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Do you want to join a book club but prefer to choose your own book? Join the BYOBook Club!
Our first meeting of the semester is Wednesday, February 12 at 4:00 pm in Ellis Library 114A.
This month’s theme is: read a book with a red or pink cover. Need a book recommendation? Check out our book club guide.
Registration is not required, but encouraged.
One of our Special Collections librarians, John Henry Adams, will be teaching a course with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in February. The class is entitled “From Currency to Wrapping Paper: The History of Decorated Papers” and will provide a concise overview of paper decoration from around the world. After a brief introduction to the manufacture of handmade paper, we will focus on three major approaches to paper decoration, using (1) printing technology, (2) paint directly on the paper, and (3) ink or paint suspended on liquid. In addition to the different types of paper, there will also be a discussion of how the papers were used historically.
If the course is of interest to you, more information can be found here.
Ellis Library Colonnade
From December 2024
A showcase from the new “Piecing Together Provenance” exhibit is now on display with research and creative works completed by students enrolled in the cross-listed Fall 2024 ARH_VS course, “Museum Studies: Theory and Practice.” Taught by art historian Dr. James van Dyke with contributions by archivist Dr. Sarah Buchanan, the course examines contemporary issues in museum and curatorial studies through project-based, object-based learning – the two crucial issues this semester are provenance and restitution. Provenance research in theory comprised the first third of course content with discussions about museum definitions, collecting, and object dispositions. Then students looked at existing provenance narrative structures and resources for researching provenance data; finally they team-workshopped their insights to create visually engaging panels that show their processes taken and tried – emphasizing both information found and gaps remaining.
Provenance stories enhance the visitor experience not only in art museums, but also in collections like the Enns Entomology Museum, which students visited as it marks its 150th anniversary year. Hearing directly from museum curators Kristin Simpson, Mackenzie Mallon, Candace Sall, Rima Girnius, and Benton Kidd about their everyday efforts to bring together provenance facts led students to develop the theme of clues gathered, pinned, and strung to corkboard for their exhibit. Do visit their fully detailed exhibit in the Bingham Art Gallery, where “Mind the Gap: Piecing Together Provenance” is on display through April.
Here in Ellis Library is provided a selection from the six artwork panels illustrated there with student research findings about the artistic legacies of 15th and 18th century Italian artists di Matteo and Joli, 17th century artists van Goyen (Dutch) and Neeffs (Flemish), a Roman-era Egyptian textile, and the early 20th century American artist Hirst. For their additional contributions to the success of the course we gratefully thank: Megan Ballengee, Daniel Eck, Amanda Harrison, Madeleine LeMieux, and Kristin Schwain. Solve the mysteries of history with provenance!
If you are an undergraduate student who completed a research project in the last few semesters, you can submit your work to the University Libraries Undergraduate Research Contest.
You already did the hard work! Now just submit it; it’s so easy!
You submit your already-complete project as-is, and the only extra work is including a brief Research Process Statement with details about your research process.
A “research project” can be a traditional research paper, a musical composition, a work of art, a video, a web page, or other creative work.
Not sure what to submit? Check out past submissions for inspiration.
The deadline for submission of all materials is January 31, 2025. Winners will be announced in February 2025.
Contact Ashley Granger if you have any questions: grangeran@missouri.edu
On behalf of the Engineering Library and Technology Commons (ELTC),
Happy Mole Day!
This day commemorates Avogadro’s Constant: 
Celebrations run from 6:02AM to 6:02PM
Stop by the ELTC Circulation Desk for a FREE Mole Day button while supplies last!
Now through Oct. 31
The Spooky Books display was curated by Isabella Bickhaus, library intern, and Janet Hilts, Humanties Librarian.
Looking for even more spooky titles? Check out Morbidly Curious Books. . .
Written by: Mekenzie Moffet
Over the summer, Ellis Library opened a new opportunity to get to know art and appreciate the work of those around you with the Museum of Anthropology and the Museum of Art & Archaeology. Those of you who are consistent in visiting the library may have passed another location a hundred times and passed by the changes that go on with exhibit cases and displays. Recently, Megan Ballengee, our amazing Community Engagement Coordinator shared her knowledge with me so that I could pass along what goes on behind the display cases.
The pictured exhibit case doesn’t have an official name, but if you ever want to check it out, it’s right across from the peer navigator desk on the first floor. This exhibit is run by various committees and displays a huge variety of different materials: projects from various classes or individual students, student organizations, heritage celebrations, artwork, and of course books. Just last month, up for display was artwork created by your librarians and faculty members. The exhibits are changed anywhere from one month to once a semester. On the second floor, there is also a long-standing exhibit curated by the State Historical Society, choosing new themes every year celebrating Black History that stays up for a whole semester.
Megan decides what to showcase by receiving requests, or just reaching out seeing if anyone would like to show off their talent. When I asked what was special about these exhibits? She answered that, “The exhibit area is a great opportunity for people to be able to share their work and for the library to make connections with the campus community. Exhibits provide learning opportunities for people viewing the exhibit and a much-needed break from studying!”
The current exhibit is in celebration of Homecoming (which is coming up on October 19). Special Collections and Archives shared some copies of the Savitar (the Mizzou yearbook) to display, and there is a lot of Mizzou spirit to come view! I know we’re all excited for Homecoming Week to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t show off our tiger pride in the meantime.
Library Technical Services has created an exciting exhibit showcasing the history and inner workings of the IBM PC/AT (Model 5170). This machine from 1984 revolutionized the computer industry as a fast and powerful personal desktop.
The exhibit, located in the Engineering Library, includes a Model 5170 with numbered markers, and a blue information booklet detailing each of the parts. A special thank you to Dustin Hoffmann for all of his time and work putting the exhibit together.
For those interested in learning more about the exhibit, there is an online library guide available at https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/IBMPC/AT
Fall semester is just around the corner and with new faces comes a new digital exhibit! The exhibit is an updated version of our past “Fine Press Materials” LibGuide: https://library.missouri.edu/specialcollections/exhibits/show/finepress/. The original LibGuide was curated by Tim Perry and has since been reworked as an exhibit and updated by Clare Starkey. The exhibit features examples from fine press publishers held within our collection, showcasing traditional printing technologies and techniques from the modern fine press movement. This exhibit concentrates on presses associated with the fine press movement but also covers a selection of precursors to the movement. Presses founded after 1939 are excluded, except presses founded as continuations of earlier presses, presses founded by printers whose careers were well established by 1939, and prominent Midwestern Presses. Notable examples from the exhibit include items from the Kelmscott Press, Harbor Press, and the Limited Editions Club.
Finals week is here and so are we with another digital exhibit! The exhibit is called “Fancy Magazines for Pet Fanciers”, curated by John Henry Adams and Haley Lykins. The exhibit features fourteen magazines about pets, the animals that we keep around not just because they are useful but because they are fun. Magazines about birds, cats, dogs, and ferrets are all on display in the exhibit. (The animal types are in alphabetical order, so please don’t think that the order of the pets in any way indicates our preference!) So, if you need to de-stress with some pictures of animals as you prepare for or recover from your exams, come check out the exhibit!
The exhibit features magazines from a recent acquisition, the Samir Husni Magazine Collection. The collection features magazines on topics ranging from beauty and fashion magazines to news and lifestyle magazines.