 202 will be moved into room 201.
· English and Romance Languages seminar materials from room 202 will be moved to outside room 213.
· Computers in room 114 will be moved to room 4D12.
Renew Mizzou involves the renovation of Jesse Hall, Swallow Hall and Pickard Hall with staff from those buildings displaced to other spaces on campus.
The University of Missouri Award for Academic Distinction Ceremony scheduled for this evening in Ellis Library has been canceled.