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.

The MU Libraries Undergraduate Research Contest seeks to recognize and reward outstanding research conducted by MU undergrads. Two $500 prizes may be awarded, one for an individual project and one for a group project. Deadline for submission is May 15, 2015.  All majors are eligible. For information on how to apply, visit https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/researchcontest.

BrowZine, a new application optimized for iPad and Android tablets and phones, allows you to browse, read and follow thousands of the libraries’ top scholarly journals. To download and find out more, visit https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/browzine.

MU Libraries has long provided data for quantitative research, but now it’s easier than ever.  Through our membership in the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), MU affiliates may conduct online analysis, download data in SPSS, Stata or other ready-to-use formats, and take part in special educational opportunities at steeply discounted rates.  Contact Data Archives librarian Marie Concannon for more information, or visit our Data Sets for Quantitative Research website. 

Mizzou Superhero Challenge:
Design Your Own Scientific Superhero
Contribute to STEM literacy and design a superhero based on real science. You could win tickets for Bill Nye’s talk at Mizzou on March 15 and a $100 gift card to the Mizzou Store! Entries should include the following:

• Your superhero’s name, superpower, and weaknesses
• The scientific basis for your superhero’s powers and weaknesses
• A poster-sized drawing or computer rendering of your superhero (up to 24”x36”)
• Optional: descriptions of your superhero’s sidekick, nemesis, and love interest

Register at http://library.missouri.edu/specialcollections/superhero/ by MARCH 9, 2014.

Finalists will be judged during a poster session at Ellis Library on March 11 from 1  to 3 p.m.

The top three will be announced during Dr. Tim Evans’ program for Superhero Science at Ellis Library on March 12 at 11 am.

Dress as your favorite superhero or supervillain–or your own!

Superhero Science will be on display in Ellis Library March 3-28, 2014.

Affiliated with Decoding Science: Bridging the Gap. Engaging the Public.

http://lssp.missouri.edu/decodingscience

 

 

 

Wednesday, February 26 at 1:00pm to 2:30pm 

Ellis Library, Colonnade Columbia, MO 65211

In October 2013, mold was discovered growing on books and bound journal volumes throughout the University of Missouri System's secondary offsite facility, UMLD2. This facility holds approximately 600,000 volumes that belong to the University of Missouri-Columbia campus. To assist with MU Libraries' response to the mold bloom, we have established the Collection Enhancement fund. Your gift will be used to treat, relocate and in some cases, replace items impacted by mold. Our goal is to ensure the MU Libraries' ability to serve the needs of our users is not compromised by this sad event. A gift of any amount is greatly appreciated!

No one cares more about preserving knowledge and scholarship than our librarians and staff. As we work through our response plan, know that we are making every effort to save items with special value and to retain ready access to information in the collection. 

If you would like to help us preserve this collection, click here to donate to our Collection Enhancement Fund.