home Cycle of Success MoLSAMP Collaborates with Librarians to Create a Virtual Research Experience

MoLSAMP Collaborates with Librarians to Create a Virtual Research Experience

By Taira Meadowcroft Posted in Cycle of Success

Posted on June 9, 2021July 16, 2021

The Missouri Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program (MoLSAMP) brings underrepresented undergraduate students, from across the state of Missouri, interested in pursuing science and science related careers to the University of Missouri campus for a 9 week summer research program. Like most things in 2020, the program changed course due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not wanting to cancel and still provide a robust research experience for their students, the program transitioned to a virtual format, a format our Mizzou librarians didn’t shy away from.

The MU branch of MoLSAMP, a National Sciences Foundation grant funded program, is house in the Access and Leadership Development Unit within the Division of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity. The program gives students, from nine partner institutions* around the state of Missouri, the opportunity to work with mentors and pursue research that most interests them. According to Dr. Terrell Morton, faculty fellow of the Mizzou branch of MoLSAMP, the program’s main purpose is to provide resources and opportunities to support students who have been historically and contemporarily kept out of STEM spaces given the various gatekeeping structures surrounding these disciplines.

After the decision was made not to cancel MoLSAMP, Dr. Terrell Morton was charged with creating a virtual research experience curriculum that was meaningful and engaging. The curriculum allowed for collaboration between University of Missouri and Washington University in St. Louis, providing a multi-layered, interdisciplinary virtual summer research program. This was the first ever MOLSAMP joint REU experience and comprised several coordinated educational and research activities anchored by the overarching focus on “COVID-19: It’s Impacts and Implications in Minoritized Communities. The main component of that curriculum was a research project focused on examining the intersection of COVID-19, health outcomes, and resented racial communities. With the students expected to produce a research paper on their findings, they needed to learn how to locate, synthesize and cite knowledge in the scientific literature. This is where Rachel Brekhus, humanities and social sciences librarian, and Noel Kopriva, head of the engineering library and agriculture librarian, came in.

With MoLSAMP’s previous focus on physical lab research, collaboration with librarians wasn’t previously explored. When the idea was floated to get librarians involved, Dr. Natalie Downer, the Mizzou MoLSAMP coordinator and McNair program associate director, reached out to Rachel Brekhus knowing about her work with the McNair Scholars, hoping she could provide the same support with MoLSAMP students and could recommend a second librarian to round out the team.

Working with librarians from Washington University, Rachel and Noel collaborated on weekly workshops from locating scientific literature to the publishing and peer review process. Dr. Natalie Downer says the students relied heavily on the librarians, learning how to navigate several important databases and search methods (keyword searching, fielded searching, citation searching), using Zotero for organizing and citing research sources, and visiting during virtual office hours for additional assistance. “We also spent time going over the publication and peer review processes, which are so important to understand when looking at the work on COVID-19, where the science is moving very quickly, and citations sometimes outpace peer review,” says Rachel Brekhus.

At the end of experience, MoLSAMP produced their research findings or research paper with topics that they developed and worked on over the course of the program. Noel Kopriva’s favorite part of the program was joining the students on their research journey and seeing their final products. “I liked seeing the students progress from having a nebulous idea of what they wanted to research and see how their knowledge of the relationship between COVID and race evolved over the summer. We also got to sit in on a series of practice presentations and give them feedback as they prepared for their final presentations. It was so wonderful to see how they had taken the germ of an idea and turned it into a fully developed and sophisticated presentation,” says Noel.

Special thanks to the MoLSAMP partners, Dr. Freddy Wills, Dr. NaTashua Davis, Dr. Harvey Fields for making MoLSAMP possible in 2020.

*University of Missouri – Columbia, Harris-Stowe State University, Lincoln University, Missouri State University, St. Louis Community College, Truman State University, University of Central Missouri, University of Missouri – St. Louis, and Washington University in St. Louis

home Cycle of Success Cycle of Success Revisited: Dr. Noah Manring

Cycle of Success Revisited: Dr. Noah Manring

By Shannon Cary Posted in Cycle of Success

Posted on April 16, 2021May 16, 2021

The MU Libraries congratulates Dr. Noah Manning on his new appointment as dean of the College of Engineering. Dr. Manring is a long-time supporter of the Libraries. Check out how he used Special Collections in his History of Modern Engineering class back in 2017.

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.

Dr. Noah D. Manring is the Glen A. Barton Professor of fluid power in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Missouri. He previously served as chairman of the college’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and twice has served as associate dean of research. One of the courses he teaches is Engineering 2500: A History of Modern Engineering. It is through teaching this class that Dr. Manring came to know Tim Perry, one of our Special Collections Librarians. Tim arranged a lecture and demonstration on the printing press to teach the students about the history of the book, and the progression of book making since Gutenberg’s printing press in the 1450s.

“Tim arranged an entire demonstration and working lecture for our students. He answered questions, translated texts, and explained the significance of each item that was shown. There were three tables full of items to show and discuss. It was a very rich experience for my class – something I could not have provided for our students on my own.The library has a tremendous collection of printed material since Gutenberg’s day, including an original page from a Gutenberg Bible!”

We asked Dr. Manring what advice he had for those interested in using the library: “Make inquiries as to what resources are available, and use them! I was referred to the Special Collections section of the library by Prof. Mark Smith in History, and I have since used this resource for my class three times. Before Mark pointed me in this direction, I had no idea what was available and the wealth of information that could be drawn from our archives.”

If you would like to submit your own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.

Story written by Taira Meadowcroft, health sciences librarian.

home Cycle of Success Congratulations to Noah Manring, New Dean of the College of Engineering

Congratulations to Noah Manring, New Dean of the College of Engineering

By Shannon Cary Posted in Cycle of Success

Posted on April 16, 2021April 30, 2021

On April 14, it was announced that Noah Manring will be the new dean of the MU College of Engineering. Manring has served as the interim dean of the college since May 2020. He will assume his new duties on May 1, which include leadership, advocacy for research and education, and continued excellence and growth in research, education and campus diversity.

The MU Libraries want to congratulate Dr. Manring and wish him the best in his new role.

MU News Press Release: Manring Named New Dean of the College of Engineering

Cycle of Success: Dr. Noah Manring and Engineering 2500

home Cycle of Success Mizzou Libraries Display Students’ Creative Work Even During Pandemic

Mizzou Libraries Display Students’ Creative Work Even During Pandemic

By Shannon Cary Posted in Cycle of Success

Posted on March 19, 2021April 18, 2023

In the Fall of 2020, Dr. Sarah Buchanan was teaching an Honors seminar on material culture and had planned to exhibit work created by her students. Restrictions on gallery visits due to the pandemic meant that her students would be accessing materials primarily online, with the possibilities for displaying their work curbed greatly. Buchanan conferred with Kelli Hansen, Head of Special Collections, and Marie Concannon, the head of government information at Mizzou Libraries, who had collaborated with her to display the physical exhibit in Ellis Library in previous years. Concannon brought in Shannon Cary, the Libraries’ communications officer, who offered to display the exhibit on the Libraries’ website.

The exhibit “Making Art for All/Our Time” showcased work by undergraduate students for the Honors seminar “Get Real, Go Places! Let Objects Take You There.” Over eight weeks, the students gathered on Zoom to peer inside the galleries, shelves and sidewalks of campus where objects of material culture are prudently managed for public interactions. The course introduces students to the practice of interpreting, inspecting and writing about objects through regular use of a sketchbook journal and weekly syntheses shared with classmates. The course is taught by Dr. Buchanan of the iSchool at the University of Missouri along with gallery, library, archive and museum (GLAM) professionals based on the Mizzou campus who contribute to the Material Culture Studies Group, established in 2014.

The Mizzou Libraries were also able to contribute to the class by providing some of its own material culture for the curriculum. The students were introduced to Special Collections through a Zoom session that focused on a broad range of items, including cuneiform tablets, maps, artists’ books and works of art. Items selected for this class are browsable on the Special Collections website.

Buchanan stated that, her “desired outcomes for the exhibit of Honors student works are to showcase themed explorations of objects we encounter across Mizzou’s galleries, libraries, archives, and museums – promoting collection uses while introducing students to material culture research.” The seminar is a central part of Buchanan’s research and teaching activities focused around provenance research, recently funded by an IMLS Early Career Development grant (the first to MU). Provenance research when applied to objects from cultures past and present can foster stronger connections between a person’s heritage, homelands, and present-day learning.

The digital display, which is still available online, includes a clay sculpture recreation of a political cartoon, a colored pencil response to works shown in the Bingham Art Gallery, and an embroidered fiber art piece depicting the plants and native species of Missouri, among others. “One digital artwork revisits the 1916 Golden Lane protest in St. Louis,” according to Buchanan, “and reminds us that art persists and connects our communities to each other.” She says the exhibit title also sought to capture the alternating sense of time being suspended yet urgent in the virtual semester, when “traveling” involved more screens and fewer miles.

The Libraries were happy to contribute to the success of the exhibit by displaying it on our website. Buchanan said she appreciated the “librarians’ flexibility in transitioning from a planned in-person exhibit to a digital post, given the physical risks right now. The students are thankful and happy to see their work alongside their classmates’.”

home Cycle of Success, J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library Christina Pryor Appointed Interim Director of the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library

Christina Pryor Appointed Interim Director of the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library

By Taira Meadowcroft Posted in Cycle of Success J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library

Posted on March 3, 2021August 4, 2021

Christina Pryor has been appointed Interim Director of the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, effective March 1, 2021. Chris joined our staff in 2018 as the Missouri Coordinator for the Network of the National Library of Medicine, and has also served as our Interim Assistant Director for Library Operations for the past 18 months.

Chris brings excellent experience and skills to this position. She came to the University of Missouri in 2018 from the University of Washington Health Sciences Library in Seattle, where she served as the assistant director and community health education coordinator. Her previous positions include consulting and education services manager for Amigos Library Services, reference manager for the St. Louis County Library System, and medical research librarian for Covidien/Mallinckrodt. Over her entire career, she has worked to emphasize the importance of health information to a wide variety of constituents. She has a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Missouri and a Bachelor of Journalism from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

We are pleased and grateful that Chris is able to step into this new role at our library.

home Cycle of Success Research Team Turns to Library to Help with Quick FDA Submission Deadline

Research Team Turns to Library to Help with Quick FDA Submission Deadline

By Taira Meadowcroft Posted in Cycle of Success

Posted on September 25, 2020January 21, 2021

Dr. Farhan Siddiq, MD, a neurosurgeon with MU Health Care, recently embarked on a Food and Drug Administration submission project for a National Institutes of Health funded multi-site medical device clinical trial. The trial is looking at a device to be used on patients with chronic subdural hematoma, which is a bruise under the skull that can compress the brain. While the clinical trial includes both researchers at Harvard and University of Texas, it was Dr. Siddiq’s team at MU that was tasked with completing the FDA submission. The submission required a thorough review and summary of information in the literature regarding all uses of the medical device. The team needed to get their hands on and review hundreds of papers quickly to write the summaries and develop the bibliography. With this huge project on the horizon, the research team looked to the Health Sciences Library for assistance.

Suzan Moser, the director of regulatory affairs at the MU Institute for Clinical and Translational Science and a member of the research team for the project, says that contacting the library was natural “From past FDA submissions, I know the benefits of a good medical library and librarian. I asked the Dean of Research’s office in the School of Medicine to recommend someone. She suggested Rachel Alexander, and we are forever grateful,” says Suzan.

Rachel Alexander
Research Support Librarian

With Rachel Alexander, the research support librarian at the Health Sciences Library, on board, the team quickly fulfilled the FDA submission requirements. Rachel ran several searches and worked with Dr. Siddiq to pull relevant manuscripts, eventually working with Katy Emerson in the library’s Interlibrary Loan department to get copies of all 250 articles to be reviewed, with the library having access to most of the articles and only borrowing 19 from other libraries. Dr. Siddiq and Rachel further boiled down the list of articles to 158 that they would submit to the FDA. With the final 158 articles, Rachel created bibliographies for the protocol, proposal and literature summary.

In all, searching the literature, pulling the articles, and choosing the articles took about 85 hours and Rachel was there every step of the way. According to Suzan, Rachel spoiled the research team with all of her assistance.

“Rachel’s knowledge about how to find, access, organize and file the publications so all team members could easily use them was most valuable. Her extreme reliability, flexibility and excellent communication skills are most noteworthy,” says Suzan.

If you are embarking on a literature review for a project, whether big (like an FDA submission) or small, consider contacting the Health Sciences Library for a consultation.

If you would like to submit your own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.

home Cycle of Success, Ellis Library, J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library Levi Dolan Chosen as a NLM Associate Fellow

Levi Dolan Chosen as a NLM Associate Fellow

By Taira Meadowcroft Posted in Cycle of Success Ellis Library J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library

Posted on June 12, 2020July 12, 2020

Please join the staff of the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library in congratulating Levi Dolan who has been awarded an associate fellowship at the National Library of Medicine as part of the 2020-2021 cohort of fellows.

“The chance to work at the mothership for health sciences librarians is a true honor. Their current focus on building data science capabilities promises some really interesting and challenging projects for our group of fellows. Especially in a time when we are all hyperaware of the importance of access to good health information, being a part of that work is vital and impactful.”

Levi Dolan completed his MLIS from the University of Missouri-Columbia this past month. Since June 2018, Levi worked as the graduate library assistant at the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library. This year, Levi also took on the role as a research assistant for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. During his time in library school, he worked as a library supervisor and tutor at Stephens College, and was a teaching assistant and co-project manager for a Library Carpentries workshop for his practicum.

The Associate Fellowship Program is a residency fellowship hosted at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) which is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, Maryland. This one-year fellowship will begin in September 2020 and offers fellows a rich educational and leadership experience provided by the NLM, the world’s largest biomedical library.

Each year a small cohort of recent graduates is awarded the opportunity to attend this unique training opportunity. The 2020-2021 cohort includes two University of Missouri MLIS graduates. University of Missouri previously had one graduate named as a fellow in 1992.

home Cycle of Success, Ellis Library Dr. Denice Adkins Awarded the Outstanding Library Advocacy Award

Dr. Denice Adkins Awarded the Outstanding Library Advocacy Award

By Taira Meadowcroft Posted in Cycle of Success Ellis Library

Posted on June 11, 2020July 10, 2020

Congratulations to Dr. Denice Adkins for being selected as the 2020 recipient of the Outstanding Library Advocacy Award. Adkins is an associate professor in the MU School of Information Science and Learning Technologies. She has served on the Library Committee, a standing campus committee that makes recommendations to the provost concerning the continued improvement of the library collection and library services, for three years.

Each year, the University Libraries Student Advisory Council (ULSAC) selects a member of the Mizzou community that has shown strong leadership in advocating on behalf of the University Libraries.

Denice’s passionate promotion of the University Libraries has been inspiring to many student leaders and is why ULSAC unanimously voted to present this award to her. Former ULSAC Chair Mathew Swan said, “Students who have served on the Library Committee remain impressed by her passion and thoughtfulness as the committee addresses issues relating to the Libraries. Her service on the Library Committee has been a force for positive change on Mizzou’s campus.”

Thank you for your support and dedication to the University Libraries!

home Cycle of Success, Ellis Library Mathew Swan Awarded the University of Missouri Libraries Visionary Leadership Award

Mathew Swan Awarded the University of Missouri Libraries Visionary Leadership Award

By Taira Meadowcroft Posted in Cycle of Success Ellis Library

Posted on May 19, 2020August 13, 2020

Congratulations to Mathew Swan for receiving the first University of Missouri Libraries Visionary Leadership Award!

Mathew served on the University Libraries Student Advisory Council, both as a representative and ultimately, chair of the council. With his role on the council, Mathew provided important input to the Libraries about the needs and concerns of students in regards to library spaces and services. His participation in two student vision projects, including trips to academic libraries in other states, was vital in creating student vision documents that are a guiding force for student-focused goals in the Libraries’ strategic planning.

Quoting a letter written by the previous council advisor, “in addition to his library advocacy, his work as director of Tiger Pantry has made it significantly easier for the campus community to access quality food. Through his work with the Libraries, OER, and Tiger Pantry, Matt has consistently and effectively broken down barriers in order to improve student access to resources. Often working quietly behind the scenes, students may not know just how much Matt has done for them. And, the kind of guy he is, Matt probably doesn’t mind that they don’t know.”

We are thankful for Mathew’s leadership during his time at Mizzou. We will miss him dearly and know the world will benefit from his capacity to lead from a place of empathy and dedication to equity.

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