News and Events at the UMKC Libraries
Announcements
- Launch of Web Site for the Miller Nichols Expansion Project
- Finals week extended hours at Miller Nichols Library
- Writing Center assistance in Miller Nichols Library
- Answers Anywhere
- Jazz It Up at the FOL Annual Meeting
- UMKC Friends of the Library Call for Proposals
- Changes to the Libraries Homepage
- Academic Library Fellows Program Applications Now Being Accepted
- Choreographer uses Marr Sound Archives to find just the right notes
- Celebrating Black History Month
- Miller Nichols Library awarded prestigious Andrew W. Mellon grant
- Archive of Announcements
Updates
- Database changes
- New titles added to the UMKC libraries' collections
- Job opportunities at UMKC Libraries
Launch of Web Site for the Miller Nichols Expansion Project
The Miller Nichols Library will undergo an expansion and renovation beginning Fall 2008. The University Libraries have launched a Web site for the project to keep the Kansas City and UMKC communities informed of the project status. Learn about the details of the project, view floor plans, and, once the project begins, get updates on changes in and around the building to help you plan your library visits. Visit the Miller Nichols Expansion Project.Finals week extended hours at Miller Nichols Library
In response to student requests, the Miller Nichols Library will be open extended hours for finals week. Students will be able to checkout items at the Music/Media Desk, use computers in the Information Commons and 3rd floor student computer lab, checkout items at Access Services, study on all floors and in the Information Commons study rooms, and purchase snacks and drinks from the vending machines. Library hours will be:| Friday, May 2 | 7:30 a.m. - 9 p.m. |
| Saturday, May 3 | 9:00 a.m. -9 p.m. |
| Sunday, May 4 | 12 noon – 1 a.m. |
| Monday May 5 - Wednesday May 7 | 7:30 a.m. - 1 a.m. |
| Thursday May 8 | 7:30 a.m. – 11 p.m. |
| Friday, May 9 | 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. |
Writing Center assistance in Miller Nichols Library
The Writing Center will offer writing assistance to UMKC students in the Miller Nichols Library Information Commons during the last week of classes, April 28 – May 2. Hours will be:
| Monday – Wednesday | 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. |
| Thursday | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m |
| Friday | 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon |
Answers Anywhere
Answers Anywhere is a spring semester pilot project of the Miller Nichols Library Reference Department. Reference librarians will be roving the ground, first, second and third floors of the library answering questions for library users wherever they are. The fourth floor, reserved for quiet study, will not be included in this project. During the pilot project, which lasts until the end of the spring semester, the Answers Anywhere hours are 11:00 a.m – 1:00 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, excluding spring break week.
Jazz It Up
at the
FOL Annual Meeting
Swingin' To Music From The Collection of Warren Durrett
| UMKC Friends of the Library invite you to join us at our 43rd Annual Meeting, April 16 at the Blue Room in Kansas City’s historic Jazz District. This year’s meeting is a real collaboration. We are so excited to be returning to the Blue Room and to feature the UMKC Concert Jazz Band under the direction of Michael Pagán. The band will be performing arrangements from the collection of legendary Kansas City bandleader, Warren Durrett. These arrangements are held in the Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Special Collections and recordings of the Durrent band are a part of our own Marr Sound Archives.. Seating is limited, so BUY YOUR TICKETS through the Central Ticket Office today! |  |
UMKC Friends of the Library Call for Proposals
The University of Missouri-Kansas City Friends of the Library invites UMKC faculty to submit proposals for the UMKC Friends of the Library 2008 Annual Gift. This annual faculty grant program provides funding the purchase of library resources which will enhance teaching and research at UMKC. The 2008 Annual Gift to the University Libraries will be based on these proposals. Last year, the Friends of the Library funded $30,000 in proposals for the 41st Annual Gift. A community volunteer organization, the Friends of the Library funds the Annual Gift from membership dues, special gifts, and book sales. The Friends will receive proposals through March 21, 2008. The Selections Committee requests a complete list of proposed purchases, including a brief statement of the purpose served, complete bibliographic information, the source of that information (if available) and current prices. See the Submission instructions [http://library.umkc.edu/gen-info/publications/guidelines-for-proposals.pdf] for more information.Changes to the Libraries Homepage
The University Libraries initial Web page has been changed to provide direct access to search screens for finding books, articles, and journals. Under the Research Tools heading you will see"Books" links to the Merlin Catalog search screen scoped to UMKC http://laurel.lso.missouri.edu/search~S3 . The user can search here for materials in the online catalog found in the UMKC University Libraries (Miller Nichols, Health Sciences, Dental, and Law Libraries.) To search beyond UMKC simply change the scope to MOBIUS or All Merlin using the links in the green bar at the top of the page or use the drop down box just to the left of the SEARCH button for other choices.
"Articles" links to the database page. http://library.umkc.edu/online/databasesmain.htm . From this page the user can quickly choose a database by title or by subject and find additional information on the University Libraries databases.
"Journals" links to a search screen where the user can search for electronic journals by title (Serials Solutions). http://pc8ga3qq6a.search.serialssolutions.com/ . Serials Solutions lists full-text journals, magazines and newspapers available through many of the databases to which the UMKC University Libraries subscribe as well as some journals to which the Libraries has individual subscriptions.
"Help" links to the page previously linked through the “How Do I…” link http://library.umkc.edu/Instruction/howdoi/main.htm . As always, if you have questions please call the Reference Desk at 816.235.1534.
Academic Library Fellows Program Applications Now Being Accepted
The Library Science program at the University of Missouri has received funding from IMLS to prepare a new generation of academic library leaders. The program, in partnership with the libraries at MU, UMSL, UMKC, and Missouri State University, will be able to support a total of eight entering master's students beginning in the fall of 2008 (two students at each of the four campuses). The grant description can be found at: http://education.missouri.edu/SISLT/LIS/LIS_Fellows_Program.php.
Choreographer uses Marr Sound Archives to find just the right notes
New Ballet Hey-Hay Going to Kansas City draws from rich resources in the Marr Sound Archives.
Celebrated
choreographer Donald McKayle found the beat for his new ballet Hey-Hay,
Going to Kansas City in the Miller Nichols Library. McKayle,
the Claire Trevor Professor of Dance at the University of California, Irvine,
began his career during the 1940s with Pearl Primus and the New Dance Group,
a pioneering African American dance company. Since then he has choreographed
hundreds of productions for dance companies, Broadway, television and film.
In 2007, the Kansas City Ballet commissioned McKayle to choreograph a ballet based on Kansas City jazz. Last fall, McKayle visited the UMKC University Libraries Marr Sound Archives to research the sounds of Kansas City jazz. After several days of listening to hundreds of LPs and 78s, McKayle selected the music for the production. The music ranges from Euday Bowman to Charlie Parker to dance, evoking the intemperate spirit of Kansas City jazz with Hey-Hay, Going to Kansas City.
Recognition of the Marr Sound Archives as the place for research and recorded sound resources related to Kansas City Jazz continues to grow. The Marr collections are notable in many musical genres and the spoken word housing 300,000 recordings that characterize the American experience as reflected in recorded sound. The UMKC University Libraries are pleased to be a partner in this creative endeavor for the Kansas City Ballet.
More information can be found at these Web sites:
The Kansas City Ballet: http://www.kcballet.org/aboutus/news_press/releases/winter08.html
Kansas City Star: http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/story/490324.html
Information about Donald McKayle: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/biographies/mckayle.html
Celebrating Black History Month
"Just Like a Garden of Eden: African American Community Life in Kansas City’s Leeds."
| Lecturer: Dr. Gary R. Kremer, Executive Director of the State Historical Society of Missouri Date: February 15, 2008 Time: 2 PM Place: Miller Nichols Library Room 303 Exhibit: Miller Nichols Library – 3rd Floor |
 |
You are invited to attend a lecture and see an exhibit about the extraordinary and historic Leeds neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Gary R. Kremer (Executive Director of the State Historical Society of Missouri) will talk about the African American community of Leeds. This neighborhood thrived from 1915 to 1960 despite the challenges of segregation. The exhibit, prepared by the Missouri State Museum/Missouri Department of Natural Resources illuminates a neighborhood where "the residents were not wealthy in material goods, but they were rich with safety, security, caring and good will towards neighbors, and a social fabric that , to this day, leaves fond memories for those who grew up in the area."
Miller Nichols Library awarded prestigious Andrew W. Mellon grant
The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Miller Nichols Library has received a $502,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant will help UMKC maintain and share one of the library’s richest radio collections in its Marr Sound Archives.“This grant is an honor,” said Sharon Bostick, Ph.D., dean of University Libraries. “We are so proud to have received such a generous first time award from this very prestigious institution.”
While many of history’s radio and music recordings have long disappeared, UMKC’s Marr Sound Archives preserves these historic sounds for future generations.
The Mellon grant will support a cataloging project for the J. David Goldin Collection, which represents a portion of the more than 290,000 unique items that comprise the Marr Sound Archives.
J. David Goldin, a leading authority on historic radio programs, contributed nearly 10,000 items to the Marr Sound Archives. The Goldin Collection consists of 16-inch instantaneous cut acetate discs and pressed recordings – dating from 1935 to 1950 – each 30 minutes in length and produced for broadcast. These delicate recordings are not preserved in any other form or format.
The cataloging project will make the contents of these rare, original sound recordings available for the first time to academic researchers world-wide through on-line catalog access. The project will begin Jan. 1, 2008, and is expected to continue through Dec. 31, 2010.
The upcoming expansion and renovation of Miller Nichols Library will allow for sustained growth of collections, such as the Marr Sound Archives.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City, one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a three-part mission: visual and performing arts, health sciences and urban engagement.
