Written by: Sophie Lanzone

At Ellis Library, there is a group of Mizzou students who are available to help with navigating the building itself, or any other technological or reference question you may have. The peer navigator system is designed so that students have an accessible environment to ask questions, and feel comfortable asking another student. We can be found at the reference desk on the first floor, near the stairs to the café.

To go into more detail on what the program offers, your peer navigators strive to have open communication with everyone as well as a friendly, welcoming attitude. Our prime responsibilities for services are to provide excellent customer service to any users of the library, to do as much as we can to help assist with your questions, to be sensitive to each user’s knowledge and skill level, and to direct you to the resources and library staff that will be most beneficial. We can help with a variety of different types of questions ranging from how to print and get set up with each printer, how to reserve a study room and where to find that study room, how to look up books and articles information on the digital media lab and writing tutors, where you can rent chargers, markers cameras, etc., where bathrooms are throughout the library, where different quiet spaces or classrooms are and more! We have weekly training courses that keep us up to date with new information and refresh the ways we can help answer your questions. We can also connect you with the best person or resource to answer your question. For example, we can tell you all about Special Collections with their collection of rare materials, the University Archives with private papers and manuscripts related to the history of the University, subject specific librarians to help with your research, and even the public library with great resources like free tutoring, audiobooks, and resume or interview help.

If you have any questions at all, don’t be afraid to come ask a peer navigator. You can find us in Ellis Library Sunday-Thursday starting at 10:00 am through 10:00 pm. There are no right or wrong questions, so please feel comfortable enough to come talk to us. Our goal is to get everyone more familiar with what the Libraries have to offer and how to utilize them throughout your time here at Mizzou!

Written by: Clementine Arneson

If you’ve been into Ellis’ West Stacks any time in the past six months, you may have noticed they held fewer and fewer books. The goal of this blog post is to give a brief history of the west stacks, update you on future plans for the space, and tell you how to access the books that used to be there. 

The west stacks were an addition onto the original Ellis building, and prioritized book storage rather than study space. This explains the “scary” atmosphere – librarians used to be the only ones who went into the stacks, and it was never meant to be seen by anyone else. Eventually the space opened up for public use, and grad students rented desks in the west stacks to use as private research space. This tradition was discontinued a couple years ago, and now, the space is being cleared of books so that it can be transitioned into storage space for Special Collections and Archives. As of now, the materials under the Special Collections purview are scattered around campus. Moving them to the west stacks will make them more accessible and centralized. Since the west stacks are temperature controlled, the environment will also maintain the wellbeing of these materials.

The books that used to reside in the west stacks are still accessible to you. Some of the books have been integrated into other areas of the library, in which case you can browse the shelves to find them yourself or place a request. (It’s important to note that the call number location guide on Ellis’s website has not yet been updated to reflect these changes. However, if you are looking for a book in the west stacks and can’t find it, there should be signs taped to some of the shelves which disclose the current location of these books.) Because Ellis doesn’t have unlimited space, other books that were once in the west stacks have been moved offsite, to the MU Depository. The Depository doesn’t allow visitors, but you can check these books out by placing a request and picking them up at any MU library location. To learn more about the Depository, check out this page: https://library.missouri.edu/news/ellis-library/peer-navigator-corner-the-depository.

I’ve always liked looking for books in the West Stacks, and will miss looking around. If you want to check out the west stacks (and old study cages), feel free to seize the opportunity before they’re closed off.

Written by: Alyssa Westhoff

The University of Missouri is a large campus with an overwhelming number of resources for students, but in my opinion a few of the most essential are the Libraries. In addition to Ellis, a couple examples include the Health Sciences Library, the Journalism Library, and the Engineering Library. Last semester, myself and two other Peer Navigators created an Infographic and video guide for incoming freshmen who may not realize that these buildings even exist, and to show more of what the Libraries have to offer!

The fourteen-minute video has different sections you can jump to explaining where each library is located on campus, Ellis specific information, how to use the libraries website, how to borrow equipment like phone chargers, and highlighting other services. It also answers the most common questions we receive as Peer Navigators such as “How do I print?” The infographic gives a quick summary of all of these different topics with video timestamps so you can easily access the certain topic you need without having to watch the entire guide.

An important update occurred over the summer that I wanted to clarify relating to printing software. One of the most common questions new students tend to ask is how to go about printing in the library. Ellis offers a “Quick Print Station” where students can log into a computer and print directly from there. The “Quick Print Station” is located on the first floor, right next to the left of the staircase leading down to the cafe and the west entrance. Another printing option that’s often more popular is to download the Print Anywhere software onto your personal laptop. In our video guide, we provide a step by step explanation of how to download this software. Over the summer, a change was made and now the website students need to search is “printsmart.missouri.edu” instead of “doit.missouri.edu,” which we reference in the video. Once you get to the Print Smart page all of the following steps remain the same as before.

Here is the link to our video guide for anyone who hasn’t had the chance to view it. Physical copies of our infographic can be found on the Peer Navigator desk, please feel free to stop by and grab one for yourself or to share, and ask us any other questions you may have in person!

Written by: Clementine Arneson (still being edited)

Since I have been at Mizzou, I’ve heard much talk of the Art and Archeology Museum, but have never been able to see for myself what it has to offer. However, it is about to become much more accessible to me and all Mizzou students. The museum began in 1957 as a study collection of art and historical objects, but became a more official entity in 1961 with a new donation of paintings. The museum collection has continued to grow over the years, and with this growth and development, has had several homes around Columbia. It was first located in Pickard Hall on the quadrangle, but due to concerns about radioactivity in that building, it relocated to Mizzou North. However, the museum is moving once again, and is now located on the lower level of Ellis Library.

The museum has an incredibly varied collection, with art and artifacts from every continent besides Antarctica. Just a glance at their “Museum in 30 Objects” collection shows a sculpture from the 1990s, a Mediterranean tool from around the 1st century, and 28 other items that fall in between. As students, the new location makes these collections more accessible than they have been in over a decade, especially since the museum is free! The museum can be a research tool as well. Some of the galleries hold rotating exhibits, meaning you might be able to see something new every time you visit. The museum’s website also has a database of their collections which you can access at any time. Finally, the museum’s website has a research tab where you can make requests to access items from their collection that are in storage (If you are interested in this option, make sure to ask for access in advance so staff have time to accommodate).

There are three entrances to access the museum. You’ll find an exterior door leading to the ground floor (not the first floor) on the north side of Ellis Library, facing the Student Success Center. There is another exterior door that faces Memorial Union. You can also enter the museum by going down the set of stairs across from the Circulation Desk inside Ellis. To learn more about the museum’s history and collections, find their hours, and see how you can get involved, you can visit their website at maa.missouri.edu, and if you happen to have any historical art or artifacts that you’d like to donate, you can contact the museum about doing so as well.

The museum will also be accepting applications for volunteers and staff members, so keep an eye out for that! Special thanks to Marie Hunter, the Deputy Director of the Museum, for meeting with me and providing more information.