Special Collections Images on CBS This Morning

CBS This Morning produced a segment on a little-known baseball player and University of Houston graduate named John Paciorek, who played exactly one game in the major leagues before a back injury prevented him from playing again. Since he had a statistically perfect game on that day (September 29, 1963) as a player with the Houston Colt 45s in their final game of the season against the New York Mets, he now holds the record as having the best career record in the history of Major League Baseball.

CBS requested images from UH Special Collections for this story, which can be viewed at http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/pacioreks-perfect-mlb-stats-after-one-day-career/. Images from Special Collections were shown at the 1:08 mark (team color photo) and at the 2:21 mark (Paciorek looking up to make a catch with the 360ft sign in the background.)

Summer Book Club 2015

University of Houston Libraries and the UH Women and Gender Resource Center will co-sponsor the 2015 summer book club, which is open to all UH students, faculty and staff, and alumni.

Readers are invited to gather at the Resource Center, located in the University Center North Room 201, for a literary conversation. Readers may bring a lunch, and drinks and sweets will be provided.

On July 14th at noon, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (fiction) will be discussed.

On August 18th at noon, Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America (nonfiction) by Melissa V. Harris-Perry.

Both are available through the library’s interlibrary loan service. Sister Citizen is also available as an ebook, accessible via the library catalog.

Still Life Meets Outer Space

Update: Casas’ art has been added to the University of Houston Digital Library.

Araceli Casas, a graduate student in the University of Houston Master of Education Curriculum and Instruction – Art Education program, has a series of paintings on display in the William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library A2Alcove. The library supports UH student artists by hosting their work in the gallery. All pieces are then digitally captured and included in the UH Digital Library.

The series, Veggies in Outer Space, started in 2007 with an odd sweet potato that Casas found while shopping in the produce section, at a time when her focus was on still life. That sweet potato was the inspiration of her latest project and, as a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation, she gave it a background based on popular images of outer space, putting a new spin on still life.

Subsequent paintings included other vegetables with inspiration from famous images of the Hubble telescope and other icons of space exploration.

In addition to the Veggies series, Casas also collaborates with Houston area non-profit organizations to produce and display Christian-themed art, and is working on a new series for other types of venues.

Creative from a young age, Casas received a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Houston, and took applied training at the Glassell School of Art, where she became well-versed in the technical aspects of art. Casas also built her knowledge by the wisdom of her classmates and contemporaries.

“It’s good to learn from artists who came before you so that you have more tools with which to build your own identity as an artist,” Casas said. Her favorites include the baroque artist Caravaggio, Van Gogh, and Cy Twombly, whose art sparked her appreciation of contemporary artists.

Casas has worked in various teaching positions with elementary school-aged children and, as a teaching artist at Texas Children’s Hospital, she enjoys inspiring children to express their creativity. Her advice to young artists is to keep at it, surround yourself with people who are supportive of your work, and build a space or environment for yourself in which to be creative.

Student artists interested in displaying work at the Architecture and Art Library are encouraged to contact Chris Conway with digital samples.

Creativity and Collaboration at UH Libraries

The University of Houston Libraries announces the winners of the 2015-2016 Microgrant Program.

The program, now in its 7^th year, was created to foster new and innovative ideas in support of the Libraries’ Strategic Directions and the University’s Strategic Initiatives.

Librarians and staff submitted proposals for new services and programs which would benefit teaching, learning and research objectives of the UH community, and will work in cross-departmental teams to implement their ideas.

The UH Libraries Microgrant Program winners for 2015-2016 are:

Project title: LinkedIn at the Library
Esmeralda Fisher (project lead), Mauricio Lazo, Kelsey Brett, Alex Simons

LinkedIn is a powerful career and networking tool, yet many students who are seeking internship or full time job opportunities do not use it properly or at all. LinkedIn at the Library will give students a chance to improve their LinkedIn profile, and learn ways to build professional connections in the online space. Staff volunteers from the Libraries and University Career Services will assess students’ LinkedIn profiles and offer suggestions on ways to improve it. Professional portraits will be offered, which students can upload to their profile. Career Services and Libraries information will be distributed, and there will be opportunities for students to sign up for career-related tech training offered at the Libraries.

Project title: Walk and Learn for Wellness
Kelsey Brett (project lead), Marissa Aiello, Melody Condron, Lisa Martin, Porcia Vaughn

The project will consist of two parts. Part one is a walking challenge to be held in the fall. Part two is a wellness discussion series to be held in the spring.

An eight-week wellness program, Walk Across Texas, will be used in fall 2015 to motivate library employees to explore wellness in their work environment. The Walk Across Texas program, from Texas A&M Extension, focuses on team-based walking challenges.

The microgrant project for the walking challenge involves publicizing the walking challenge, signing teams up, holding a kickoff event, monitoring the challenges and providing feedback to teams, announcing winners, and hosting a final event to celebrate participants. Pedometers will be provided for every staff member and student worker. In spring 2016, the project team will hold approximately four Lunch and Learn workshops focused on wellness. Targeted discussion topics include nutrition, ergonomics, stress reduction for student workers, healthy activities, and other work-life balance topics.

Project title: Information and Access Services Student Empowerment Project
Margaret Dunn (project lead), Lee Hilyer, Nora Dethloff

This project will consist of hosting various events for the student workers employed in the Libraries’ Information and Access Services department. The students will be invited to events featuring an employee of other Libraries departments in order to learn more about how the Libraries functions.

Project title: African American Read-In
Rachel Vacek (project lead), Jesse Sharpe, Julie Grob, Andrea Malone

Since 1989, the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English has sponsored the National African American Read-In. UH Libraries will host a Read-In for which students, staff and faculty can sign up to read self-selected book passages, articles, poetry, speeches, and other works written by African Americans. The Libraries will identify unique materials from Special Collections and the stacks to inspire those in search of reading material.

New OneSearch Features Offer Improved Discovery Experience

University of Houston Libraries has implemented new features in OneSearch to improve access of online resources.

• Users now see a simple search interface that makes it easy to locate resources.
• A new e-Shelf option allows signed-in users to permanently save items from search results for later reference. In the results list, click the e-Shelf button next to the title of the resource.

View your saved items by clicking the e-Shelf tab on the top right menu.

• To enhance off-campus or remote access, a new bookmark feature lets users retrieve UH Libraries’ online resources from anywhere on the Internet, bypassing the UH Libraries’ web site. This includes Google Scholar or email article alerts. Find the bookmark and more information on off-campus access.

Director of Library Services for Health Sciences Joins UH Libraries

The University of Houston Libraries has welcomed a new director of library services for health sciences.

Michelle Malizia will oversee the forthcoming Health Sciences Library that will be located in the Health and Biomedical Sciences Building II, currently in development. The new facility represents the second phase of the Health and Biomedical Sciences Center, which opened in February 2013 and is home to the University’s clinical, educational, and interdisciplinary research.

The Health Sciences Library will serve the teaching and research needs of healthcare, pharmaceutical and biomedical sectors, existing as both a physical and virtual resource. The physical library will house library professionals with information expertise in optometry, pharmacy, and other disciplines supported by the Center, as well as specialists in health informatics whose skills can inform and enhance the work of the researchers and clinicians associated with the Center.

Malizia will design and implement targeted delivery of information services to students, faculty and the public. Now in the library’s development phase, Malizia is assisting in the design of the physical library space within the new building, with a focus on reflecting the physical attributes of the MD Anderson Library to make it an enjoyable place to study, collaborate and learn.

“It is my goal to ensure that students, faculty and staff in the health sciences programs have the physical and electronic resources to best meet their information needs,” Malizia said. “Healthcare and research are changing rapidly and will continue to do as information, technology, and legislation evolves. As a result, I am identifying future physical and electronic resources that can be included in the new library.”

Malizia is also consulting with faculty members throughout the University to determine how they envision the future of their programs and to anticipate educational information needs.

Previously, Malizia served as the associate director for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine South Central Region program, a federal contract held by the Texas Medical Center Library. She has worked in health sciences libraries for over 15 years in a variety of roles, including reference, instruction, technology services, outreach and administration. Her areas of expertise include database searching, instruction, and program planning. She has presented at a number of conferences nationwide on various topics, including health literacy, grant writing, evidence-based practice, searching PubMed/MEDLINE and public health information resources.

Houston History Exhibit Opens at UH Libraries

A new exhibit documenting the rich narrative of Houston’s past opens in June at University of Houston Libraries.

Houston History: Archives, Magazine and Oral History is the visual representation of the Welcome Wilson Houston History Collaborative (formerly known as the Houston History Project), a joint effort designed to expand and improve research on historical perspectives of Houston.

The exhibit illustrates a unique collective endeavor that developed from the vision of Joe Pratt, Cullen Professor of History and Business at UH. In 2003, Pratt moved the Houston History magazine from Houston Public Library to UH, and recognized the opportunity in establishing an archive and oral history repository, in tandem with the publication, to inform and perpetuate scholarship in public history.

While the magazine is the most visible component of the Houston History Collaborative, the archives and oral histories serve as rich entry points to scholarship and research for students and scholars alike. UH students take an active role in the archives, oral histories, and magazine production. Selected content from recent issues of the magazine, including articles written by students, will be featured in the exhibit.

The exhibit was curated by Dr. Terry Tomkins-Walsh, historian, lecturer and archivist of the UH Special Collections Houston History Archives, which supports research in history with primary sources on growth and development along the Gulf Coast. The archives boast a medley of Houston historical perspectives, and reflect major themes in environmentalism, ethnic history and energy. Notable student projects and other scholarship produced with the use of primary resources in the Houston History Archives will be included in the exhibit.

Records related to environmentalism comprise a significant portion of the Houston History Archives. Some of the materials representing Houston’s environmental community include, but are not limited to, the Terry Tarlton Hershey Papers; Bayou Preservation Association; Citizens’ Environmental Coalition; The Park People Records; Kay B. Crooker Papers (city planning); Hana Ginzbarg Papers (Armand Bayou); and the Outdoor Nature Club.

Search finding aids in the Houston History Archives.

The collection also includes records pertaining to urban planning, city beautification, disaster and flooding response, watershed management, as well as insight on the city and county’s historical response to environmental problems such as transportation or air pollution.

Tomkins-Walsh notes that these records highlight a unique, symbiotic relationship between Houston’s environmental and business communities. Although Houston is known for being a pro-growth, pro-development city, environmentalists have tempered this model with concerted efforts to consider the city’s natural beauty.

Beyond environmentalism, the Houston History Archives include records that reflect many other cultural perspectives.

• One of the more versatile collections within Houston History Archives is the Foley’s Department Store Records, often accessed by students and scholars for research on a number of areas including social issues, transportation and retail.
• The Thomas R. Cole Desegregation Papers offer substantial primary sources on several Houston civil rights activists and a significant video study of Houston’s desegregation process, The Strange Demise of Jim Crow (1998).
• The Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo Papers include press coverage, business plans, personal and political correspondence, photos, scrapbooks, menus, and other items related to the famous restaurateur’s business life.
• The Ben F. Love Research Collection contains extensive audio recordings of interviews concerning the influential leader, as well as Love’s writings and material pertaining to the merger of Texas Commerce Bancshares, Inc. and Chemical New York Corporation.
• The Joseph S. Cullinan Papers offer an encompassing view into the petroleum industry, land division of the Shadyside subdivision, Cullinan’s Pasadena farm, and his involvement with city improvement efforts, including the founding of the Houston Negro Hospital.
• The John Henry Kirby Papers consist of a manuscript collection documenting the entrepreneur’s lumber and oil businesses, as well as personal and political correspondence.

The Houston oral history repository preserves audio files and transcripts of stories describing the growth and development of the Gulf Coast region. A wide range of subject areas, including business, offshore energy, disaster response and recovery, Mexican American culture, African American history, and philanthropy, to name a few, present multiple viewpoints of Houston’s past.

Oral histories are produced by graduate students and faculty, preserved for the archives, and are prepared for placement in the UH Digital Library, where they become widely accessible online. New oral histories are being added each year.

Visitors are invited to view Houston History: Archives, Magazine and Oral History at the University of Houston MD Anderson Library starting June 12 through December 18, 2015.

For more information, contact Dr. Terry Tomkins-Walsh.