WVU Libraries did not let March winter storm Thor set us back permanently on the Wikipedia Initiative. Though we had to cancel part two of the program planned for March 5, we came back strong on April 30 with an online webinar called “Tackling the Gender Gap in Wikipedia.” Over 100 online and in person registrants joined Cindy Liberatore and Carroll Wilkinson for the session featuring Jami Mathewson of the Wiki Education Foundation and Dr. Adeline Koh of Stockton University.
In addition to a thorough overview of the Wikipedia’s gender gap problem, ideas for teaching with Wikipedia, assignment examples, links to resources for instructors, and many useful techniques for effective instruction were provided.
TO COMMEMORATE the 150th anniversary of West Virginia, The Dominion Post will be publishing weekly columns by Robert O’Connor, a historian, scholar and author of six Civil War books. The first column will appear Jan. 2.
A state is born.
The Dec. 9, 1862, edition of the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer features various reports about the possibility of a West Virginia.
A headline on Page 3 states “The New State in Congress to-day.”
“To day the bill for the admission of the new State comes up in the United States House of Representatives. It is possible, but hardly to be expected, that we shall know before another issue the fate of the measure,” the article reads.
It continues, “We the shining pillar of a prosperous future before us and the sweet hope of deliverance in our hearts, we of West Virginia have followed on, till this morning we stand, as the children of Israel stood up on the Red Sea beach, and look across the only tide that rolls between us and the friendly shore which our feet are eager to press, and whose beauties our longing eyes already faintly discern. Here we stand and yonder is the land of promise, the tide be tween and the dark hosts of a worse than Pharaoh following on our track. Pray God that some Moses this day in Congress smite the turbulent waves and roll them back till we pass through in safety.”
Was Elizabeth Dacre’s poem an academic exercise in copying the style of love?
Or was the erotic poem telling her own story?
Even with these unanswered questions, the discovery goes beyond a captivating tale and points to the practical concerns of today’s research University: the need for research in every discipline, the importance of gifts to a University and the sheer surprise of what might hide around the next corner or on the next page.
Fans aren’t the only ones counting on the WVU football team to put a lot of points on the scoreboard this season: The University’s libraries are banking on the Mountaineers as well.
Frances O’Brien, dean of the WVU Libraries, and WVU sports marketing director Matt Wells unveiled the Mountaineer Touchdown Challenge, a joint initiative between the WVU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and the libraries, on Tuesday. The program allows fans to pledge a donation for every touchdown the Mountaineers score this season, with all of the proceeds going directly to WVU’s libraries.
“A great university needs a great library,” O’Brien said. “And it made sense to us that when fans cheer for the Mountaineers and support the team, they could put some of that energy into supporting every school, every academic department, every student, every faculty member and every researcher here on campus.”
The Mountaineer Touchdown Challenge is a new initiative that enables alumni and fans to support the Libraries while cheering for the Gold and Blue.
Challenge participants pledge a certain dollar figure per touchdown the Mountaineers score during the 2011 season and in any subsequent bowl game. Funds raised will go to establish the Mountaineer Athletics Library Fund, which will benefit students.
“We are all anticipating an exciting football season as the Mountaineers transform under head coach Dana Holgorsen’s high-speed offense,” said Athletic Director Oliver Luck. “Making a pledge in the Mountaineer Touchdown Challenge is a great way to show one’s support for all of WVU.”
Thanks to WVU, the telegrams exchanged between generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee prior to the surrender that led to the end of the Civil War can be viewed online.
“I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Va on the following terms to with Rolls of the all officers and men to be made in duplicate,” Union Gen. Grant telegrammed Confederate Gen. Lee hours before the Appomattox, Va., surrender.
Ron Rittenhouse/The Dominion Post Civil War-era telegrams and a telegraph machine are on display in WVU’s downtown library. The telegrams have been uploaded to a public website.
A grainy black-and-white photo on the sixth floor of WVU’s downtown library shows a much different High Street than is seen today.
Rows of men, holding their guns, line up across the street from the courthouse.
They were Union recruits in 1861.
The photograph is one of dozens of Civil War-era artifacts on display at the West Virginia and Regional History Collection which opened Monday. Other items included weapons, letters and music.
The collection’s debut was part of WVU Library’s West Virginia Day celebration. It was one of several local events marking the state’s 148th anniversary.
Ron Rittenhouse/The Dominion Post
Nikki Cannon looks at an advertisement authorized by Gov. Pierpoint wanting 1,010 brave men. On the wall is a photograph of men ready to fight in the Civil War lined up on High Street.
By Alicia Elkin
The Daily Athenaeum
March 29, 2011
More than 600 books by renowned science fiction writer Isaac Asimov were donated to the West Virginia University Wise Library’s Rare Book Collection.
WVU alumnus Larry Shaver contacted WVU in 2003 to ask if they were interested in the books he had collected by Asimov. Over the years Shaver has donated more than 600 books and more than 50 other items such as games, audio recordings, videos and wall charts, said Harold Forbes, WVU’s rare books curator.
Shaver said he began collecting the books when he was in high school with his first purchase of “The Fountain Trilogy.”
“I was intrigued by the covers mostly I must admit, but once I had read them, I was hooked,” Shaver said.
Whether writing about immortality, space, dreams, death, demons, magic or the end of the world, award-winning science fiction author James Gunn has covered it all.
On Oct. 26, Gunn will visit West Virginia University speak about the contributions of another renowned science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. His presentation, “Isaac Asimov: Science Fiction to Science Fact,” will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Mountainlair ballrooms. The talk is part of the 2010 David C. Hardesty Jr. Festival of Ideas.
A rare surveying tool that once belonged to George Washington was on display Friday as the West Virginia and Regional History Collection (WVRHC), along with WVU Libraries, celebrated West Virginia Day with “A Rich and Bountiful Country: The Quest for Land on the Trans-Allegheny Frontier.”
This year’s West Virginia Day celebration and exhibit linked Monongalia County’s colonial land-granting and iron production history with the piece of surveying equipment that was recently acquired by the WVRHC.
West Virginia Day is Sunday, commemorating West Virginia’s creation and admission to the Union, in 1863.
Ron Rittenhouse/The Dominion Post
A surveying tool that once belonged to George Washington was on display Friday. At the tip of one of the measures are the initials “GW” and the date “1781.”
A rare surveying tool that once belonged to George Washington will be on display Friday (June 18) as the West Virginia and Regional History Collection, along with West Virginia University Libraries, celebrates West Virginia Day with “A Rich and Bountiful Country: The Quest for Land on the Trans-Allegheny Frontier.
This year’s West Virginia Day celebration and exhibit links Monongalia County’s colonial land-granting and iron production history with the piece of surveying equipment that was recently acquired by the WVRHC. West Virginia Day is Sunday, June 20, commemorating West Virginia’s creation and admission to the Union in 1863.
It is believed Washington presented this surveying tool, known as a circumferenter, to Samuel Jackson, pioneer of the region’s 19th Century iron industry, in 1784 during Washington’s visit to Fayette County, Pa. shortly after the Revolutionary War. Read the rest of this entry »
WVU students looking to kick back, grab a snack and use a Mac can do it all on the newly renovated first floor of the Evansdale Library.
The university celebrated the completion of the $500,000 renovation project Thursday with an open house. Jo Ann Calzonetti, director of the Evansdale Library from 1994-2001, was among the speakers featured at the event, according to the WV press release.
Calzonetti, who is now in charge of the University of Akron’s Science and Technology Library, discussed the changes at the facility. Among other things, WVU added new carpeting, movable furniture, study rooms and a service desk that combines circulation, reference and technical services.
It’s a library, but you don’t have to whisper. In fact, talking and laughter mean students are actively using the newly renovated first floor of the West Virginia University Evansdale Library.
In today’s digital age, students are presented with numerous sources of information that may or may not be factual. They are often not aware of the various research techniques and resources available to them and do not know how to gauge whether or not the information that they find online or in databases is from a reliable source.
Saya Bobick, Melissa Chesanko, Jayné Chapple, Arnita Sitasari, and Laura Trent, graduate teaching assistants in the Center for Women’s Studies, decided to research this problem in an attempt to better serve their students. The graduate students conducted two hands-on workshops for each of their Introduction to Women’s Studies classes in collaboration with Carroll Wilkinson, West Virginia University librarian.
Chesanko commented that the information literacy sessions for her classes gave her an opportunity to learn along with her students.
“Each time Carroll comes to our class I pick up something new,” she said. “It also serves as a great reminder about searching effectively and checking the validity of the sources I use in my own research.” Read the rest of this entry »
West Virginia University students can now experience more of Don Knotts’ background beyond Barney Fife, his character on “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Knotts’ widow, Francey Yarborough-Knotts, is fulfilling his wishes to donate various belongings and memorabilia to his alma mater.
“Throughout his life, (Knotts) maintained pretty close ties to Morgantown and always considered himself a West Virginian and a fan of WVU. (Yarborough-Knotts) is following through on his behalf,” said John Cuthbert, curator of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection. Read the rest of this entry »
The West Virginia University Libraries are mailing 10 books this week to Fort Wayne, Ind. to be digitized for public access from any location via the Internet.
This plan is part of a grant project which makes digitized copies of books available online on www.archive.org, and makes out-of-print or out-of-copyright books available to anyone. The books are scanned and imported to the online archives.
The University is sending books selected from the rare books collection, many of which are written on the history of West Virginia, WVU and the Civil War.
The digitization of the rare books makes the content more accessible, where in the past, patrons had to make an appointment or in some cases, come to Morgantown. Read the rest of this entry »
Call West Virginia University’s John Cuthbert “old school,” and the library curator will laugh and thank you for the compliment.
That’s because in today’s whiz-bang, jump-cut, computer graphic-enhanced, “just roll tape” age, he still thinks there’s a lot to be said for the compelling drama of the humble photograph – preferably one that is sepia toned, from a time gone by.
“I always think about what went on right before and right after the picture was snapped,” Cuthbert said. “I’m always drawn to the faces and surroundings. You can see the baby who grew up to be a great-grandmother or the miner who unfortunately died the day after the photograph was made. A good photograph is a little slice of someone’s soul, and I mean that in a good way.” Read the rest of this entry »
On June 20, 1863, West Virginia was created from the secession of several northwestern counties of Virginia during the Civil War. West Virginia is the only state created from another without the parent state’s permission and the only to achieve statehood by the proclamation of a president.
In honor of West Virginia Day on Friday, West Virginia University Libraries is holding a series of free events to celebrate George Bird Evans.
Evans’ family enjoyed the outdoors, and, coincidentally, his middle name (Bird) was a family name.
“It’s a great opportunity for students and staff to know about our history. (Evans) may not be well-known, but (this display) will benefit the students,” said Monte Maxwell, a representative of WVU Libraries. Read the rest of this entry »
