The West Virginia and Regional History Collection (WVRHC) of the West Virginia University Libraries has teamed with the Department of History in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences to add two new internships to their longstanding instructional partnership.

The internships are being offered through the Department of History’s Public History and Cultural Resource Management (CRM) programs. Graduate students will have the opportunity to intern with the WVRHC’s printed ephemera and archives and manuscripts collections.

“I am delighted we have this new partnership with the West Virginia and Regional History Collection,” said Barbara Rasmussen, director of the Public History and CRM programs. “It allows for training in library and archive management and practices.”

The printed ephemera collection contains valuable printed information about West Virginia and central Appalachia. It consists of about 100,000 items such as pamphlets, newsletters, programs, brochures and flyers. Ephemera refers to written and printed matter published with a short intended lifetime.

The archives and manuscripts collection has approximately 20,000 linear feet of material documenting topics such as the American Revolution, Civil War, West Virginia statehood movement, politics, agriculture, churches, folk heritage, genealogy, arts and many others.

WVU librarian Anna Schein proposed the idea last semester for a printed ephemera collection internship through Public History and CRM.

“The new internship provides a professional curatorial experience to process and describe unprocessed printed ephemera,” she said. “The internship also provides an opportunity to help create an electronic finding aid for printed ephemera, which will be published on the WVRHC Web site.”

The creation of the printed ephemera internship led to a second internship with the archives and manuscripts collection under the direction of Michael Ridderbusch, assistant University librarian.

“This partnership is a win-win situation for the WVRHC and the Department of History,” Ridderbusch said. “The internships allow us to improve the description of and access to our collections while supporting the Public History and CRM programs.”

Kelly Wilson, the first intern to participate, is working 40 hours a week this semester at the WVRHC to complete a master’s degree in public history and become certified in CRM.

“This is a great opportunity for me to get my feet wet in archival processing using various methods of collecting and recording metadata,” she said. “This internship has shown me the importance of creating clear and accurate descriptions for manuscripts, archives and ephemera so that information can be made available to everyone regardless of cultural or linguistic barriers.”

The interdisciplinary Public History and CRM programs draw on courses from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences; the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences; and the College of Creative Arts. Students in these programs train for careers with state park systems, libraries, firms and state or local government organizations that care for historic resources.

The WVRHC is located on the sixth floor of WVU’s Downtown Library Complex. It holds the largest collection of West Virginia archives in existence.

For more information about the internships, contact Rasmussen at 304-293-2421 ext. 5226 or Barbara.Rasmussen@mail.wvu.edu.

Susan Arnold, interim director of West Virginia University’s Health Sciences Library, was recently named to the Medical Library Association’s prestigious Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP).

The honor recognizes medical librarians based on their involvement in the field and in professional organizations, as well as their efforts in continuing education.

“It’s a sense of accomplishment,” Arnold said of the recognition. “I think it lends a sense of credibility to my work as a medical librarian.”

To be eligible for membership to AHIP, one must have first clocked five or more years as a medical librarian. Arnold was welcomed to the AHIP at the senior level.

Arnold has been active in the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association since 2001, serving a term as secretary for the organization. She has also published book reviews, presented poster sessions at conferences and set continuing education as a priority.

In addition, Arnold was a registered dietitian (RD) before joining the WVU Libraries faculty, and she maintains her RD status through continuing education in that field.

“Lifelong learning is important because things change so much, both in the field of medicine and with technology and electronic resources,” Arnold said. “There are always new databases and new tools to help you find and organize information.

With the electronic world expanding as much as it is, I believe in taking advantage of opportunities to keep updated.”

WVU Libraries Dean Frances O’Brien called the honor well-deserved.

“We know that Susan has made outstanding contributions to the WVU Libraries,” O’Brien said. “Her leadership in the Health Sciences Library, her dedication to improving services to library users and her collaborative work with other campus units has advanced the goals of the libraries.

It is nice to see Susan receive wider recognition for her achievements.”

Arnold received her bachelor’s of science in dietetics from West Virginia Wesleyan College, master’s of science in human nutrition and foods from Virginia Tech and master’s of library and information science from the University of South Carolina.

She came to the WVU Hospitals in 1988 as a clinical nutrition manager and dietetic internship director. In 2001, she joined the staff of WVU Libraries as an information services librarian. Three years later, she was named interim director of the Health Sciences Library.

Arnold joins two other WVU faculty already installed in AHIP, Jean Seibert, a distinguished member, and Virginia Bender, a senior member.

The West Virginia and Regional History Collection at West Virginia University Libraries recently received some unique memorabilia from a famous alumnus – the late actor and Morgantown native Don Knotts.

The Collection, housed on the sixth floor of the Wise Library on WVU’s Downtown Campus, is now home to television scripts, awards, an original poem and the manuscript and cassette recordings from the actor’s autobiography — from his wife of many years, Francey Yarborough.

Photo by: Ted Webb

Best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom “The Andy Griffith Show,” Knotts was born and raised in Morgantown and graduated from Morgantown High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from WVU in 1948.

At the time, there was no College of Creative Arts or WVU theater degree, so students majored in other disciplines while acting in school productions.“We are very thankful to receive these items, and we hope it is the beginning of many future installments of Don Knotts memorabilia,” said John Cuthbert, WVU curator.

As one of the University’s most illustrious graduates and the state’s most prominent native sons, Cuthbert said Knotts is considered “a genius in his field.”

“That is why it is so fitting that his memorabilia be housed in our Collection where it will be well preserved for future generations.”

Cuthbert said Knotts’ original typed autobiography, “Barney Fife and Other Characters I Have Known,” has many hand-written notes in the margins. Of significant interest are more than a dozen standard audio cassette recordings by Knotts, which Cuthbert describes as “fascinating because they tell Don’s story in his own words and voice — especially his recollections about life growing up in Morgantown.”

Knotts also tells the story of how Barney Fife was created, Cuthbert said, noting that Knotts said he called Andy Griffith and told him: “Every sheriff needs a deputy.” Griffith then talked to the show’s producers, and Mayberry’s well-intentioned deputy, one of the most famous and beloved characters in television history, was born.

The recordings will be copied onto quarter-inch tape and digitized for preservation purposes, Cuthbert added.

Photo by: Ted Webb

The Collection is also home to awards Knotts received over the years, including a 1994 plaque from former Monongalia County Sheriff Joseph C. Bartolo. The plaque reads, “Don Knotts Has Been Appointed Honorary Deputy Sheriff of Monongalia County.”A framed certificate, signed by former Gov. John D. Rockefeller designating Knotts as a 1982 “Distinguished West Virginian,” is also housed there.

In addition, the Collection received an unpublished, autobiographical poem written by Knotts, titled “The Man,” as well as two television scripts, “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” which was part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame Masterpiece Theatre, and “The Don Knotts Nice, Clean, Decent, Wholesome Hour,” a TV special from 1970.Although he was famous throughout the world, Knotts had a strong connection to WVU and Morgantown through friends and family members, and made many contributions to the City.

“He did many wonderful things for our community,” said Cuthbert, who met the actor in 1995 at the Don Knotts ‘Think First’ Invitational Golf Tournament sponsored by (WVU) Neurological Injury Prevention Program. “He was one of the kindest, most humble and gentle guys you’ll ever meet. He was very natural and easy to have a conversation with.”

In addition to his wife’s recent gifts, Knotts personally sent a group of scripts to WVU Libraries in January 2006, Cuthbert said. Those included ones he used during the filming of movies with Universal Studios and Walt Disney Productions. The scripts, which have his signature and hand-written notes on them, include: “The Reluctant Astronaut” (1966), “The Love God” (1968), “The Shakiest Gun in the West” (1967), “How to Frame a Figg” (1970) and “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo” (1976).

The WVU Libraries plans to exhibit the Don Knotts memorabilia in the future, said Dean of Libraries Frances O’Brien.

“We look forward to sharing these Don Knotts memories with the WVU and Morgantown communities as well as the world,” O’Brien said.

The memorabilia will be preserved so that writers and researchers can go directly to the source of original information.

“You can bet there will be plenty of writing about Don Knotts in the future,” Cuthbert said. “If a person were planning to write something serious about Don Knotts, that person would be remiss not to listen to the audio cassettes and look at the materials we have in the West Virginia and Regional History Collection.”

WVU Libraries has the most extensive collection in the world of primary information resources regarding West Virginia history, including maps, folk music, archives and manuscripts. The Collection is prized by researchers, both nationally and internationally. It also preserves the history of the University and Morgantown.

Morgantown will also soon be home to a bronze statue of Knotts by sculptor Jamie Lester. A memorial garden is also being planned in the City.

Photos by: Ted Webb