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Welcome Dean Seaman
David Seaman has been appointed University Librarian and Dean of Syracuse University Libraries, effective August 3, 2015. David comes to Syracuse after library leadership positions at Dartmouth College, The Digital Library Federation, and the University of Virginia. He has lectured and published extensively in the fields of humanities computing and digital libraries, and for many years has taught at the University of Virginia's Rare Book School.
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Family Feud, Instagram, and the Libraries!
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Family Feud, Instagram, and the Libraries!
Instruction and Outreach Events for Summer Programs
by Abby Kasowitz-Scheer and Tarida Anantachai
Each summer, the Libraries offer fun and instructional activities for students in the SummerStart and Summer College programs. SummerStart assists incoming first-year students in making the transition to college during the summer, and Summer College allows high school students to take SU courses and get a taste of college life. This year's activities included a game night and a new twist on a library orientation for SummerStart students.
The game night, held on July 23, from 7-9 p.m., featured a Family Feud tournament and a "construction" competition, in which students were tasked to build free-standing towers out of office supplies (including newspaper, paper clips, masking tape, index cards, drinking straws, and rubber bands) that could balance a library book for 30 seconds. All teams succeeded in balancing the book, a volume of Encyclopedia Britannica, on the top of their structures, but the winning team had the tallest structure at 32 ½ inches. Over 36 students attended this high energy, competitive event. Winning teams received certificates for movie tickets. Refreshments and prizes were provided by SummerStart. Thank you to Learning Commons staff and students John Stawarz, Rachel Fein-Smolinski, and Anusha Ambati for helping to plan and staff this event.
On July 29, four sections of SummerStart seminar classes (about 100 students total) visited Bird Library throughout the day for an introduction to the Libraries. Learning Commons librarians and staff led sessions that included an overview of library services and spaces and an activity that allowed students to explore the library on their own. During this interactive activity , students worked in teams to take photos of items in the library (study spaces, a "serious" journal, a "fun" journal, the "weirdest" book in the Reference Collection, their group with a staff member, etc.) and post them to a special Instagram account created for the session. After the activity, LC librarians led discussions based on student photos (and videos), describing services in more detail and answering questions.
To see some of the fun we had this summer, check out the LC SummerStart Game Night Flickr album and the SULibClass Instagram page.
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New major reference works
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New major reference works
We have acquired a few new major reference works in several disciplines. These items can be located in Summon or the Classic Catalog, and "live" on the ScienceDirect platform. Here's a compilation of new major reference works:
Encyclopedia of Energy, Natural Resource, and Environmental Economics
This reference work covers the relationships among three important sub disciplines of economics: energy economics, resource economics and environmental economics. A collection of 128 articles that provides an authoritative introduction to the key resource economic challenges facing our planet.
Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science
An up-to-date overview of Quaternary Science that details the manifold environmental changes that have occurred during the most recent geological period, the Quaternary - an interval of time that spans the past 2.59 million years or the past 0.056% of geological time. Illustrates the importance of Quaternary Science in providing an historical context for assessing present environmental changes and as basis for modeling potential future changes.
International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences
The work comprises 26 volumes with more than 3900 chapters covering all areas of the social and behavioral sciences. Offers thorough explanations of the interactions among the disciplines covered. A great starting point for undergraduates, graduate students and researchers, as entries are thorough and complete with references enabling users to push their research forward.
Treatise on Geomorphology
This is the 14-volume synthesis of the state of the discipline by geomorphologists from across the world. Provides context for ongoing research, includes discussion of research strategies, equipment, and field methods, laboratory experiments, and numerical simulations to reflect multiple approaches to understanding Earth's surfaces. Summaries include outstanding research questions highlighting future challenges and suggest productive new avenues for research (WorldCat).
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Updated Libraries' Welcome booklet
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Updated Libraries' Welcome booklet
An updated version of the Libraries' Welcome booklet is now available, thanks in large part to the design skills of Lynn Wilcox at SU Press. Please recycle all copies of the previous version that your department may have on hand and contact Julie Belle for a new supply.
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SULA election results
The SULA Executive Board for 2015-2016 will be:
- Vanessa St. Oegger, Chair
- Gerry McCarthy, Past Chair
- Stephanie Helsher, Chair-Elect
- Jessica Rice, Secretary
- Kristin Neri, Member-at-Large
Thanks very much to everyone who put their name forward, those who voted, those who are rotating off the committee, and those who are continuing to serve!
Your SULA Nominating Committee,
Darle Balfoort
Sophie Dong
Meg Mason
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Libraries' Picnic
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| Syracuse University Libraries celebrated their annual summer picnic at Ryder Park in July.
Staff members and their families were joined by Otto for an afternoon of food and games in the park. |
Photos from this year's annual picnic are available on the shared drive: G:\LIB\Shared\Committees\SULA\Annual Library Picnic\2015
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New Library grandbaby
Ed Galvin (Archives and Records Management) welcomed his first grandchild, Edward (Teddy) Paul Clark on June 19 at 2:33 a.m. Teddy weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and was 20.25 inches long. Both baby and mom are perfectly healthy, happy, and exhausted.
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Comments from the Interwebs
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Comments from the Interwebs
SU students continue to comment about the Libraries using social media outlets, such as Twitter and Facebook. Many of their musings receive a reply from the Library's official Twitter handle, @SyracuseULib. Here are some of the things that have been on their minds:- I can't wait to go back to school and get a wrap from Bird Library.
- Never thought I'd say it... but I miss Bird Library ... and even 6 ft. of snow. Take me back to the 'Cuse.
- Nobody parties at 'Cuse. Everyone just stays in their rooms unless it's for class, food, or Bird Library. :)
- Someone just stole my bike seat while I had parked it in front of the @SyracuseU Bird Library. http://t.co/FY7c2vRojL
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Staff news
Got news? Please feel free to send us any news items that you would like to share with colleagues -- graduations, weddings, new babies, travels, and such. As always, we welcome your feedback, comments, questions, or story ideas. Send your contributions to libcom@syr.edu.
Many thanks for your interest!
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The Syracuse University Libraries Staff Newsletter
Pamela Whiteley McLaughlin, Julie Sharkey
Contributors: Tarida Anantachai, Linda Galloway, Ed Galvin,
Abby Kasowitz-Scheer, Meg Mason, Kelley Parker, Anne Rauh,
Vanessa St. Oegger, David Seaman
Click here to view past issues of the Staff Newsletter
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