CUL NEWSLETTER

THIS SPACE FOR RENT!

• Continuing Excellence - Wanda Smith , Bridwell Library
• Outstanding Achievement - Greg Ivy, Underwood Law Library
• Employee of the Year - Joseph Milazzo, Central University Libraries
• Student Assistant - Gwang Seok Oh, Central University Libraries

The Exhibits Team of the Central University Libraries was the recipient of the CUL Team Award. Please congratulate them on the time and hard work they put into the excellent exhibits in the Fondren Library Center. Team members are John Phinney, Joel Eatmon, Shannon Cain, Ellen Buie Niewyk, Barbara Stockton, Joe Milazzo, Brad Wehring, Dave Schmidt.

The Friends of the SMU grants committee met on May 7, 2003 to review grant proposals submitted by the libraries.  The committee, chaired by Pam Lange, included Missy Collins, Bonnie Case and Marilyn Spencer.  Ex-officio was Judy Searles. This year the Friends of the SMU Libraries was able to surpass the dollar amount given with a total of $26,734 being awarded in 2003.  Here is the breakdown of what was awarded:

• $5,000 to Central University Libraries (CUL) Fondren Library Center (FLC) Reference Services toward the purchase of the Readers Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982. Generations of researchers have relied on the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature and this electronic access will enable students to enrich their research.  Library users will re-discover these resources when they are accessible electronically.

•  $4,432 to Central University Libraries (CUL) for software enhancements for four programs in the Assistive Technology Center, which provides adaptive technologies for all library users with physical or learning disabilities.  

•  $3,000 to the Bridwell Library to partially fund a renovation project in an area that will accommodate compact shelving that is being donated by the Frito Lay Company.  The funds provided by the Friends will be used for the first stage of the project, which requires disassembling the stationary shelving and replacing the floor covering in this area. This stationary shelving will be moved to DeGolyer Library to help with their storage needs.  

•  $3,000 to Central University Libraries (CUL) to assist in funding the production of the CUL annual report publication.

•  $2,021 to SMU Libraries systems and CUL Information Support Services for a Tablet PC to provide new technology for staff shared use.  This is a more portable, convenient computing device, but more important it will allow staff to explore this technology for future support of library users.

•  $2,000 to DeGolyer Library to help offset the costs of shipment of the Massachusetts Historical Society’s newspaper collection from Boston to Dallas.  The Society is donating part of their newspaper collection to SMU.  These newspapers open a window on the past that cannot be found in any other medium.

•  $1,828 to the Business Information Center (BIC) for software and hardware that will be used to capture and record computer screen activity in motion video format with accompanying voice narration. This streaming video technology will provide better service for the increasing student and faculty populations that connect in from wireless and remote locations.

•  $1,590 to the Norwick Center for Media and Instructional Technology (CMIT) to fund the purchase of a professional digital video recorder. CMIT provides instructional technology and audiovisual support for classroom instruction and event services throughout the campus.  This equipment will provide greater efficiency and time savings for the growing number of requests for digital video editing and duplication.

•  $540 to the Norwick Center for Media and Instructional Technology (CMIT) to purchase video tapes and supplies for the SMU Video Archives Series on the history of Southern Methodist University.  The Friends have supported this project since its inception.  

•  $500 to Central University Libraries Collection Development to purchase the Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, which is without equal in terms of its interdisciplinary treatment of economic history and the international coverage of the subjects presented.

•  $423 to the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man Library for the purchase of the Encyclopedia of Urban Cultures, which is valuable to scholars, that deal with the modern world in relation of urbanism.

•  $400 to the Norwick Center for Media and Instructional Technology (CMIT) to purchase a portable standing podium useful for a number of CUL events such as Friends programs, lectures and other training sessions on campus.

 Grants approved earlier this year: 

• $1,000 to the SMU Literary Festival.

•  $500 to fund the Continuing Excellence Library Staff Recognition Award.  This year’s recipient is Wanda Smith from Bridwell Library.

•  $500 to support the Library School Scholarship Award.  This year’s recipient is Dustin Cook. 

HORTON FOOTE AND THE TRIP TO THE BOUNTIFUL, 1953-2003/ May 15-July 18; DeGolyer Library

From its debut on television and Broadway in 1953, to its production at the Alley Theatre in Houston in 2003, Horton Foote´s The Trip to Bountiful has become a classic of the American stage. This exhibit features original drafts, screenplays, publicity photos, playbills, posters, and other memorabilia documenting the history of the play (and movie), with glances at other events in Horton Foote´s distinguished career .  This exhibit is free and open to the public.  For more information contact Russell Martin, 214.768.3231, rlmartin@mail.smu.edu

A TRIBUTE TO CUL DADS

According to the 2003 Chase's Calendar of Events June is:

Adopt a Shelter Cat Month

International People Skills Month

1st-7th Volunteers Week

Perennial Gardening Month

Turkey Lovers' Month

National Accordion Awareness Month

National Candy Month

National Iced Tea Month

National Rose Month

4th National Tailors Day

8th-14th National Flag Week

8th Upsy Daisy Day

13th Blame Someone Else Day

13th International Skeptics' Day

20th Take Your Dog To Work Day

21st Join Hands Day

21st Pick Up Some Litter Day

21st Vegan World Day

22nd-28th National Cheese Week

23rd Let It Go Day

23rd-27th Take Your Pet To Work Week

29th Log Cabin Day

• June Astrological Signs:
  • Gemini: May 21 - June 20
  • Cancer: June 21-July 22
• June Birthstones: 
  • Pearl
  • Alexandrite
  • Moonstone
• June Flower: Rose
• According to the Georgian calendar, which is used over most of the world today, June is the sixth month. On the Roman calendar, it was considered the fourth month and had only 29 days. Julius Caesar gave the month 30 days in 46 B.C., when he reformed the Roman calendar.
• Spring ends and summer begins around June 20, 21, or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere. It's the time that the flowers are beautiful. It is especially the month for roses. In the Southern hemisphere, winter begins during June, and it brings cold, rainy weather to this part of the world.
• Flag Day 
  • United States celebrates on  June 14. It commemorates the day in 1777 when the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as our flag. It then had only 13 stars, to match its 13 stripes. It's not an official national holiday, but in Pennsylvania, it is a legal holiday. The President has proclaimed a public flag day observance every year. It was first observed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the selection of the flag.  Harry S. Truman officially recognized June 14 as Flag Day by signing the National Flag Day Bill.
  • Sweden celebrates flag day, its national holiday, on June 6.
  • Finland's flag day is the Saturday closest to June 24.
• The Philippines' Independence Day is on June 12.
• The JUNE BUG also known as June beetle, is the name for several large beetles seen in the United States during May and June. They are usually seen at night, when the light attracts them.  June bugs eat the young leaves of trees and plants. They deposit their eggs in the ground. The young larvae bury themselves in the soil in the autumn and stay there two years. They then come out in May or June as adult beetles.
• The first Father's Day was observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane, Washington. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day.

• Kentucky became the 15th state, June 1, 1792.

• Hawaii organized as a territory, June 14, 1900.

• Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States, June 20, 1782.

• Tennessee became the 16th state, June 1, 1796.

• Arkansas became the 25th state, June 15, 1836.

• West Virginia became the 35th state, June 20, 1863.

• President Andrew Johnson announced the purchase of Alaska from Russia, June 20, 1867.

• New Hampshire ratified the Constitution, June 21, 1788.

• Virginia ratified the Constitution, June 25, 1788.

• United States declared war on Great Britain, June 18, 1812.

Timbuktu, Mali--As dusk sweeps across the Sahara Desert, the Es Sayouti brothers--six learned men ranging from 40 to 55 years old--gather in their parents' home to reflect on the vexing legacy they share. Abdrahamane speaks first, as he is the eldest and the imam at the nearby Djingarey Ber Mosque, a place of prayer and scholarship since 1325. He explains that their father, who is in failing health and resting downstairs, has recently given them responsibility for 2,500 ancient texts gathering dust in the next room....

http://www.fordfound.org/publications/ff_report/view_ff_report_detail.cfm?report_index=415 

(Special Thanks to Dawn Youngblood for this submission)