AIC students contribute to the field of agriculture

Two UK Libraries Agricultural Information Center student employees were included in honors for the UK chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS). For the fourth consecutive year, the UK MANRRS chapter was named National Chapter of the Year. Kelly Moore, AIC student worker, is a past national undergraduate president of MANRRS. Student worker Tynesha Marshall is an active member of UK MANRRS.

The UK MANRRS Chapter

Another AIC undergraduate student employee, Kaitlin Fouts, was recently featured as a guest blogger on the Kentucky Beef Council Faces of Farming Blog.

Kaitlin Fouts

We are proud of our student employees for their contributions to their fields of study.

Learning Lab students present on Special Collections archival work

Interns from the Special Collections Research Center Learning Lab presented the projects representing the culmination of their work during the 2016 – 2017 academic year during an event on April 14, 2016. The interns spent the year processing and researching the archival collections of the Frankel and Curtis architectural drawings collection. The collection consists of the files of the Frankel and Curtis architectural firm, a leader in designing buildings in Kentucky in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

The interns each spoke on a facet of the collection, detailing analyses of material culture, race relations, and history drawn from the primary source documents.

Six interns worked in the Learning Lab this year, supervised by Learning Lab manager Stacie Williams. The interns this year were as follows: Nick Hodge, a sophomore architecture major with a minor in environmental studies and sustainability from Lexington; Sommer Cade, a sophomore architecture major from Louisville; Steve Ngandu-Sankayi, a sophomore architecture major with a minor in French from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Abby King, a sophomore majoring in history and classics from Lexington; Daria Goncharova, a senior English major from Russia; and Aaron Mueller, a sophomore computer science and linguistics major from Louisville. 

Aaron Mueller

Abigail King

Daria Goncharova

Nick Hodge

Sommer Cade

Steve Ngandu-Sankayi

Staff receive Dean's Awards for Outstanding Performance

UK Libraries will honor three staff members with the 2016 Dean's Awards for Outstanding Performance. Josh Monroe, Beth Reeder, and Kopana Terry will receive their awards during the annual UK Libraries Employee Celebration. This is the highest honor accorded to staff by UK Libraries.

Josh Monroe

Monroe is a Monograph Library Specialist at William T. Young Library. He is head of the monographs area, and provides support to all academic liaison librarians by sourcing print and electronic materials needed by UK faculty, staff, and students. He was nominated by Jen Bartlett, Head of Young Library Reference Services.

“I have frequently been amazed at the speed and efficiency with which Josh locates and orders materials,” said Bartlett. “Rarely has there been a situation in which Josh has been unable to find what faculty need, in whatever format; often he locates these materials at much cheaper cost than anticipated.”

Monroe is also active in UK Libraries committees and activities. He recently gave a presentation to LEX Week interns on the basics of acquisitions, and will be repeating the presentation for graduate assistant training. Every fall he volunteers to work at the welcome desk to greet new students in Young Library.

Beth Reeder

Reeder is a Library Technician Senior in the Agricultural Information Center. She manages the public service operations of the AIC, including student hiring and supervision. Valerie Perry, director of the AIC and head of Branch Libraries, nominated Reeder.

“Not only is Beth completely reliable and dependable, but she is also an excellent problem solver and innovator,” said Perry. “Beth gained significant extra responsibilities in the past two years, as she coordinated and planned two major facility renovations and upgrades. We are fortunate to have such a fine employee leading our public service efforts.”

Reeder has taken on projects that were ongoing when she arrived at UK Libraries, including migrating VHS holdings to DVDs and major review of the AIC reference collection. She also serves on UK Libraries committees, and participates in numeours library workshops, campus activities, webinars, and regional conferences.

Kopana Terry

Terry is an Oral History Archivist in the Special Collections Research Center Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History. She oversees the accessioning of new oral history interviews, the description of the existing collection, processing interviews, digitization and preservation of interviews, and preparation of interviews for reference requests. She also manages Nunn Center student employees. Terry was nominated by Nunn Center Director Dr. Doug Boyd.

“Last year we indexed a record number of interviews in a single year. Additionally, Kopana accessioned 624 new interviews in 2015 – also unprecedented,” said Boyd. “We have a very successful oral history archival operation. This is, in large part, thanks to Kopana’s determination, dedication, and – most importantly – her focused attention on implementation.”

According to Boyd, “the Nunn Center’s success depends heavily on the oral history archivist position, and this year Kopana Terry has taken her role to a new level.”

In addition to recognition at the Employee Celebration, the awardees will recognized during the UK Libraries Spring Gala on May 10, 2016. 

Frank Davis receives Paul A. Willis Outstanding Faculty Award

Frank Davis

UK Libraries will honor Frank Davis with the 2016 Paul A. Willis Outstanding Faculty Award. Davis is a clinical liaison librarian in the Medical Center Library division of Research, Education and Clinical Services. He has served more than fifteen years at UK.

“Frank is a friend and valued colleague. He is actively engaged in the profession, contributes to the field of health sciences librarianship, and is a dedicated and devoted faculty member within UK Libraries,” said Rick Brewer, director of the Medical Center Library. Brewer nominated Davis for the award.

Davis is the liaison to the UK College of Pharmacy, the Markey Cancer Center, and the Department of Internal Medicine within the UK College of Medicine. He interacts with a diverse group of patrons including students, faculty, researchers, and clinicians throughout UK HealthCare and the health colleges.

Davis serves each of his areas in an exemplary manner. For Internal Medicine, Davis attends morning report three days a week and provides support for learning issues identified during case discussion. He also works with Internal Medicine residents who request his expertise concerning case report publications and grand rounds presentations.

At the College of Pharmacy, “Frank is a valued colleague and appreciated for his commitment and service to this nationally ranked program,” said Brewer. He is an active member of the COP curriculum committee, where he employs highly specialized, expert literature searching skills and provides input on issues relating to information resources. At the request of faculty, Davis presented on options and procedures for electronic books. He has participated in two accreditation reviews for COP, and in the most recent accreditation process he was instrumental in writing the standard focused on library resources.

The Markey Cancer Center utilized work by Davis in their successful application for National Cancer Institute status as an NCI designated research center.

“For years, Frank has maintained an EndNote library of publications authored by Markey researchers that has enabled faculty to track such scholarship,” said Brewer. “Frank has provided assistance on grant applications by conducting complex and intense literature reviews.”

Davis has also demonstrated leadership and service at the national, regional, and local levels. He served as chair of the Cancer Librarians Section of the Medical Library Association. He was selected as a reviewer for submitted papers for the 2015 National MLA annual meeting. Davis has also served as web editor for topical areas for the MLA cancer Libraries Recommended Web Sites project. Regionally, Davis has invested substantial time and resources in the work of the Midwest Chapter of the MLA.

“Within UK Libraries, Frank has consistently volunteered for committee assignments. He is a respected colleague and valued for his input and contributions. Whenever called to step up, one can always count on Frank to do just that,” said Brewer.

In addition to his clinical and service work, Davis teaches more classes than any other MCL librarian. He lectures to upper level pharmacy students on evidence-based pharmacy resources, is regarded by COP faculty as an expert on the topic. He is also an expert trainer on the use of EndNote – a product designed to manage bibliographic references.

Davis will receive the Paul A. Willis Outstanding Faculty Award during the UK Libraries Spring Gala on May 10, 2016. The Willis Award is named for Paul A. Willis, former director of UK Libraries.

UPK author wins Eugene Feit Award for Civil War History

By Whitney Hale, Jacob Smith, and Mack McCormick

University Press of Kentucky (UPK) author Brian R. McEnany has been chosen to receive the Eugene Feit Award for Civil War History for For Brotherhood and Duty: The Civil War History of the West Point Class of 1862.

The Feit Award is given by the New York Military Affairs Symposium (NYMAS) to authors writing on Civil War history. The organization is devoted to increasing public knowledge, awareness, and understanding of the interrelationship of war, society and culture through the presentation and dissemination of diverse scholarly viewpoints. The NYMAS Civil War Book Award was instituted in 2002, and it became the Feit Award in 2010.

In For Brotherhood and Duty, McEnany follows the cadets of the West Point class of 1862 from their initiation, through coursework, and on the battlefield, focusing on 12 Union and four Confederate soldiers. Drawing heavily on primary sources, McEnany presents a fascinating chronicle of the young classmates, who became allies and enemies during the largest conflict ever undertaken on American soil. Their vivid accounts provide new perspectives not only on legendary battles such as Antietam, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, and the Overland and Atlanta campaigns, but also on lesser-known battles such as Port Hudson, Olustee, High Bridge, and Pleasant Hills. Generously illustrated with more than 100 photographs and maps, this enthralling collective biography illuminates the war’s impact on a unique group of soldiers and the institution that shaped them.

McEnany graduated from the United States Military Academy with the class of 1962 and served in artillery assignments in Germany, Korea and the United States, and combat service in Vietnam. A retired lieutenant colonel and operations research analyst, he is the author of several historical articles about West Point during the Civil War.

UPK previously won the Arthur Goodzeit Book Award for Best Book on Military History from the NYMAS for The Schlieffen Plan: International Perspectives on the German Strategy for World War I, edited by Hans Ehlert, Michael Epkenhans, and Gerhard P. Gross; this is the first book from UPK to win the Feit Award.

Reprinted with permission from UKNow.