The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced that The State Historical Society of Missouri will join a select group of institutions to create a national, digital resource of historically significant newspapers. The Society will receive a $179,740 grant to digitize and provide access to 100,000 pages of Missouri newspapers from the period 1880-1920.

This award brings Missouri into the National Digital Newspaper Project, a twenty-year undertaking begun in 2005 to incorporate newspapers from all states and territories published between 1836 and 1922. The online database, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, is maintained by the Library of Congress and already contains papers from California, New York, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

The Missouri Press Association is a major partner in this effort and will contribute $10,000 in matching funds to the project. The Journalism Library and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan are also supporting the grant with outreach and educational activities and by providing increased access to digitized newspapers.

The
MU ShowMe Magazine Collection is now available on the Digital Library.
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This collection contains all known issues of The Showme (1920-1923), The Missouri Outlaw (1924-1930), The New Missouri ShowMe (1930-1932) and Missouri ShowMe (1932-1957), a long line of humor and satire magazines published by students of the University of Missouri from 1920 through 1964. The Showme first appeared in 1920 and was irregularly published under varied titles until 1957, and was revived, briefly, between 1960 and 1964. The collection also contains a few issues of Harlequin, a short-lived magazine, created by students as a replacement for Missouri Showme when it was banned by the university administration.

Articles in the Missouri Showme and earlier and later titles consist primarily of spoof and parody of campus and student life. The magazine had many titled theme issues among which were: Escape, Showme Girl, Sex, Expose, Hangover, Sweatsock, The Ozarks, Insanity, Halloween, Take Home to Mother, Saturday Evening Pest, The Draft, Hanukah, Alcoholic, After Truman, who? O’Toole for President, A Freshman’s Handbook of Misinformation, Get Your Hand Out of My Stocking, Confidential, and Communist Exchange. The development of this digital collection is primarily due to the work of two individuals, (Gerald T.) Jerry Smith, BJ ‘52, Showme Editor ‘50 who prepared a history of the Showme entitled, “Missouri SHOWME The Final, FINAL issue: Memories of staff members of the University students’ humor magazine -1946 thru 1963,” and Mizzou editor, Karen Worley, who suggested the idea of the article for the Alumni Association magazine, Mizzou, and worked with the MU Libraries and Jerry Smith to publish a longer and more detailed version for the University of Missouri Digital Library.

This online collection was compiled using copies from the University of Missouri Libraries, Special Collections, Archives and Rare Book Division, the Alumni Association Office of Publications and Alumni Communications and the State Historical Society of Missouri.

Many of the University of Missouri’s former presidents, faculty and curators are buried in nearby Columbia Cemetery. The University Archives has created the online exhibit, “Spirits of Mizzou,” which highlights the final resting place of these notable leaders, administrators and scholars. This exhibit includes an interactive map with portraits, short biographical sketches and photos of the gravesites honoring these individuals who have helped to forge the spirit of Mizzou. Visit this exhibit at

http://muarchives.missouri.edu/exh_mu_cemetery.html.

For more information, contact University Archives at 573-882-7567.

During June and July, Ellis Library will host the exhibition “Songs of Clay” by Access Arts. Many of School of Service-Access Arts board, staff and students are part of the MU family of alumni, administration, staff and students.

As a neighborhood art school in Columbia, School of Service – Access Arts provides workshops, internships and volunteer opportunities to MU students. School of Service – Access Arts is a non-profit community arts instruction program offering quality experiences in the arts, accessible to everyone regardless of age, origin, background or ability. The program’s focus is to empower all people to a higher level of creativity and self-expression. The goal of School of Service – Access Arts is to elevate everyone’s innate creativity through compassionate instruction in an adaptive and inspiring environment. For more information contact Norleen Nosri at 573-875-0275.

For more information about exhibits at Ellis Library, please contact Delores Fisher at
FisherD@missouri.edu.

The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate
May 9
3:30 p.m.
Elmer Ellis Auditorium

Please join author Michael Wallis as he guides us down memory lane on The Lincoln Highway, which follows the 3,000-mile highway from New York City’s Times Square to San Francisco Bay. Wallis will discuss some of the offbeat sights and tales he experienced in researching the ultimate American travel book. With a chapter dedicated to each of the 13 states that the highway passes through, this book will delight those looking to uncover their local roots as well as adventurers yearning for a classic American cross-country road trip. RSVP preferred-contact Sheila Voss at vosss@missouri.edu or at (573) 882-9168.

The Department of Textile and Apparel Management in the College of Human Environmental Sciences presents Milestones: An exhibit illustrating milestones in American culture from the Missouri Historic Costume and Textile Collection. This exhibit will be on display in the Ellis Library First Floor Colonnade throughout the month of May. For more information, please contact Laurel Wilson at wilsonl@missouri.edu.

It’s National Library Week – a time to celebrate the contributions of libraries, librarians, and library workers in schools, campuses and communities nationwide – and the perfect time for our campus community to come together @ the MU Libraries-Your Connection to Knowledge.

The MU Libraries are celebrating National Library Week by holding a party for the MU faculty, staff and students. Please join us for refreshments and library information at Ellis Library on Wednesday, April 16 starting at 11 a.m.

“Everyday, libraries in big cities and small towns, colleges and universities, in schools and in businesses help transform their communities,” says Jim Cogswell, Director of Libraries. “At our libraries, people of all backgrounds can come together to access the Internet, research and write papers, use a study room, get assistance from a subject specialist, check out DVDs, meet up with friends or grab some coffee in the Bookmark Cafe.”

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.

For more information contact Shannon Cary at carysn@missouri.edu or (573) 882-4703.

Graduation no longer means losing access to the valuable resources of the University of Missouri-Columbia Libraries. A partnership between the MU Libraries and the Mizzou Alumni Association now connects members of the Association with several of the library resources available to students daily.

The MU Libraries have created a Library Resources for Alumni Web page, which can be viewed at http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/resourcesfor/alumni.htm. Among its multiple features, the page provides users with quick access, from the comfort of home, to thousands of articles in reliable journals found in EBSCO Academic Search Alumni Edition and Business Source Alumni Edition.

“Accessing library services online has been a growing need for many alumni”, says David Roloff, Director of Membership & Marketing for the Mizzou Alumni Association. “Providing access to these databases provides additional value to MAA membership.”

Typically, academic libraries sign license agreements that allow only students and faculty to access library electronic resources via the Internet. However, when EBSCO Publishing, a major library database provider, began offering alumni packages to schools, it became possible for alumni to access the resources also. The convenience of instantly finding useful information is something MU students, faculty and staff have grown accustomed to on campus. The expectation is that alumni will appreciate that power too.

“When you want to know more about a topic, you can retrieve full-text online articles that are more authoritative and reliable than many Internet sites found via Google,” stated Jim Cogswell, Director of Libraries.

For more information about accessing alumni resources, contact Rhonda Whithaus at whithausr@missouri.edu or (573) 882-9164.

For more information about the Mizzou Alumni Association, visit www.mizzou.com.

These databases are available only to University of Missouri-Columbia alumni. The resources can be utilized by alumni in accordance with copyright regulations for personal, non-commercial use.

Many books in the MU Libraries are fragile, others need minor repairs, still others require extensive help if they are to survive this century. Those of us who consider books our friends cannot bear to lose them, and it is in that spirit that the Friends of the MU Libraries have initiated the Adopt-A-Book Program. By adopting a book, you will ensure that it gets the help it needs to remain with us for years to come. Please consider sponsoring a book. All monies will go directly to the care and maintenance of rare, fragile and just plain good books. As our thanks, your adoption will be noted in the MERLIN online catalog, and you will be invited to an annual Celebration of the Book event, sponsored by the Friends of the MU Libraries.

For more information and to adopt a book online, please visit http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/about/adoptabook/adoptabook.php

Join us for an amazing performance by the Contreras Saxophone Quartet on April 8 at noon. Since its formation in 2005 at MU, the Contreras Saxophone Quartet has quickly established itself as one of the premiere collegiate ensembles of its kind in the country. Now, you can enjoy their music in the beautiful Grand Reading Room (Room 201) of Ellis Library. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information contact Shannon Cary at carysn@missouri.edu or (573) 882-4703.