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Browsing Tag: Librarians

Ohio Private Academic Libraries Conference 2018

We are excited to be a part of the Ohio Private Academic Libraries (OPAL)’s 2018 conference! This year’s theme “Stronger Together: Voices Raised in Advocacy” explores activism, outreach, collaboration and services.

 

Catalysts, Pioneers and Provocateurs: 21st Century Academic Libraries

Academic libraries inspire discourse and connect students, faculty and communities to new ways of thinking. At a time of heightened awareness of inequalities for women, people of color, LGBTQ+, immigrants and other marginalized communities, what are the roles of libraries, academic institutions and external partners? Join us as we discuss how academic libraries have positioned their programs and collections to spark dialogue. Panelists will share how their work advocates the library as a platform and how their constituents and community have benefited. Further, we’ll chat about their vision for what’s next. Don’t miss this timely talk with following Q&A!

 

Meet the Panelists

Jenny Robb
Curator and Associate Professor
The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

Jenny Robb is Curator and Associate Professor of The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, the largest academic research institution dedicated to cartoons and comics. Before coming to Ohio State in 2005, she served as Curator of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco for 5 years. She holds masters degrees in history and museum studies from Syracuse University. Jenny has curated numerous cartoon and comics exhibitions, including Exploring Calvin and Hobbes; The Long March: Civil Rights in Cartoons and Comics; and Looking Backward, Looking Forward: U.S. Immigration in Cartoons and Comics. She is the author of “Bill Blackbeard: the Collector Who Rescued the Comics” published in the Journal of American Culture and co-author of “Finding Archives/Making Archives: Observations on Conducting Multicultural Comics Research” published in the book Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle, among other comics-related articles and catalog essays.

 

Krista McDonald
Director
Miami University Regionals Rentschler Library

Krista McDonald is the Director of Rentschler Library at Miami University’s Hamilton Campus. She has just completed a three-year term leading the Academic Library Association of Ohio and is currently serving on its Diversity Committee. At Miami Hamilton Campus, Krista has completed Safe Zone training and works with the MUH PRIDE student organization as well as with the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Services, the Association of Latino and American Students, the TRiO Student Support Services Program and Student Disability Services. Krista earned her Master of Library Science from the University of Kentucky and her Bachelor of Arts in history from Ohio University.

 

Lae’l Hughes-Watkins
University Archivist, Assistant Professor
Kent State University Libraries Department of Special Collections and Archives

Lae’l Hughes-Watkins is responsible for managing the Kent State University Archives program, which includes the May 4 Collection. Some of her principal duties involve acquiring and appraising archive records, coordinating the process and preservation of Kent State archival material in all formats, digitization, co-administering with the university’s general counsel, the records retention program, providing reference and research assistance and delivering instructional programming about the Kent State University Archives. Her research areas focus on outreach to marginalized communities, documenting student activism within disenfranchised populations and utilizing narratives of oppressed voices within the curricula of post-secondary education spaces. Her most recent publication is “Moving Toward a Reparative Archive: A Roadmap for a Holistic Approach to Disrupting Homogenous Histories in Academic Repositories and Creating Inclusive Spaces for Marginalized Voices” [PDF] in the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies. She is the Founder of Project STAND, a national initiative to create a centralized digital space where academic institutions can provide researchers access to historical and archival documentation on the development and on-going occurrences of student dissent. Project STAND focuses on digital and analog primary sources that document the activities of student groups that represent the concerns of historically marginalized communities (e.g., African American, Chicano/ LGBTQ, religious minorities, disabled, etc.). Lae’l is a 2018 Association of Research Libraries Leadership and Career Development Fellow and a recent recipient of the Society of Ohio Archivists Merit Award for Project STAND.

 

Nimisha Bhat
Technical Services Librarian
Columbus College of Art & Design Packard Library

An Ohioan by way of South Dakota, Nimisha Bhat’s education and career have been grounded in the exploration of dialogues between different cultures and communities. Nimisha earned her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College where she studied Arabic and spent time abroad in India and Egypt. Further, pursuing her master’s degree from Pratt Institute’s library and information science program fed her passion for visual culture and literacy. Working with collections at the Frick, Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum of Art, she has combined her experience in museum librarianship with information literacy at the Columbus College of Art & Design. As CCAD Packard Library’s Technical Services Librarian, Nimisha is passionate about cataloging, teaching through a lens of critical librarianship and advocating for diversity and inclusion within library services.

 

Bryan Loar (Moderator)
Co-Founder and Board President
Cbus Libraries

As Co-Founder and Board President of Cbus Libraries, a tax-exempt charitable nonprofit, Bryan champions Central Ohio libraries, library enthusiasts and the love of reading. Through a variety of programming, Cbus Libraries promotes the exceptional work of Central Ohio libraries via monthly features, raises scholarship funds for traditionally underrepresented library students and creates literacy experiences at community events and public spaces. In 2017, Bryan moderated Resistance + Refuge : Bookstores + Libraries at Columbus, Ohio’s Flyover Fest. Bryan earned dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in History of Art and Italian from The Ohio State University and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Kent State University. Bryan serves as a trustee at the Ohioana Library Association and on the advisory council for Choose to Read Ohio. He is a member of ALA’s Association of College & Research Libraries.

The Ohio State University Libraries Research Commons

The Research Commons at The Ohio State University is a fantastic resource for students and faculty embarking on projects at any point in the research process. Located in the 18th Avenue Library, the Research Commons’ mission is to

leverage campus partnerships to provide support services at each stage of the research lifecycle. It enhances the Libraries’ mission by providing a hub for collaborative, interdisciplinary research that is both expertise and technology enabled.

The library offers a wide range of resources, including workshops, one-on-one consultation and high-tech workspaces. The Research Commons maintains a balance of providing research support and resources to support research.

The Research Commons provides high-tech resources for students and faculty, including this interactive table. The rooms can be reserved by OSU students and faculty through OSU University Libraries’ website or by contacting Research Commons.

When the Research Commons was created in 2016, a task force began to identify the needs of the campus. Support for geographic information system (GIS) services, information management and data management were uncovered. The Commons’ resources are scalable, free and available. Services include research impact, designed to help measure projects through metrics and enhance their impact, and data management, providing resources to help manage data throughout a project’s lifecycle. With librarians and experts on hand, the Research Commons provides assistance, connects experts with resources and teaches research best practices.

 

Program Assistant Nicole Hernandez and Head of Research Services Meris Longmeier are part of a dynamic team that provides the Research Commons an amazing array of services.

Head of Research Services Meris Longmeier shared launching and growing the Research Commons has been a great experience. When she joined the university six years ago, the Research Commons was just an idea. She has helped to shape the space and programming. Now, she manages a growing staff of 10 employees and continues to identify and support new initiatives as the popularity of the Research Commons spreads.

The Research Commons showcases the work of the researchers across the university. By featuring projects on screens in the library and promoting the work of research collaborators through campuswide communications, students and faculty learn of their colleagues’ work and the Research Commons demonstrates its support. Through monthly faculty forums, professors share their accomplishments. Additionally, the library also hosts special events, including GIS day, collaborative events with the City of Dublin and partnerships with Ohio State Advance.

The gathering space at the front of the Research Commons offers comfortable, attractive seating and lockers for students to store their belongings.

Research Commons partners and collaborates across the university with industry liaisons, the Office of Research, the Supercomputer Center and many other organizations to highlight services and share information. Upcoming workshops include Corporate Research Engagement and introductory classes on an assortment of advanced software available for use in the Research Commons computer lab.

The library offers a variety of spaces available for classes and groups of all sizes to reserve. The newly designed space is bright, clean and attractive, with easy-to-arrange furniture to accommodate the needs of groups attending events. Rooms are equipped with cutting edge technology, making it easy to present, connect, share and collaborate. The 18th Avenue Library is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and librarians at the Research Commons are available for consultation throughout the week. It is phenomenal resource for researchers at Ohio State, with caring staff and outstanding opportunities to learn.

 

Westerville Public Library

Westerville Public Library is an amazing community hub focused on innovation and imagination.

In 2017, Library Journal awarded Westerville its highest designation. Only 85 libraries across the country received a five-star rating, ranking the library in the top 1% of the nation’s public libraries. And for good reason. Exemplary outreach includes daily delivery to Westerville City Schools, it was the first Central Ohio library to offer drive through service and new technology gives customers the ability to self-check an entire armload of materials all at once. Partnerships and convenience make Westerville one of the nation’s best libraries.

 

Library renovations completed in 2006 created an incredible atrium, teen space resembling an Internet cafe with booth seating, a retail-like media space with flat screen TVs and an enlarged youth department providing individualized spaces for different ages.

 

Westerville Public Library’s Meet the Author series brings stellar luminaries to Central Ohio. Most recently, Ernest Cline, author of the new blockbuster Ready Player One, spoke to a packed house. In April, New York Times best selling author Karen White will speak. Other notable visits have included Pulitzer Prize winning Anthony Doerr (All the Light You Can Not See), NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Newbery Medal winner Matt de la Peña (Last Stop on Market Street). Don’t miss Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give) this September!

 

In addition to an incredible library, the building also hosts the Anti-Saloon League Museum. For forty years (1893-1933), the league was a major lobbying force that helped bring the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, creating an era of prohibition. The museum’s collection has been instrumental for researchers worldwide, including Ken Burns and his documentary Prohibition. During our visit, we met with Local History Associate Nina Thomas who pointed out the collection’s depth in WWI materials. Check out their online collection that includes cartoons, songs and more here.

 

Executive Director Erin Francoeur

In 2017, Executive Director Erin Francoeur joined Westerville. She’s thrilled to be part of such a strong, community-supported library. Erin spoke highly of the library’s amazing staff, making work exciting and fun. She’s eager to further deepen community partnerships, including a recent collaboration with Otterbein University’s Courtright Memorial Library, and begin a new strategic plan.

 

And we’ve just briefly introduced the Westerville Public Library. We highly encourage you to visit and experience this dynamic community resource!

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This feature is dedicated to the memory of Officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli. Their service to community and sacrifice will never be forgotten.

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