WKU Libraries blog

Dr. Joe Sarnowski's new book

Dr. Joe E. Sarnowski, Chair of the Department of English at San Diego Christian College in El Cajon, California, has just published his book, The Literary Achievement of the American Poet Robert Penn Warren: His Life-Long Struggles with Morality, Myth, and Modernity (Edwin Mellen Press, 2009). 

David Keeling, head of WKU’s Geography and Geology Dept. spoke to a large enthusiastic crowd on Namibia at this month’s Far Away Places series at Barnes & Noble this past Thursday, October 1.  Keeling most recently visited Namibia in November, 2007 as expedition lecturer for the American Geographical Society sponsored “Casablanca to the Cape” educational expedition.  His prior visits included trips to the Skeleton Coast, Windhoek, and the Fish river canyons.  David is WKU’s most well traveled faculty member.  In 2008 alone his travels covered 133,840 miles.

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Click here for more photos of this event.

Thanks to a generous donation from WKU History Professor Dr. Carol Crowe-Carraco in memory of her parents, WKU Libraries has now added a new JSTOR Database: the19th Century British Pamphlets Collection.

This project, conceived by the Research Libraries UK (RLUK) and funded by the JISC Digitisation Programme, preserves and provides online access to more than 20,000 British pamphlets from the 19th century held in UK research libraries. Pamphlets were an important means of public debate in the 19th century, covering the key political, social, technological, and environmental issues of their day. They are a valuable primary resource relevant to a wide range of disciplines. They have been underutilized within research and teaching because they are generally quite difficult to access - often bound together in large numbers or otherwise hard to find in the few research libraries that hold them. JSTOR has made these pamphlets searchable alongside current collections to enhance discovery and use across disciplines. Topics in the collection range from Medicine to Colonial Reports to British views of the American Civil War.

The database is integrated into JSTOR and can be searched by itself through the “Advanced Search” or by a general search.

Try it today! JSTOR

Summer campers who participated in the Fine Art Camp built upon their basic drawing, painting, and design skills. By the time this camp ended, they had experimented with using pen & ink, charcoal, watercolor, pastels, and acrylic paint.

Photos

This summer the students and staff of Helm Library are in the process of shifting large amounts of periodicals to make way for more titles to come in the Fall. The titles will be moved from the Second Floor Periodicals room to the basement compact shelving area. Some titles, those already available on Jstor, will be moved from the Compact Shelves to The Gordon Wilson Storage Building.

Even though we are moving things around, we are still available to help! Just stop by the Reference Desk on the First Floor of Helm for any help. Just AskUs!

Dr. Brian Coutts, Head of Library Public Services at WKU, publishes his “Best Reference Sources” of the Year annually in the April 15 issue of Library Journal, the nation’s leading library trade journal. It’s one of two such “Best Ref” lists. Each year he gives a workshop on the “Best Reference Books” of the past year for WKU Library faculty and staff. This year’s presentation was held on Friday, April 24 at 9:00 a.m. A reception followed.

Photo Album | Video Clip

Josh Hawkins graduated from Western Kentucky University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Social Studies (emphasis in Education). He is currently enrolled in the Master of Public Administration program at WKU and is expected to graduate in December 2009. After spending three years as a student in the Phonathon program, Josh began his career in Institutional Advancement as an office associate in the Office of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving at WKU.

In July 2004, Josh was hired as the Director of Development for the College of Education at Auburn University. His responsibilities included prospect identification, cultivation, proposal and stewardship to foster gifts of $25,000 or more. This included not only prospect research, but working with the college’s faculty, staff and alumni in researching and developing detailed giving opportunities within the college.

In August 2006, Josh returned to WKU as an Assistant Director in the Office of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving. While in that position, he was responsible for the Alumni Association Membership campaign, Faculty-Staff campaign, President’s Circle membership solicitation (gifts of $1000 or more) and seven alumni chapters throughout the region. During this time he also served as an adviser for the Alumni Leadership Scholar program.

In January 2008, Josh was hired as the Director of Development for Co-Curricular Activities at WKU. His responsibilities included the areas of Student Affairs, Campus Services, Honors College, DELO, Leadership Studies, University College and several others within the university.

In March 2009, Josh began serving as Director of Development for University Libraries and Student Affairs.

Christy Spurlock was awarded the Frank R. Levstik Award for Professional Service from the Kentucky Historical Society. The KHS Awards Dinner was held at the History Center in Frankfort March 7, 2009. The Levstik Award is presented to a staff member of a museum, historical society, genealogical society, or other history-related organization in the state for exemplary work.

Nancy Richey was recently awarded a New Faculty Scholarship to pursue research into the the life of an influential Kentucky musician, Moses Rager. Rager is credited with teaching Merle Travis the unique thumb-finger picking style, that has influenced a generation of guitarists. The award is available to new faculty members within three years of appointment, and “provides project operating support of up to $4,000 to regular, full-time, tenure-track Western Kentucky University faculty for research and creative activity. Western Kentucky University’s mission focuses on scholarship in its four forms — discovery, integration, application, and teaching — thus, all professional activity by faculty, regardless of the discipline, is encompassed in this definition of scholarship.”