Spring Vol. 25 No. 2, 2009

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News From the Field

University of Central Florida

Appointments, Promotions, and Departures

Promoted to the faculty rank of Assistant Librarian are Corinne Bishop (Information Literacy and Outreach) and Andy Todd (UCF at Cocoa).

Papers, Publications, and Presentations

In October, Linda K. Colding (Associate Librarian, Reference) and Stephen O’Connell (First-Year Advising and Exploration) presented, “It Takes Two: Partnering for Freshman Achievement,” at the Georgia Conference on Information Literacy, held in Savannah. Linda, along with several First-Year Experience faculty, also delivered a paper, “Incorporating Information Fluency into First-Year Seminar Curriculum,” at the 28th annual Conference on the First-Year Experience in Orlando. At this same conference, Linda presented a poster titled, “A Strategy for Success: Incorporating the Library into First-Year Seminar Curriculum.”

Aysegul Kapucu (Instructor Librarian, Reference) reviewed American Libraries and the Internet: The Social Construction of Web Appropriation and Use by Ben Li (Cambria Press, 2008) in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology.

“Managing Successful Local Chat Desks” was the title of a Webinar presented in January by Meredith Semones (Associate Librarian, Reference) and two other Florida “Ask-a-Librarian” site coordinators.

State, National, and International Activities

Michael Arthur (Head, Collection Development) attended the 2009 Leadership Forum open to past graduates of the Florida Library Leadership Program. The Forum speaker, DeEtta Jones, is well known among libraries for her work in leadership and management. The program, "Leading in Shifting Environments," focused on leadership and motivation during trying times.

Linda K. Colding (Associate Librarian, Reference) served as a member of the Military Installation Voluntary Education Review team from the American Council on Education. The team visited and reviewed educational programs at the Ft. Stewart/Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia.

Grants and Awards

Richard Harrison (Associate Librarian, Reference) has been selected by his faculty peers to receive the 2009 Excellence in Librarianship award, which will be presented at the annual UCF Founders' Day convocation in April.

Aysegul Kapucu (Instructor Librarian, Reference) received a $970 grant from the Learning Institute for Elders (LIFE) at UCF. The grant was used to purchase books and to conduct a book discussion series for LIFE members in the main library on the Orlando campus during fall semester 2008.

Exhibits and Other Library-Sponsored Events

“Saving Dreamland: Henry Nehrling’s Florida” was the title of a late January lecture at the main library on the Orlando campus by Dr. Nancy Decker, founding president of the Henry Nehrling Society and Associate Professor of German at Rollins College. Dr. Decker spoke about the legacy of Henry Nehrling, founder in 1885 of Palm Cottage Gardens, Florida's first experimental botanical garden, where Dr. Nehrling tested over 3000 new and rare plants for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Of these, over 300 new and beneficial plants were introduced into Florida's landscape, including caladiums, hybrid amaryllis, and gloriosa lilies. These plants were the foundation for Florida’s thriving nursery industry.

As part of February’s African American History Month, the Libraries hosted several displays. One, titled “Enter Colored Hat,” consisted of some 30 photographs and artifacts, part of the resources used in a recently-published book, African Americans in Sanford, by Valada Parker Flewellyn and the Sanford Historical Society. The UCF African American Studies Program highlighted African American officials who have been elected or appointed to government positions in the United States. The posters depicted photographs and biographical sketches of Joseph Hayne Rainey, Pinckney B.S. Pinchback, Hiram Rhodes Revels, Shirley Chisholm, Carl Stokes, Douglass Wilder, Carol Moseley Braun, Colin Powell, Condeleeza Rice, and President Barack Obama.

The main library on the Orlando campus has created the “Campus Connections Program” as way of connecting students and campus organizations. According to Hal Mendelsohn (Assistant Librarian, Reference), originator and creator of the program, the goal is to inform students about the wide spectrum of organizations on campus that deal with students’ needs. Each Tuesday, representatives from two different campus organizations (e.g., Office of Undergraduate Research, Ombuds Office, University Police) are at a table inside the library’s entrance across from the Circulation Desk and ready to answer questions, as well as provide brochures, flyers, and tchotchkes about their organization.