Chelsea Richmond and Alexandra Day Coffman are the 2011 recipients of the Robert F. Munn Undergraduate Library Scholars Award.

“Both of these young women wrote tremendous theses. Their work demonstrates and showcases the great research being done by undergraduates at West Virginia University,” said Keith Garbutt, Dean of the Honors College. “We are pleased these students are being recognized for their scholarship and hard work.”
The WVU Libraries and the Honors College established the Robert F. Munn Undergraduate Library Scholars Award in 2009 to honor Dr. Robert F. Munn, Dean of Library Services from 1957-1986.

The award goes to one or more graduating Honors students for outstanding humanities or social sciences research that is done in the WVU Libraries and results in an exceptional thesis. Writing a thesis is a graduation requirement for Honors students. Along with receiving a $1,000 award, the scholar’s name is added to a plaque in the Downtown Campus Library.

Coffman is the daughter of Bert and Suzanne Coffman of Grafton. Her experience with the West Virginia 4-H program led her to focus her research on the tradition and history of the organization. Her thesis, “The Life and Influence of William H. Kendrick: A Short Biography of ‘Teepi’ Kendrick,” discusses the impact Kendrick has had on the West Virginia 4-H program.

Coffman spent a lot of time digging into the archives of the Libraries’ West Virginia and Regional History Collection. She was excited to learn that her writing was being recognized and that a topic not often examined was selected as a winning thesis.

“My research was about William H Kendrick and his influence on the West Virginia 4-H program. It covered his entire life, but focused on when he became state 4-H leader and eventually founded the first state 4-H camp in the nation at Jackson’s Mill,” Coffman said.

Graduating in December 2010, Coffman has already begun pursuing a dual master’s in history and international studies through the Atlantis Program, a collaborative transatlantic master’s program. She will study in Europe during the 2011-12 academic year.

Richmond is the daughter of Michael Richmond of Lewisburg and Heather Bandy of Ronceverte. As a history and political science double major, Richmond focused her research on a topic that reflects her passion for both subject areas. Her thesis, “Tito’s Yugoslavia: America’s Cold War Weapon,” examines the relationship between Cold War era United States and Yugoslavia and how lessons learned from this interaction could be used in today’s foreign policy.

Richmond enjoyed the research experience and was thrilled to learn that she had won the award.

“It’s so easy to avoid libraries and archival research today, with the Internet and electronic resources, but to do so would be missing out on one of the most important and constructive experiences an undergraduate can have,” she said. “Going to the WVU Libraries, researching books, and burying myself in the archives and stacks is one of the most rewarding academic experiences I have had, and I honestly don’t think my paper would be anywhere as complete or historically accurate if I had conducted my research elsewhere, or in a different way.”

Richmond plans to study law at Washington and Lee University this fall and wants to return to her home state to practice.

“We were impressed with the great work by Alexandra and Chelsea,” said Myra Lowe, Associate Dean of Libraries. “Their efforts honor Dr. Munn’s legacy of supporting research.”

Munn began his career at WVU as a librarian in 1952 and advanced to head the Library in 1957. Over the next three decades, he directed the expansion of the Library from a modest centralized facility into a campus-wide system of Libraries with holdings in excess of a million volumes. During that time, he also served as provost under three presidents.

A scholar and author of numerous articles and several books relating to various topics including West Virginia, Appalachia and the coal industry, Munn was dedicated to promoting scholarship and literature especially regarding West Virginia-related subjects. In 1981, he founded the WVU Press as a vehicle to publish manuscripts of merit chiefly of state and regional interest.

His contributions went beyond WVU. Munn had an international reputation in the field of librarianship, served on boards of several leading foundations, and assisted in the establishment of libraries in developing countries around the world.

Changing to Master ID for library authentication is an important step in reducing the number of passwords needed for access to campus resources.  Library resources available by Master ID password include databases, e-journals and e-books. Materials on e-Reserve (electronic reserve) and library computers will also use Master ID as the method of login. Instruction and links to help are included on the logon screens. 

WVU students, faculty, and staff may activate their WVU Master ID online at http://oit.wvu.edu/masterid.  Those who need to reset their passwords can phone the OIT Help Desk at 304-293-4444.

Library help is available online at http://libraries.wvu.edu/ask or by phone at 304-293-3640.

Hosted by the Libraries in the Downtown Campus Library on May 10, the morning will consist of poster sessions by program participants and a presentation by Mary Stansbury, Chair of the Department of Library and Information Sciences at the University of Denver, and a leader in the information literacy field. There are two opportunities to attend the poster sessions.

Schedule:

8 a.m. – Brunch and poster sessions, Milano Reading Room, Wise Library

9 a.m. – Speaker, Room 104, Downtown Campus Library

11 a.m. – Poster sessions, Milano Reading Room.

To register: http://wvufaculty.wvu.edu/r/download/90425. Registration deadline is May 9. More info, contact Carroll Wilkinson, the Libraries’ Director of Instruction and Information Literacy: carroll.wilkinson@mail.wvu.edu.

“More and more faculty have asked about streaming video from our collection,” said Jessica Tapia, Media Services Librarian. “We’re happy to make this great resource available to the WVU community.”

The Libraries offered the streaming video database on a trial basis in March and chose to retain it after receiving a flood of positive feedback.

Films on Demand covers a wide range of subject categories: humanities and social sciences, business and economics, science and math, health and medicine, family and consumer sciences, and guidance and counseling. The content comes from sources that are appropriate for academic curriculum support, including Films for the Humanities & Sciences, BBC, PBS, and National Geographic.

Films on Demand can be used by an instructor in the classroom or by students at library or home. A link to Films on Demand is located on the Libraries’ database page available through the website, www.libraries.wvu.edu. Search by keywords or browse by topic to identify content.

A helpful tool for instructors is the ability to create a video playlist for incorporating clips into a lecture. For students, videos include citations in Chicago or MLA 7^th edition styles.

For more information about Films on Demand, contact Tapia at 293-0312 or jessica.tapia@mail.wvu.edu.

Their efforts are part of the Information Literacy Course Enhancement Program, a collaborative endeavor between the Libraries and the Provost’s Office. The initiative focuses on fulfilling the University’s 2020 Plan which calls for “engaging undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in a challenging academic environment.” Information literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, and effectively use information.

“During the first two years of the program, we have learned a great deal about designing and teaching discipline-specific lessons that address critical elements of the research process,” said Carroll Wilkinson, WVU Libraries’ Director of Instruction and Information Literacy. “I look forward to encouraging collaboration among participants in the third cohort.”

Selected from a field of applicants, this year’s group includes Corey Colyer, assistant professor of sociology, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences; Robin Hensel, Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources; Jason Langley, physical education lecturer, WVU Institute of Technology; Jay Malarcher, associate professor of theater, College of Creative Arts; and Scott Wible, assistant professor of English, Eberly College.

They will work with Wilkinson and their librarian liaison (Kelly Diamond, Beth Royall, Mary Strife, Alyssa Wright, and from WVU IT, Jewel Rucker) to create discipline-specific active learning assignments that incorporate information literacy concepts. They will each earn a $3,000 stipend or, if a 12-month faculty member, other relevant professional remuneration.

Expectations are for the faculty to begin teaching the revised courses during the Fall 2011 or Spring 2012 semester and to take part in the Information Literacy Showcase during the Libraries’ Faculty Assembly program in May 2012.

Participants in the program’s first year reported great success when they shared the results of their work during the 2010 showcase.

Gonzalo Bravo, an assistant professor in the School of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, partnered with librarian Barbara LaGodna to incorporate information literacy concepts into one of his courses.

He said the information literacy training helped his students to better organize their thoughts and ideas, thus contributing to a better comprehension of the course. It also helped them to better discriminate the quality of information and bibliographic sources that they use, and it made them more aware of unintentional plagiarism.

“Information literacy provides a series of tools that help students to build a better product, in this case a research paper,” Bravo said. “I think information literacy exercises and instruction should be part of every major course which includes a research or final paper.”

Tim Warner, a geology/geography professor, and science librarian Linda Blake went on to publish an article about how their classroom collaboration enhanced the academic environment for students.

Warner believes that the vast amount of information available online can often overwhelm students undertaking research projects, and he wants his students to develop the ability to find quality materials.

“It’s not like you can go to one or two places to find information and then you’re done,” Warner said. “There are so many different sources. They vary so much in reliability and quality, and they can be in obscure places. That’s how a professional librarian helps me.”

This year’s showcase will be held in the Milano Reading Room, Wise Library, on May 10 and include professor/librarian teams for the 2010-11 academic year. Poster sessions are scheduled from 8-9 a.m. and 11 a.m. to noon.

At 9 a.m. in Room 104, Downtown Campus Library, Mary Stansbury, Chair of the Department of Library and Information Science at the University of Denver, will deliver a talk titled “Virtual Inequality: Beyond the Digital Divide.”

Participants for the 2010-11 academic year include Dr. Brian Ballentine, assistant professor of English, Eberly College; Dr. Louis McDonald, associate professor of plant and soil sciences, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design; Beth Nardella, instructor of exercise physiology, the Human Performance and Applied Exercise Science Department, School of Medicine; Dr. Melissa Olfert, assistant professor of human nutrition, Davis College; Dr. Kate Staples, assistant professor of history, Eberly College; and Dr. Barbara Douglas, senior lecturer, nursing, WVU IT.

Their librarian liaisons are Jessica Tapia, Noel Kopriva, Grace Gmeindl, Susan Arnold, Kevin Fredette, and, from WVU IT, Jewel Rucker.