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In the resolutions adopted at the First Wheeling Convention, the delegates declared the Virginia Ordinance of Secession to be “unconstitutional, null and void,” and rejected Virginia’s joining the Confederate States.  The seventh resolution gives a taste of the deep divisions running between the eastern and western parts of the state:

“Resolved, That in view of the geographical, social, commercial and industrial interests of Northwestern Virginia, this Convention are constrained in giving expression to the opinion of their constituents to declare that the Virginia Convention in assuming to change the relation of the State of Virginia to the Federal Government, have not only acted unwisely and unconstitutionally, but have adopted a policy utterly ruinous to all the material interests of our section, severing all our social ties, and drying up all the channels of our trade and prosperity.”

Some of the delegates to the Convention wanted to create a state of New Virginia immediately, to encompass roughly the area of today’s West Virginia.  Such a step was seen by the more conservative delegates as revolutionary, unconstitutional, and premature, since the Ordinance of Secession had yet to be ratified by popular vote.  The Convention’s resolutions urge citizens of northwestern Virginia to reject secession at the polls:

“Resolved, That we earnestly urge and entreat the citizens of the State every where, but more especially in the Western section, to be prompt at the polls on the 23d instant [May 23, 1861]; and to impress upon every voter the duty of voting in condemnation of the ordinance of Secession, in the hope that we may not be involved in the ruin to be occasioned by its adoption, and with the view to demonstrate the position of the West on the question of secession.”

In case the Ordinance of Secession was ratified by the vote, the delegates laid the groundwork for what would be the Second Wheeling Convention, to be held June 11, 1861.  The possibility of creating a new state at a later date is set forth in the ninth resolution:

“…we believe we may rightfully and successfully appeal to the proper authorities of Virginia, to permit us peacefully and lawfully to separate from the residue of the State, and form ourselves into a government to give effect to the wishes, views and interests of our constituents.”

The popular vote in May supported the ratification of the Ordinance of Secession, which paved the way for the Second Wheeling Convention to establish the Restored Government of Virginia.  Comprised of northwestern Virginians, this government was loyal to the Union, and its creation and acceptance by the federal government was a step toward constitutionally allowing western Virginia to secede from Virginia and become its own state.

Interested in learning more about West Virginia’s path to statehood?  Look for the West Virginia and Regional History Center’s upcoming exhibit, to premiere on the 150th anniversary of our state, June 20, 2013.

A collaborative endeavor between the Libraries and the Provost’s Office, the program 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.

“We at the Libraries are proud of the integral role we play in every student’s academic pursuits,” said Myra N. Lowe, Interim Dean of Libraries. “We are pleased that the Course Enhancement Program continues to help students to become better researchers and to gain more from the classroom experience.”

Carroll Wilkinson, WVU Libraries’ Director of Instruction and Information Literacy, is eager to build on the past success and work with the new teams.

“Fostering collaborative teaching between librarians and faculty is a challenging and rewarding part of my responsibilities in the University Libraries. To see the positive results in student learning is really exciting. ” Wilkinson said.

Selected from a field of applicants, this year’s group includes Jenny Boulware, lecturer in the Department of History, Eberly College of Arts & Sciences; Brian Jara, senior lecturer, Center for Womens’ and Gender Studies/Eberly; John Jones, assistant professor, Department of English, Eberly; Ugur Kale, assistant professor, Technology Learning and Culture/College of Education and Human Services; Tom Sydow, professor, English, Potomac State; and Farshid Zabihian, assistant professor, Engineering, WVU Institute of Technology.

They will work with Wilkinson and their librarian liaisons Linda Bane, Potomac State; Kevin Fredete; Jewel Rucker, WVU Tech; Mary Strife; Jessica Tapia; and Martha Yancey to create discipline-specific active learning assignments that incorporate information literacy concepts. Faculty will each earn a $3,000 stipend or, if a 12-month faculty member, other relevant professional remuneration.

Faculty will begin teaching the revised courses during the Fall 2013 or Spring 2014 semester and take part in the Information Literacy Showcase during the Libraries’ Faculty Assembly program in May 2014.

This year’s showcase will be held in the Milano Reading Room, Wise Library, on May 13 and will include professor/librarian teams for the 2012-13 academic year. Poster sessions are scheduled from 8-9 a.m. and 10:30-11 a.m.

There will be a presentation and panel discussion at 9 a.m. in Room 104, Downtown Campus Library. It is titled “Teaching Students the Value of Thoughtful Research: Source Assessment and Ethical Writing.”

Participants for the 2012-13 academic year included David Beach, assistant professor, associate undergraduate writing coordinator, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences; David Bess, associate professor of music education, College of Creative Arts; Kristen Dieffenbach, assistant professor, College of Physical activity and Sports Sciences; Mikel Holcomb, assistant professor of physics, Eberly; Lauryl Lefebvre, assistant professor of educational leadership studies, College of Human Resources and Education; Afrin Naz, assistant professor, computer science, WVU Tech; Donley Studlar, Eberly Family Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Eberly; Sven Verlinden, associate professor of horticulture, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design; Lisa Weihman, associate professor of English, Eberly; and Mark Wilson, associate professor of economics, WVU Tech.

Their librarian liaisons were Linda Blake, Kelly Diamond, Noel Kopriva, Barbara LaGodna, Bill Rafter, Jill Rafter, Alyssa Wright, Martha Yancey, and from WVU Tech, Mitch Casto and Jewel Rucker.

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“Visiting and working in an academic library in China will be a tremendous learning experience for our librarians,” Interim Dean of Libraries Myra N. Lowe said. “We are excited about the insights and ideas Jing and Martha will bring home.”

This trip is the second phase of a partnership that began last fall when two librarians from SUFE, Yu Huang and Deyu Gong, spent the semester learning about operations at the WVU Libraries.

Jing Qiu

Martha Yancey

It will be a homecoming for Qiu, a Shanghai native who moved to the United States in 1990. She is eager to learn how academic libraries operate in China and what they do in terms of public services.

“Even though I went to school there through college and worked at the university for five years, I never used library services that much,” Qiu said. “Back then, you basically went to the library to study and check out books. I don’t know about other services they offered.”

Her presentation will focus on teaching. Teaching information literacy is a responsibility for most academic librarians in the US, but the concept is a new one for libraries in China. Qiu plans to focus on why librarians teach.

“Teaching is a big part of what we do as librarians,” Qiu said. “My hope is they see the value of information literacy and will want to incorporate it in their libraries.”

Yancey wants to concentrate her time with the Access Services and Reference departments, exchanging ideas, comparing practices, and learning how they work with their library users. In her presentation, she plans to focus on a customer service training program the WVU Libraries instituted.

“I am interested in finding out their philosophy of customer service and comparing it to the Libraries’ initiative on service that we began last fall,” Yancey said.

Among other tasks, her plans also include visiting the Shanghai Library to gather information about Chinese stories and fables for children so that she can augment the children’s collection at the Evansdale Library with more multi-cultural titles.

“I hope to learn new ways of doing my work and to learn more about the Chinese culture,” Yancey said.

Qiu and Yancey will also spend some time off campus. With a degree in ancient history and religions, Yancey is eager to explore places such as the Zhujiajiao Ancient Town and the Jade Buddha Temple. Huang, who is now secretary of foreign affairs for the SUFE Library, is working on their itinerary.

Qiu and Yancey leave for China in mid-May.