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home Cycle of Success MU Student Uses Scary Experience to Inspire Her Art

MU Student Uses Scary Experience to Inspire Her Art

By Shannon Cary   Posted in Cycle of Success
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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.

Written by Christina Mascarenas

home Journalism Library Fulbright Scholar Appreciates the Journalism Library Resources

Fulbright Scholar Appreciates the Journalism Library Resources

By Shannon Cary   Posted in Journalism Library
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By Christina Mascarenas

Going to America was more a dream than reality to Indah Setiwati; a 30 hour plane ride dream. Indah was the deputy editor for the Jakarta Post in Jakarta, Indonesia when she decided to make a change and apply to attend graduate school.

In the beginning, Indah only applied to local scholarships even though studying aboard is a goal for many Indonesians. Indah had her family to think about. Not wanting Indah to limit her academic potential, a friend encouraged Indah to apply for the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, a program that enables graduate students, young professionals and artists from abroad to study and conduct research in the United States. If Indah was accepted she would finally have her ticket to the United States.

After weighing the pros and cons, Indah decided to go for it and applied to four scholarships including the Fulbright program. One day, she was taking the train to work when she received an email telling her she was accepted into the Fulbright program. It was “surreal,” she said. “The Fulbright Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship on earth.”

Indah did research to find the best journalism school in the U.S. that would fit her interest. She chose Missouri because it’s the best journalism school and was affordable with her Fulbright Scholarship.

According to Indah, the Journalism Library at Mizzou has knowledgeable librarians. “Sue is really helpful and resourceful,” she stated referring to Sue Schuermann, Senior Library Specialist. Sue took the time to show Indah how to do precise searches and search for specific journals. “She is very helpful. She is a great resource, all you have to do it ask,” she said.

When Indah needed a book that the library didn’t have Sue was able to purchase the book for the library. When it arrived two days later Indah borrowed it for the semester. Indah was especially grateful for the “really cool” interlibrary loan program is “really cool,” Indah said. When she wanted to read a particular book, she was asked if she’d like to read the PDF or the book, she chose both. She thought it was great to get the book in three days.

“Books in Indonesia are precious. They are like a treasure,” she said. “Especially children’s books, it’s really hard to get English children’s books in Indonesia, they are expensive.” In addition to the Journalism Library, she has used Ellis Library, and the Daniel Boone Regional Library. She said American libraries are great, “They are like wow.” In Indonesia, according to Indah, “If you want to get an affordable children’s English book. You have to go to a second-hand store. The upper-class Jakartans donate or sell their books to the second-hand stores. You can only find books at certain places.”

“I’m happier here to see the library resources,” she said. “Another cool thing about the library is you have access to the New York Times and other publications and you don’t have to spend your money to subscribe to them since the library already subscribes to them.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

home Cycle of Success, Ellis Library Mizzou: Where I Belong

Mizzou: Where I Belong

By Super Admin   Posted in Cycle of Success Ellis Library
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As a high school student in “the tiny town” of Callao, Missouri, Autumn McLain was torn between two quite distinct potential majors–physics and English–but she knew Mizzou was her “best option in order to get a wide array of higher quality classes and degrees.” She hopes to work in publishing after graduating in May with degrees in English and linguistics as well as a minor in philosophy.

Autumn credits her training as an English major for her formal writing skills. She won second place in the 2018 University Libraries Undergraduate Research Project Contest for a paper on Jonathon Swift, which she describes as “a lot of fun to write.” She’s now enrolled in the second of a pair of courses that will earn her Departmental Honors for her degree, writing “an even more research-intensive thesis on The House of the Seven Gables.”

She says that for most of the papers she’s written here at Mizzou, “the library resources available to me as a student have been pivotal. Good research papers are often dependent upon outside sources and research, information which is made available by the library.” Even more than the information itself, though, she recommends current and prospective Tigers take advantage of librarians’ assistance to find quality sources.

Getting a quality education is every Tiger’s main focus, but as Autumn says, “There’s a lot more going on than classes, and those extra things can be just as impactful!” Over her four years at Mizzou, she’s taken advantage of many extracurricular opportunities, from joining clubs and campus organizations to attending lectures and other special events.

Being a part of the close-knit English and linguistics departments also helped Autumn connect to fellow students and her professors, whose enthusiasm for their fields of study was contagious. Connecting to her community has been her favorite part of her Mizzou experience. “I couldn’t have foreseen how much Mizzou would come to feel like a place where I really belong,” she says, “but somehow, I’m even more excited to go out and see what I can do with what I’ve learned here!”

 

home Cycle of Success, Engineering Library Community is Key

Community is Key

By Noel Kopriva   Posted in Cycle of Success Engineering Library
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For chemical engineering student Ashley Anstaett, a strong sense of community is what attracted her to Columbia, the Mizzou campus, and ultimately the Engineering Library and Technology Commons. “Mizzou has a beautiful campus, and Columbia itself is an ideal spot for me… for its size, the cultural events in Columbia are not lacking and one of my favorite parts of the year is the True/False Film Festival where people come from all over to share their passion for film, music, and art.”

Ashley currently works as a chemistry research assistant in the plant science group at the Missouri Research Reactor. “We are looking at improving the zinc and iron content of corn through the use of bacteria that occur naturally in the soil. ” She says her interests are in the environmental aspects of engineering, but her dream is to work in the fragrance industry. “I’ve collected all kinds of fragrances since I was a little kid and love smelling things!”

Ashley Studying

When Ashley is not working or in class, you can quite often find her at the Engineering Library and she notes that “I don’t know what I would do without the Engineering Library!” The reference materials and textbooks are essential to her for her studies. Most importantly, she says, it is the community fostered by the library space that is key. “I know I can go to the Engineering Library anytime it is open and find someone working on the same thing as me, willing to help, or work together. Even if we are all stuck, it provides a great space for commiserating, drinking some coffee, and enjoying good company.” She also loves interacting with the staff. “It’s nice to see a friendly face every day and know that they are there and willing to help.”

The Engineering Library also supports Ashley’s more leisurely interests. “One of my favorite things about the Engineering Library is that they let me have all of my comics, books, and movies sent there. Using MOBIUS and ILL, you can get pretty much any book or movie you could ever imagine. As a delivery option, you can choose to have them sent to any library on campus you want. I don’t even have to leave Lafferre Hall. I look forward to going to the library each day to see if something I ordered arrived. It’s like retail therapy, but it’s free!”

Dinosaurs

It’s no surprise then that one of Ashley’s favorite Mizzou memories happened at the Engineering Library. “I was studying intently, heard some commotion, and looked up to see a bunch of folks in T-Rex costumes roaming the library. They were dancing and also maybe … studying?”

 

 

 

home Cycle of Success, Ellis Library Asking the Right Questions Pays Off

Asking the Right Questions Pays Off

By Super Admin   Posted in Cycle of Success Ellis Library
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Mizzou has made its mark on Nikolaus Frier, a senior mechanical engineering major from St. Louis, and he will leave his mark on Mizzou as well. For his field of study, Nik had a couple of in-state options but chose Mizzou, which he says “seemed beautiful and big” and where he knew he’d have many options for getting involved.

Extracurricular activities have in fact brought Nik unanticipated opportunities. He was a member of the 3D Printing Club during the time when the service was transitioning from being student led to being hosted by Mizzou Libraries. “I was losing hours at another campus job,” he said, “so I sent out my feelers and asked if the library would need any additional help running this service.” After demonstrating his knowledge of 3D printing to Ernest Shaw, Manager of Information Technology for the Libraries, Nik found himself employed by Print Anything.

Nik worries that his favorite Mizzou memory “might be a little cheesy,” but going to the midnight barbeque the first week of his freshman year was life changing. He met his girlfriend there, and they celebrated four years together in August.

His second favorite memory is yet to come. As project lead for Make Mizzou, a project of the 3D Printing Club, he’s overseen the design of a 3D campus map for the quad. “We have the 2D kiosks around campus, right?” Nik asks. “We wanted a 3D one so visually impaired students would be better able to navigate campus.” The 3D campus map is currently in the prototype finalization stage and will be installed in the fall.

“Getting involved is the right step into learning about your resources here at Mizzou,” Nik advises his fellow Tigers. “As soon as you’re part of a club, you realize you need this thing done. Well, how would I get that done? Then you start asking the right questions.” Nik is proof that asking the right questions pays off.

Nik plans to work as an engineer after graduation but also is confident that he has learned the necessary skills to open his own model-making company. Either way, he won’t miss what he foresees as his second favorite Mizzou memory: the groundbreaking of the 3D campus map in the fall.

home Cycle of Success Congratulations Mizzou 18 and Mizzou ’39 Students!

Congratulations Mizzou 18 and Mizzou ’39 Students!

By Super Admin   Posted in Cycle of Success
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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!

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home Cycle of Success, Engineering Library The Library Advocate

The Library Advocate

By Taira Meadowcroft   Posted in Cycle of Success Engineering Library
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To Alex Johar, Mizzou felt like home.

“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.”

 

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home Cycle of Success, Engineering Library Taking Advantage of Resources

Taking Advantage of Resources

By Noel Kopriva   Posted in Cycle of Success Engineering Library
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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.”

home Cycle of Success Everything is a Learning Opportunity

Everything is a Learning Opportunity

By Taira Meadowcroft   Posted in Cycle of Success
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For senior journalism student Victor Topouria, shying away from opportunities isn’t an option. When he saw the call for the University Libraries Undergraduate Research Contest, he immediately submitted his research for consideration. His instincts were correct because his paper, 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, won first place and a $500 scholarship.

His paper was originally written for Dr. Hobb’s geopolitics class, but it ended up more interdisciplinary than he anticipated. This interdisciplinary approach required Topouria to investigate multiple resources for his research; resources with which he was not at all familiar. ” The library is one of the most underappreciated places on campus. Sure, everyone loves it as a study space, but I think if all of us took advantage of its resources just once, we would find it difficult to be satisfied with Google.The librarians I met were perhaps the most helpful people I’ve worked with during my time at Mizzou. I could not have completed my research without them.”

Born in Columbia, Missouri, and spending most of his childhood in Tibilsi, Georgia, Topouria says his degree will give him the versatility to pursue different passions. He wants current and future Tigers to be open to different perspectives. “Be willing to have your mind changed. Mizzou is full of interesting humans with totally different perspectives and worldviews. If your ideas, opinions, and goals remain exactly the same as when you arrived, you’re doing college wrong. Everything is a learning opportunity, and Mizzou is a place that grants you the freedom to learn, in and out of the classroom. You just have to want it!”

home Cycle of Success, J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library A Better Future Through Affordable Health Information

A Better Future Through Affordable Health Information

By Taira Meadowcroft   Posted in Cycle of Success J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library
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Michelle Kraft, director of libraries at the Cleveland Clinic Health System Libraries, chose to attend Mizzou for her graduate degree in library science because she wanted the opportunity to work in several different campus libraries and put what she was being taught in the classroom into practice.

During her time at Mizzou, Kraft worked at Ellis Library as an electronic resources assistant, helping students with online resources. She also completed her practicum at the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library. She sums up her experience, “Training I got from staff at both libraries was indispensable. Their mentoring and guidance gave me real world knowledge and skills not only to work in libraries but also to thrive in my career.”

Her passion for providing library resources to medical caregivers and researchers led Kraft to her role as the president of the Medical Library Association in 2015-2016. During that year of service, she advocated for unrestricted, affordable, and quality health information on behalf of the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine to members of Congress.

If there was one piece of advice that she could give to future Tigers, Kraft said, “find your passion and get involved. You grow and learn through your involvement with others at Mizzou and that learning, energy, and knowledge can carry forward to your life after college.”

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Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.