University Library Blogs

Every year, the Georgia State University Library participates in an important program that meets the needs of beginning archivists and students, as well as manuscript curators and librarians who require professional development. From June 16 - June 18 the library’s Special Collections department hosted several students from the Georgia Archives Institute. These students receive hands on experience and were guided through a practice project working on a small collection.

The Georgia Archives Institute, co-sponsored by the Georgia Archives, the Society of Georgia Archivists and Auburn Avenue Research Library, has provided an annual, intensive course in archival practice since 1967.  It provides a training ground for students to get a crash course in archival work. This begins with a weeklong intensive classroom experience. Following that, a half-dozen diverse Georgia institutions, including the Georgia State University Library, host students to provide them practical experience in an archive. The entire program serves as an introductory course for students and beginners, and as professional development for librarians, curators and others who work with historical material.

The Georgia State University Library has participated in the program for over twenty-years and a number of Special Collections department staff members are graduates. “The hands on experience is invaluable, “said Jill Sweetapple, one of the participants. Sweetapple is an intern at the Georgia Archives who is finishing her M.L.I.S. from Florida State University, “The first week of class was great, but until you start doing it… it was very theoretical.” Sweetapple was joined by Emily Erwin, University Archivist at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, as well as Janet DeForest, Coordinator of Research Information Services at The Carter Center in Atlanta. “I can’t imagine any place where you walk in the door and can start handling everything,” said Deforest, “You can see how it works and ask questions.”

These participants worked in the archives for three-days, getting practical know-how from Georgia State’s experienced archivists. The library participates in this excellent professional development opportunity every year, so if you’re interested in participating you can find more information about the program here.

On July 8th, the University Library is offering a free EndNote workshop.  EndNote is a software program that helps you store, organize and format citations. GSU users can download a free copy here.  In this session you will learn the basics of building an EndNote library and using EndNote to create formatted bibliographies.

Date: July 8th

Time: 12:00-1:30

Location: Library Classroom 1

Contact Joel Glogowski for questions or to register.

This summer’s exhibit on Library North 1 is “Virtual Worlds and Gaming.” This is a selection of books from our collection on video games and online virtual environments, topics that have received a lot of attention from scholarly authors in recent years. These books are for you to use! If you want to check any of them out, just ask at the Circulation desk and we’ll unlock the display cabinet.

The books were selected and annotated by Instruction Librarian Jason Puckett and the exhibit was designed by Creative Designer Christian Steinmetz.

Our images for this  exhibit came mostly from the virtual world Second Life. Click below to view a bibliography of the books in the exhibit (and some we didn’t have room for) and links to the original images.

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When many Georgia State graduate students finish their theses or dissertations, their documents are digitized and made available electronically. Now these graduates have a voice representing just how their digital research will be shared in the future.Dr. Nancy H. Seamans, the Dean of Libraries at Georgia State University, was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD). With her expertise in both libraries and the electronic theses and dissertation process, Dean Seamans is hoping to bring a unique perspective to the board.

Dr. Seamans began her tenure as the Dean of Libraries at Georgia State University in August 2008.  She holds a Doctorate in Instructional Technology from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science in Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a graduate student at Virginia Tech in 1997 when it became the first institution to require electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), she has published and made presentations about the ETD process, and her dissertation is available as an unrestricted electronic document. A common thread of her work has been her commitment to serving library users in an era of rapid changes in the technology of information delivery and retrieval.

The NDLTD is an international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination and preservation of electronic analogues to the traditional paper-based theses and dissertations. The Board of Directors boasts scholars from all over the world. Dean Seamans will join that prestigious group in educating graduate students in electronic publishing, making ETDs accessible worldwide and ensuring that library technology stays compatible with the rate of knowledge generated from new research results.

Without people like Hilary Morrish, we might forget Atlanta’s older neighborhoods. On May 20^th 2009, Morrish (a Georgia State University Library Technical Assistant) received the 2009 Historic Preservation Achievement Award from the Georgia Historic Preservation Division. Her contribution is significant to the historic preservation of Georgia, as Morrish and others documented the Collier Heights neighborhood and contributed to it being the first African-American ranch neighborhood nominated for the National Registrar.

With an undergraduate degree in history, Morrish organizes, describes and prepares finding aids for the University Library’s collections of historical value. She also assists patrons with their research inquiries.  “I have always enjoyed old buildings,” says Morrish, “I remember exploring old abandoned buildings as a child. They are such a catalyst for the imagination.” Morrish believes each building has a story to tell, one that reveals its evolution.Morrish and her fellow graduate students certainly revealed the story of Collier Heights. As part of their program work in Georgia State University’s Heritage Preservations Program, the group compiled enough supporting documentation to nominate Collier Heights to the Historic District National Registrar. According to the Georgia Historic Preservation Division’s press release:

Collier Heights is Atlanta and Georgia’s largest and most significant mid-20th-century African-American suburb.  When it was being developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was heralded nationally as the country’s premier African-American suburb, developed by as well as for African Americans.  Yet until recently, its history was largely undocumented, the area was not represented in any field surveys, and its significance was not widely known.

Morrish’s group worked to illuminate that importance by surveying the massive neighborhood and documenting the lives of a sample of its original residents. “As we explored the history,” she said, “We realized this neighborhood was a cradle so to speak, for many leaders of the Civil Rights movement.” By recording the history of this suburb, these students were able to establish a research model that will be useful when documenting other 20^th Century African-American suburban developments.Morrish’s award is well deserved, as her efforts have ensured that a neighborhood vital to Atlanta’s history will not be forgotten.

The library recently purchased the International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest.  From the introduction:

This encyclopedia encompasses the most comprehensive examination of modern-era revolutions, uprisings, and protest movements. It chronicles the ideas, ideologies, and activists that propelled these movements, tracing their roots, goals, tactics, successes, and failures. While numerous manifestos, analytic perspectives, explanatory works, and compelling larger collections have been assembled previously, this sweeping work elucidates the impressive and path-breaking action of the subjugated, disenfranchised, and ideologically motivated in inciting social change throughout the world, from 1500 to the present era.

This project also examines how different revolutions, uprisings, and protest movements have influenced one another and how they compare politically, economically, socially, and culturally. Accordingly, it introduces readers to the historiography and conceptual debates such manifestations have provoked, suggesting new, critical paths of inquiry into their legacies. This project elevates the study of revolution and protest, comprising a review of actual human behavior and organizational practice, motivated and directed toward expanding historical and social science research on the subject. It seeks to be a definitive account of the actions of human beings that transformed their material and social conditions – actions that frequently transformed the world in the process.

A review of this title is available here.

Chris Stotelmyer has been named the spring 2009 recipient of the Carolyn L. Robison Library Award. Chris’ five years of service at Georgia State, as a student assistant and employee, have represented the educational values and high professional standards of Dr. Robison during her years of service at the University Library.

Chris is a Library Technical Assistant for the Learning Commons and is currently pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science at Valdosta State University. His supervisor, La Loria Konata, remarks that Chris “has exhibited his professionalism through pro-activity, customer service, and problem-solving,” and she also states that “he will surely be a great benefit to the profession.” Chris’s immediate goal is to become a generalist librarian, and he aspires to be a health science librarian in the future.

The Robison Library Award was established in honor of Dr. Carolyn L. Robison upon her retirement after a 31 year career at Georgia State University Library. The fund also strives to promote Dr. Robison’s long term interest in encouraging the development of library staff members. This award provides financial assistance to a staff member of the University Library or the College of Law Library who is pursuing further education for a career in libraries. All of us at the Library are most grateful of the steadfast generosity of Dr. Robison.

2009 Merl E. Reed Fellowship in Southern Labor History – Award Winners 

Three recipients were recently selected to receive the Merl E. Reed Fellowship in Southern Labor History:  

·         Matthew Dimick, graduate student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His research topic is “Labor Law and Union Democracy: A British-U.S. Comparison.”

·         Jordan Patty, processing archivist and librarian at George Mason University Libraries Special Collections and Archives. His research topic is “Public Transit, Ownership and Labor in the United States, 1935-1975.”

·         Benjamin van der Horst, recent graduate of Emory University’s Department of History (MA). His research topic is “Delta Air Lines and Eastern Airlines: a case study of deregulation in the airline industry.” 

Each of these projects will require substantial research using the collections in the Southern Labor Archives. This year’s winners were chosen by a review committee composed of Ian Fletcher (History Department, Georgia State University), Robert Woodrum (History Department, Clark Atlanta University), Traci Drummond (Archivist, Southern Labor Archives, Georgia State University Library), and Stephen Zietz (Head, Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library).

The Merl E. Reed Fellowship in Southern Labor History was established in 2000 to honor Dr. Merl Reed, professor, scholar and founder of the archives, for his many contributions to education and labor history. A fellowship of $250-$500 is awarded annually to individuals whose research in the Southern Labor Archives will lead to a book, article, dissertation, or other substantive product. In return, recipients will make a presentation about their research to the Georgia State University community within one academic year after receiving the award. Faculty members, graduate students, upper-level undergraduates, and recognized independent scholars and artists are encouraged to apply.

To be considered for the 2010 Merl E. Reed Fellowship in Southern Labor History, applicants should submit on or before November 30, 2009. Please contact Traci Drummond (tdrummond@gsu.edu) with any questions or for more information. 

The library will be closed May 23 - 25 for the Memorial Day holiday. Please see our hours page for more details.

The library recently purchased 2 new JSTOR collections:

• Arts & Sciences V (current title list / upcoming titles)

This collection builds on previously introduced disciplines, adding important literary reviews and state historical journals. It will also widen the scope of core disciplines in the arts and humanities, such as philosophy, history, classics, religion, art and art history, and language and literature.

• Arts & Sciences VI (current title list / upcoming titles)

This collection will extend JSTOR’s coverage in disciplines across the social sciences, with clusters focused in economics, education, linguistics, political science, and area studies.

Additional information about the JSTOR archives is available here.