USA Libraries Newsletter
May 2024
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McCall Library
This summer, the McCall Library will host five interns thanks to a collaboration between the Honors College and History department. Sara Mahan, Nicole Shakespear, Hannah Walker, Jaden Williams, and Mary Wolf will create teaching materials to bring Down the Bay oral histories to local schools. The internship program is funded by the David Mathews Center for Civic Life as part of their Jean O'Connor-Snyder Internship Program (JOIP).
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Interns meet with Dr. Ryan Morini (front right), Director of Community Oral History Collections, and Rachel Hines (center) from the Center for Archaeological Studies. | |
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JAWS Fest is an annual celebration of jazz culture and history in Mobile, Alabama, organized by Jazz Art Writers South (JAWS), Black Ink Coalition, and USA Libraries Art Galleries. The festival kicked off with a preview in April 2024 featuring a performance by the Excelsior Band, who returned to launch the 2024 season on May 16th.
Throughout June, the festivities continue with Jazzy Lunches on June 5th and 12th, and an event titled Jazz, Stories, and Poetry on June 18th. Highlighting the musical performances, renowned musician Thomas Jackson will give a concert at the Marx Library Auditorium on June 6th at 6 PM. The festival will conclude with a grand finale concert by Andrew Ayers & Friends on June 20th at 6 PM at Laidlaw Performing Arts Center.
Additionally, the JAWS Youth program engaged local schools and showcased over 200 jazz-themed canvases painted by students. Artists who participated in this year's exhibit include Scott Bruce and Brian Argo. These exhibits are up at the Marx Library until the end of June 2024.
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Welcome New Faculty and Staff | |
The Biomedical Library is happy to announce that Matthew Robertson joined their team as Library Technical Assistant I effective April 8, 2024. Mr. Robertson is a graduate of Auburn University where he received his Bachelor of Arts in English with a focus in Public and Professional Writing. Prior to joining the Biomedical Library full-time, Matthew has worked at The Grand Hotel, The Park at OWA, and the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. In addition, Matthew also interned for the Biomedical Library, entering works into the JagWorks digital repository. In his free time, Matthew enjoys reading, drawing, and playing video games. His favorite book is Dune, and his favorite movie is The Graduate. Welcome, Matthew!
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No Charge to Publish Under Transformative Agreements
The University of South Alabama (USA) libraries currently offer two transformative agreements (also known as read and publish) with the following publishers, Cambridge University Press and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), a third is currently in the works with SpringerNature. With transformative agreements in place, University of South Alabama faculty can publish their research open access, and the article/author processing charge, also known as an APC, to make the article open access, will be covered under that agreement, relieving USA faculty from that expense. With APC costs covered and USA faculty research immediately available through open access the benefits are numerous. Open Access not only removes barriers to research, it also provides authors more exposure and a wider reach. Additionally, authors may choose to publish under a Creative Commons license that specifies how readers can use their articles.
For more information regarding questions on transformative agreements with the University of South Alabama please email: Tracy M. Cole, Acquisitions Librarian, USA Libraries Collections at tmcole@southalabama.edu
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Solar Eclipse at Marx Library
On April 8th, the Marx Library Student Engagement Committee, led by STEM Librarian, Sonja Sheffield, hosted a Big Hang Event (our first, hopefully, of many to come): Solar Eclipse of the Marx! Several hundred USA students, staff, faculty, and community members dropped by the Marx Library to enjoy free Mellow Mushroom pizza, lemonade, solar eclipse glasses (while they
lasted!), books, skygazing, and bonhomie for a big afternoon hang. Thanks to all who showed up and our event partner, Dr. Albert Gapud, from the USA Department of Physics. See you next time, Jags!
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Micro Book Review
Mike Itaya
Tiny Love: The Complete Stories by Larry Brown
Books can connote a certain amount of cachet. Remember when breakfast nooks featured obvious copies of Infinite Jest? For Larry Brown, the late, fireman-cum-southern everyman writer, the opposite may be true. You might not find Brown’s books burning up many BookToks, but Brown – who wrote about both the sardonic and serious problems his rascally and well-Budweisered Mississippians face down – captured concerns that transcend class and place. Brown wrote about “the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself” (as Faulkner said). Find him in our stacks: PS 3552 .R6927 A6 2019 (Fourth Floor, South Side, Marx Library).
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