In the spirit of service that was the cornerstone of the 1839 founding of the University of Missouri, the Mizzou Alumni Association Student Board presents the Mizzou ’39 Award to 39 outstanding seniors each year. Chosen for their academic achievement, leadership and service to Mizzou and the community, the honorees represent a variety of majors, activities and organizations from across campus. You can meet the whole class of Mizzou ’39 here.
The Mizzou Alumni Association Student Board also presents the Mizzou 18 Award, which honors 18 University of Missouri graduate and professional students in the last year of their degree eligibility. Chosen for their world-class research, collaboration with faculty and staff, and their demonstrated leadership with undergraduate students, the honorees represent a variety of majors, activities and organizations from across campus. You can meet the whole inaugural class of Mizzou 18 here.
We’d like to recognize four students who have gone above and beyond serving on advisory boards and contributing to improvement efforts for the University of Missouri Libraries during their time at Mizzou. Thank you so much to Rachel Bauer, Alexis Ditaway, Billy Donley, and Tori Schafer for your outstanding library advocacy. We know you’re going to go on to do great things, and we hope you’ll continue to be library users and supporters everywhere you go. MIZ! LIB!
The University Libraries are pleased to announce that John Fifield has been hired as special collections librarian. John has a joint Master of Library and Information Science and Graduate Certificate in Book Arts and Book Studies from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor of Music from Oklahoma State University. He is coming to us from the University of Iowa, where he worked as the Robert A. Olson graduate research assistant in special collections and university archives. During his graduate studies at Iowa, John also worked with the Biblioteca del Convento de la Recoleta in Arequipa, Peru.
The University of Missouri has long been a partner and sponsor of activities offered by Missouri River Relief, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to connecting people to the Missouri River. Now MOspace, the University of Missouri’s online repository, is partnering with Missouri River Relief to offer curriculum material to K-12 schools in Missouri. Common Trees of the Missouri River Bottoms: A Guide for Students is the first of these materials. Two Mizzou students assisted with its creation.
Missouri River Relief has removed 876 tons of trash from the river with the help of 23,000 volunteers over the past 16 years and has also reached 18,000 students through interdisciplinary and experiential educational events. Kristen Schulte, Missouri River Relief’s Education Coordinator, says these events are designed to “engage students’ innate sense of wonder and natural curiosity. We believe this approach inspires community engagement, academic achievement, and a sense of stewardship.”
Common Trees of the Missouri River Bottoms is not a foolproof taxonomic tree ID guide but instead a guide for a hands-on learning experience for elementary through high school students. It focuses on Missouri River floodplain trees’ bark rather than leaves, a unique approach to teaching and learning tree species. Many Missouri River floodplain trees are very tall with leaves out of reach, while tree bark is at the student level.
Kristen Schulte
Kristen knew that more young people would learn about Missouri River floodplain trees through this method if the guide were freely available online. As a graduate student at the University of Wyoming, she worked on Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps Resources Education Curriculum, seventeen lessons designed for the youth employed in the program. The curriculum is housed in the Wyoming Scholars Repository, which tracks how many times it has been downloaded. “When I started working for Missouri River Relief,” Kristen says, “I knew that we wanted to have a similar curriculum for the Missouri River, and it would be helpful to have the statistical information of the downloads, which we are not able to capture on our website. So I reached out to Noël and Felicity and they were supportive of the idea.”
Felicity Dykas, Head of Digital Services, saw the collection as a good fit for MOspace, and Noël Kopriva, Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Librarian, agreed. Felicity says, “One of our goals for MOspace is to preserve research and scholarship and to make these resources available to the Mizzou community and others worldwide.”
The reach of Common Trees of the Missouri River Bottoms has truly been international. It was added to MOspace in August 2017, and Felicity shares that “It’s already been downloaded more than 400 times, including by people in China, France, Serbia, and the United Kingdom, among other countries.”
Missouri River Relief is developing additional resources to be uploaded to MOspace, including Missouri River Curriculum, Missouri River Information Packets, and Missouri River STEM Challenges.
Cycle of Success is the idea that libraries, faculty, and students are linked; for one to truly succeed, we must all succeed. The path to success is formed by the connections between University of Missouri Libraries and faculty members, between faculty members and students, and between students and the libraries that serve them. More than just success, this is also a connection of mutual respect, support, and commitment to forward-thinking research.
Although the Cycle of Success typically focuses on the relationships among the Libraries, faculty, and students, the Libraries also contribute to the success of all the communities Mizzou serves. The Libraries are an integral part of Mizzou’s mission “to provide all Missourians the benefits of a world-class research university.”
If you would like tosubmityour own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.
When lifelong musician Murry Hammond came to Columbia with his band of twenty-five years, Old 97’s, for the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend a few days conducting research in Ellis Library. In addition to being a musician, Murry describes himself as a “lay historian with a lifelong passion for preservation and writing history, specializing in transportation and industrial history of primarily Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.” He has digitized and published thousands of images to his website Texas Transportation Archive over the past two decades and is the author of East Texas Logging Railroads.
How did Murry find out that Ellis Library had a wealth of resources in his areas of specialty? The answer is WorldCat, the online catalog that searches the collections of libraries worldwide. Old 97’s had been a Blue Note regular for years, but Murry never had enough time in Columbia for any real research. When they performed at Roots N Blues, however, he flew in several days early and had a “dream visit.”
Eric Cusick, Murry Hammond, Karen Eubanks
Eric Cusick, Karen Eubanks, and Burt Fields were the key staff members who helped make Murry’s time at Ellis Library a successful one. Karen describes her colleagues at the Circulation and Help Desk as the “face of the library” as students and visitors often ask their very first questions there–and the questions vary widely. Students may need anything from directions to the research help desk to a band-aid, and visitors may be curious about events on campus or downtown. Because each circulation team member has different strengths and experiences, they are able to help people find the information (or bandages) they need.
Murry initially corresponded with Eric about the materials he needed before his arrival, and Karen set him up in a location conducive to using his scanner and safely handling fragile materials. She says, “When Murry arrived early one morning at the circulation desk ready to begin his work, I was able to locate a quite study space in our offices that was suitable for his research as he had brought his own scanner and needed a large desk area to accommodate the many large volumes he had requested through Eric from the depository,” the off-campus storage facility. Burt worked with library staff at the depository to help Murry retrieve additional materials as needed during his visit. Murry spent three days, one clocking in at 16.5 hours, conducting research in Ellis Library and was back in December to work with more library materials.
“Mizzou Libraries helped significantly cut down my time at the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress,” Murry says. “I’ve been in literally dozens of the major archives and special collections in most of the lower 48 states, and Mizzou Libraries is in easily in my top ten, at least for what I research. Thank you!”
Cycle of Success is the idea that libraries, faculty, and students are linked; for one to truly succeed, we must all succeed. The path to success is formed by the connections between University of Missouri Libraries and faculty members, between faculty members and students, and between students and the libraries that serve them. More than just success, this is also a connection of mutual respect, support, and commitment to forward-thinking research.
Although the Cycle of Success typically focuses on the relationships among the Libraries, faculty, and students, the Libraries also contribute to the success of all the communities Mizzou serves. The Libraries are an integral part of Mizzou’s mission “to produce and disseminate knowledge that will improve the quality of life in the state, the nation and the world.”
If you would like tosubmityour own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.
Tove Klovning, who serves as US, MO, and EU Government Documents Depository Coordinator as well as Foreign/Comparative/International Law Librarian & Lecturer in Law at Washington University in St. Louis, often interacts with researchers seeking access to both historical and current government information. She explains, “Preserving government information and making it accessible for both current researchers and future generations is an important task for depository libraries.” In her work at a sub-regional and Federal depository library, she has benefited from the direction and guidance of Marie Concannon, Missouri’s regional coordinator for the Federal Depository Library Program and Head of Government Information and Data Archives here at Mizzou Libraries.
Tove says she “honestly could not have wished for a more competent Regional Depository Coordinator. Marie is always there to answer any questions we may have and is always willing to offer training, updates, and continuing education to both new and established depository librarians on a regular basis.” For example, when Tove needed input regarding weeding the local collection, Marie consulted with her.
Marie has also worked to help libraries free up much-needed space while retaining government resources in the region: “Thanks to her great work with area depository librarians, an Intrastate Regional agreement was put into place in 2012.” This model encouraged depository libraries to stay in the program, Tove explains, since sharing resources helps each individual library better cope with the perpetual struggle of space issues. Marie met face-to-face with about a dozen depository libraries in St. Louis to facilitate the process of drafting this agreement.
Marie Concannon
In terms of training and support for depository librarians in the region, Tove has found that Marie plays a vital role as educator. A frequently consulted resource is a guide for Missouri FDLP members which helps librarians navigate the federal depository system. Marie built and maintains this guide to facilitate online access to crucial information for these librarians and help keep them informed of training opportunities and conferences.
Organizing workshops and conferences is another way Marie makes sure librarians can get up-to-date training on government information so that they can help patrons access the data they need. In November, Missouri state government employees and both academic and public library employees attended the Missouri State Government Information Conference, which she co-organized. The 2017 theme was “Sunshine and Missouri’s Digital Future,” taking its name from the state Sunshine Law. Marie says the conference’s purpose is “to bridge the gap between libraries and government, and help lay groundwork for closer partnership on projects involving government information accessibility.”
For all of these reasons and more, as Tove says, “We are very fortunate to have Marie as our Federal and State Regional Coordinator.”
Cycle of Success is the idea that libraries, faculty, and students are linked; for one to truly succeed, we must all succeed. The path to success is formed by the connections between University of Missouri Libraries and faculty members, between faculty members and students, and between students and the libraries that serve them. More than just success, this is also a connection of mutual respect, support, and commitment to forward-thinking research.
Although the Cycle of Success typically focuses on the relationships among the Libraries, faculty, and students, the Libraries also contribute to the success of all the communities Mizzou serves. The Libraries are an integral part of Mizzou’s mission “to provide all Missourians the benefits of a world-class research university.”
If you would like tosubmityour own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.
“It feels cliché to say, but it’s the truth. Not only is our campus absolutely gorgeous, the people that are there make you feel as though you can succeed the moment you meet them.” As an electrical engineering student, he knew the non-traditional path to medical school he chose wouldn’t be easy, but Mizzou offered him the resources in order to follow his dream and excel right from the beginning.
These days, you can find Alex, like many engineering students, in the Engineering Library, a place he credits as being instrumental to his success as a Mizzou student. The library offers invaluable collaborative space for students studying various engineering specialties and resources on cutting edge innovation in the field.
“My favorite thing about the Engineering Library is the space it provides to engineering students near our classes, peers, and professors. Although the Lafferre renovation has provided more study rooms, they are always occupied, and often not even by engineering students. The library allows students to study individually, work on a group project, or prepare for an exam with friends. As engineering spans a wide range of topics, everyone working in the same place is helpful when there are assignments requiring the intersection of multiple engineering disciplines.”
Through his regular library use, Alex became passionate about the libraries, ultimately serving as the 2016-2017 chair of the University Libraries Student Advisory Council (ULSAC). As chair, he advocated for students’ resource needs, something he says is vital to any Mizzou student experience. Students know what they need to succeed, and ULSAC wants to make sure student voices are heard.
ULSAC visiting the Kenan Science Library at UNC-Chapel Hill. The council visited the Research Triangle to help inspire the Student Vision Report
Over the past two years, ULSAC has been hard at work collecting data from students, developing a student vision for the library in order to make sure all students, regardless of their involvement or backgrounds, are supported by the University Libraries.
Mizzou is what you make of it, and not only will Alex remember the energy of the Mizzou Vs. Mississippi State football game (his favorite Mizzou memory), he will also remember how personally and academically supportive the Mizzou community was. “I cannot wait to come back to Mizzou one day and see students from other universities’ student library councils touring our libraries to bring back ideas for their schools and I am very thankful for the opportunity to have been the Chair of such an amazing council of student leaders that made this possible.”
Civil Engineering student Elgin Burton decided to attend Mizzou after meeting with recruiters at his high school in East St. Louis, Illinois, deciding to visit, and “falling in love with the campus.” Once he arrived, Burton got involved in a number of organizations. He is currently the president of the national award-winning Timber Bridge Team. He is also T.O.R.C.H (Technical Outreach Community Help) chair for Mizzou’s chapter the National Society of Black Engineers. Once he graduates in May 2018, Burton plans on a career in transportation engineering.
Burton says, “The Engineering Library is a huge resource to me in more ways than one. The obvious one is that there are books here that I can use for all of my classes. The one I just turned in today, I used for my class all semester.”
Burton also likes that that the Engineering Library is a gathering place for his classmates. “This is a place where I do a lot of my studying, so I meet a lot of people here who are also studying the same things. A lot of collaboration happens here. Whenever I am working on a project, we usually meet in the Engineering Library. If I am struggling with a problem, I can usually find people who can help me solve it here. Or I’ll see somebody in my class, introduce myself, and ask how they are solving the problem. I meet many people in different ways at the Engineering Library. There is not another space in the building like that. ”
One of Burton’s favorite Mizzou memories is getting to know the libraries. “it was almost an oddly intimate relationship I had with Ellis and other libraries like the Math Library and [the Engineering Library], because I was completely new to the experience—I was new to Columbia, Missouri, I was new to college, I was new to a research library of that size—and over the course of my college career, Ellis Library especially became my home away from my apartment, where I feel most comfortable on campus.”
If there was one piece of advice that Burton could give to future students, Burton says, it would be to use your resources. He acknowledges that “it can be difficult to tell new students to take advantage of your resources because they might not know about them, but the best thing to do is just to open up to opportunities and be willing to try new things. Getting involved in organizations relevant to your degree gives you contextual information and it gives you a sense of purpose. ‘I am here doing this. I am here making this change.’”
“You leave a lasting impact on the university. It also leaves a lasting impact on you.”
Now an assistant professor of African history at Rice University, Daniel held the same position at Mizzou from 2012 to 2017, teaching courses on the history of early and modern Africa. His research focuses on the African slave trade, especially from West Central Africa, and he has participated in several digital humanities projects such as Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database and Visualizing Abolition: A Digital History of the Suppression of the African Slave Trade. Visualizing Abolition was developed here at Mizzou.
Rachel Brekhus
Daniel credits Rachel and other Mizzou librarians with playing key roles in his research and teaching. “They not only helped me secure important primary and secondary sources for my research,” he says, “but they also created study guides for my students, workshops on how to conduct research, and trained students in operating related equipment and computer softwares. They also reviewed applications and nominated students and myself to internal and external research and teaching awards.”
Humanities librarian Anne Barker provided students with valuable insights into copyright issues and the use of images. Digital services librarian Felicity Dykas trained students on scanning techniques and image specifications. In the spring of 2017, Ellis Library hosted an exhibit about the making of the Visualizing Abolition project, providing students an opportunity to showcase their work.
Anne Barker
Prior to the CRL Award for Teaching, Daniel had won teaching awards within the University of Missouri campus community and considers those awards “an important way of rewarding faculty for their teaching achievements” and letting faculty know they are on the right track. However, he says “the CRL award was something different. As a global consortium of research libraries, it meant that I was not only a good teacher among my peers at Mizzou, but that my teaching skills were also appreciated among a much larger community of scholars.”
Cycle of Success is the idea that libraries, faculty, and students are linked; for one to truly succeed, we must all succeed. The path to success is formed by the connections between University of Missouri Libraries and faculty members, between faculty members and students, and between students and the libraries that serve them. More than just success, this is also a connection of mutual respect, support, and commitment to forward-thinking research.
If you would like tosubmityour own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.
Although the Cycle of Success typically focuses on the relationships among the Libraries, faculty, and students, the Libraries also contribute to the success of all the communities Mizzou serves. The Libraries are an integral part of Mizzou’s mission “to provide all Missourians the benefits of a world-class research university, no matter their age. The fifth graders from Grant Elementary School recently visited the Special Collections Department to get an in-depth look what the department has to offer.
Matt Kuensting and John Nies, fifth grade teachers at Grant Elementary, recognize the importance of community connections, and five years ago, revised their practice to focus on community connections. Since their revision, they have taken their students into the community to observe and cultivate their interests, and one of those stops is to Special Collections. Kelli Hansen, Tim Perry and the Special Collections staff, took the students through three stations based in the evolution of technology, map making, and historical botany books.
“Ellis Library is one of our first places we visit, and many kids favorite place. These experiences are very impactful for us because our students are currently studying observing organisms like plants, they are making maps of their own imaginative worlds, and technology is one of the biggest integrations in our community project.”
We asked John Nies what advice he would give for those interested in using the library: “[The] advice I would give to those interested in using the library is… GO! Spend some time walking around the displays in the main hall, visit the Special Collections, and wander a bit. The staff has always been helpful. The building itself is fascinating and it holds an eternity of interesting materials.”
Cycle of Success is the idea that libraries, faculty, and students are linked; for one to truly succeed, we must all succeed. The path to success is formed by the connections between University of Missouri Libraries and faculty members, between faculty members and students, and between students and the libraries that serve them. More than just success, this is also a connection of mutual respect, support, and commitment to forward-thinking research.
If you would like tosubmityour own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.
Jeannette Pierce, associate university librarian for research, access, and instructional services, has been named a 2018-2019 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Leadership Fellow. The ARL Leadership Fellows program facilitates the development of future senior-level leaders in large research libraries and archives. The Association has selected 30 individuals to participate in the 2018–2019 cohort of this executive leadership program.
Pierce stated, “I am honored to be selected as a 2018-2019 ARL Leadership Fellow. This is an outstanding opportunity to join a cohort of peers who are passionate about developing the knowledge and leadership skills needed to ensure that research libraries continue to be vital to the success of our students, faculty, and institutions now and in the future. Many thanks to Vice Provost & University Librarian Ann Campion Riley and my colleagues at the University of Missouri Libraries for supporting my participation in the program.”
In response to a continued need to develop future leaders of ARL member institutions, the ARL Leadership Fellows program is designed to build on self-assessment and reflection and to explore a personal/professional area of interest in the context of a group setting. During the course of the program, each fellow will construct a learning plan; engage in a customized, immersive experience to shadow a library director; participate in three weeklong institutes hosted by sponsoring ARL institutions; participate in online synchronous sessions; and attend semiannual Association Meetings.
Ann Riley, vice provost and university librarian, said, “All of us at the Libraries are delighted to hear of Jeannette’s selection for this honor. She’s very deserving and reflective of the excellence of our librarians.”
The 2018–2019 Leadership Fellows applicant pool was highly competitive. The new fellows represent a broad array of backgrounds, experiences, and institutions.
