USA Libraries Newsletter

July 2024

Archivist Daniel Shemwell Presents at Staff Summer Workshop 2024

McCall Archivist Daniel Shemwell had the opportunity to present at the annual USA Libraries Staff Summer Workshop on July 12th. His presentation, titled Through the Lens: A Look at the Bill Shrout Photographic Collection, gave an inside look into the collection with sample photographs and a short summary of Shrout’s life. Bill Shrout was a war correspondent and photojournalist from Alabama. His work was featured in many publications, including Life Magazine and Saturday Evening Post. Daniel began processing the Shrout collection when he joined the McCall Archives in January of this year. The original donation consisted of over 120,000 items, including photo negatives, slides, and personal letters. It will likely take years for the collection to be fully processed.

SELA 2024: Recharge in Rocket City

What happens when academic librarians carpool to a library conference? Lots of coffee and snacks, laughter, stimulating conversation, and a wealth of learning and engagement toward continued excellence of USA Libraries. University of South Alabama (USA) librarians made the trek north this past week to Huntsville, Alabama for the 2024 Southeastern Library Association (SELA) conference held on the beautiful University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) campus.

The USA librarians who attended SELA 2024, were: Tracy M. Cole, Acquisitions Librarian; Gail Kouame, Director of the Biomedical Library; Muriel Nero, Assistant University Librarian for Collections; Sonja Sheffield, STEM Librarian; and Paula Webb, Communications and Outreach Librarian.

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INTO LIGHT Project Coming to University of South Alabama

The USA Libraries, in partnership with the Archaeology Museum, are collaborating with the INTO LIGHT Project to bring the exhibition Drug Addiction: Real People, Real Stories to the University of South Alabama as the selected host site for the state. The exhibition features original graphite portraits and stories of people in Alabama who have died from drug addiction/poisoning. The goal of the INTO LIGHT Project is to change the conversation about drug addiction, educate the public about the disease of addiction, and reduce the stigma surrounding substance use disorder. The exhibition will be on display in the Student Center Second Floor Lobby August 29^th until the end of Fall semester, when it will move to the Archaeology Museum until Jun 27, 2025.

An opening reception for the exhibition is scheduled for August 29th, 6pm – 8pm in the Student Center Ballroom. The reception is free and open to the public.

For more information about the INTO LIGHT Project and for resources to facilitate discussion and education, click the link below.

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Frankenstein Coming to USA Libraries

The USA Libraries are pleased to host the National Library of Medicine’s traveling exhibit, Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature, which will be on display in the Marx Library lobby from August 12th – September 20th. The traveling exhibition and companion website explore the power of the novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus to expose hidden fears of science and technology as human efforts to penetrate the secrets of nature continue.

In 1816, Mary Shelley conceived a story about a scientist who creates a creature that can think and feel but is monstrous to the eye. Spurned by all, the embittered creature turns into a savage killer. Shelley’s story served as a metaphor for apprehensions about scientific advancement that continue to resonate today.

There are several programs planned in association with the exhibit, featuring:

August 21, 4:30 pm: "Mary Shelley: My Monster," a live impersonation of Mary Shelley by Megan Wells in Marx Auditorium. Reception to follow in the

Rodning Gallery.

September 5, 4:30 pm: "IT'S ALIVE! Frankenstein's Monster, Generative A.I., and the Mystery of Human Consciousness," Presented by Dr. Peyton McElroy. Marx Library Room 181.

September 10, 4:00 pm: 'A More Horrid Contrast': Depictions of Body Horror in the Frankenstein Mythos; English Department panel presentation with Dr. Annmarie Guzy, Dr. Ellen Harrington, Robert O'Berry, and Hunter Tallent at the Marx Auditorium.

Details about the exhibit and all associated events can be found here:

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The World of Generative Artificial Intelligence Models and University Libraries: How It’s Going So Far

It seems like everywhere you turn these days, you’re reading or hearing about how generative artificial intelligence models (like the freely available ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot) are taking over higher education. Okay, maybe they haven’t reached total world domination just yet. There are still a lot of legal and ethical issues to be worked out in academia regarding the use of generative AI models, especially as more and more AI apps with new features are being developed each day. Interested in reading more? Click the link down below for the full article.

Micro Book Review

Sarah Rocha

Autumn by Ali Smith

Autumn, the first book in Ali Smith's post-Brexit seasonal quartet, is a novel preoccupied with fault lines. Flicking back and forth between past and present, the book is primarily about the friendship between Elisabeth, a precocious-child-turned-academic, and her lifelong neighbor Daniel, a dying songwriter in an elder care facility. Through subtle humor and playful banter, the novel draws our eye to divisions, durations, and definitions. It asks us to consider the presence left by absence. Does time heal all wounds, or does it simply destroy them?

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017, Smith’s book is deceptively light. Her talented hand draws us into Elisabeth’s world as the tension of Brexit roils right under the surface. (And we don’t really need to be familiar with Brexit to understand the implications of half a country not talking to the other.) Rather than specifically focusing her energy on this elephant in the room, Smith prefers to rib those of us forced to measure passport photos with a ruler and asks if it isn’t all a bit silly, when you really think about it.

Find Autumn in our stacks at PR 6069 .M4213 A92 2016 (Fourth Floor South)

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Did you know?

If you collect 10 receipts from the Starbucks at the Marx Library, they can be redeemed for a free Grande drink of your choice.

Additional modification must be paid for separately.

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