University Libraries Newsletter
October 2019
Library Resources & Events
Poetry, Pizza, and Displays at the Marx Library during Banned Books Week
The USA Libraries celebrated Banned Books Week, September 22-28, by hosting a live Poetry & Pizza event, celebrating the right to free speech with a special Banned Books Week open mic. In addition, the Marx Library Public Relations Committee created a display on the 1st Floor featuring censored books, many of which you can check out from our library.
Gathering Notes of Kindness for 9/11 Day of Service
As part of our Semester of Kindness, the Marx Library collected notes of kindness for our military troops and first responders, including police officers, EMS workers, and firefighters. We collected 62 notes, which were distributed by Karen Peterson's service-learning classes to the appropriate groups.
New USA Libraries Resource: Web of Science
Web of Science
The USA Libraries recently added Web of Science to the list of resources provided to the university community.

Web of Science is an index to scholarly publications covering sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities. It is especially notable for its publication metrics, including, but not limited to, journal impact factors.

Training in Web of Science and its features is forthcoming.

Clarivate Analytics logo
Important Features

Some of these options require you to create an account, but once you've set one up, you can use it to access everything.

  • Journal Citation Reports: impact factors and other publication metrics.
  • InCites: benchmarking and other analytics. Create an account.
  • Essential Science Indicators: View top papers by research fields, authors, institutions, journals, and countries or regions.
  • Publons: helps researchers keep track of their publication metrics. Create an account.
  • EndNote: reference manager. Create an account.
Biomedical Library Book Drive for Children and Teens for the USA Strada Patient Care Center Pediatrics
In celebration of National Medical Librarians Month, the USA Libraries will be holding our annual book drive to help support the Reach Out and Read program for the children and teens who visit USA Strada Patient Care Center Pediatrics. From Tuesday, October 01, to Thursday, October 31, you are invited to donate new and gently-used books for young readers at Marx Library, Baugh Biomedical Library, or at any of the other offices who are hosting a box.

If you would like book donations to be picked up at your location or if your office would like to host a donation box, contact Heather Hoven-Glass at hdhoven@southalabama.edu or 251-460-6889.

Thank you for your continued support of USA Strada Patient Care Center Pediatrics and the libraries!
Joseph Bloch: Father of Mobile's Music Exhibit Makes Mississippi Debut
The McCall Library’s traveling exhibit, Joseph Bloch: Father of Mobile’s Music , makes its Mississippi debut at Temple B’nai Israel in Hattiesburg in October. This exhibit is winding down an 18-month tour of eight venues having been seen by several thousand viewers across the region. A collaboration among three USA faculty, Deborah Gurt, Paula Webb and David Meola, the project received funding from the Southern Jewish Historical Society. In addition, Gurt and Meola also received funds from the Seed Grant Program in Support of the Arts and Humanities from the University of South Alabama.
Voter Registration Drive at the Marx Library
Librarians and staff from the Marx Library, the Biomedical Library, and the League of Women Voters worked together to support the Voter Registration Drive on September 24th at the Marx Library. They helped students register to vote, showed them how to check their current status, and answered their voting-related questions. A total of 39 voters were registered, and those at the booth received positive feedback and engagement from passersby, even if they chose not to register.


Are you registered to vote? It's not too late!


Need a print Voter Registration Form? Click here.
New and Upgraded Science & Technology Resources
The Marx Library now has available several new or upgraded resources in the areas of science and technology that should significantly improve student and faculty access to information for research and coursework. These include:


If you have questions about content, accessing, or using any of our new/updated sci/tech databases, please e-mail aprender@southalabama.edu or call 460-7025, x65087.

Amy Prendergast
Science & Technology Librarian
New Collections at the McCall Library
This has been an active month at the McCall Library with new collection materials arriving daily. One of our exciting new acquisitions is a collection of original cartoon mechanicals from the strip Life Forms by retired USA professor and polymath Dan Silver.
Life Forms Mechanicals consists of 223 original mechanical drawings in ink on board with hand-cut Zipatone (grayscale). These cartoons present a humorous take on local and national politics and personalities. Many were originally published in The Harbinger community newspaper, 1985-2010. 
USA Libraries Recent Professional Development
USA Librarians Present at the Studer
Education Destination High Performance Conference in New Orleans
Lorene Flanders (in the middle), Executive Director of University Libraries, was joined by Clista Clanton (to the right), Assistant Director for Strategic Initiatives, Baugh Biomedical Library, and Dr. Angela Rand (to the left), Director, Marx Library, in presenting on USA Libraries' Leadership Development Institutes at Studer Education's Destination High Performance conference in New Orleans in September.

USA Libraries partnered with Pensacola-based Studer Education in 2018 to conduct employee engagement surveys and develop quarterly Leadership Development Institutes. LDIs provide a mechanism for strengthening employee engagement, serve as a venue for focused group conversations and planning around shared values, mission, and the urgency of change, and focus on using data to drive decisions. 

Leadership Team members Mary Duffy, Deborah Gurt, and Kathy Wheeler also attended the conference. Flanders has presented nationally and internationally on her work on employee engagement and leadership development, and she has assisted the Florida Academic Library Services Cooperative in its partnership with Studer. 
USA Librarians Attend the Southeastern Library Association Conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas
Librarians Paula Webb, Muriel Nero, and Kathy Wheeler represented the University of South Alabama Libraries during the 2019 Arkansas Library Association/Southeastern Library Association Joint Conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The conference, held September 27-29th, focused on the latest issues related to the library science profession and featured presentations that discussed various ways to address these issues. As part of the conference, Kristin Rogers (University of Mississippi), Kathy Wheeler (University of South Alabama), Brian George (Henderson State University), and Laura Slavin (University of Alabama in Huntsville) discussed how the move to COUNTER 5 usage data will impact collection development in academic libraries.
USA Librarians Present at the OCLC Library Futures: Community Catalysts Conference in Phoenix, Arizona
On October 2nd & 3rd, librarians Stephanie Ard and Beth Shepard attended the OCLC Library Futures Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, where they presented on their ongoing Instagram reference project, Marx Library Live.

Want to see episodes of Marx Library Live? Click here!
Voices of Strong Women
Karen Bullock
September/October 2019
Gallery Hall

Exploration of Print
Kaylynn Daniel
September/October 2019
2nd Floor Student Gallery

Grand Opening of the VA Resource Room and Ribbon Cutting
November 11th
Baugh Biomedical Library
Veterans Day Luncheon
11:30 am - 1:00 p.m.
Student Veterans Resource Room
Open House & Ribbon Cutting
Room 222A, 3 - 5 p.m.
Nature's Beauty
Julie Andel
September/October 2019
Gallery 181

Poarch Creek Exhibit
1819: A Look at Creek Life
October/November/December 2019
Rodning Gallery
Reception
October 16th @ 6 p.m.
Rodning Gallery

Haunted Places, Haunted Spaces: A Live Forum on the Ghosts of Mobile
October 17th
Marx Library Auditorium @ 6 p.m.
Dolls to Doodles: A Digital Odyssey
Susan Warley
November/December 2019
Gallery 181
Reception
November 20th @ 6 p.m.
Helen Keller Exhibit
November/December 2019
Gallery Hall