WVU Libraries

Four WVU students gained some real-world experience while helping the WVU Libraries better understand how users perceive the Libraries.

The team studied three years of survey results for the WVU Libraries and presented their analysis during a session at the American Libraries Association’s mid-winter conference in Philadelphia in January. Their efforts won applause from about 50 academic library administrators from around the country.

“The students did an incredible job from start to finish,” WVU Libraries Dean Frances O’Brien said. “They did a thorough job analyzing the data, and they impressed a roomful of deans and directors with their presentation at the conference. Both are difficult tasks, even for professionals in the field.”

A team of WVU marketing seniors shined during their presentation at the American Library Association mid-winter conference in Philadelphia. Pictured are Frances O’Brien, Dean of the WVU Libraries; Angela Julien, marketing senior; David Hughes, marketing senior; Martha Kyrillidou, Director, American Research Libraries Service Quality Programs; Amanda Benson, marketing senior; Ryan D’Souza, marketing senior; and Dr. Paula Bone, marketing professor.
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The Daily Athenaeum, January 24, 2008

By Kathryn Gregory
Managing Editor

Harold M. Forbes slowly puts on a pair of pristine white gloves and reaches onto a dusty shelf to grab a treasure from a collection that dates back hundreds of years. He turns the treasure over in his hand and slowly opens the binding to reveal the intricate details of the pages within.

The book, which is part of Dennis Diderot’s Dictionary, is just one of the many rare finds that have a safe and well-maintained home at West Virginia University’s Downtown Library Complex.

The gloves are worn to protect the books from oils that might transfer from hands to pages, which can speed along the process of a book’s deterioration.

Forbes is the curator of rare books at WVU libraries and has been working on collecting and preserving the books since 1989.

Books are donated to the Rare Books Room, and the curator’s job is to preserve the books and hunt for any books that might be missing from a particular collection.

Stewart Plein, assistant West Virginia rare books curator, holds open “Hortus Indicus Malabaricus.” This botanical
book dates back to 1700 and is translated in four languages.
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On Sunday January 27, the WVU Physical Plant will conduct mandatory fire suppression testing at the WVU Primary Data Center from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The following applications and services will not be available during the test period: Access-A-File, AdvisorTrac, Axium, Birth Score Database, Citrix, CUFS, CyberSports, Endeavor/Voyager, eTD, Fitinfotech, Fix & Release, GroupWise, HSC Alumni Database, IDEAS, Intranet Web Servers, Kronos, Magic, MAP Test, Meeting Room Manager, MIX, Novell Administrative Network, Paciolan, Pyramed, QuickTime, ROADS Test, STAR Production, STAR Test, TicketReturn, TSM, Vista Development, Voice Mail for VOIP, WWW Web Servers, and Wimba. For more information, contact the WVU OIT Helpdesk at OITHelp@mail.wvu.edu or call 293-4444 ext. 1.

The WVU Libraries Web Team is pleased to announce the official launch of their new Libraries web site design on January 14, 2007. The Libraries are holding a contest to promote use of the new site. Two winners of the contest will be presented with an iPod. To participate, go to the WVU Libraries web site at www.libraries.wvu.edu and select “iPod Contest.” Download and fill in the form, then send it as an email attachment to beth.toren@mail.wvu.edu. There are five questions you must use the Libraries web site to answer correctly in order to be entered into the drawing for the prize. All correct responses will be entered into a drawing for the iPods. WVU Libraries employees and student workers are not eligible.

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If someone is keeping track of West Virginia’s best-kept secrets, somewhere near the top of that list is probably a line about the mountain state’s rich artistic heritage. West Virginia has been home to several acclaimed artists; its people and its rolling hills have been the subjects of thousands of paintings.

Some of those painters and their works will be the focus of a presentation at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, in the Norman L. Fagan West Virginia State Theatre at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex.

“It’s a topic that has often been overlooked,” said John Cuthbert, Curator of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection at the WVU Libraries. “Any time I talk before a group about West Virginia’s fine arts heritage, people are always shocked to learn how much significant fine art heritage this state has.”
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The latest issue of Ex Libris, the WVU Libraries’ newsletter, is now available online. It can be accessed by visiting www.libraries.wvu.edu/exlibris or clicking on this link.

The Downtown Campus Library and the Evansdale Library will both stay open 24 hours around the clock for Dead Week and Finals Week. These Libraries will be open continuously from 1:00 p.m. Sunday, December 2 until 8:00 p.m. Friday, December 14.

The Libraries are testing a new electronic resource this fall. The Vanderbilt Television Archives – available on a trial basis through December 25th – provides a searchable index of television news broadcasts back to 1968. Researchers can use this resource identify television news programs and segments that document important world events.

Video from CNN is available online through the Archives web site. All other broadcasts (ABC, CBS, etc.) can be borrowed – either in customized compilation of video clips or entire broadcasts. Lending is direct to individuals, who must pay the associated fees for the service.

To use the Vanderbilt Television Archives, visit the Libraries’ database page at: http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/databases/

Faculty and student comments are welcomed. You’ll find the feedback form link on the left of the Databases page.

RefWorks, available from the WVU Libraries web site, will help you format bibliographies, store and organize research, and share references with colleagues or classmates. RefWorks is free to all WVU faculty, students, and staff. Begin by clicking on the RefWorks button at: www.libraries.wvu.edu/.

RefWorks is the leading citation management software on the Internet. It is used by hundreds of thousands of researchers to organize their references and to prepare bibliographies and in-text citations when submitting articles to academic publications. It is accessible – 24/7 – from any computer with Internet access.

When you use RefWorks, you will find preparing the bibliography for the next paper or article you write to be fast and easy. And, if you are collaborating with colleagues at other institutions or with classmates, RefWorks makes it simple to share your references.

Easy-to-follow tutorials and a quick start guide are available on the RefWorks home page. If you need more help, you can always Ask A Librarian— by phone, email, or IM chat.

Beginning Tuesday, September 25, the Evansdale Library will hold a Term Paper Clinic on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 1pm-3pm in Study Room 212. The Term Paper Clinic provides help to undergraduate students at any stage of the research process. At the term paper clinic, students can get help from a librarian and former college writing instructor with any of the following:

–Finding a research topic or a focus that fits their assignments
–Learning how to begin looking for information
–Figuring how best to find the information they need
–Organizing that information into a structured paper
–Explaining documentation and citation formats

Signs will be posted directing students to Study Room 212, which is on the 2nd floor of Evansdale Library. Students can also ask directions at the circulation or reference desk.

If you have any questions about the Term Paper Clinic, or would like a librarian to come to your class to give a 10-minute presentation on the Term Paper Clinic at Evansdale Library, please contact Noel Kopriva, Agriculture, Forestry, & Consumer Sciences Librarian, at 293-4696, ext. 5114, or email her at Noel.Kopriva@mail.wvu.edu.

Do you use images in your teaching? Are you interesting in knowing more about the visual resources provided through the WVU Libraries? Come learn about the libraries’ online image collections, copyright essentials, fair use, and citation styles at this WVU Faculty Development Session.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2007
3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
DOWNTOWN CAMPUS LIBRARY, ROOM 136

WITH SESSION LEADERS:
Beth Royall, Creative Arts Librarian, Evansdale Library
Beth Toren, Web Services Librarian, Downtown Campus Library

To register, contact Wendy Spaw by e-mail.

WVU Today, September 12, 2007

Science fiction fans will be delighted to know the West Virginia University Libraries features a nationally recognized Isaac Asimov Collection.

The American Library Association (ALA) recently named the WVU Libraries’ ensemble of Asimov books and items its Digital Collection of the Week. The ALA spotlights the collection in the current issue of AL Direct, its online newsletter.

An exciting exhibit of the collection, put together by Libraries staff, is available at http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/exhibits/asimov/

Rare Books curator Harold M. Forbes and Web Services librarian Beth Toren show some of the more than 600 books, games, audio recordings, videos and wall charts included in the WVU Libraries’ Isaac Asimov Collection. The collection and its digital exhibit was recently recognized by the American Library Association.

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The Daily Athenaeum, August 21, 2007

By Tricia Fulks, News Editor

West Virginia University Libraries are undergoing major changes for the fall semester.

Student government representatives met with Dean of WVU Libraries Frances O’Brien in June to discuss further improving campus libraries. One change SGA Governor Leslie Saunders wanted to see was 24-hour access to libraries during the last two weeks of the semester.

O’Brien said that 24-hour access during those weeks are now in place at the Downtown Campus and Evansdale libraries. She said that now there is adequate staffing during the extended hours. However, not all library services will be available for students during the period.

“What students tell us they want is a place to study,” O’Brien said about the extension of hours.

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The WVU Libraries want to help students and faculty to get off to a good start this fall. The Libraries have unveiled multiple changes that will enhance your library work.

First, you don’t even have to physically visit any of the libraries to benefit from one addition, IM Chat Reference. You can simply go online and Instant Message your question to a reference librarian.  Contact us using the following screen names: AIM, wvulibraries; Yahoo, wvulibraries; Google Talk, wvulibraries@gmail.com; and MSN, wvulibraries@hotmail.com.

Feel free to “Ask a Librarian” whenever a question arises while you study for a class, write a paper, or work on a project.  IM reference service is the newest component of “Ask a Librarian” services, which include telephone, email and in-person research assistance. You can find all the details at: http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/ask/.

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The Dominion Post, August 6, 2007

By J. Miles Layton

Attention Civil War buffs.

An exhibit in the West Virginia and Regional History Collection at WVU offers visitors an engaging glimpse of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era in which he lived.

“For people looking for a historical experience in Morgantown, we have a great deal to offer here at the West Virginia Collection,” said John Cuthbert, the collection’s curator.

The exhibit, “Abraham Lincoln and West Virginia: Selections from the West Virginia and Regional History Collection,” will be open for the next several months at WVU. The exhibit is located in the James Horner Davis Family Gallery (No. 1) on the sixth floor of the Wise Library on the Downtown Campus.  It is free and open to the public from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues-Saturday, and until 9 p.m. Tuesdays, according to the WVU Web site.

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The Dominion Post, July 5, 2007

Looking for a hard-to-find photograph from West Virginia’s past – a picture of basketball legend Jerry West, the last game at the Field House or perhaps construction of the old Mountaineer Stadium?

Try the WVU Libraries online database, West Virginia History OnView (go to the WVU Libraries home page at www.libraries.wvu.edu, and click on the West Virginia History OnView link at the bottom right of the page).

OnView, which provides Web-based access to digital versions of historical photos housed in the West Virginia and Regional History Collection, recently topped 21,000 digital images.  The database continues to grow in popularity, WVU Libraries officials said. It’s even caught the attention of bloggers.

“People are finding out about us because we’ve been discovered by the blogs,” said Dennis Newborn, head of systems for the WVU Libraries.

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It has been a familiar scenario for many. You return a stack of books to the library and discover they are all a week overdue. You try to quickly calculate the fine in your head and then realize you have no cash in your pockets.

That frustrating situation is a thing of the past. A new WVU Libraries’ policy, which begins July 1, provides a 30-day grace period for library users to renew or return overdue books without incurring fines.

“We expect the rule change to be good news to those who return or renew their books within the allowed time,” said Hilary Fredette Head of Access Services for the Downtown Campus Library.

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The Daily Athenaeum, June 20, 2007 

By Tricia Fulks, Staff Writer

Student Government representatives met with Dean of Libraries Frances O’Brien on June 15 to discuss improvements to campus libraries.

Leslie Saunders, SGA governor, said in an e-mail interview that since the meeting the SGA has sent a formal request for the libraries to stay open 24 hours during the last two weeks of the semester.

“I think this is a monumental step toward the advancement of student academic performances at West Virginia University,” Saunders said in the interview.

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WVU Today, June 7, 2007

West Virginia University’s Library Faculty Assembly has named Penny Lee Pugh and Carroll Wetzel Wilkinson as co-recipients of the 2007 Outstanding Librarian Award.

The award is given every three years to a current or retired library faculty member who has exemplified extraordinary leadership, initiative, creativity and dedication in supporting the mission and goals of WVU Libraries.

“The selection process was especially difficult this year,” said Susan Arnold, chair of the awards committee. “We had several outstanding nominees. Penny and Carroll both have long careers with the WVU Libraries and have been impressive role models and innovators both on campus and in our field.”

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Getting expert research assistance is easier than ever this summer.  The Libraries are now providing real-time help through instant messaging.  Chat with our reference librarians via AIM, Yahoo! or MSN.  You may contact us using the following screen names:

•  AIM = wvulibraries 
•  Yahoo! =  wvulibraries
•  MSN = wvulibraries@hotmail.com

Summer hours for the service are Monday through Thursday, from 1 PM until 9 PM.   

The new IM service is added to traditional reference and research services, which continue to be available in all campus libraries, and by email and telephone.  Complete information for all types of reference service is available on the Libraries’ Ask a Librarian web site at www.libraries.wvu.edu/ask.