In May, the University Libraries hired Seth Huber as a technical services librarian. He will serve as the head of cataloging for the Libraries. Seth has a Master of Library and Information from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor of Music from Gardner-Webb University. He previously worked as the metadata services librarian at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. In addition, he served as a catalog librarian at Livingstone College and a paraprofessional cataloger at Western Carolina University.
In March, the University Libraries hired Rachel Alexander as a research support librarian for the Health Sciences Library (HSL). Rachel graduated with her Master of Library and Information Sciences from Mizzou and a Bachelor of Science from Lyon College. She comes to Mizzou from the Missouri Senate Library. She has previously worked as a research assistant at the Sinclair School of Nursing and as a graduate library assistant at HSL.
Laura Buck, senior library information specialist at the Zalk Veterinary Medical Library, has received a 2019 College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) Dean’s Impact Award.
Each year, the Dean recognizes individuals who “have had significant positive impact on college programs.” Laura’s nominating letters pointed to her helpfulness, friendliness, and dedication to everyone in the College.
Laura began her service with the University of Missouri Libraries in 1989, moving to the CVM’s Zalk Veterinary Medical Library in 1999. One nomination cited her “sincere dedication, can-do attitude, and excellent organizational skills.” Another noted, “she has always been a positive force in the library, keeping the needs of the students, faculty, and staff foremost in her mind.” Another called her “reliable and helpful,” while yet another called her “an essential, vital resource within the library.” One nominating letter wrote of Laura, “She is the institutional memory of the library. Wouldn’t it be cool on her 30th year at MU that she received this well-deserved award?”
It is, indeed, cool that Laura has received this award. Congratulations, Laura, and thank you for 30 years of supporting the University Libraries’ Cycle of Success.
Laura Buck (right) being presented the award by CVM Dean Carolyn J. Henry (left)
Every year, undergraduates across all disciplines are encouraged to submit research projects to the University Libraries Undergraduate Research Contest. Their research projects can be traditional research papers, musical compositions, works of art, videos, web pages, or other creative works. The projects are judged by a cross-disciplinary panel of librarians who evaluate the sophistication of their research process and their use of University of Missouri Libraries resources.
One 1st prize $500 scholarship and one 2nd prize $250 scholarship are awarded to an individual or group project. Winners have their projects archived in MOspace, MU’s digital repository.
This year’s winners were recognized at the Friends of the Libraries council meeting on Saturday, April 6. Awards were presented by Rachel Brekhus, Humanities and Social Science Librarian.
1st Prize Winners: Ashley Anstaett, Phong H. Nguyen and Andrew J. Greenwald Conceptual Design of Microfiber Removal Using Pressure-Swing Filtration
Their engineering paper is so much more than a design blueprint. It is a well-written and well-organized document that includes, not only the physical science involved with an invention, but also practical considerations of how the product could be maintained in real-world environments, how it could be marketed, and why it’s important to have products that remove microfibers from the environment, at the household level.
Their interdisciplinary group project required both library spaces and library resources. They described the Engineering Library’s collaborative space as “preferred” and “work-conducive,” and as providing software necessary for the conceptual design of the invention. The group also described their use of general and specialized online research tools. The process paper was more specific than most in describing how their keyword searching was done, and they identified the specialized e-journal database, Science Direct, which they used, not only for the review of literature, but also during the design process. Their process paper makes clear that in the world of product design, research is iterative and tightly connected with the creative process.
Vice Provost of University Libraries Ann Campion Riley (far left) and Humanities and Social Science Librarian Rachel Brekus (far right) present Ashley Anstaett (middle left) and Phong H. Nguyen (middle right) with their certificates. Brekhus is holding the certificate for Andrew J. Greenwald, who could not attend.
2nd Prize Winner: Erielle Jones Fly Like an Eagle: The Success of STOP-ERA in the Missouri Senate 1977
In her paper, Jones did an excellent job of linking the rhetoric in Phyllis Schlafley’s Eagle Forum with the rhetoric used in the Missouri State Legislature to argue against passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), including associating passages of the ERA with affirmative action measures, unpopular among Missouri white conservatives.
The process paper detailed, not only Jones’s ultimate choice of primary historical sources, but also her independent exploration of other primary sources in pursuit of an earlier approach to the topic, which did not yield the hoped-for documentation. The paper showed the role of discipline, assistance from library and archives professionals, and serendipity in finding and selecting sources while maintaining focus on a well-defined research question. Sources examined included correspondence, leaflets, newsletters, invitations, and receipts from the personal archives of state representatives, state senate testimony, surveys, news sources, and court transcripts.
Her process showed a commitment to both the importance and the limitations of historical documentation, and understanding of the social and racial context of both the political-opinion media environment, and this media’s impact on the legislative process. Certainly, the practice in popular conservative media of linking proposed legislation not directly related to race, with narratives of governmental interference with default racial distributions of privilege, continues to be relevant today.
Vice Provost of University Libraries Ann Campion Riley (left) and Humanities and Social Science Librarian Rachel Brekhus (right) present Erielle Jones (middle) with her certificate
“The health sciences library is a jewel in the Mizzou library system,” says Dr. Vicki Conn, Professor Emerita at the Sinclair School of Nursing.
As a faculty member at the nursing school, Dr. Conn focused on why patients wouldn’t take their prescribed medications and finding ways to increase exercise in chronically ill adults. Her research spanned over many years and credits Diane Johnson with helping her throughout the journey.
“I was the principal investigator of three National Institutes of Health [NIH] R01 grants for enormous projects and [Diane’s] expertise was critical for securing funding,” relays Dr. Conn. Diane remained on the grants after the funding was secured, being named a co-investigator to assist with the “hard work,” as Dr. Conn calls it.
Diane Johnson
“[Diane] worked with my research staff to facilitate our easy access to the results of searches. For one of our projects, we evaluated over 37,000 potential studies for inclusion. The vast majority of those 37,000 were located by Diane. Diane was a central member of our research team.” With Diane as a member of the research team and closely working with the other researchers, allowed her to completely understand the project. Diane could easily adapt and change with search as needed and know the exact information the team found most beneficial.
Dr. Conn’s and her team also made great use of the library’s interlibrary loan (ILL) department, requesting articles if they needed to be reviewed in their entirety. If the articles weren’t available on campus, ILL borrowed them from other libraries, making sure Dr. Conn and her research team had access to the articles necessary for their grants.
These services were something Dr. Conn highly valued over the twenty years of working with Diane and the library. “I suggest people become acquainted with a librarian. It is very important for the librarian to understand your program of research. A librarian who completely understands your program of research can by a wonderful research collaborator.”
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.
A terrifying event that happened during a study abroad trip became the inspiration for a Summer Richie’s award-winning art project. Richie, a senior psychology major at Mizzou, said a guy chased her down a New Zealand street yelling at her. When she returned to her flat she told her flat mate who said, “Boys will be boys.”
That phrase stuck with Summer. “In my mind, it has a negative connotation. Other people use it in a light-hearted way. If a boy messes with a girl, people say – what can you do? But then it becomes used to justify his behavior.”
Summer took the popular saying and turned it into an art piece for her fibers class. She bought three used books at the Goodwill for the project. She said she’s always loved redacted poetry and had the idea to cross out every word except the words “boys will be boys.”
It took her longer that she expected because “each book had 300 pages and there were three books, that was 900 pages,” she said. She did all the work by herself, and it took her a couple of months to complete the project, which included handmade papers and cyanotype prints.
Her professor told the class about the Visual Art and Design Showcase (VADS) in Jesse Hall. Summer sent pictures of her books and was accepted into the exhibition, which ran for three weeks in February. She was one of 51 Mizzou students from various majors selected to participate.
Her three books were displayed on pedestals to be judged and viewed by the public. During the reception, Summer encouraged people to touch the books. She stated,“ I wanted the pink and fuzziness of the books to draw people in so they wouldn’t be expecting what was there.” She felt most people understood her message of the redacted pages of the books.
One of Summer’s books was also on display last fall in Ellis Library as part of Assistant Professor C. Pazia Mannella’s Intermediate/Advanced Fibers class in an exhibit called Handle with Care. Richie’s book was one of eight from the class to be accessioned into the University of Missouri’s Special Collections and has since been shared with undergraduate classes and during a Friends of the Libraries event featuring artists’ books from the collections.
The books will be displayed during the month of April in the Ellis Library.
This guest post is written by Dr. Marilyn James-Kracke, Associate Professor of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology.
With the help of Rebecca Graves, Educational Services Librarian, and Mike Spears, System Support Analyst, my students in medical pharmacology are included in the list of students who can use UpToDate and its Lexi-comp drug database for 15 assignments that teach information technology to premedical and prehealth professional students. Each assignment explores different components of drug monographs, drug interactions reports, calculators for renal function, disease treatment strategies and pill identifiers etc.
My students greatly appreciate this opportunity for professional training. These assignments provide additional valuable active learning components to this advanced basic science course.
Mike SpearsRebecca Graves
For the Medical Physiology course and the Medical Pharmacology course, I provide direct links within the CANVAS course components to electronic textbooks so students can freely access any part of these well recognized textbooks using the library fees they pay as students. The students feel that I have their best interest at heart by saving them textbook dollars while also providing access to quality textbooks.
Thank you librarians for providing these excellent services to my students. I’m glad my students get a great library experience so they learn to value these resources as future professionals.
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.
The Missouri Scholars Academy brings 330 gifted high school juniors from around the state to the University of Missouri Campus. “With a carefully selected faculty and staff, a specially designed curriculum that focuses on the liberal arts, and a variety of stimulating extracurricular activities, the academy enables students to be part of a unique learning community.” One of those stops for the academy is the library.
Last year, the students visited with Rachel Brekhus, Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian, who assisted the students with finding primary historical sources and secondary scholarly sources. The collaboration was so successful that, Ben Balzer, one of the Missouri Scholars instructors, jumped at the chance for his science fiction students to attend Rachel’s research workshop during the 2018 session as well as expanding that collaboration to include Kelli Hansen, Special Collections Librarian.
Rachel Brekhus
“Their work with my students was, in short, amazing! I extended my collaboration to Kelli because of how much last year’s students enjoyed working with library resources,” says Ben. Both his science fiction and censorship in literature classes met with Kelli, who provided literary texts from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries for the scholars to examine. The scholars looked at items ranging from a comic version of 2001, A Space Odyssey to a rare copy of Utopia by Thomas More. Ben found this opportunity provided his students the ability “to see the rich artistic tradition that underpins the literature we read today.” The scholars left their visit to Special Collections inspired and excited to work on their research projects.
Ben sees this collaboration being a regular component of his classes. “I want high school students to gain familiarity with university resources so they will feel prepared to make good use of academic libraries when they arrive on college campuses. Students of literature should also be introduced to the social, political, ethical, and historical significance of the texts they read. Working with research librarians helps students better recognize these broader contexts and how they enrich literary study,” says Ben.
Kelli Hansen
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.
oracle | ˈôrək(ə)l | noun 1 a priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought from the gods in classical antiquity. • a place at which divine advice or prophecy was sought. • a person or thing regarded as an infallible authority or guide on something: casting the attorney general as the oracle for and guardian of the public interest is simply impossible. 2 archaic a response or message given by an oracle, typically one that is ambiguous or obscure.
Dr. Paula Roper, who I affectionately call “The Oracle” served a crucial role in my development as an educator and a scholar. During our collaborations on subject topics for English 1000, she transformed the library from a center of archaic readings into a vibrant prophetic learning experience. She introduced my students to peer-reviewed sources and resource methods making my lessons on historical trauma, spoken-word poetry, and hip-hop culture relative to the lives of my students. Explicitly, she instructed my students about African and Global Studies traditions influencing popular culture in America. The undergraduates learned “Nommo,” the power of the word (an Akan word meaning “To Make One Drink), can be utilized as a form of resistance and/or healing to build community. In other words, the young scholars learned they had a voice which can create the sound of power to change their reality. This in mind, she inspired me as an academic to utilize my voice for change.
Dr. Paula Roper, the Oracle, and Mizzou library helped me to earn my Ph.D. in Africana Diaspora Studies. My dissertation entitled “Dee-Jay Drop that Deadbeat;” Hip-hop’s Remix of Fatherhood Narratives” an interdisciplinary project required a substantial amount of research. Specifically, I examined hip-hop fatherhood narratives that constructed imagery of African American fathers and Black identity formation. Dr. Roper proved instrumental to the project by assisting me to compile an eclectic reading list African diasporic, history, sociology, and psychological to complete my task. She helped me to maximize my time at the library—I could not have become Dr. Adolph without her expert-tutelage.
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.
This past year, Kate Harlin, a PhD student and graduate instructor, won the Gus Reid Award from the English Department. Gus Reid, having taught composition within this program, donated funds to support an award for graduate students and other instructors who teach exploratory/persuasive writing. The award stipulates that each recipient “should not only be a good writer but an even better critic—one who views the job and self with both discipline and light-heartedness.” Kate applied with materials created from her international composition course, a course that greatly benefited from Kelli Hansen‘s Special Collections assistance.
Kate and Kelli collaborated on an assignment designed so students could choose an object in Special Collections that they wanted to learn more about, generate questions and use as an object to springboard into an exploratory essay. From the get go, this open ended assignment was ambitious, but Kate says, “Kelli was so open and flexible with us that she was able to pull items that got every student in the class excited.”
Kelli Hansen
Kelli pulled a Physics textbook from the 1920s written in Arabic, which one of Kate’s students from Saudi Arabia was able to identify as a translation written by Mizzou professor Oscar Stewart. She also found a poetry manuscript, by Li He of the Tang Dynasty, written in Chinese that many of the Chinese speaking students were thrilled to look through. One of her students even submitted her work for the Mahan Freshman Essay Award and received an honorable mention.
“The best thing about these two examples is that it helped the international students to see themselves as experts and knowledge-producers, which can be hard for any first year college student, but is even more difficult when in a class that is all about a writing in a language that you’re still learning to master,” Kate says.
Kate suggests figuring out a way to incorporate Special Collections in your syllabus and if you don’t know how, reach out to your librarians.Special Collections provided examples that truly inspired Kate’s students and is one of the many reasons why she will continue to collaborate with Kelli for future classes.
“Every semester that I have brought students to Special Collections, I have received feedback that it was a major highlight of the semester! I value inquiry and discovery in the classroom, and there is no better venue for it than Special Collections.”
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.
