WVU Libraries

The Mountaineer Spirit May 18, 2006

By Monte Maxwell
WVU Libraries

If you attended West Virginia University anytime during the past 40 years, you probably owe the late Robert J. Bennett some appreciation for enhancing your college experience.

Whether you were an engineering student needing a place to study, an athlete performing his sport, or a student attending class, you benefited from Bennett’s architectural handiwork.

From the late 1950s into the 1980s, Bennett designed several new buildings and led renovations to many of the University’s historic halls, including Woodburn, Martin, and Chitwood.

After Bennett passed away in 1996, his wife, Jacqueline R. Bennett, and daughter, Sandy Bennett-Taylor, donated more than two dozen of his architectural drawings for WVU projects to the West Virginia and Regional History Collection.

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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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By WILLIAM JARRETT
For the Wheeling Sunday News-Register

MORGANTOWN — As the years pass, the condition of memorable pictures in the West Virginia Regional History Collection has declined.

That’s why Regional History Collection Curator and Director John Cuthbert and his staff decided to make the historic pictures available online through a digital photograph database called West Virginia History OnView. The Regional History Collection is located in West Virginia University’s Wise Library.

Main Street in Wheeling, West Virginia is underwater because of the huge flood of 1936.
Photo provided by the West Virginia Regional History Collection

The database will consist of the collection of West Virginia and regional historic photographs dating from the mid 19th century to the early 20th century. The photographs vary from scenes of the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers to events such as the great Wheeling flood of 1936.

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By Aaron Rote
Daily Athenaeum Staff Writer

Although most students rarely venture away from the first floor computer terminals in the Downtown Library Complex, Wise Library, the university’s original library before adding on, is actually home to a rather impressive selection of books. In addition to the characteristic selection of literature and scholastic texts, the collection is also attractive for those interested in old and rare books from all over the world.

Located on the sixth floor, the Rare Books Room contains a plethora of valuable texts that have either been donated to the library from outside sources or relocated from the main collection.

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Mountaineer Spirit October 20, 2005
BY JANEY CINK

Sip on this. WVU students and employees will soon be able to enjoy a latte at the library.

Plans are in place to construct a coffee shop, complete with Starbucks products and food items, in the bay window area on the fourth floor of the Downtown Campus Library.

Construction on Eliza’s is set to begin Nov. 1 and should be completed by mid-February, Student Body President D.J. Casto announced during the Oct. 12 student Board of Governors meeting.

The coffee shop is named after Eliza J. Skinner, the first professionally trained librarian at WVU. She served as library director from 1897 until 1902, when she accepted a position with the Library of Congress.

Casto said the area will be large enough to seat 45 people, feature café-style tables and chairs and blend into the library’s existing decor.

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Daily Athnaeum October 13, 2005
By Jessica Soccorsi
Staff Writer

For students who like to spend a few extra hours studying, the Den will no longer be the only source for up-all-night coffee. Soon they will be able to grab a latte at the Downtown Library Complex.

Recently, plans were finalized on the construction of a new coffee shop, which will be added into the fourth floor bay window area.

Due to open in mid-February, the coffee shop, which will be known as Eliza’s, will serve Starbucks products and an assortment of different food items.

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