HAC Advisory Council Adds Two

The History of Aviation Collection (HAC) Advisory Council bi-annual meeting was held in late 2011 in the McDermott Suite of the library. The meeting was called to order by President Jan Collmer followed by the nomination of two new members to the board - Bob Rosbert and Ken Cordier. The council voted to attend the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Reunion in Dayton, Ohio in April 2012. HAC volunteer and curator of the Doolittle Archive, C.V. Glines, will attend as usual as the Raiders official historian and honorary Raider. Reports were presented on the Doolittle Collection and The HAC volunteers. The annual Special Collections report was given by Coordinator of Special Collections Paul Oelkrug. The meeting concluded with a special presentation by UT Dallas graduate and Assistant Professor Walter Voit, PhD, about his research in thermomechanics of shape memory and polymers.

Special Collections joins in ‘Boots to Books,’ Fetes Wineburgh Philatelic Library donors

Special Collections staff took part in the university’s “Boots to Books” program, a Veterans Day Celebration and Education Fair. Current UT Dallas student veterans served as hosts to prospective student veterans. Officials estimate there are from 700 to 1,000 of more than 19,000 students at UT Dallas who are veterans. Paul Oelkrug’s staff organized an information table... Special Collections also hosted a holiday event for supporters of the Wineburgh Philatelic Research Library - the Sawyer Chapter of the American First Day Cover Society and the Collectors Club of Dallas.

Library Committee Addresses Noise

Because of diverse patron use, a noise committee was formed consisting of 10 staff members and chaired by Circulation Manager Debbie Gilbert-Stadigh. The committee had two goals: first, to make the library a more accommodating learning environment; and second, to promote the library as a place for research, reflection, and learning. They approached the issue from two fronts. First, they compared McDermott’s noise policy with those of other university libraries. Second, they took a survey of UT Dallas patrons (370 students, 18 faculty members, and 14 visitors) about how to balance varied use. Results of the survey suggested most patrons favored quiet study and cell phone use in designated areas. Also, patrons preferred study carrels (small walled desks) to study tables on the fourth floor. The majority of those surveyed found that the current noise level was acceptable.

Based on these findings the committee executed several changes. First, they removed the doors to the group study rooms and changed the furniture on the fourth floor to promote quiet study. They moved the designated group study areas to the lobby, basement, and four study rooms. Second, the committee created different noise level zones for the library. The blue zone is a quieter learning environment for patrons who want individual, quiet study. The orange zone areas have higher noise expectations due to machines and traffic. Students who prefer background noise are encouraged to study in these areas. Green zones are for group study and moderate talking. The committee believes these positive changes to the library environment will better serve patrons’ choices according to their learning needs at any given time.

McDermott Student Advisory Group Rocks On

Open advice and discussion with our patrons is essential to the health and vitality of the library. As a result, McDermott Library Director Dr. Ellen Safley created the first McDermott Student Advisory Group (MSAG).

MSAG is comprised of students ranging from undergrad to doctoral candidates who help improve library services. The group’s staff committee members are Hillary Campbell, Iryna Shevchuk, Chris Edwards, Hannah Wilson, and DeAnn Rose.

The group’s mission is simple but vital: to help the library receive positive or negative analysis on various library policies and procedures. In other words, “Tell us what you would like to see or have us do better.”

MSAG features 20 students, who were chosen from the various schools on the UT Dallas campus to serve as liaisons to the library. Members have provided feedback on various library projects that range from layout designs of the library website to multimedia selections. Students also get the benefit of learning the internal workings of an academic library.

The group meets in focus sessions with library officials.

In late November, the student committee members supervised by library staff painted over the largest Sprit Rock in the central mall. The paintwork showed green and orange and an open book with the words, “McDermott Library, Call, Click, Come In!!” displayed for all to view.

Staff donates toys to children’s medical center

As a part of the recent annual holiday reception at the library, staff members donated eight baskets of toys to be presented to Cooks Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth.

Reference librarian Chris Edwards and Susie Kutchi traveled to Fort Worth to deliver the toys. The holiday committee also included DeAnn Rose, Julie Rooney, Brooke Johnson, Lauren Hawthorne, Thomas Allen and Tom Koch. As a part of the holiday season staff also created their own Christmas tree ornaments from clear glass balls and varieties of colored paint.

Longtime HAC volunteer Maier dies

Nick Maier

Special Collections was saddened in December by the death of longtime History of Aviation Collection volunteer Nick Maier. He was buried in the DFW Veterans cemetery. Nick enjoyed being a part of the group of volunteers who helped organize and describe material in the HAC on a weekly basis. He was a systems analyst and contracting officer in travel industry management. Major Maier was a command pilot on B-52s and SR-71s, receiving a Bronze Star, three Air Medals and three Air Force Commendation Medals.

New Faces at McDermott Library

Wanda Tanghlyn

Stephanie Scherer

Una Fretthold

Paula Perkins

New Callier Center Librarian Wanda J. Tanghlyn has extensive experience in library science. She served as the assistant to the Youth Services Librarian at the Lancaster Veterans Memorial Public Library in 2005. The native Dallasite provided reference and research at the main reference desk and created marketing and advertising materials for youth services. She spent a year as a library consultant for the United States EPA Region 6 library before becoming assistant librarian for the Court Reporting Institute of Dallas. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications/marketing at UT-Texas at Arlington in 2004 and followed that with a masters in library science from the University of North Texas in 2006. Before becoming the Callier Center librarian, she was a librarian at the Dallas Public Library Audelia Road Branch. She enjoys traveling, shopping, reading and working with computers. She enjoys watching her son play sports and spending time with her dogs Blue and Hampton... Stephanie Scherer has joined the Cataloging staff. She is majoring in psychology and seeking teacher certification in order to teach in elementary school. Before enrolling at UT Dallas she graduated from Farmersville High School and went to Collin College. She enjoys painting and baking... Also joining the library is copy cataloger Una Fretthold, a veteran of library work in her native Massachusetts. She and her husband Sean and yellow labrador Hobbes moved to Texas a year and a half ago. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from Wheaton College in Massachusetts and still enjoys printmaking... Native Dallasite Paula Perkins is the new night manager in Circulation. She has public library experience notably in Red Oak, Texas and Lancaster, Texas. She recently served on the Texas Heritage Online users work group with the Texas State Library and University of North Texas. She is a Professional Genealogical Consultant and Lecturer and is past coordinator for KERA's community outreach program in conjunction with PBS series "Ancestors"...

Employee of the Quarter The Employee for the Quarter (December 2011 through February 2012) is Jennifer Gordon, Head of the Acquisitions Team. Nominator Sumathi Raghavan noted, “Jennifer consistently and quickly handles all the issues and problems that arise having to do with our electronic resources and their multiple infuriating quirks.” Gordon gets to use the premier purple parking permit for the lot adjacent to the library during her three months.