Library Newsletter Spring 2019

NEWSLETTER SPRING 2019 Message from the Dean of the Library and Learning Technologies Susan M. Ryan Library faculty and staff are constructing our next Strategic Plan that will cover 2019-2023. In March, we worked on a revision of our mission statement and developed some underlying concepts that will guide all of our work. We are currently working in sub-groups to develop different parts of the plan. One of the more exciting aspects of this work is the development of a library internship program to meet the needs of students who have an interest in pursuing careers in libraries, museums, and archives. Librarians are working with Stetson’s Career Services staff and researching options for content, structure of the internship, and learning outcomes. Not only will this initiative appeal to those students considering career options, but we hope that the experience will help to develop research and critical thinking skills – skills highly in demand in the workplace. An added benefit may be to increase the diversity of applicants to graduate schools in library and information science and archival and museum studies. We are excited to craft an outline for our next five years of library growth and development and look forward to living our mission: The duPont-Ball Library librarians and staff advance teaching and lifelong learning, collaboration, and innovation through library services, information resources, technologies, and facilities. New Furniture Today’s library furniture is more than just a place to sit and study. In this tech-heavy, sometimes over-stimulating environment in which we exist, students look for mobile- and laptop-friendly comfortable seating as well as seating that can provide a sense of privacy, calm, and quiet. We need furniture that can be easily moved to meet the needs of individual and group study. With that in mind, we have been adding new types of furniture to the building – everything from lightweight tables to bean bag comfort seating and “pod” chairs that have built-in noise reduction. Student input is important in our purchasing decisions as we create a library that best meets the needs of those who use it. We thank University Trustee Betty Drees Johnson (’59, ’62) who kick-started this effort with a generous gift. Thank you also to John (’68) and Shelia Haire and the John Haire Family Library Endowment for help purchasing furniture and mobile white boards for the ground floor Quiet Study Area. Welcome Hunter! The library welcomes Hunter Murphy as our Engagement and Learning Librarian. Hunter received his B.A. in English from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and his M.L.I.S. from the University of South Florida. He brings to Stetson 18 years of public library experience and most recently has served three years at Lynn University as an Information Desk Librarian. Hunter has experience teaching information literacy skills and research strategies to various library constituencies, and has worked with faculty to develop course-specific instruction sessions. He is known for his engaging manner in the classroom, working specifically to tailor instruction to the learning styles of digital natives and Generation Z students. Along with instructing students both in the library and the classroom, Hunter will be coordinating all of the library’s social media accounts. Stetson Family Visit On March 22, Library Dean Sue Ryan and Library Archivist Kelly Larson hosted Allyn Elizabeth Rankin, great-great granddaughter of John B. and Elizabeth Stetson, and her husband Juan Martinez at the library’s Archives. Allyn and Juan got to see many of the Stetson family memorabilia items that had been donated by cousins, aunts, and uncles, as well as about a dozen Stetson hats donated by Allyn’s mother. (The hat seen below left was made for G. Henry Stetson, Allyn’s great-grandfather and John B. Stetson’s youngest son.) Allyn had last visited Stetson in the 1970s and commented on how beautiful the campus now looked. All of the more than 500 Stetson family memorabilia items and photos can be viewed in our Digital Archives at https://bit.ly/2Fmkiyl. Vintage Florida Postcards The library’s Archives recently added another 365 vintage Florida postcards to our collections, thanks to a donation from alumnus Dr. Jay Mechling (’67). The postcards, serving as “mini histories” of our local area and state, are both historically and monetarily valuable. Some of the postcards depict campus scenes, while others show various Florida towns, landscapes, buildings, and attractions covering decades of Florida history. Dr. Mechling has donated about 2,000 postcards, bringing the total postcard collection to almost 2,500 cards. You can view the postcards at https://archives.stetson.edu (choose Memorabilia Collection and search for “postcard”).Photograph Collections Kelly Larson, Library Archivist In March, the Library hosted a workshop for the Northeast Florida Library Information Network titled Photographic Collections: Care, Identification and Digitization. Fifteen librarians and archivists from libraries throughout northeast Florida attended the day-long event which focused on preservation of archival photos. Two experts from the Northeast Document Conservation Center led the workshop, in which participants learned about the major historical developments in photography, along with principles for identifying and preserving photographs of different types. The presentation covered a broad range of photographic material, from the daguerreotypes of the mid-1800s, to the digital prints of the present day. The workshop also offered guidance and best practices for digitizing photograph collections. Stetson’s own photograph collection contains thousands of photos in a wide variety of formats. The oldest example is from the Regar Collection: it is a tintype of DeLand settler James Frederick Allen, who served as a Union soldier in the American Civil War. The image, rendered on a tin plate with a gilded frame, is contained within a black “union case.” Such cases and frames are common among Civil War era photographs. Our Photographs Collection can be viewed online at https://archives.stetson.edu. Library Research Prizes Each spring the library awards two research prizes: The Evans C. Johnson and the R. Neil Scott Research Prizes. The contest is sponsored by the library (and funded by donors in memory of the prizes’ namesakes) to encourage the thorough, effective, creative, and ethical use of research resources in first year student papers. Winners receive a monetary award and an engraved plaque. The 2018 Evans C. Johnson Prize went to Emma Knowles (above, top, with Trustee Betty Johnson) for her paper Martin E.P. Seligman: The Implication of Learned Helplessness and Explanatory Styles on Personality, written for Dr. Cade Resnick’s class, “Theories and Research in Personality.” Julia Finver (above right with Dr. Asal Johnson) won the R. Neil Scott Prize for her paper, Health Consequences of Unjust Treatment of Black Males in the United States, for Dr. Johnson’s “Health and Human Rights” course. We had so many worthy entries this year that the library awarded two Honorable Mentions to Nelson Quezada Herrera (below with librarian and Award Committee Chair Laura Kirkland) for Immigration Bipartisanship: Explaining the Senate Vote on the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (Dr. David Hill’s “Congress” class) and to Samuel Craig (below with Dr. Paul Croce) for One Case at a Time: The Warren Court’s Advancing of Civil Rights, and Expansion of Federal & Judicial Powers (Dr. Croce’s “The 1950s and 1960s” class). We congratulate these talented students. The Max Cleland Collection Grows Stetson’s Library is the proud home of the Max Cleland (’64) Collection made up of more than 4,000 photographs, Vietnam and political memorabilia, audio and video files, as well as photos and items from Max’s time at Stetson. Max adds new items to the collection regularly – most recently correspondence with notable political figures Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Chuck Hagel, Trent Lott, Nancy Pelosi, Colin Powell, and others. The collection is a political and historical treasure trove used by scholars, documentarians, and our own students. For more information on the Cleland Collection, as well as our many other unique Special Collections, visit https://archives.stetson.edu. If you have Stetson memorabilia that you would like to donate to our Archives, please contact Sue Ryan, [email protected], 386-822-7181. We accept many different types of memorabilia, but are especially interested in fraternity and sorority items, rat caps, and athletic equipment. Photographs of your time at Stetson are also appreciated. Alumnus Book Gifts Remembered Betty Drees Johnson, retired Stetson Library Director and current Board of Trustee member Not long before I retired as Library Director, alumnus Robert Lee Dean (’68) contacted me about some books he would like to send to the library. As we discussed his collection, it turned out that he had books which exemplified the finest of book publishing. These classics were from a series published by Easton Press and were printed on fine rag paper. They were bound in leather with stamped gilt text and gilt tool work on both the front and rear boards. The end papers were silk with a matching silk placement ribbon sewn-in at the head of the spine, and three edges of the text block in gilt. Although I led the automation of our library, including replacing many print volumes with electronic versions, I love the sensuality of reading a beautifully produced print book, and I eagerly accepted his gift. Over the next few years, Bob also sent some art books, but I’ll always appreciate the opportunity to review and handle those fine Easton Press editions which celebrate the art of books. I am so thankful he made it possible for our students to also borrow and appreciate these editions. duPont-Ball Library • Stetson University • 421 N. Woodland Blvd., Unit 8418 • DeLand, FL 32723 (386)822-7183 • stetson.edu/library • facebook.com/StetsonLibrary