WVU Libraries

WVU New and information Services
New Release
April 28, 2006

The WVU Libraries’ online database of historical photographs has recently grown beyond 10,000 digital images.

The milestone comes only five months after launching West Virginia History OnView. The database made its debut during Mountaineer Week in November 2005 with about 5,000 images.

“We created the database with the ambitious goal of cataloging 25,000 photographs from our West Virginia and Regional History Collection (WVRHC), and I’m pleased that we are making brisk progress,” WVU Libraries Dean Frances O’Brien said. “We are also all delighted that the site already draws thousands of users every month. People have found WV History OnView to be a valuable research tool.”

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John Cuthbert, curator of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection, poses with Susan Hogan, director of the Wheeling Symphony, prior to a recreation performance of “It’s Wheeling Steel” at the Capitol Music Hall in Wheeling Thursday. Broadcast during the 1930s and 1940s, “It’s Wheeling Steel” was a popular radio program that spotlighted amateur performers who were Wheeling Steel employees or their family members.
Cuthbert wrote the script for the performance honoring the historic radio show.

WVU New and information Services
New Release
April 18, 2006

During the Great Depression, the town of Wheeling gained international notoriety for weekly broadcasts of amateur musicians. Millions of Americans gathered around their radios Sunday afternoons to hear an announcer proclaim “It’s Wheeling Steel.”

At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20, an audience will crowd into Capitol Music Hall to enjoy a re-creation of the popular show by the Wheeling Symphony.

“It’s Wheeling Steel” originally aired on WWVA radio and was heard nationwide on the Mutual Network stations and the NBC Blue Network from 1933 to 1944.

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The Daily Athenaeum, April 12, 2006

By Heather Bonecutter
Staff Writer

In a clearing next to Martin Hall stands a tree with ribbons on its limbs gently blowing in the breeze. This tree symbolizes peace – a peace that emanates throughout the generations of the Iroquois Confederacy to the countless generations to come.

West Virginia University librarian Anna Schien has been working to commemorate the spirit and history behind this tree in a book titled, “White Pine Spirit of Peace: the WVU Peace Tree,” which documents the life of this tradition.

“It’s a documentary transcript of the actual ceremonies so that people can know what happened,” Schein said.

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WVU New and information Services
New Release
April 6, 2006

A new West Virginia University limited-edition publication documents the history and significance of the campus “peace tree” that has taken root next to Woodburn Circle.

Edited by University Librarian Anna Schein, “White Pine Spirit of Peace: the WVU Peace Tree,” includes the speech made by Chief Leon Shenandoah, Tadodaho of the Haudenosaunee, the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, when the white pine was first planted on the WVU campus in 1992.

The white pine symbolizes the Great Tree of Peace, whose four White Roots of Truth go in the four cardinal directions of the earth. According to Haudenosaunee oral tradition, Schein noted, the Creator sent a Peacemaker to unite the warring Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida and Mohawk nations by planting the original Tree of Peace at Onondaga about 1,000 years ago.

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The Daily Athenaeum, March 23, 2006

By Colleen Wright
Senior Staff Writer

West Virginia University Libraries recently added two new electronic resources to their resume. Web of Science and Elsevier’s Science Direct give faculty and students access to thousands of new journals.

Web of Science contains 22,000 journals, 23 million patents, 12,000 conference proceedings, 5,500 websites, 5,000 books and other scholarly contents.

Science Direct includes electronic versions of a wide variety of frequently used journals. These journals contain information helpful to people in almost every field, especially the sciences.

“Web of Science was the most requested database by faculty. They have been asking for it for the last seven to eight years, and we didn’t have the money until now,” said Mary Strife, director of the WVU Evansdale Library.

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Two new West Virginia University Libraries’ offerings are providing a boost to faculty and student researchers. Web of Science and Elsevier’s Science Direct, among the top academic digital resources, can now be reached with just a few clicks on the WVU Libraries’ web site.

Web of Science is an index to 22,000 journals, 23 million patents, 12,000 conference proceedings, 5,500 web sites, 5,000 books and other scholarly Web content. Science Direct includes electronic versions of frequently used journals from 1995 to the present.

“We heard from our faculty and graduate students about their research needs and, through the support of the Research Corporation, we’ve been able to provide them with updated services,” Provost Gerald Lang said. “Like everything else, the educational environment and our learning environments are changing, and I think that the ability to provide access to the scientific literature in a much more contemporary way – at one’s desktop – will improve the quality of our faculty members’ research and student learning.”

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Eliza’s is open Sunday-Wednesday 3 p.m.-midnight and Thursday 3-9 p.m. The café offers espresso drinks, fresh-brewed Starbucks coffee, tea, hot chocolate, blended drinks to order, Italian sodas, bottled soft drinks, juice and water. The menu also includes muffins, bagels, biscotti and oversized cookies plus a variety of healthy snacks.

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The Dominion Post, February 23, 2006

BY ERIC SLAGLE
The Dominion Post

Students at WVU say a newly opened coffee shop in Wise Library should provide the caffeinated relief they need when studying late at night.

Student T.J. Cromwell said he thinks Eliza’s coffee shop on the fourth floor of the library – which is operated by university dining services and sells Starbuck’s brand coffee – is a hot concept.

“Being a coffee lover, I think it’s a great idea,” said Cromwell. “It keeps you more awake. It makes you stay up. I’m definitely going to buy a lot of coffee there.”

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The Daily Athenaeum
February 21, 2006

By Kevin Jeannette
Correspondent
Monday at 3 p.m. marked the grand opening of Eliza’s on the fourth floor of the Wise Library at West Virginia University.

On hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony were student body president DJ Casto, University officials and a number of students and faculty eagerly awaiting the opening.

Decorated with blue and gold balloons, Eliza’s was packed with students and faculty excited about the newest addition to the library.
While waiting in line for their free cups of coffee, patrons were treated to trays of fruit and flying WV cookies from WVU Dining Services staff members.

BILLY WOLFE/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Student Government Association President DJ Casto cuts a ribbon Monday at the grand opening of Eliza’s, a new coffee shop in the Downtown Library. Eliza’s is located on the fourth floor of the building and sells Starbucks coffee.

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WVU New and information Services
New Release
February 16, 2006

West Virginia University faculty, staff and students are invited to relax with a steaming cup of Starbucks coffee at the grand opening of Eliza’s at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, on the fourth floor of the WVU Downtown Campus Library.

D.J. Casto, student body president, will join University officials to unveil the sign and hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony. There will also be free giveaways.

John Cuthbert, curator of the WVRHC, enjoys the first cup of java during Eliza’s soft opening.

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WVU New and information Services
New Release
February 3, 2006

Graduation no longer means bidding farewell to the West Virginia University Libraries.

A partnership between the WVU Alumni Association and the WVU Libraries now connects alumni with many of the valuable library resources students use daily. Alumni Association Chair Jim Gardill announced the initiative known as the WVU Alumni Library Gateway during the Capital Classic Luncheon at the Charleston Embassy Suites on Jan. 25.

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By Mekhala Sofsky
Daily Athenaeum Staff Writer

The West Virginia University Downtown Library Complex will soon be a place that students will be able to kick back and enjoy a cup of coffee while braving those familiar all-night study sessions.

Expected to be completed near the end of February, Eliza’s, named after WVU’s first professionally trained librarian, will be up and running, giving the fourth floor of the library a whole new edge.

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The Mountaineer Spirit January 26, 2006

By Monte Maxwell
WVU Libraries

Finding information in the WVU Libraries’ online databases just got E-Z.

E-ZSearch, the newest addition to the Libraries’ web site, allows users to simultaneously search several of the Libraries’ 150 electronic databases and the MountainLynx catalog for a selected topic. Previously, users would have to identify which databases related to their chosen subject and then search through each of the databases one at a time.

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The West Virginia University Libraries are offering a new online database for students to help find information. E-ZSearch allows students to search several of the WVU Libraries’ other databases simultaneously, including the MountainLynx catalog.

“It will make searching library databases more like using Google,” said Penny Pugh, head of reference for the Downtown Library, in a press release.

E-ZSearch’s default search focuses on the four databases used most frequently by WVU students: Academic Search Elite, JSTOR, Lexis-Nexis and MountainLynx. The advanced search function will enable students to limit search parameters to databases geared toward a specific subject, such as business or psychology.

Students who need assistance using E-ZSearch or any other resource offered by WVU Libraries can go to the reference desk or send questions online via the Ask a Librarian service at http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/instruction/ask.htm.

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From union miners lining up in Matewan and a World War I pilot showing off his plane to the State Capitol being constructed and Eleanor Roosevelt touring Arthurdale, a glimpse into the past of West Virginia is now only a few clicks of the keyboard away.

West Virginia History OnView, a new digital photograph database launched during Mountaineer Week, provides online access to more than 5,000 historical photographs housed in the West Virginia and Regional History Collection. The database is expected to eventually swell to more than 25,000 images.

“The West Virginia Collection has the finest collection of historical photographs relating to West Virginia in existence,” WVRHC Curator John Cuthbert said. “We are now making the best of them available for viewing by anyone with Internet access.”

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Norma Whitaker possesses the most important attribute for book collecting, according to Jack Walsdorf, antiquarian book collector and appraiser. She loves books.

She joined a crowd of more than 60 people standing in line at the Charles C. Wise Library to have their books appraised by Walsdorf, who returned to Morgantown on Sunday with his Book Lovers’ Road Show.

Whitaker enjoyed the afternoon, even though Walsdorf failed to assess either of her books as unearthed treasures.

“I just thought it would be interesting to see what really constitutes the value of a book and what detracts from making one valuable,” Whitaker said. “Maybe I can get some knowledge in case I want to try my hand at it.”

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Worth not necessarily related to tome’s age

By Mary Helen Hinchliffe
The Dominion Post

Cliff Bishop waited anxiously in the WVU Downtown Library Complex with several books in hand to determine if he was holding a collector’s treasure.

Bishop, along with his wife, Sara, and son, Caldwell, 17, were among more than 60 collectors who attended the Book Lovers’ Roadshow on Sunday at the Charles C. Wise, Jr. Library, featuring Jack Walsdorf, an antiquarian book appraiser and collector.

The family, which has several hundred books in their collection, hoped to find out more information about and the value of their books from Walsdorf.

“The main reason for coming is to find out about the books, but also for (Jack’s) views on what condition they’re in and whether or not they would be worth restoring,” Bishop said. “For me it’s intriguing to read the books and wonder about the individuals that have previously owned them.”

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Students and faculty will start using new user names and passwords to sign on to computers at the WVU Libraries on Friday, July 1. This change comes as the University makes the switch to the new Mountaineer card.

For students, the user name is the first portion of their MIX account address. For example: If an address is jjones4@mix.wvu.edu, the user name is jjones4.

The password is a person’s birthday plus the last four digits of his WVU ID number. For example: If someone’s birthday is July 4 and WVU ID number is 700-12-3456, his password would be 043456.

Students needing help finding their WVU ID number can ask for assistance at the reference desk or access services desk in the library.

For faculty and staff, the user name is their WVU employee number. The number can be found at the Human Resources web site. As with students, they will use a combination of birthday and the last four digits of their WVU ID number for a password.

To prepare for the change, the Downtown Campus, Evansdale and Health Sciences libraries will open at 9 a.m. July 1.

Forget the old adage. Jack Walsdorf regularly judges books by their cover, and the practice often brings broad smiles to those listening to his judgments.

He’s quick to point out if The Old Man and the Sea is a little weathered and dog-eared or if Huck Finn is dirty and looks like he’s taken a few knocks. Such flaws could be costly, Walsdorf is sure to comment. But he is just as quick to declare when The Great Gatsby appears clean and well-kept. The result could mean a fortune.

Walsdorf will share his opinions on books this summer when he returns the WVU Libraries with his Book Lovers’ Road Show. The WVU Libraries will host the book appraiser and collector at 2 p.m. July 31 in the Robinson Reading Room of Wise Library.

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