Are you on campus during the summer? Take a break from writing that article and experiment with some new technology that may change the way you read, research or teach.

• iPads: Each iPad comes pre-loaded with multiple apps you can try out.
• Kindle/Nook/Sony e-readers: Each comes pre-loaded with popular reading titles. There are different titles on each device.
• Coming in June: Android tablets: Seven tablets, including three Kindle Fires.

Just drop by The Bridge to see what’s available for checkout.

The University has designated the ZSR Library as a priority for the upcoming capital campaign. In April 2011, Angela Glover joined the University Advancement team as Director of Development for the Library and Special Projects. Angela works closely with Dean Sutton, campus administrators, and the ZSR faculty and staff to increase funding and outreach efforts. Angela delights in the progress, saying, “When I first started, few people even considered the library as a major charitable option, but, after a year, we are identifying prospects and building a pipeline of donors for the future through the Wake Forest Fund. Already, the amount of money in the Wake Forest Fund dedicated to the library has doubled, and the number of donors has increased. We anticipate announcing some major gifts in the upcoming months.”

To make a financial gift to the library, or to include the library in your estate planning, please contact Angela at x3216.

To schedule a pickup/delivery, just find one of the titles you have checked out by searching in the online catalog. Click on the “ZSR Delivers (Faculty/Staff)” icon on the right side of the page. In the “Notes” box, indicate where the books are and the number of items. If the item has not reached its online renewal limit, you can also renew it from the My Account page.

ZSR Library welcomes Thomas Dowling as Director of Technologies. He replaces Erik Mitchell, who left to become an Assistant Professor in the School of Information at the University of Maryland. Before coming to Wake Forest, Thomas served as Assistant Director of Systems for OhioLINK, a consortium of 88 universities and colleges. He received his Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Michigan. In 2009, he received the ETD Leadership Award from the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations for creating and managing OhioLINK’s Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.

Looking forward to working with his innovative colleagues at ZSR, Thomas says, “In the next few months, we will upgrade the online catalog and the WakeSpace repository of faculty publications. We will also add new software that will enhance the user experience with digitized Special Collections.”

Craig Fansler gives his LIB100 students instructions for their final projects.

Effective fall 2012, all library science courses will earn 1.5 credit hours. Library faculty members look forward to this shift as an opportunity to spend more time engaging with students around information and research issues. This transition better serves the College as library classes will pair more easily with the increasing body of 1.5 credit hour courses offered at Wake Forest. Please advise students of this change and consider library classes for students who seek half courses to complete their schedules. Library courses are typically taught for half a semester, so a student should plan as though they are taking a three-hour course for the half of the semester in which the course meets.

The library will also introduce a new course, LIB 260: The History of the Book, beginning in the fall. This class will be taught by Special Collections Librarian Megan Mulder.

Students from History Through the Lens of Documentary Film researching in the Special Collections Reading Room

In recent years, an active program of instruction and outreach has made Special Collections and Archives a destination for more and more Wake Forest students. In the 2011-12 academic year, 34 different classes – over 400 students – visited Special Collections.

Faculty may schedule class visits and can work with librarians to create assignments that use primary source material such as books, manuscripts, photographs and maps. The FYS History Through the Lens of Documentary Film typifies the opportunities available in Special Collections. Cara Pilson taught this FYS for the third time in the spring of 2012. Each of her FYS classes has included a final project based on materials from the WFU Archives.

Dr. Pilson wanted her students to create brief documentary films about the experiences of Wake Forest students from earlier eras. The students in fall 2010 investigated issues facing students in the 1960s. They focused on the ways in which the Wake Forest community reacted to events in the wider world.

As a first step, Dr. Pilson and librarians discussed her course goals and expectations for the project. The librarians then recommended appropriate resources from the archives. Dr. Pilson wanted her students to experience the process as well as the products of archival research. Therefore, the students were presented with a selection of resources, which they then had to evaluate to select the most appropriate specific items for their projects.

This model has worked well for all three History Through the Lens of Documentary Film classes. The spring 2012 class had a broader range of topics in a timespan that ranged from the 1940s through the 1980s, which meant that they used a greater variety of archival resources. As in previous semesters, the class visited Special Collections early in the semester to receive a basic introduction to the department’s holdings, methods of archival research, and appropriate handling of archival materials. They then returned to do research throughout the semester, both independently and with Dr. Pilson in attendance.

For historical research at any level, there is no substitute for direct interaction with primary sources. The students were amazed, amused and sometimes appalled by what they found in the archives. Issues of the Old Gold and Black from the early 1940s featured editorials by a student named Edwin G. Wilson, describing the privations of a wartime campus. The Wake Forest Women’s Government Association minutes from the 1950s detailed the many infractions for which female students could face disciplinary action (including “appearing in parlor doorway wearing shorts” and “shouting to boys out of window”). The correspondence files of President Harold Tribble include strongly worded letters (both pro and con) reacting to the decision to integrate Wake Forest. This unmediated contact with voices from the past gave students the opportunity to stretch their critical and interpretive skills. The students also faced the challenge of finding materials that could provide visual impact for their films. With some guidance, undergraduate students from this and other classes can use archival resources in fascinating and creative ways.

Putting resources into the hands of Wake Forest students is a primary goal in Special Collections and Archives. If you want to learn more about how these materials might fit into your course, please contact Special Collections Librarian Megan Mulder at x5091.

L to R: Perry Ransbottom, Erin Cassidy, Dain Finke, Tim Brady

In April, ZSR hosted the third annual Senior Showcase, a program honoring exemplary senior research theses and projects completed by Wake Forest University undergraduates. Four outstanding students presented their research in the ZSR Auditorium to a large audience of students, faculty, staff and family members.

The Senior Showcase began in 2010 upon the suggestion of a student who desired a forum for classmates to share their research with the campus community. Faculty advisors submit nominations, and a jury of library faculty selects honorees based upon both the strength of the nominations and a review of the students’ works. Up to five students may be selected, one from each division of Wake Forest College.

This year, the four honorees’ projects reflected not only a broad range of disciplines, but also diverse research methods and skills, from textual analysis to theatrical interpretation to ethnographic study to human subjects research.

The 2012 Senior Showcase honorees were:

• Erin Cassidy, Religion, for “John Calvin on Christian Responsibility for the Common Good,” nominated by Steven Boyd;
• Perry Ransbottom, Theatre, for scenic design for Emilie: La Marquise du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight, nominated by Rob Eastman-Mullins;
• Dain Finke, Anthropology, for “Understanding Caste and Self: A Dalit Caste’s Navigation of Caste Boundaries and Identify Formation in Nepal,” nominated by Stephen Folmar; and,
• Tim Brady, Health and Exercise Science, for “The Effect of Breathing Frequency on Baroreceptor Sensitivity,” nominated by Patricia Nixon.

Following the presentations and a lively Q-and-A session, honorees and attendees enjoyed a reception sponsored by the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Center.

The new Zeutschel

Special Collections is proud to present the newest addition to our arsenal of digitization equipment, the Zeutschel 12000! After a two day training, we are ready to use the new machine for digital projects, ILL requests, and user initiated scans. All are welcome to come visit our new digitization lab and have a look.