WVU Libraries

The WVU Libraries have selected six faculty members to participate in the fifth year of its Information Literacy Course Enhancement Program, an initiative to enhance courses to help students improve their research skills and to become more discerning when searching for and using information.

A collaborative endeavor between the Libraries and the Provost’s Office, the program focuses on fulfilling the University’s 2020 Plan which calls for “engaging undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in a challenging academic environment.” Information literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, and effectively use information.

“We at the Libraries are proud of the integral role we play in every student’s academic pursuits,” said Myra N. Lowe, Interim Dean of Libraries. “We are pleased that the Course Enhancement Program continues to help students to become better researchers and to gain more from the classroom experience.”

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Today, the West Virginia and Regional History Center launched its new website.  The new site offers clear navigation, improved searching, and a fresh design that helps to showcase the vast array of material that the WVRHC makes available to researchers investigating West Virginia and central Appalachia history and culture.  It includes all of the information found on our previous website, as well as some new things.  Highlights include:

• a search bar for some of our major collections
• a page that showcases the exhibit currently in the WVRHC’s galleries
• improved displays of our physical and digital collections
• information for new visitors and potential donors

Please take a few minutes to explore the new site.  If you can’t find what you need, or just want to give us feedback, contact us.

Two WVU librarians will travel to China in May as part of an exchange with Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE). Jing Qiu and Martha Yancey will spend two weeks observing operations at the university’s library and discussing their work at WVU.

“Visiting and working in an academic library in China will be a tremendous learning experience for our librarians,” Interim Dean of Libraries Myra N. Lowe said. “We are excited about the insights and ideas Jing and Martha will bring home.”

This trip is the second phase of a partnership that began last fall when two librarians from SUFE, Yu Huang and Deyu Gong, spent the semester learning about operations at the WVU Libraries.

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The Downtown Campus and Evansdale libraries will remain open for extended hours during dead and finals weeks.

The Downtown Campus and Evansdale libraries will open at 9 a.m. Sunday, April 28, and remain open until 10 p.m. Friday, May 3. Both will be open from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, May 4.

The libraries will open at 9 a.m. Sunday, May 5 and remain open until 10 p.m. Friday, May 10. They will be open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 11.

For more information, check out the Libraries’ calendar: www.libraries.wvu.edu/hours

An award from the National Endowment for the Humanities will help the West Virginia University Libraries serve as a bridge between those who have questions about Islam and the Muslim community.

The Libraries are among 843 institutions across the nation to receive the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf, a collection of books, films, and an online database assembled to introduce the public to Muslims and the Islamic culture in the United States and around the globe. The bookshelf is part of NEH’s Bridging Cultures Initiative.

“Borrowing from the title of the grant, we want to help build bridges where there are deep misunderstandings, mistrust, and a lack of knowledge,” said Beth Toren, a reference and religious studies librarian.

The Muslim Journeys Bookshelf is the first in the NEH’s planned series of Bridging Cultures Bookshelf programs. The NEH, along with the American Library Association, awarded the WVU Libraries with twenty-five books, three documentary films, a DVD of short films, and a one-year subscription to Oxford Islamic Studies Online. The books and DVDs are currently being added to the circulating collection and will be available to be checked out by all students, faculty, and staff. Members of the public are welcome to visit the Downtown Campus Library to use the books.

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Looking for a summer course? Enroll in ULIB300: Film and Media Literacy to earn three credits and fulfill GEC requirements 5: Artistic Expression and 7: American Culture.

Genres include the films of Quentin Tarantino, slasher movies, world cinema, graphic novel adaptations, dark comedy, westerns, gangster films, and Blaxploitation. Students select four from these choices to study.

Students learn film vocabulary, criticism, and movie databases. They watch films on streaming video online or on DVDs at the Library. They join an online learning community in small discussion groups where they discuss film and media, and develop skills to become savvy media consumers.

Visit the website for more information about the course including a complete film list and student comments: http://libraries.wvu.edu/instruction/classes/ulib300/

For more information, contact the instructor: beth.toren@mail.wvu.edu (304) 293-0336.

The WVU Library Faculty Assembly has selected Hilary Oblinger Fredette as the Outstanding Librarian for 2013.

The award, presented triennially, recognizes a faculty librarian who has made exceptional contributions toward the delivery, development, or expansion of library services or special programs for the constituencies of WVU.

“We applaud Hilary Fredette for her efforts and dedication to significantly improve library services for WVU students and faculty,” said Barbara LaGodna, Chair of the LFA Awards Committee. “She has a record of sustained excellence over many years.”

Hilary Fredette

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The WVU Libraries’ West Virginia and Regional History Collection has a new name.  The letters WVRHC now stand for West Virginia and Regional History Center.

The change is intended to better reflect the nature of the state’s leading historical archives-library.

“Rather than simply a subject area within the WVU Libraries, the WVRHC is, in fact, a complex research organization with distinct reading rooms and galleries, expert staff, and not one, but many collections and units,” said John Cuthbert, Director of the WVRHC.

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The Downtown Campus Library of West Virginia University will host a free workshop on grant seeking for nonprofit organizations from 9:30am to noon on April 13th.

The session will highlight the electronic and print resources available for free use at the Downtown Campus Library, which recently became a Cooperating Collection of the Foundation Center. Established in 1956, the Foundation Center is the nation’s leading authority on organized philanthropy, serving grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public. In its new role, the Library serves as a hub for the Foundation Center’s resources, making them available to nonprofits and social service agencies, as well as the University community.

The workshop, led by Kief Schladweiler, Coordinator of Cooperating Collections with the Foundation Center (www.foundationcenter.org), will provide an introduction to the world of foundation fundraising. It will detail the grant-seeking process, the world of grantmakers, and available tools and resources. It will include instruction on the Foundation Center’s comprehensive online database, Foundation Directory Online Professional. Participants will learn how to create customized searches to develop targeted lists of foundations that match an organization’s funding needs.

To register, contact Penny Pugh at ppugh@wvu.edu (304-293-0334) or Alyssa Wright at Alyssa.wright@mail.wvu.edu (304-293-0337).
For more information, visit http://libguides.wvu.edu/grants.

West Virginia University’s Downtown Campus Library is offering a new service for nonprofit groups and social services agencies seeking grants to serve their communities.

The Downtown Campus Library recently became a Cooperating Collection of the Foundation Center of New York.  In this new role, the Library will serve as a hub for the Foundation Center’s resources and provide access to detailed information on grantmakers and how to apply for grants.

These materials are open for use by individuals from nonprofits and social service agencies, along with those in the University community.

“The WVU Libraries are excited to join the network of Cooperating Collections,” Penny Pugh, Head of Reference, said. “With looming federal and state budget cuts, the role of philanthropy has never been more important. These resources will better equip nonprofits and social service agencies to secure financial support for crucial programs that serve the people of West Virginia.”

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How do you handle the stresses of daily life? Some thrive on a non-stop schedule. Others take up a hobby, read, or seek out a few quiet moments to escape a hectic day.

A century ago, a doctor might diagnose a stress-laden woman with neurasthenia, or nervous exhaustion, and prescribe her months of isolation and rest. That diagnosis was the case for artist and writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Her experience, referenced in her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” is the topic of a National Library of Medicine (NLM) traveling exhibit on display at the WVU Health Sciences Library through March 23. Consisting of six free-standing banners, “Literature of Prescription” is on display in the Library’s lobby.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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An initiative supported by the WVU Libraries and the Provost’s Office will again help up to five faculty members enhance their courses while earning a $3,000 stipend this summer.

The WVU Libraries’ Information Literacy Course Enhancement Program is focused on integrating information literacy into the classroom to enrich student learning. The program began as a response to the 2010 Plan and now addresses “engaging undergraduates in a challenging academic environment,” the first goal of WVU’s 2020 Strategic Plan.

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The WVU Libraries are ready to again be bustling with students, faculty, and staff. As the spring semester begins, one may want to take note of what’s happening at the Libraries and how the Libraries can assist users in their academic and research endeavors.

First, mark your calendars. The Libraries will change their hours twice over the next two weeks.

When the new semester begins on January 14, the Downtown Campus and Evansdale libraries will stay open until midnight Monday through Thursday. On January 22, after the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, the Downtown Campus and Evansdale libraries will begin staying open until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.

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There is still time to participate in the Mountaineer Touchdown Challenge, a collaborative effort between the WVU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and the WVU Libraries 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 2012 season and in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Funds raised will support library resources.

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BY ALEX LANG

The Dominion Post

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.”

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The Downtown Campus and Evansdale libraries will remain open for extended hours during the last week of classes and finals weeks.

The Downtown Campus and Evansdale libraries will open at 9 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, and remain open until 10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7. Both will be open from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8.

The libraries will open at 9 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 9 and remain open until 10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14. They will be open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15.

For more information, check out the Libraries’ calendar: www.libraries.wvu.edu/hours

Thanksgiving Break hours begin at 5 p.m. Friday. The Downtown Campus, Evansdale, and Health Sciences libraries will be closed November 18, 21, 22 & 23. The Libraries will be open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on November 19 & 20, and 1-5 p.m. on November 17 & 24. Regular hours resume November 25. For more information, check the Libraries website, www.libraries.wvu.edu/hours.

A search committee has been formed to select a new dean for West Virginia University Libraries.

The committee will be led by Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robert Jones. Library faculty will be represented by Beth Royall and Hilary Fredette, while Library staff will be represented by Thea Browne.

Four faculty members were chosen at-large. They are: Lisa Weihman, associate professor in English; Robert Tallaksen, professor and vice chair, radiology; Rebecca Chory, professor, communication studies; and Richard Turton, professor in chemical engineering.

Two students will also serve. They are Paul Garton, an undergraduate student in the Honors College, and Juan Mundel, a graduate student in journalism.

Dr. John Stealey, a member of the Library Visiting Committee and the Capital Campaign Committee, has also agreed to serve.

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This year, archives across the region are celebrating American Archives Month with the theme of “Archives and Lifelong Learning.”

Archives like the West Virginia & Regional History Collection exist not just for the use of history scholars doing “serious research,” but also for high school students working on History Day papers, families researching the ownership of their land, and individuals writing their family histories.

Nearly half of the several thousand visitors to the WVRHC each year fall into the latter categories. The WVRHC is open to the public, and admission is free.

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Tutors are available at the Downtown Campus Library from 6-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday. Tutoring is offered in biology, chemistry, geology, math, physics, psychology, statistics, accounting, economics, finance, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish.

Tutors for most subjects are here on all five days, except:

Math tutors are on hand Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Geology: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Psychology: Monday and Wednesday.

Arabic: Monday and Thursday.

Spanish: Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

The Downtown Campus Library is home to an Academic Resource Center, an initiative from the Office of Retention and Research in Student Affairs. For more information on Academic Research Centers, visit this website: http://retention.wvu.edu/tutoring