Category Archives: Stuff

Fall 2015 Library Student Assistant Scholarship

Western Kentucky University (WKU) senior Katie Gamble from Hopkinsville, has been selected as the recipient of the WKU Library Student Assistant Scholarship.  Gamble is a senior who will graduate in May 2016 with a B.S. in Communication Disorders, completing her degree in only three years.fall15studentacholarshipPictured: Doug Wiles, Gamble, and Dean of WKU Libraries Connie Foster.

According to her supervisor Doug Wiles, Gamble has worked as a Stacks Management student for two-and-a-half years.  “During that time, I have noted Katie’s motivation to be exceptional in every endeavor: academic, work-related, and personal,” said Wiles. “Katie has been a leader in several projects, including a significant transition for Stacks Management to staff  the Helm Information Desk.”

Gamble has performed at a superior level academically, maintaining a 4.0 grade point average while working in WKU Libraries and volunteering in the Kelly Autism Program. In addition, Katie was the first student employee to serve on the WKU Campus Library Advisory Council.

“I take pride in telling people that I am a WKU Libraries Student Assistant and am very thankful for the opportunity to work here,” said Gamble. “I can genuinely say that being a student assistant has strengthened my time management skills and has made me more independent.”

Katie was recognized at a reception on Wednesday, December 9 in Cravens Library. The scholarship is sponsored through funding from the Friends of WKU Libraries. For more information on the Friends program, go to wku.edu/library and click on “Support Us.”

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Arlis O. Harmon & WKU Folk Studies Intern’s Success

Graduate student intern's depiction of Harmon's life as a composer

Graduate student intern’s depiction of Harmon’s life as a composer.

In Library Special Collections, we have been fortunate to have Angela Arvizu from the Folk Studies Department as a graduate student intern beginning in June. Ms. Arvizu added 171 created the metadata records for Arlis O. Harmon’s original compositions of sheet music (which will soon be approved and internet accessible at kencat.wku.edu), researched and documented an exhibit’s contents using Past Perfect Collection Management software, and created a case exhibit which will remain on display until January 26, 2016 in the Special Collections Library of the Kentucky Building.Harmon Exhibit by Angela intern
Of her internship, Angela wrote: “The experience of being an intern at Kentucky Library Research Collections was gratifying….Harmon who died in 1992 was a composer and poetry writer from Kentucky. The work done during my internship organized and protected his collection of compositions. I appreciated the opportunity to work with Sue Lynn McDaniel and the Special Collections Library in this project.”

A closeup of items in Manuscripts, our Photograph Collection and our Sheet Music Collection

A closeup of items in Manuscripts, our Photograph Collection and our Sheet Music Collection

Often these internships and student work opportunities serve our WKU students well as they seek employment after graduation. Thank you, Angela, for a job well done!

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WKU students receive undergraduate library research awards

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Western Kentucky University undergraduate students Daulton Cowan, Maggie Flanagan, and Jefferson Sanders were honored for winning undergraduate research awards at a recognition ceremony in Cravens Library on Monday, November 30.  WKU Libraries and WKU University Experience faculty offer the awards in an effort to recognize the important role of good undergraduate research in college academic success.

“Information literacy and library skills are essential for student success at any level, and I am happy to be a part of introducing the importance of college-level research skills to our first year students,” said Sara McCaslin, University Experience Coordinator.

Cowan, a first-year student from Bowling Green, Kentucky, received the award for his annotated resource list project for the University Experience class on the main campus. His work featured the TED Talk “How to Start a Movement” by Derek Sivers. His instructor was Aaron Peters.

Flanagan, a first-year student from Russell Springs, Kentucky, received the award for best annotated resource list in a major-specific area. Representing the College of Health and Human Services, her project featured her area of interest titled “Nursing: The Career that Saves Lives.” Her instructor was Marsha Hopper.

Sanders, a first-year student from Nashville, Tennessee, representing student essays of the South Campus University Experience class, was recognized for the best career essay titled, “Sports Broadcasting News Analyst.”  His instructor was Dr. Anne Heintzman.

Students received a monetary gift along with a plaque honoring their achievements. The winning documents, along with those of past recipients, are posted on TopSCHOLAR–WKU’s research and creative database—at digitalcommons.wku.edu/ueul_award/.

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Faraway Flix featured Brazilian film in November

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On Friday, November 20, a good crowd of 40 plus students, faculty, and staff turned out for the Brazilian film The Way He Looks at the Faculty House. Ashley Givan, International Enrollment, introduced Brazilian students Felipe Fabricio and Sarah Pereira Martins who led discussion about their native country. Prior to the movie, students enjoyed fried polenta along with specialty breads common in Brazil. After the film viewing, Fabricio and Martins answered questions regarding their Brazilian culture, and door prizes were handed out.

Faraway Flix

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Evelyn Thurman Young Readers Book Award

Wildflower, written by Alecia Whitaker

Friday, November 20, YA author Alecia Whitaker was honored at a reception at the Kentucky Building on Western Kentucky University’s campus for winning the Evelyn Thurman Young Readers Book Award for her novel Wildflower, featuring a teen girl from Kentucky.

Prior to the luncheon, Ms. Whitaker visited three middle schools in the area to talk to students about writing and what it takes to publish a book. Ms. Whitaker was pleasantly surprised to be serenaded by the student body at Moss Middle who sang the main character’s featured song “Notice Me” from the book.

This program is made possible by the Evelyn Thurman Children’s Author Fund, the Southern Kentucky Book Fest partnership, and WKU Libraries.

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WKU PROFESSOR RECOGNIZED AT HIS ALMA MATER IN CHINA

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Professor Haiwang Yuan of WKU Libraries was recognized last month at his alma mater Nankai University in Tianjin, China for his contributions to the academic development of the College of Foreign Languages (CFL). On October 22, the College of Foreign Language held a Book Donation and Guest Professorship Ceremony for Yuan with Dean of the Foreign Language College Yan Guodong presiding, along with several professors and graduate students from the English Department at the University. Dean Yan Guodong presented the Guest Professorship Letter of Appointment to Yuan and received the books donated by Yuan to the CFL.

“It was an honor to be recognized by one of most prestigious universities in China,” said Yuan. “I am thrilled that I was invited back to the place where I first taught English 30 years ago.”

Yuan thanked his alma mater and gave a presentation on English writing and answered questions. Yuan was a 1977 undergraduate of the College of Foreign Languages Department of Nankai University. Upon his graduation, he taught at the department until 1988. He attended Indiana University and received his Master degrees of History and of Library and Information Science in 1990 and 1995. Professor Yuan has published several monographs and translated works, as well as dozens of research articles. The monographs include The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese, Princess Peacock: Tales of Other Peoples of China, Tibetan Folktales, and This is China: The First 5,000 Years.

 

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You Belong to Us: One Baby, Two Sets of Parents

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Bowling Green author Molly McCaffrey was the speaker in the Kentucky Live! series on November 19, 2015 at Barnes & Noble Bookstore. She talked about and read from her newest book You Belong to Us: One Baby, Two Sets of Parents, a memoir which tells the story of her experience meeting her biological family just after her thirtieth birthday.

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Filed under Events, General, Kentucky Live, Latest News, New Stuff, People, Stuff, Uncategorized

Yasukuni Shrine: History, Memory, and Japan’s Unending Postwar

Yasukuni Shrine History-Memory-and Japans Unending Postwar (9)

WKU Libraries’ November 12, 2015 “Far Away Places” speaker series event at Barnes & Noble Bookseller, Bowling Green, Kentucky featured Professor Akiko Takenaka, who teaches the History of Modern Japan at the University of Kentucky. She talked about her new book Yasukuni Shrine: History, Memory, and Japan’s Unending Postwar, published this summer by the University of Hawaii Press.

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WKU Glasgow Library ribbon cutting

outdoor picYesterday we celebrated the newly renovated Glasgow Library with a Chamber ribbon cutting and numerous local people in attendance. See link below for full story.

Extensive library renovations finished

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Lyons and Epperson honored for inaugural WKU Libraries Open Access Hall of Fame

Dr. Scott Lyons and Ann Epperson are the inaugural inductees into the WKU Libraries Open Access Hall of Fame. “We want to acknowledge both faculty and students who have enhanced the works in TopSCHOLAR®, the Research and Creative Activity Database of WKU,” said Deana Groves, Department Head of Library Technical Services at WKU. “Dr. Lyons’ and Ann Epperson’s scholarly achievements have drawn thousands of researchers from around the world with downloads through this quality open access platform.”

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Dr. Scott Lyons, director of WKU School of Kinesiology, Recreation, & Sport, has exemplified the spirit of Open Access through his founding and editorship of the International Journal of Exercise Science (IJES), which debuted on TopSCHOLAR® in 2007. With over 345,000 downloads, this quarterly journal is dedicated to the dissemination of undergraduate and graduate research in the areas of Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology, Human Performance, Kinesiology, and related disciplines. It benefits not only WKU student researchers by providing a peer-reviewed journal, but is discoverable globally through the TopSCHOLAR® platform. Dr. Lyons completed his Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from the University of Alabama in 2003 and joined the faculty of WKU in 2004.epperson2

Ann Epperson is being honored in the Student Research category for her thesis Internet GIS as a Historic Place-Making Tool for Mammoth Cave National Park. Her advisors were Dr. Katie Algeo, Dr. Jun Yan, Dr. Fred Siewers and Dr. Kevin Cary. This project laid the groundwork for an Internet-delivered Public Participation Geographic Information System to facilitate exploration and discovery of the past communities of the Mammoth Cave Park area. Epperson’s thesis was completed in fulfillment of requirements for a Master of Science degree in Geography and Geology in December 2010. It has been downloaded nearly 15,000 times since it was posted to TopSCHOLAR®.

The inaugural Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at a reception on Thursday, October 22 in Helm Library, Room 100 at 2pm. Everyone is invited to attend. For more information about TopSCHOLAR® go to http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/

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