Libraries News Blog

Conan and friends invade Miller Nichols Library

New exhibit details the depiction of “the barbarian” in popular culture in the late 20th century.

Barbarians in Comics and Culture: Modeling Manhood from the 1970s to Present

May 13 - June 14, 2013

Dean's Gallery

Miller Nichols Library, 2nd flr

The exhibit is a capstone project researched, curated, and designed by History major Christina Tomlinson.

Christina is former Student Assistant and intern for  LaBudde Special Collections and Marr Sound Archives, and we are so proud to be able to exhibit her work.

$35,000 gift from Friends of the Library supports collection development

Since 1966, UMKC Friends of the Library have presented the University Libraries and the UMKC community with an Annual Gift. The 2013 awards were announced at the Friends annual celebration on April 4 at Grand Street Cafe.

For their 48th Annual Gift, the Friends donate $35,000 for the purchase of books, DVDs, recordings, data sets, periodical back files, and music scores. The cumulative amount of the Friends’ Annual Gifts exceeds $1.3 million.

This year the Friends received 22 proposals with requests totaling nearly $36,000. The Selections Committee carefully consider  each proposal and may recommend no, full, or partial funding of proposals. A complete list of recipients is available online.

The Annual Gift is made possible through endowment distributions, membership dues, and book sale proceeds.

Congratulations Fu Zhuo!

April 9, 2013 - Fu Zhou was honored with the "Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Diversity" at the UMKC Celebrating Excellence Faculty & Staff Awards Ceremony.

Zhuo was recognized for his ongoing work in support of UMKC's international students. He is Research and Instruction Librarian at Miller Nichols Library.

See a complete list 2013 Faculty and Staff awardees.

Neha Shah, UMKC School of Pharmacy student, awarded $500 towards Fall 2014 tuition and fee.

April 4, 2013    UMKC Friends of the Library announced Shah as the fifth recipient of their annual scholarship at their 48th annual celebration, "FOL 2.0" at Grand Street Cafe.

The Friends scholarship is available to degree seeking students of any level from any school or discipline, with preference given to those with a cumulative gpa of 3.0 or higher.

To apply, students were asked to submit and original piece written in response to the statement "How UMKC's libraries are a VALUE and why they are VALUABLE to me."

Neha's essay was selected from 23 entries.

"Here Comes Athena: A Representation of Kansas City in the Priests of Pallas" examines the Priests of Pallas Parade from its inception in 1887 to its decline in 1912.

Miller Nichols Library Dean's Gallery, 2nd floor

July 13 - September 14, 2012

Opening reception July 13 at 3:00

Evolving with the city itself, the parade became a reflection of the social and economic construction of Kansas City. Like many other nineteenth century street parades the Priests of Pallas was a vehicle used by the town’s wealthy and business elite to manipulate the commercial and social environment of Kansas City at the turn of the century.

The exhibition is conceived and created by UMKC student Sarah LeRoy as part of her Master of Arts degree in History with an emphasis in Public History from the UMKC Department of History.

Collection of arrangements, manuscripts, recordings and more to be housed at Miller Nichols Library
 
The collection of saxophonist, composer, and educator Ahmad Alaadeen has been donated to the LaBudde Special Collections and Marr Sound Archives in the Miller Nichols Library at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Fanny Dunfee, widow of the acclaimed Kansas City jazz icon, donated the collection, which includes arrangements, music manuscripts, photos, memorabilia, performance videos and audio tapes along with other material related to Alaadeen's life and career.
 
Renowned musician and producer Najee applauded the gift. "This is a wonderful effort to preserve the legacy of one of our jazz legends," Najee said. "I am pleased that the Marr Sound Archives will safeguard this legacy of one of the profound influences on the history of Kansas City jazz." (continued)

Desire for the Medieval Past: Book Collecting in Midwestern Monastic Libraries

Miller Nichols Library Dean's Gallery, 2nd floor

June 1 - 30, 2012

There is a wealth of materials in Midwestern monastic libraries that are virtually unknown to the outside world. These books include a variety of religious materials, including donations from other religious communities, gifts from benefactors, and purchases by the communities themselves.

Focusing on three Benedictine libraries near Kansas City—Conception Abbey (Conception, MO), Mount St. Scholastica (Atchison, KS), and St Benedict's Abbey (Atchison, KS) whose collection is now housed at Benedictine College—this exhibition will feature manuscripts and early printed books from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, some in original bindings, including:

• thirteenth-century Latin textbook in which a later German nun has inscribed her name
• hand-written book of astronomical charts from 1483
• copy of the Nuremburg Chronicle, printed in 1493
• choir book dated about 1650 given to a Spanish nun
• German atlas showing Benedictine missions throughout the world, printed in 1753
• hand-written German prayer book from 1803
• unique book of saints’ lives, hand-decorated and written in 1887 by a French priest for his niece, when she joined a convent

Together this eclectic gathering of materials demonstrate,  a "desire for the medieval past" of Benedictine scholarship, and this tradition of producing hand-written books continues as the more recently made books demonstrate.

UMKC Libraries expanded collection of electronic books now includes over 50,000 with 300-400 new titles added every week.

Many e-books can be checked out for 24 hour blocks of time and can be downloaded for either 1 or 7 days as needed. There is no limit to the number of times you may check out or download a title. For most e-books, there is never a wait or limit to how many users can check out the same book at the same time.

The collection includes titles from such publishers as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Elsevier Science and Technology, John Wiley & Sons, Routledge, Sage Publications, and Springer-Verlag. Subject coverage spans all the major disciplines.

To take advantage of personalized features like your own bookshelf, bookmarks, and annotations, just log into the EBook Library (EBL) platform using your UMKC single sign-on.

New blog keeps users informed about UMKC Libraries’ online resources

UMKC Libraries’ Electronic Resources Support Team has created a new blog to keep users up to date regarding changes to the libraries’ online collections, including databases and online journals and books. The direct URL for the blog is http://umkclibrarieserblog.wordpress.com/

Kelsay Roth, UMKC School of Nursing student, awarded $500 towards Fall 2013 tuition and fee.

April 17, 2012    UMKC Friends of the Library announced Roth as the fourth recipient of their annual scholarship at their 47th annual celebration, "Treasure Hunt: An exploration of the art and artifacts of UMKC Libaries LaBudde Special Collections".

The Friends scholarship is available to degree seeking students of any level from any school or discipline, with preference given to those with a cumulative gpa of 3.0 or higher.

To apply, students were asked to submit and original piece written in response to the statement "How UMKC Libraries' vast and varied resources contibute to my educational success."

Kelsay's essay was selected from 31 entries.

Submitted by mattisonm