Happy National Poetry Month! Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day on Thursday, April 27th, by stopping by the display near the Reference Desk in Ellis Library and picking up a poem!
Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day, Thursday 4/27
Events and Exhibits
University Libraries at the Unbound Book Festival
Step into the world of Charlotte Brontë’s childhood in this presentation on an original manuscript containing two short stories she wrote at the age of seventeen. Attendees will hear about the history of the manuscript, how it ended up in Missouri, and its relationship to Brontë’s other works. There will also be a rare opportunity to view the manuscript, which is smaller than an index card and written in an almost microscopic script.
The Brontë manuscript is among the most valuable and culturally significant materials in the collections of the Special Collections and Rare Books department at the University of Missouri Libraries. The department houses rare and unique manuscripts, books, photos, maps, comics, artifacts, and art that span over four thousand years.
Kelli Hansen is a librarian in the Special Collections and Rare Books Department at the University of Missouri Libraries, where she teaches and does reference work, outreach, and web development.
Staff Picks Book Display
It’s Friday and you may be looking for a way to relax and unwind this weekend. Head on over to the Health Sciences Library and check out a book from our Staff Picks display! On a variety of topics, all health related of course :), our books on display have all been previewed and recommended by your helpful library staff. Enjoy!
What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear: What Doctors Say, What Patients Hear
Calculating Risks: How to Know when Numbers Deceive You
Fever Season: the Story of a Terrifying Epidemic and the People Who Saved a City
The Emperor of All Maladies: a Biography of Cancer
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle
An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
Patient Safety: Perspectives on Evidence, Information, and Knowledge Transfer
Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery
Dr. Mutter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine
“Visualizing Abolition” Exhibit on Display in Ellis Library
Visualizing Abolition: A Digital History of the Suppression of the African Slave Trade
This exhibit shares the materials explored for the development of a website on the history of the suppression of the African Slave Trade. It will provide viewers with access to materials such as: maps, letters, images, posters, legislation, books, and other relevant objects that made up part of this project on the largest forced migration in history.
Exhibitors: Honors College and the Office of Undergraduate Research
William Least Heat-Moon Celebrating the Release of his Debut Novel, May 2
Flat Branch Pub and Friends of the University Libraries present
WILLIAM LEAST HEAT-MOON
Celebrating the release of his debut novel
CELESTIAL MECHANICS
Tuesday, May 2, 2017, 4:30 pm
Flat Branch Pub
115 S. Fifth Street, Columbia, MO 65201
Renowned Blue Highways author William Least Heat-Moon celebrates the release of his debut novel CELESTIAL MECHANICS: A Tale for a Mid-Winter Night (Three Rooms Press, April 2017) with book signing party at Flat Branch Pub in historic downtown Columbia, MO on Tuesday, May 2 at 4:30 pm.
The fun event will give fans of Heat-Moon’s work a chance to purchase the new book and have it personally signed by the author. Fifty-five percent of the $28 purchase price will be donated to support University of Missouri Libraries’ Special Collections efforts to purchase a rare book. Each person purchasing a book will also receive a page from the original manuscript of CELESTIAL MECHANICS from the author. In addition, those who contribute $50 or more to MU’s Friends of the University Libraries will receive an authentic full chapter of the manuscript from the author.
Heat-Moon’s new book, CELESTIAL MECHANICS, has already received extensive critical praise. American Library Association journal Booklist hailed as “An entrancing journey toward deeper insight into the cosmos, an exploration readers will share and savor with every masterfully crafted sentence.” Foreword Reviews praised it as “imaginative work about a man’s quest for true connection.” Library Journal notes it is “definitely for fans of philosophical novels and Least Heat-Moon’s nonfiction.”
William Least Heat-Moon, pen name of William Trogdon, is of English, Irish, and Osage ancestry. In addition to CELESTIAL MECHANICS, he is the best-selling author of Blue Highways, PrairyErth, River-Horse, Roads to Quoz, Here, There, Elsewhere, and Writing Blue Highways.
Copies of CELESTIAL MECHANICS will be available for purchase and signing at the event. For additional information, please contact Matt Gaunt, Director of Development, MU Libraries, gauntm@missouri.edu.
Reference Display: Dictionaries
Head over to the Reference Desk at Ellis Library for a weekly display of reference or other non-circulating materials.
This week, we have dictionaries on display. Sure, dictionaries are great for finding the meaning, spelling, and pronunciation of words, but stop by to look up colloquialisms, words that originate from names, collective nouns, cliches, and more. These specialized dictionaries will give you new insight into the words we use every day.
To find out more about dictionary resources, go to this guide.
Congratulations to the Undergraduate Research Contest Winners!
The University Librareis Undergraduate Research contest seeks to recognize and reward outstanding research conducted by undergraduate students at the University of Missouri.
In First place, and the recipient of a $500 scholarship, is Victor Topouria, a junior in journalism. His paper is titled, “The fabric road to power: geography of the textiles trade along the new Silk Road and China’s path to geopolitical dominance through the textiles supply chain”. Dr. Joseph Hobbs, professor of Geography, supported his submission saying, “Victor provided exceptional insight into the ways in which China is re-shaping the economics and geopolitics of Asia (and the world) through the medium of textiles.”
The Second place winner and recipient of a $250 scholarship is Samuel Mosher, a sophomore in history. His paper, “The suppression of the African slave trade in The Illustrated London News explored how The Illustrated London News, the world’s first weekly illustrated periodical, reported on Great Britain’s suppression of the African Slave Trade from 1842 to 1869. Dr. Domingues da Silva, Assistant professor of African History, supported his submission saying “Rarely have I seen another freshman student make such a complete use of the libraries’ resources to write a research paper. The paper’s quality and originality are beyond question.”
Special thanks to the Friends of the University Libraries for their support of this award.
Unbound Book Festival Display
Stop by Ellis Library to take a look at books by authors visiting Columbia for the Unbound Book Festival on April 22nd. MU is the presenting sponsor of this free local literary festival that features authors of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children's books. The display is near the Reference Desk, and all books on display are available for check out. Try a mystery by Sara Paretsky, essays by Lisa Knopp, poems by Meg Kearney, or a picture book illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist.
Celebrate National Library Week April 9-15
This week, the University Libraries joins libraries in schools, campuses and communities nationwide in celebrating the many ways libraries are transforming their communities every day through the services and invaluable expertise they offer.
April 9-15 is National Library Week, a time to highlight the changing role of libraries, librarians and library workers. Libraries aren’t only a place of quiet study, but also creative and engaging community centers where people can collaborate using new technologies.
Libraries of all types are evolving to meet the needs of the communities they serve. Elected officials, small business owners, students and the public at large depend upon libraries and the resources they offer to address the needs of their communities. By providing such resources as e-books and technology classes, materials for English-language learners, programs for job seekers or a safe haven in times of crisis, libraries and librarians transform their communities.
The University Libraries play a crucial role at MU by providing access to core scholarly journals, books and discovery tools that support research. Many students benefit from the knowledge and skills of our librarians who schedule class instructional opportunities and one-on-one consultations with individual and small groups of students conducting research. In addition, our campus libraries are popular locations for study.
Libraries also offer something unique to their communities, the expertise of individual librarians. Librarians assist patrons in using increasingly complex technology and sorting through the potentially overwhelming mass of information bombarding today’s digital society. This is especially crucial when access to reliable and trustworthy data is more important than ever.
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, visit the University of Missouri Libraries website at library.missouri.edu. .
History of Women in STEM
Throughout history, women have been passionate about working hard to create a better future. In 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women's History Project (NWHP), Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as Women's History Month. Today, the NWHP is known nationally as the only clearinghouse providing information and training in multicultural women’s history for educators, community organizations, and parents-for anyone wanting to expand their understanding of women contributions to U. S. This month, the Health Sciences Library is commemorating the notable women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Earlier this month we featured several items from our catalog in this month's book display: History of Women and Medicine. All are fantastic examples of the impact women have had on the history of medicine. All items in the display are still available for check out.
Coninciding with the book display, we created a series of tweets highlighting these extraordinary women. All tweets were inspired by Women in Science- 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky. The book is full of wonderful information, and beautiful illustrations. Below, is an excerpt from the book about Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell.
She advocated for better hygiene standards in hospitals and homes, and went on to found the Women's Medical College of of the New York Infirmary in 1868 and the London School of Medicine for Women around 1874. While we don't have this book in our library catalog, we do have some other wonderful items you can check out.
https://www.rachelignotofskydesign.com/