The Friends of the SMU Libraries Grants Committee met on April 13, 2006 to review grant proposals submitted by the libraries.  The committee was chaired by Janis Knott and included Missy Collins and Pam Lange.  Amy Carver was ex-officio.  The Friends approved the following grants at the Annual Meeting on May 1, 2006:

$4,765 to CUL Collection Development to purchase The Encyclopedia of Inorganic Chemistry, Second Edition, which is the definitive resource for information on inorganic chemistry. This is a ten-volume set, published by Wiley.

$4,000 to the Norwick Center for Media and Instructional Technology to fund the move of existing media library compact shelving to a new facility near the existing FLC circulation desk. This initiative is being done in an effort to provide greater access to media library materials for faculty and students and to gain staffing efficiency by having all items circulate from one location. The move will also allow CMIT to provide space for a new initiative – a digital production center to support students needing assistance with digital video editing, PowerPoint presentations and related class assignments and a collaborative study space with technology for students who need a facility to practice class presentations.

$3,995 to CUL Collection Development to purchase The Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences (ESS), which represents the most complete coverage of statistics available in a single reference. New methodologies, written by the world’s leaders in statistics, are introduced in an easy-to-read format.  There is a strong SMU influence in this definitive statistical reference work, led by Professor Emeritus Campbell Read, who is one of the four chief editors of the title. The Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences is a 16-volume set.

$3,673.27 to the Hamon Arts Library to purchase the Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, a 21-volume dictionary set of the Italian language. This dictionary supersedes the 19^th-century reference work Dizionario della lingua italiana as the standard dictionary on the Italian language. The art history curriculum at the Meadows School of the Arts strongly supports the study of Italian Renaissance art, and this resource will aid students’ understanding of terms from this period of art history.

$3,154.95 to Bridwell Library Public Services for the purchase of software, a scanner and a computer for a second assistive technology station (ATS). The library currently has only one ATS which does not meet the needs of learning-different students in Perkins due to an increase in the number currently enrolled. The second ATS will provide the learning-different students with the tools they need to complete their work at their own pace and at times that are convenient to them. It will also enable them to make fuller use of the materials that cannot leave the library.

$2,500 to CUL Marketing/External Relations for the purchase of a podium and seal with the CUL logo for use at library events.

$2,500 to the DeGolyer Library to purchase fiction and poetry for the Colophon Collection of Moderns.

$1,600 to Bridwell Library Special Collections for the purchase of a Nikon CoolScan 5000 ED slide scanner with a Slide Feeder SF210. This equipment will be used to convert Bridwell’s existing 35mm slides documenting its Special Collections holdings into digital format to make the collection accessible for education and classroom use, research, use as illustrations in publications, and SMU publicity.

$1,500 to CUL Marketing/External Relations for the purchase of a digital camera. The camera will be used for informal photography at CUL and Friends events for website and event promotion.

$275 to the ISEM Library to purchase The Carnegie Maya:  The Carnegie Institution of Washington Maya Research Program, 1913-1957, edited by John M. Weeks and Jane Hill. The book contains 784 pages with 7 maps, 44 tables and 18 black-and-white illustrations. The book will support the archeology work of Dr. David Freidel and his graduate students.

$210 to the ISEM Library to purchase volumes 33-38 of the Pacific Coastal Archaeological Society Quarterly journal. These volumes will support Dr. Torbin Rick’s work in Coastal Archaeological Research.

Amount of grants:  $28,173.22

Grants approved for yearly distribution:

$3,000 to CUL to assist in funding the production of the CUL annual report publication.

$1,000 to support the Library School Scholarship Award.  This year’s recipient is Sola Babatunde from the Central University Libraries.

TOTAL of all 2006 grants:  $32,173.22