University Library eNewsletter: January 2012 News

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Photo courtesy of Tara Spies Smith

Student reading and listening to music comfortably in the leisure reading section of Alkek.

Three new exhibitions are now on view at the library’s Wittliff Collections. Rick Riordan’s World of Myth & Mystery exhibition honors the New York Times #1 best-selling creator of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and author of the multi-award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults. Riordan’s is now one of the major archives at the Wittliff, and among the objects on view are his early journals, unpublished manuscripts, and the original sword, “Riptide,” used in the 2010 film adaptation of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Timeless Mexico: The Photographs of Hugo Brehme celebrates the newest volume in the Wittliff Collections’ photography book series, featuring over 100 of Hugo Brehme’s masterful photographs of early twentieth-century Mexico. One of that country’s first modern photographers, Brehme focused on iconic subjects ranging from the Mexican Revolution to scenic landscapes, colonial architecture, and the everyday life of indigenous peoples.

Face to Face: Portraits from the Photography Collection, an assemblage of more than 50 photographs by 35 photographers, brings viewers face-to-face with a study in humanity—from the famous to the homeless—in portraiture from the Wittliff’s permanent holdings. Among the images of authors, artists, and ordinary people, musicians, cowboys, and revolutionaries are icons Che Guevara by Rodrigo Moya, Willie Nelson byAnnie Leibovitz, and Texas State Distinguished Alumnus George Strait by Michael O’Brien.

This semester the Wittliff Collections are once again featuring a line-up of national award-winning authors who will read from their work and sign books. Together with the English Department, the Wittliff Collections welcome Richard Siken, Elissa Schappell, Dagoberto Gilb, Louise Erdrich, Tim O’Brien, and Cyrus Cassells to the podium, as well as MFA students to read from their personal poetry and fiction. Jim Kimmel talks about his newest book, Exploring the Brazos River: From Beginning to End, Susan Frost and Dennis Brehme speak at the book launch of Timeless Mexico: The Photographs of Hugo Brehme, and an event with Rick Riordan is being planned. A major symposium, Voces Y Memorias: The Rolando Hinojosa & Arturo Madrid Literary Celebration, will feature a discussion with the two authors moderated by Carmen Tafolla.

Admission is free. For all the details, visit the Wittliff Collections online at www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu, or call 512-245-2313.

-Written by Samantha Snell

Photo courtesy of Tara Spies Smith

Two beautiful women are departing as your trusted Alkek catalogers. We will miss them! 

When a student catches a break from studying and hectic class schedules, an easy-read fiction novel can be a great way to relax and focus on another mindset during their free time.

The Albert B. Alkek library collects not only scholarly and research material, but contemporary fiction as well. Current fiction remains one of the most popular parts of an academic library. Such collections provide leisure reading while also meeting the needs of students in classes that use contemporary fiction.

In some cases, the library may not find the exact title needed. Such was the issue when Associated Student Government Senator Maxfield Baker contacted the library to learn about the possibility of expanding the collection of fiction titles available at the Alkek Library.

“We do regularly order some material that is considered "leisure reading",” explained Paivi Rentz, Head of Acquisition. “For example, we currently get all of the latest New York Times Bestsellers automatically sent to us. In the library, Leisure Reading is a browse able collection on the second floor.”

Rentz explained that students are always welcome to request specific books to be added to the collection by submitting an online request. The form is located on the library’s website underneath the “My Library” tab. Students may also broaden their suggestion to materials on various subjects or genres and select the “Online Forms” link underneath the “My Library” tab on the library website.

Once the suggestion is submitted, the request goes to the library faculty representative for the department for review. Faculty oversee development of the library collections and approve purchases for their disciplinary areas. Occasionally, Rentz will review the forms that were not approved by the departmental and will purchase those items with general library funds.

“We get over 20,000 requests each year for all types of material,” said Rentz. “Most are from librarians and faculty, maybe about 500-1,000 a year directly from students. It’s hard to tell because a lot of librarian orders are based on interactions with students, so many requests coming from students actually end up being librarian requests in our system.”

From the initial approval to the order and then to process the material and be available for use may take up to three weeks. Ordering may take longer depending on availability of the book, may it be an older out-of-print or older foreign title, and depending on the amount of requests at the time. Requesting material heightens in January and May through July.

In cases where the library does not or cannot purchase the item (because it is out-of-print or not available), students can submit an interlibrary loan request to borrow the item from another library. Once the interlibrary loan request is submitted online, at this location-https://www.library.txstate.edu/services/borrow-renew/interlibrary-loan.html - the Alkek Library will borrow the item for the student from another library. This is a free service provided for Texas State students.

Baker did his fellow students a favor by reaching out to them and seeking input on their needs. He then contacted the library to see what options were available to meet student needs. Baker posted information about his experience researching this topic on a Facebook forum titled “Talk With Me About ASG” where Baker and members can interact about campus related issues.

Baker is currently attempting to increase the amount of outreach between students and the Associated Student Government.

“I consider good outreach to take the form of teaching a man how to fish,” said Baker “That not only should we find out what is bothering students, but incite them to do something themselves through guidance and research. Plenty of issues do not require legislation, but simply research, a proven need, and the right person's ear.”

The Round Rock campus also has a leisure reading collection. For more information, click on one of the links below.

• Round Rock Libguide
• Round Rock Library website
  

-Submitted by Elizabeth McLellan

On January 31,  two long-term staff members Elaine Sanchez and Aleene Howser will retire from Alkek Library. Collectively, the women have worked with the Library for more than half a century, and have witnessed the Library’s growth and development from traditional library services to a technology-associated research community.

Elaine Sanchez

Elaine Sanchez is the epitome of a library cataloger if there is one. This quiet voiced librarian loves how she spent her time at Alkek. Sanchez spent a quarter of this century working toward becoming Head of the Cataloging and Metadata Services Department, which she happened to do twice.

Sanchez is an accomplished cataloger, and her experiences reflect her dedication to the academic world. In 1994, she was a member of the TALL Texans Leadership Development Institute, sponsored by the Texas Library Association. She held positions in the Data Research Users Group and the Texas Library Association. TLA recognized Sanchez through her service to the Texas Regional Group of Catalogers and Classifiers with a Resolution of Appreciation.

The Association of Research Libraries offers professional development courses such as Professional Writing Skills for Librarians. After taking the course, Sanchez’s writing phase took off. She completed several writing projects and publications including an article in Technical Services Quarterly, as well as several books including her latest, Conversations with Catalogers in the 21^st Century, published by Libraries Unlimited in 2010.

Sanchez has plans to continue using her writing skills to create and write children’s books. One possible title is “A World Without Catalogers”. The concept is to show children, and the community, how the world could not run without the behind the scenes workers who catalog and classify all that they can. Another potential publication is a collection of stories about her family. Sanchez wants to write about her father’s life during the war, stories about her parents meeting and falling in love, as well as about her two sister’s lives and careers.

When someone retires, they decide how they are going to spend their time and if they still want to learn new things and reach goals they have previously made. Sanchez feels as though she is “starting all over again”. She considers this time as similar to being 18 and graduating from high school. A graduate has finished one task and must then put another goal one in front of them. Sanchez will soon purchase an Irish Harp, and take lessons from a University of Texas instructor. She also wants to spend lots of time with her grandchildren and family.

Sanchez smiled and her eyes revealed that she was thinking back through her many years of classifying books and working in a library, when asked to name her favorite part about cataloging.

“You deal with works that have been created,” said Sanchez. “You hold in your hands something that someone has spent time making, and you have to be able to describe it so that people will know what it is. You describe to people how they can find it, and you provide the classification that this work will be placed. Cataloging is a good place for solving puzzles. Catalogers are detail oriented people. They see both the small and big picture of situations. Catalogers are process oriented, methodical and sometimes goofy and quirky.”

Aleene Howser

Aleene Howser is a sweet and bubbly character who will miss her Alkek family very much. She began her career with Texas State 39 years ago when the library was located in JC Kellam. During this time, cataloging had not been transferred to digital book keeping, and Howser spent her work time photocopying bibliographic information into the card catalog. The copy machine was rather large, and the equipment would often overheat and begin smoking. Howser mentioned with a grin that cataloging can be a tricky business.

After working in the library for almost 40 years, Howser has witnessed four cataloging system changes. Howser first started working with the old DEC circulation system which used machine cards for circulation and the card catalog to help people find what they needed. Over the years the records moved from the card catalog to the computer and are now integrated with our digital environment.  Howser was part of it all.  She now uses the most recent system, Millennium, to catalog hundreds of books.

One of Howser’s favorite authors is Janet Evanovich, and has been recently interested in her series. As retirement comes, she is planning on spending a lot of time with her books and her family. Her husband is a firefighter, and Howser helps out with a lot of events and fundraisers such as the MDA boot filling fundraiser. This is where firefighters stand in street intersections with a boot, and people driving by can drop in their change. Howser also wants to spend time in her garden growing tomatoes, bell peppers and summer squash.

Howser is excited to retire, but will miss the Alkek staff very much and “wish[es] the best for everyone, and hopes any changes are good changes”. The first thing Howser said when asked what she plans on doing after retiring is, and this was a quick response, “I’m going to sleep in! Which will only be until around nine, but still, sleep in.”  She also plans on visiting family that she has not seen in years, and taking a “ladies trip” to New York City.

Howser has earned her retirement after dedicating her knowledge and cataloging skills to the University. In Sanchez's description of Aleene, she comments that “Aleene has been doing for over 39 years what she is doing today...working very hard all the time, thinking and analyzing all the time, making sure that everything is done correctly and seeing, and fixing or improving problems that need solving.  Aleene has always worked hard to do her best, and to assure the highest quality, and quantity, of cataloging.”

These two cataloging veterans are greatly appreciated by the Alkek staff and Texas State as a whole. The Library and University would like to thank them for their service to us all.

Thank you Elaine. Thank you Aleene. 

-Submitted by Elizabeth McLellan