Cedarville University News

Kirsten Setzkorn, Digital Services Specialist at the Cedarville University Centennial Library, earned her Master of Library & Information Science degree from Kent State University in December 2016.  She completed her culminating experience during the fall of 2016 at the Ohio State University Thompson Library. Kirsten graduated from Cedarville in 2013 with a degree in History.

-Julie Deardorff, Cedarville University

 OhioNET News

Registration for OhioNET’s Dive into Data 2 conference opens on March 20th

OhioNET pleased to announce that registration for our next day-long, multi-type conference–Dive into Data 2: New Skills, New Depths–is set to open on Monday, March 20th.  Remember to mark your calendars to join us at the event itself on Thursday, July 20th at the Fawcett Center for a day of practical advice and relevant examples to help you create effective research projects.  Our day will feature 3 learning tracks, each focused on a different type of research goal (visioning, decision-making, or evaluating).  Additionally, our schedule will include both a Real-Life Research Case Study Panel, with participants describing different features of their research processes, and Real-Time Research Projects, featuring various data-collection methods that will be conducted on the day of the event. Our wrap-up session will include a presentation of the results and options for visualizing the data collected.

Finally, we’re thrilled to announce the addition of a student registration option for this event.  This offer will be open to anyone currently enrolled in a library/information science degree program. Got questions?  Please don’t hesitate to contact Shelly Miller.

-Shelly Miller, First Year Board Member, OhioNET

University of Toledo News

Artist’s Showcase at the University of Toledo’s Mulford Library

In 2005 the Mulford librarians at the University of Toledo hosted an event to provide a creative outlet for students, faculty and staff of the university’s Health Science Campus (HSC). Now in its 12^th year, the HSC Artist’s Showcase has become a popular event. This year’s show will contain nearly 60 works — paintings, drawings, photographs and multimedia pieces. The event includes a reception with light refreshments, and in the past has been accompanied by lectures that draw connections between art and medicine. In addition to bringing awareness of the artistic talents of fellow students and colleagues with the show, the hope is that the lectures will stimulate inquiry, dialogue and critical thinking by bringing together individuals from various departments and disciplines. Past topics include the importance of anatomy to art, medical illustration, art and creative wellness, and the impact of eye disease on painters. This year, in lieu of the lecture there will be an art scavenger hunt, and attendees will have a chance to win books on art and medicine.

The Artist’s Showcase has proven to be a successful means of reaching out to the UT community, as well as a way to engage interested individuals from the Toledo community at large. It has been suggested many times that the show be expanded to include the main campus, but the Mulford librarians prefer to keep the event intimate and easily manageable. Outside of the initial outlay for the art panels and accoutrements, the usual costs for refreshments and honoraria or giveaways are minimal, as is the amount of work required of the librarians (typically three or four) who are involved in the planning and set up of the show. Once the artwork was collected, the entire show was assembled in two hours.

Art shows have been around libraries for quite some time, and many have gallery spaces. But these have typically served as vehicles for artists of some repute, often not from the nearby community. If your library is looking for an alternative means of getting in touch with students, faculty, staff, and members of the surrounding community, an amateur art show such as this may be suitable.

-Gerald Natal, First Year Board Member, University of Toledo

Wright State University News

Maureen Barry, First Year Experience Librarian at Wright State University, has recently partnered with a mentoring program for 30 fourth- through seventh-grade girls in Dayton, the On Purpose Girls.  The Program Director for OPG, Kim Jarvis, was seeking someone to create a small library for the program and Maureen was in the right place at the right time.  She volunteered to create the library, and immediately began seeking age-appropriate fiction books that featured strong female characters and people of color, along with other non-fiction and reference books.  Friends and colleagues from all over the country have donated books for the library based on a wish list that Maureen maintains through Amazon.com.  The On Purpose Girls Community Library celebrated its Grand Opening on January 11, and is located in the Aspire Church in Dayton, where the OPG Mentoring Program meets weekly.  As a result of the partnership, Maureen also started a book club for the girls.

-Maureen Barry, Wright State University