In 2010 a project was initiated to digitize WKU theses and dissertations for the period 1994-2009. These theses were stored in University Archives awaiting microfilming, however with the changes in technology, the decision was made to secure funding for digitization instead. In June 2010 the funding was secured. The theses were checked against the microfilm and a few additional theses going back to 1935 were found that had not been microfilmed. Each theses was checked for student permissions and a page count was compiled. 28 boxes containing 759 theses were shipped to North Carolina to be digitized. A jpg file was created of each page and a pdf file was created of each theses. The originals and a hard drive returned to WKU in late March 2011. From April 5 – 26, 2011 the theses were uploaded onto TopScholar and links were created from the library catalog TopCat to assist researchers in accessing them. They are available by department and also at Masters Theses & Specialists Projects.
WKU Theses and Dissertations for 1994-2009 Digitized
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Theses Digitization Phase I Completed
In 2010 a project was initiated to digitize WKU theses and dissertations for the period 1994-2009. These theses were stored in University Archives awaiting microfilming, however with the changes in technology, the decision was made to secure funding for digitization instead. In June 2010 the funding was secured. The theses were checked against the microfilm and a few additional theses going back to 1935 were found that had not been microfilmed. Each theses was checked for student permissions and a page count was compiled. 28 boxes containing 759 theses were shipped to North Carolina to be digitized. A jpg file was created of each page and a pdf file was created of each theses. The originals and a hard drive returned to WKU in late March 2011. From April 5 – 26, 2011 the theses were uploaded onto TopScholar and links were created from the library catalog TopCat to assist researchers in accessing them. They are available by department and also at Masters Theses & Specialists Projects.
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Sean Giddings performs at final Java City concert of the semester
At the final Java City Concert, singer/songwriter/WKU employee entertained the crowd Sean Giddings entertained the crowd with his thoughtful lyrics and sophisticated song stylings.
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Gary A. Ransdell Hall Dedicated Along with ERC
On the afternoon of April 28, 2011, WKU hosted a dedication for the Gary A. Ransdell Hall, home of the College of Education and Behavioral Science as well as the WKU Libraries’ Educational Resources Center (ERC). To celebrate the dedication, ERC featured several fine arts and had the honor of being visited by their creators.
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“Frankly, my dear…”
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara
May 19 will mark the 75th anniversary of the publication of Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell’s classic tale of the Civil War South. Two months after the novel appeared, David O. Selznick bought the film rights, and production of the blockbuster movie began in January 1939.
On the day scheduled to film the “burning of Atlanta” scene, Oscar Payne Cleaver, a native of Hart County, Kentucky, arrived on the set. His innovative work as an electrical engineer at Westinghouse had attracted the attention of Selznick, who hired him as a lighting consultant. Cleaver’s experiences left him with vivid impressions and memories. Vivien Leigh (“Scarlett O’Hara”) was sweet and friendly and played croquet with him, while Clark Gable (“Rhett Butler”) was stand-offish and kept blowing his lines. Hattie McDaniel (“Mammy”) was well-spoken, without a trace of her character’s thick dialect. Leslie Howard (“Ashley Wilkes”) struggled to subordinate his English accent to that of a Southern gentleman. Not only did Cleaver witness many fascinating tricks of cinema production, he came away with a story about the genesis of Rhett’s immortal (and controversial) parting words to Scarlett. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” Cleaver claimed, was less a carefully scripted dramatic moment than a byproduct of Gable’s frustration with his mangled lines.
Oscar Cleaver’s memories of his experiences on the set of Gone With the Wind are part of the collections of WKU’s Special Collections Library. Click here to download a finding aid. Also in our collection is an attractive souvenir booklet sold at theatres showing the film — download the finding aid here. Packed with images, cast and crew lists, and production facts (59 cast members, 2,400 extras, 1,100 horses, 5,500 items of wardrobe design, 90 screen tests of potential “Scarletts”), the booklet attests to the challenge of adapting a thousand-page novel that sold more than 50,000 copies on its first day of issue, 75 years ago this month.
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WKU Libraries Faculty Won University Awards
Rosemary Meszaros, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Government Documents & Law from the Department of Library Public Services, received the 2010 Award for Research and Creativity. Christy Spurlock, Assistant Professor and Education Curator from the Department of Library Special Collection, received the Award for Public Services. They were nominated and selected by their peers. They received their awards at a reception given by the University on the evening of April 26, 2011.
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Undergraduate Research Award Winners Honored in Libraries
On April 26, 2011, two students from University Experience classes were honored at Cravens Library with the first Undergraduate Research Award. WKU student Andrew Alvey accepted his award for Best Career Essay and faculty representative Paula Trafton accepted the Best Annotated Bibliography award on behalf of WKU student Megan Stohner. These awards were the result of the collaborative effort between WKU Libraries and University Experience.
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Genealogy Question of the Week
My great-grandfather was Baptist Minister; do you have any church records or minutes in your collections?
Church records are among the best records for genealogists to locate and study. They can provide information that is not recorded in any other source such as births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, and even the burial location of your ancestor. Additionally, you can learn about your ancestor’s participation in the church’s life or separation/transfer from the church rolls. Discipline in churches has changed dramatically over the years but in many cases, members were removed from the church for non-attendance, profanity, drinking or dancing. They can reveal the extent to which your ancestors participated in religious affairs. They are also helpful for tracing family relationships or migration patterns.
For those ancestors who were ministers, priest or rabbis, biographical information may be found in a printed source, obituary listing or in church or synagogue archives.
Finding theses important records can be difficult. Many churches do keep good records but they may have been sent to a central archive, placed in private hands or given to a historical society or special collections library. Fortunately, many churches have microfilmed these records, or at least given copies to local organizations.
The Kentucky Library and Museum’s manuscript collection of church records can be found at
http://www.wku.edu/Library/kylm/collections/inhouse/mss/ChurchRecords/index.html
Other records have been published in book form and may be found by using TOPCAT.
There are excellent chapters on the information provided by church records and how to locate them in The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, edited by Arlene Eakle and Johni Cerny (Ancestry Publishing, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1984) and in Val Greenwood’s revised edition of the Researcher’s Guide to American Records (Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, Md., 1990.
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2011 Summer Camps
Kentucky Museum Summer Camps are held each week in June from 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
After camp care is available from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Space is limited so please register early!
For more information call 745-2594 or visit: Summer Camps
Lynne Marrs Hammer Ferguson
Artist In Residence at Kentucky Library & Museum
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25th Year of Best Reference Selection by Brian Coutts
Head of Library Public Services, Dr. Brian Coutts, conducted his annual Best Reference Workshop on Friday, April 22 in Helm-Cravens Library. Coutts’ is the co-author of the annual “Best Reference” article in Library Journal — 2011 marks his 25th year. This year’s selections included some unique titles like The Story of Men’s Underwear, Salamanders of the Southeast, and Weeds of the Midwestern United States and Central Canada. Other important publications include the new The Oxford Companion to the Book, the first Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History, the updated classic The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages, the Encyclopedia of the Ghettos During the Holocause, and many more. For the complete review, please see Library Journal‘s Spring 2011 issue, available online at LibraryJournal.com or in print at Helm Library (Periodicals, 2nd Floor). –Amy Slowik
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