No. 53
News |
News from the Director
As many of you know, the Daniel M. Soref Charitable Trust has donated $1.75 million for creation of a new Learning Commons, which will be the centerpiece of the UWM Libraries’ renovation of the west wing first floor of the Golda Meir Library building. We are very grateful to the Soref Trust for this gift. The Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons will become a focal point for the campus community, integrating technology, services and academics, and be an attractive, welcoming place for students. The area will be comfortable and spacious, reflecting today’s more collaborative learning styles. For example, students will be able to easily gather in group study rooms to work together on team-based projects. This space will provide an enhanced and supportive learning environment leading to an increase in our students’ overall success at UWM. Highlights include:
During the last year we have worked closely with student, faculty, and staff focus groups, campus planners and The Kubala Washatko Architects, Inc. to produce the design. With the Board of Regents and the State Building Commission granting approval this month, we are on track for construction to begin late this fall and the project to be finished by the end of the 2009 fall semester. 
Artist’s rendering of Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons. © The Kubala Washatko Architects, Inc. 2007. All rights reserved.
Preliminary work in the library has already started. In March, we began the transfer offsite of rarely used books with call number ranges in R and Q, as well as bound periodicals which are available online. This will allow us to relocate our cataloging staff and our business office to the second floor, creating more room for the Learning Commons. Let me assure you that the Libraries will remain open during the renovation although we will be moving some of our services (including circulation and reference) during the project. We will strive to continue to provide outstanding services. We are very excited about this critically-needed project and the ways it will advance the campus mission for students, faculty and staff, and the community. For more information and updates about the renovation, please visit http://www.uwm.edu/Library/renovation/ Ewa Barczyk
New AGSL Photo Archive Featured by Scout ReportThe new AGSL Digital Photo Archive, launched in February, was immediately noted and highlighted in The Scout Report (http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2008/scout-080229-re.php#1), a site that evaluates and recommends web resources for research. 
Drawn from the vast photographic holdings of the American Geographical Society Library, the new collection currently offers 3,500 images and focuses on Asia and the Middle East, but more images will be added. The AGS Library and UWM Libraries are grateful for continuing financial support for the Digital Photo Archive project from Suzanne and Dr. Robert McColl. Staff and students who worked on the project include Krystyna Matusiak, Digital Collections Librarian; Susan Peschel, AGSL Visual Resources Librarian; Eleanore Bednarek, Marilyn Antkowiak, Tim Blomquist, and Shauna Borger. The AGSL Digital Photo Archive may be accessed from the UWM Libraries Digital Collections web page, http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/digilib/
Providing Visiting Scholars with Library PrivilegesThe Libraries and ID Office work together to provide visiting scholars with a UWM ID and the library access that they need for their research. When your department has a visiting scholar with such a need, please have them come to the Libraries Main Circulation Desk with a letter from your department and ask for a UWM Libraries Courtesy Card. The letter should state the department or office that is sponsoring the visiting scholar and the time period involved, including an end date. The Libraries will handle the paperwork and provide the visiting scholar with a form he or she can take to the ID Office to obtain a UWM ID.
Former Library Director Honored with Spaights AwardThis past fall, former UWM Libraries Director William Roselle was honored with an Ernest Spaights Plaza award, given to individuals who have made significant, enduring, and campus-wide contributions to the growth and development of UWM. A ceremony for Roselle and other Spaights awardees was held on October 2 on Spaights Plaza; the UWM Libraries also held a reception for Roselle in the Libraries’ Conference Center. During his tenure, 1971-1989, Roselle oversaw the rapid growth of the UWM Libraries as it transformed itself from a small, college library with a focus on undergraduate education to one that could successfully support UWM’s growing list of advanced degrees and meet the University’s ever increasing research needs. Under his direction, the library increased from 750,000 items in 1971 to 3.5 million in 1989; expanded twice, with the East Wing in 1974, and the fourth floor and Hartford Ave. spaces in 1987; acquired the venerable library and map collection of the American Geographical Society of New York; and implemented an online public library catalog, as well as a host of auxiliary computerized applications which affected every department in the library. 
William Roselle, second from left, with current library administrators who worked with him: Janet Padway (left), Christopher Baruth and Ewa Barczyk. Photo by Dawn Lee-Vue.
Archives Hosts Middle School ResearchersOn December 17, the UWM Libraries were visited by over thirty seventh grade students from Richfield Elementary School conducting research for their National History Day projects. National History Day is an academic enrichment program that helps students learn about historical issues, ideas, people, and events. Working individually or collaboratively in groups of two to five, students produce historical documentaries, exhibits, dramatic performances and research papers based on an annual theme. “We were thrilled to welcome these students to the UWM Libraries,” said UWM Archives Department Head Michael Doylen. “They were excited by the opportunity to handle historical documents and photographs that spoke directly to their chosen topics.” To address the 2007-2008 theme of “Conflict and Compromise in History,” students explored a wide range of topics, including Polish immigration to Milwaukee, anti-German sentiment in Milwaukee during World War II, the Oshkosh wood workers’ strike of 1898, and the Bay View labor riot of 1886. They utilized both primary and secondary source materials, making extensive use of the manuscript holdings of the Archives Department and the online databases of the Research and Instructional Support (RIS) Department. Archivists and librarians worked with teacher Mike Cirillo to identify relevant sources in advance of the students' visit. Students in 6th through 12th grade may choose to participate in the national event cycle by presenting their research at a competitive series of local, regional, state and national events. Richfield Middle School students participated in local competitions in February. Southeastern regional competitions take place in March, and the statewide competition on May 3. State winners advance to the national contest held each June at the University of Maryland in College Park. 
Students from Richfield Middle School working with research materials in the Archives Dept. Photo by Will Dodds.
Polish VisitorsTwo Polish groups visited the Libraries this past fall. One traveled from Warsaw to select photos from the Libraries’ Kwasniewski Collection for an upcoming exhibit at a new museum focusing on Poles abroad, located in the Palace on the Water in Lazienki Park. The other group was comprised of a researcher from Poland who is preparing a book, Listing of Polish Book Collections Abroad, and the staff of the Polish Museum of America in Chicago. Unique Polish holdings at UWM will be included in the publication. 
A researcher from Poland and the staff of the Polish Museum of America view Polish materials in the American Geographical Society Library
Recent DonationsThank you to the following donors who gave significant monetary gifts to the Libraries from January 1 to December 31, 2007: Wendy and Mark Alland
ARIS Co. Thank you to the following donors who gave gifts-in-kind—books, maps, videos, and other library material—from July 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007: Robert and Lee Alvarez
|
Steven Burnham, Editor, sburnham@uwm.edu
Krystyna Matusiak, Newsletter designer
Created: April 23, 2008
Page Contact: sburnham@uwm.edu