Murphy Library
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Issue 63 Spring 2019
Letter from the Director New Digital Collection National Library Week Murphy Library Special Recognition Award Big Ideas Club
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In This Issue From the Director...............................................2 Local Collaboration Leads to New Digital Collection..............................3 New Scanner, Odin Oyen Collection................4 New Databases..................................................5 National Library Week 2019.............................5
From the Director
Murphy Library Special Recognition Award....................................6 The BIG Ideas Club............................................7 New In Reference..............................................8, 9
Greetings everyone,
Support Murphy Library....................................10, 11
I am delighted and honored to have been chosen to be Murphy Library’s next director. It will be exciting to lead and work directly with the faculty, staff and student workers that all help make this library great. While I am not new to this organization, I am experiencing a mix of curiosity and interest (perhaps even some anxiety). Murphy Library is a complex organizational machine that is made up of a diverse array of moving parts, which all need to work in synergy in order to deliver the important resources and services that help our institution deliver a high-quality educational experience to our students. Whenever possible, I will strive to talk in terms of “we” and “us” when speaking or advocating for the library and the work we all do. It is never just about the director, but rather all the faculty and staff employed at Murphy Library. Whether it is personnel working on metadata to make everything “findable” in our catalog, those handling the curation of physical and electronic resources, individuals digitizing materials that are of local historical importance, staff that open and close our facility, those who maintain the stack areas, staff managing our complex budgets, custodians ensuring a clean working environment, or faculty who provide services to instruct, engage, and reach out to our users of all types, all have a role in making this library a valuable commodity to our campus and neighboring community.
The Fine Print is published fall and spring terms for UW-La Crosse faculty, staff, students and friends of Murphy Library. Editor Chelsea Wyman Design and Layout Marc Manke Photography Marc Manke Laura Godden Teri Holford-Talpe Michael Lieurance
In order to be an effective director, it will be important for me to ask a lot of questions to best understand how people think and work here. It is also necessary to be a good listener, and I sincerely appreciate when others ask me questions or offer ideas. Trusting your employees to do their jobs well is critical and knowing when to offer advice or help will be important as well. While there is no one recipe to have a successful library, utilizing best practices, applying ample doses of innovation, collaborating endlessly, and not being afraid to try even if mistakes are made can all produce enormous positive returns towards this goal.
*unless noted otherwise*
Department Chair Michael Current Library Director John Jax Murphy Library University of Wisconsin - La Crosse 1631 Pine Street La Crosse, WI 54601
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Murphy Library is for everyone! Please come visit us, and often! Best Regards, John Jax, Library Director
Meet Our New Director We are excited to announce John Jax as the new Murphy Library Director! He has served as the Collection Development Librarian at UWL for the past 17 years and is excited to continue his work at Murphy Library in this new role. Keep reading to learn more about John.
From John: After graduating with a master’s degree in Library and Information Studies from UW-Madison, I worked in a variety of academic library positions before landing at Murphy Library in 2002 as the Collection Development Librarian. In addition to work related items, I thought it might be fun to let you know a little more about myself. I was a student-athlete of
the University of Minnesota and played for a coach named Lou Holtz. Readers may also find it funny that I never intended to become a librarian but rather a high school teacher. It was only through a programmatic change resulting in another 1.5 years of college and parental intervention that I saw the advantages of going to graduate school to become a librarian (both parents worked in higher education). Still liking to remain active in sports, I enjoy lifting weights, trail running, biking and playing ice hockey. When not reading library technical specifications, reports or the latest library research articles for work, I do appreciate reading works of fiction and non-fiction.
What’s in my leisure reading list right now? Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder and Cherry: A Novel by Nico Walker. Listening to music and attending concerts are two other favorite pastimes. Surprisingly, I have an affinity toward music of the 1990s and would argue that some of the most revolutionary bands (second only to the 1960s) came from that decade. I feel fortunate to have met and become close friends with one of those bands from that time period (name withheld to protect but will disclose if you ask me kindly).
On 75th Anniversary, Local Collaboration Leads to Far-Reaching Digital Collection For the past two years, the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee (UMRCC) and David Mindel, Digital Collections Librarian, have been working together to create a digital collection that makes the organization’s 75 - years’ worth of material freely available and searchable online. The first major push of digital content was in preparation for the UMRCC’s 75th annual meeting, which was held in La Crosse on March 19 - 21. The Library’s team, consisting of Mindel, William Doering (Systems and Metadata Librarian), Mike Olson (Library Services AssistantAdvanced), Nicole Wallace (Public Services Librariantemp) and Leo Dancette (former UWL student),
worked hard on cataloging physical items, digitizing, adding metadataand processing materials. This project has been assisted with the help of the Indus BookScanner9000, which was purchased through donations from UMRCC, Indus International and UWL. Mindel was invited to speak about the project and report on its status at the UMRCC annual meeting. At that time, the UMRCC digital collection had grown to include over 26,000 pages of text-based materials, over 400 photographs, one video and a variety of cartographic items. The meeting also gave Mindel an opportunity to meet with members of the UMRCC
Executive Board as well as Ameen Ayoob (owner of Indus International in West Salem, WI), John Sarnowski (Director of The ResCarta Foundation formerly of Onalaska, WI), Dr. Betsy Morgan (UWL Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs) and Ron Kind (US Congressman representing the 3rd District of Wis.). The material online represents only the first phase of this project, with more than three quarters of the collection waiting to be digitized over the next several years. You can find the collection at https://digitalcollections.uwlax.edu/UMRCC.htm.
David Mindel - Digital Collections Librarian
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New Scanner Leads to One of a kind Digital Collection with Local Connection In late 2018, La Crosse attorney, Nicholas J. Passe, came to Murphy Library Special Collections to learn more about Odin Oyen, a La Crosse-based interior decorator who operated around the turn of the century up until the Great Depression. Oyen and his studio, the building of which is still located on 5th Avenue and Main Street in La Crosse, were responsible for designing the interiors of a variety of buildings including churches, fraternal organizations, court houses and private residences throughout the upper Midwest and states further west. Passe recently acquired over 100 original watercolor designs from the Odin Oyen Studio and offered Murphy Library Digital Collections the opportunity to digitize these items and include them in the Digital Collections. David Mindel, Digital Collections Librarian, jumped at the chance to capture these items, most of which are large, fragile and have never been made available in a digital format. For months, Mindel and Mike Olson, Digitization and Metadata Assistant, worked to create quality digital images from these originals. However, the Digital Collections simply lacked the capacity to capture and process such large items. This led Mindel to make a request to the Murphy Library Endowment Fund to purchase the Context HD Ultra 42� large format scanner. This addition to the Digital Collections’ arsenal of scanners allowed Mindel and Olson to digitize these items and return them to Passe, who has plans to track down the building interiors pictured in the items. Passe also has several Oyen pieces on long-term loan with the La Crosse County Courthouse and has plans to have Mindel digitize those and then create a placard for the physical items that can serve as a conduit for community members to follow and explore the larger collection online. You can find this collection at https://digitalcollections.uwlax.edu/OdinOyen.htm.
David Mindel - Digital Collections Librarian
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Above: Images from the new collection, renderings for the La Crosse County Courthouse (top) and an unknow church with pipe organ (background).
Mindel and Olson feed materials through the new scanner.
New Databases Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD):
CLCD provides detailed information about children’s books and media including book reviews, thematic lists, award listings and curriculum tools. Searches can be performed across the entire CLCD database of over three million titles or limited to the Murphy Library collection.
National Library Week 2019
Daniels’ Orchestral Music Online:
This new resource is an orchestral music finder tool that contains records of over 11,000 works by more than 1,600 composers. It can be used to find basic information on composers or to identify pieces for programming. Advanced search options include information such as duration, instrumentation, chorus type and soloists.
Katherine Fish – Electronic Resources and Acquisitions Librarian
National Library Week, held April 7 - 13 this year, is an annual celebration highlighting the valuable role libraries, librarians and library workers play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities. The first National Library Week in 1958 was developed based on the idea that once people were motivated to read, they would support and use libraries. Over 61 years later, libraries are continuing to ignite public awareness and advocate for themselves with this year’s national theme, Libraries = Strong Communities. This theme inspired us at Murphy Library to choose our own theme of Your Library, Your Community.
To celebrate the week, several events and activities were planned with the theme of community weaving through each one. These included gathering campus input on some of our services, a photo booth for students to show us what they love about Murphy Library, a visit from a therapy dog (a crowd favorite) and a story time with the Campus Child Center. Each event was planned with the intention of involving different areas of campus and strengthening the image of Murphy Library as a student and community centered space. We hope to continue fostering this image by using some of the feedback we gathered during the week to inform future decisions.
Chelsea Wyman - Outreach Librarian
Therapy dog Kelvara, from the Coulee region humane society Pet Therapy Program, was quite popular durring her visit to Murphy Library.
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Murphy Library Special Recognition Award On Tuesday, May 7, 2019, UWL Emeritus Professor Bruce Mouser will be awarded the Eugene W. Murphy Library Special Recognition Award posthumously. Mouser passed away in late 2018. Nancy Mouser, his wife, will be accepting the award on his behalf. The Murphy Award recognizes those individuals or organizations that have made major contributions to the mission, programs and purposes of Murphy Library. Bruce Mouser was a dedicated scholar and prolific author. Even after his retirement from the History Department at UW-La Crosse in 1996, he authored 15 books and 32 scholarly articles. He relied heavily on Murphy Library's Interlibrary Loan services and the Library’s resources in his research. In 2012, he donated the bulk of his extensive research materials
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and manuscripts, totaling over twelve cubic feet, to Murphy Library Special Collections. Mouser is best known in La Crosse for his articles, books and public lectures on Black settlement along the upper Mississippi River. His biography of George Edwin Taylor, For Labor, Race, and Liberty: George Edwin Taylor, His Run for the White House, and the Making of Independent Black Politics, was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2011. The book reflects on the historic presidential run of La Crosse resident George Edwin Taylor in 1904. Running against Theodore Roosevelt, Taylor was the first African American ticketed as a political party’s nominee for U.S. president. The book was nominated for several awards including the Pulitzer Prize in biography. In 2014, he also published A Black Gambler’s World of Liquor, Vice, and Presidential
Politics: William Thomas Scott of Illinois, 1839-1917. Mouser also extensively researched the life of George Poage using materials in Murphy Library Special Collections. Poage was a resident of La Crosse and the first African-American to win a medal in a modern Olympics at St. Louis in 1904. Mouser eventually decided not to publish his biography of Poage but instead offer it as an open access e-book through Harvard University at https://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/files/ hutchins/files/george_coleman_poage.pdf. Please join us in honoring Bruce Mouser from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7 in Murphy Library Special Collections, Room 155. The ceremony will begin at approximately 5:30 p.m. with a reception to follow.
Paul Beck - Special Collections Librarian
The BIG Ideas Club Can little kids participate in philosophical discussions? UWL undergraduate researcher and McNair Scholar Brandon Tristano, majoring in Educational Studies and currently a pre-service teacher, had a hunch that yes, children certainly can (and should) participate in discussions on bigger life issues. Together with Murphy Library’s Curriculum Collection Librarian and McNair Scholar Liaison Teri Holford, they set up a one-credit independent study for Brandon to create sample curriculum and lesson plans based on five picture books to be used as a pilot project for fourth graders at a local La Crosse charter school in December.
The project, called “The Big Ideas Club: An Introduction to Philosophy for 4th and 5th Graders Through Picture Books and Facilitated Conversations About Bigger Life Issues,” was led by Brandon and assisted by two other McNair Scholar peers over the course of five days. After receiving an initial training by Brandon, the three UWL McNair Scholars spent five one-hour morning sessions in the classroom. The five
picture books featured were Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel, The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L.Frank Baum, Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willemsand Frederick by Leo Lionni. Subjects covered were beauty, bravery, responsibility, belonging and civic duty. Participating fourth and fifth graders started each session together where Brandon read the story out loud. The groups then split up into smaller circles, each with a McNair Scholar facilitator, to fill out a story matrix that then led to small group discussions. The important element was that the adult’s role was limited to that of a facilitator in order to encourage a free exchange of ideas and peer discussion among the children. Each session ended with everyone coming together to share their ideas on the bigger life issue featured in the picture book of the day. Through Brandon’s personal reflections and Teri’s observations, some things went smoothly and others would need to be developed further to improve the quality of exchanges. The fourth graders were not used
to this type of free flow discussion and continually looked to the facilitator for guidance, which was not the point of the lesson design. A curriculum redesign would also start out the small group time with easier questions specific to the story, instead of the original open-ended questoions. Towards the end of the week, however, the students got to know their facilitator and established a level of trust that made for more meaningful, creative and honest conversations. The project represented a new way to collaborate between Murphy Library, School of Education students and the community. The lessons will be available in the Curriculum Center's professional section. Brandon is also presenting his project at the Undergraduate Research Fair in April.
Teri Holford Engagement & Curriculum Collection Librarian
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New in Reference Encyclopedia of American Industries by Gale Cengage Learning (Editor) Call Number: HC102 .E53 2018 Reference ISBN: 9781410363251 7th ed., v.1-3
A to Zoo: Subject Access to Children’s Picture Books by Rebecca L. Thomas Call Number: Z1037 .L715 2018 Reference ISBN: 9781440834349 10th edition.
Encyclopedia of Public Health by Sally Kuykendall (Editor) Call Number: RA423 .E53 2018 Reference ISBN: 9781610699822 v.1-2 Great Events from History - LGBTQ Events by Salem Press Editors (Editor); Robert C. Evans (Editor) Call Number: HQ73 .L45 2017 Reference ISBN: 9781682175910 Second edition, v.1-2 The SAGE Encyclopedia of Abnormal and Clinical Psychology by Amy E. Wenzel (Editor) Call Number: RC435 ONLINE ISBN: 9781483365817 Publication Date: 2017, v.1-7 The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences by Sandra L. López Varela Call Number: CC70 ONLINE ISBN: 9781119188230 Publication Date: 2019, v.1-4 Materials Handbook by Francois Cardarelli Call Number: TA404.8 .C37 2018 Reference ISBN: 9783319389233 3rd edition., v.1-2
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The International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication by Craig Scott (Editor); Laurie Lewis (Editor) Call Number: HD30.3 ONLINE ISBN: 9781118955567 Publication Date: 2017, v.1-4 The World of Ancient Egypt by Peter Lacovara Call Number: DT60 .L333 2017 Reference ISBN: 9781610692298, v.1-2 The Tesol Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching by J. I. Liontas (Editor-In-Chief); TESOL International Association Staff Call Number: PE1128.A2 ONLINE ISBN: 9781118784235 Publication Date: 2018, v.1-8 Race in American Film by Daniel Bernardi (Editor); Michael Green Call Number: PN1995.9.N4 R33 2017 Reference ISBN: 9780313398391, v.1-3 Climate Change by Bruce E. Johansen Call Number: QC902.92 .J64 2017 Reference ISBN: 9781440840852 v.1-3
The Sage Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation by editor, Bruce B. Frey Call Number: LB1028 ONLINE ISBN: 9781506326146 Publication Date: 2018, v.1-4
The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health by Brigham Narins Call Number: RC437 ONLINE ISBN: 9781410388223 Publication Date: 2019, Fourth edition, v.1-4
Michael Current - Reference Librarian
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Support the Library - Buy a Book La Crosse Memories Murphy Library Special Collections contributed historical photos of the La Crosse area to the pictorial history books, La Crosse Memories: The Early Years and La Crosse Memories II: The 1940s, 1950s and 1960s The books are a collaborative effort among the La Crosse Tribune, Murphy Library and the La Crosse Public Library. The publisher looked through historical photos in Special Collections and selected hundreds of images to digitize. Those images are all included online in Murphy Library Digital Collections, and many were used in the books. The books have been frequently advertised by the publisher in the La Crosse Tribune and are both available at Murphy Library. Copies of both books can be purchased at Murphy Library for $44.95 each. Additional purchasing information can be found below.
La Crosse - Postcard History Series UW-La Crosse Special Collections Historian Laura Godden and Special Collections Librarian Paul Beck dug through hundreds of postcards at Murphy Library to piece together a book showcasing historic La Crosse. They arranged the postcards in five chapters showing the city’s history of work, parks and daily life. The book, which is titled La Crosse, is available in area bookstores and in Murphy Library. It is published by Arcadia Publishing as part of their Postcard History series. Copies can be purchased at Murphy Library for $26.99. Purchase any of these titles at Murphy Library by contacting the Administrative Office at 608.785.8505 or libraryoffice@uwlax.edu
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Donate to Murphy Library! Choose from the Murphy Library Endowment Fund or the Florence Wing Restricted fund.
The Murphy Library Endowment Fund is a pledge of excellence shared by donors who believe that the library is a central part of the teaching and research mission of the university and an important educational and business resource in the community. A strong Library Endowment Fund, built on contributions of all sizes, ensures the continuing excellence of Murphy Library in the 21st century. The Florence Wing Fund has been developed to complement the existing Murphy Library Endowment Fund. It provides a less-restricted mechanism for awarding and distributing funds for short-term needs or bigger projects.
Making a Difference
Thousands of students, faculty, staff and community users each year benefit from donor funded projects and programs. Furniture for collaborative spaces Series of distinguished guest lectures on diversity and children’s literature Photographic negatives on regional history Books, journals, & preservation Backfiles of science journals Fine press titles Map preservation
Award-winning children’s science books New technologies Mobile computing technology Environment and space Student artwork Programming Digitizing UWL Racquet Digitizing UWL yearbooks
Mail to:
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Murphy Library Resource Center Endowment Fund 1631 Pine St. La Crosse, WI 54601 USA Thank you for your support!
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University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Murphy Library Resource Center 1631 Pine St. | La Crosse, WI | 54601 USA www.uwlax.edu/murphylibrary The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and is in compliance with Title IX and Section 504