Library News

Librarians and staff, Villanova University faculty and the University president himself—the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, ’75 LAS—assembled in the library’s Speakers’ Corner on May 14 for the 9 a.m. presentation of the 2013 Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Award for Excellence to Falvey Memorial Library. The award ceremony kicked off a day-long, library-futures symposium, featuring lightning talks by 31 presenters, and concluding with an evening reception that included live music.

Joe Lucia, University Librarian and Steve Bell, ACRL President, show off the ACRL award.

Joe Lucia, University librarian and library director, welcomed attendees to “a celebration of Falvey [Memorial] Library and its staff.” He then reviewed criteria for the ACRL award and highlighted factors, such as our Learning Commons and our contribution to the University’s intellectual life, that caused Falvey to be chosen.

President of ACRL, Stephen Bell, presented the award to Father Donohue.

Under Joe Lucia’s leadership, Father Donohue remarked, the Library has become a place in which “students want to be [rather than feel that they] have to be,” adding that the “Library is central to what they do.” The Library, he continued, “is a place where [students not only] gain knowledge [but also] knowledge of themselves.” Father Donohue observed, “Falvey Memorial Library is at the center of campus, both physically and intellectually,” before thanking Lucia for his stewardship.

Pat Adams, representative of Yankee Book Peddler, Inc. (YBP), the award’s sponsor, presented Lucia with a check for $3,000.

Lucia acknowledged the contributions of library staff and support from the Villanova University community for helping Falvey achieve this award. He then began the Library Futures Symposium, a series of “lightning talks” of eight minutes or less. The presenters were as follows:

Patrick G. Maggitti, PhD, Helen & William O’Toole Dean, VSB

Maghan Keita, PhD, professor of History and director of the Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies

Terry Nance, PhD, associate vice president, Multi-Cultural Affairs, Communication Department

A. Maria Toyoda, PhD, associate dean for Interdisciplinary Studies and Global Initiatives, associate professor of political science

Adele Lindenmeyr, PhD, dean, graduate studies, professor, Department of History

David Barrett, PhD, professor, Department of Political Science

Aaron Bauer, PhD, professor, Gerald M. Lemole Endowed Chair in Integrative Biology

Catherine Kerrison, PhD, associate professor of history

Lauren Shohet, PhD, Luckow Family Professor, department of English

Sally Scholz, PhD, professor, department of philosophy

Ms. Laura Bang, Digital and Special Collections curatorial assistant, Falvey Memorial Library

Nancy Sharts-Hopko, PhD, RN, FAAN, director, doctoral program, professor, College of Nursing

Boots Cassell, PhD, professor, Department of Computing Sciences

Mr. Michael Foight, Special Collections and Digital Library coordinator, Falvey Memorial Library

Mr. II Luscri, director of the Center for Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship (ICE Center), VSB

Al Ortega, PhD, associate vice president for Research and Graduate Programs, James R. Birle Professor of Energy Technology in the Department of Mechanical Engineering

Douglas Norton, PhD, associate professor and chair, Department of Mathematics and Statistics

Nik Fogle, PhD, subject librarian for philosophy, Falvey Memorial Library

Professor Joseph Robertson, instructor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures

Mr. Demian Katz, library technology development specialist, Falvey Memorial Library

Annika Thiem, PhD, Dr. theol. and assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy

Frank Klassner, PhD, associate professor, Department of Computing Sciences

Bill Fleischman, PhD, professor, Department of Computing Sciences

Tom Mogan, PhD, director of Student Development

Seth Whidden, PhD, associate professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures

Ed Goff, PhD, associate professor, Department of Philosophy

Heather Hicks, PhD, associate professor; director, Graduate Studies in English

Susan Mackey-Kallis, PhD, associate professor, Department of Communication

Ms. Jane Morris, instructor, director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships,

Andrea Welker, PhD, associate professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Ms. Mary Beth Simmons, director of the Writing Center, VCLE

Marylu Hill, PhD, director, Villanova Center for Liberal Education, director, Graduate Program in Liberal Studies

Crystal Lucky, PhD, associate professor of English, director, Africana Studies Program

Mr. Darren Poley, University librarian and interim director of Falvey Memorial Library, concluded the symposium by sharing two themes that emerged from the presentations: collaboration and the value and importance of libraries.

Attendees then moved to the Falvey Hall (aka “Old Falvey”) reading room for the ACRL Award reception. In addition to Villanova University faculty and Villanova School of Law library staff, guests arrived from West Chester University, Bryn Mawr College, Temple University, Drexel University, Stockton College and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Family members of Falvey employees and two retired Falvey librarians also joined the celebration.

Joe Lucia and Jesse Flavin, members of Marc Fields and Bad Data, work on a number at the ACRL Gala.

Villanova’s own librarian band, Marc Fields & Bad Data, featuring Joe Lucia (guitars, vocals) of Falvey Memorial Library, provided live music. Lucia was joined by the following band members:

Brian Camfield: MBA ’05, keyboards, sax

Luisa Cywinski: vocals, Falvey Memorial Library

Jesse Flavin: guitars, vocals, Falvey Memorial Library

Nik Fogle: vocals, guitar, Falvey Memorial Library

Clayton Garthwait: drums, vocals, West Chester University Libraries

Bill Greene: vocals, Falvey Memorial Library

Laura Hutelmyer: vocals, Falvey Memorial Library

Dave Lacy: banjo, Falvey Memorial Library

Rob LeBlanc: vocals, Hammered Dulcimer, Harmonica, Falvey Memorial Library

David Pinto: mandolin, drums/percussion, vocals, banjo, Stockton College

Dick Swain: squeezeboxes, vocals, acoustic guitar, West Chester University Libraries

Alexander Williams: bass, Falvey Memorial Library

Cathy Wilt: vocals, acoustic guitar, Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI)

The 14-member band performed two sets of music:

Set 1

“Off to Philadelphia”

“Annabelle Lee”

“Last Steam Engine”

“Librarian’s Alphabet”

“Our Town”

“Gulf Coast Highway”

“Coal Tattoo”

“Miles of Texas”

“Carrie Brown”

“Galway Girl”

“Learning Commons Shuffle”

Set 2

“Atlantic City”

“Cast a Shadow”

“Ring of Fire”

“Folsom Prison Blues”

“VuFind Blues”

“245 (MARC Tags Rule)”

“Monster Mash”

“Paint It Black”

“Wild Wild Life”

“(I’ve Been) Workin’ Too Hard”

After the band’s final set, Lucia revealed “I’ve always had a fantasy of holding a musical event in this room.”

Gerald Dierkes is an information services specialist for the Information and Research Assistance team, senior copyeditor for the Communication and Publications team, and a liaison to the Department of Theater.

The lights were low in Falvey Memorial Library as Mark Twain and William Shakespeare, two literary titans, two gentlemen of consummate wit and profound insight, entered the building for the final match in the library Author Madness tournament.

Posey Whidden (class of ?)

But in the words of another literary master (whoever wrote Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome) “two men enter, one man leaves” in this high stakes competition. And that man happened to win by just a single vote!  With an ever-so-narrow victory of 42 votes to 41, Falvey Memorial Library is proud to announce that this year’s Author Madness champion is none other than Mr. William Shakespeare.

The Great Bard had some tough match-ups on his way to the title, including a game with Dr. Seuss that many expected he may not win, but in the end Shakespeare’s hold on the Western cannon proved persistent. Congratulations, Billy! We knew you had it in ya.

As an added bonus, students who voted in the final match were eligible for a raffle giveaway of a book by the winning author. This year’s prize winner is Posey Whidden. Posey will be receiving a handsome edition of the complete works of Shakespeare (1300 pages!), which we expect she’ll read in its entirety this summer. There’s nothing like King Lear for a little beach reading if you ask me.

Thanks to everyone who voted in this year’s tournament and to all the readers of the Author Madness blog series. Be sure to check the library catalogs when you’re picking out summer books, and from everyone here at Falvey Memorial Library we’d like to wish you happy reading.

Corey Waite Arnold is a writer and intern on the Communication and Publications Team. He is currently pursuing an MA in English at Villanova University.

Image courtesy of the Encyclopedia of World Biography.

When University Staff Council members arrived at the Library to present David Uspal, senior web specialist for Library Services and Scholarly Applications, with a Work Process Improvement (WPI) award, Uspal’s colleagues may have wondered whether it was for his wheelchair-accessible touchscreen near the library’s entrance or perhaps his imaginative campus map, featured on that same touchscreen. Actually, his interactive map of the Library earned him this distinction.

Uspal’s innovative library map accomplishes two major tasks: First, the map (see “Building Map” link on the library’s homepage) makes it easy for staff to show (instead of just tell) students how to access the adjacent building, the location of the stairs and even the section of shelving that holds the book they need. When they see how easy and fun-to-use the map is, students typically say things like, “that’s cool!””

Second, Uspal has added a “Find on map” link to the catalog record for each book, magazine, DVD, etc. in the Library. That link connects each item’s catalog record to the interactive map, showing the item’s location and even highlighting the section of shelving that holds that item.

David Uspal’s interactive map of Falvey Memorial Library has improved the library staff’s ability to quickly and effectively direct students, faculty and staff to the library resources they seek. His map also empowers all library patrons to find library materials with efficiency and autonomy.

Gerald Dierkes is an information services specialist for the Information and Research Assistance team, senior copyeditor for the Communication and Publications team, and a liaison to the Department of Theater.

Continuing an initiative Falvey’s University Staff Council (USC) representative, Phylis Wright, began last year, the Library is honoring its senior student employees with personalized bookplates. Each of the library’s twenty nine graduating student employees selected his or her favorite book in Falvey’s collection. Library staff then placed a bookplate bearing each senior’s name in his or her selection.

The bookplate recognizes the students’ graduation and service to the Library, indicating their name and year of graduation.  Our current USC representative, Linda Hauck, says this gesture honors our hardworking student employees on teams throughout the library.

What did they read? Choices ranged from non-fiction to popular fiction as well as books chosen for One Book Villanova: Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of  Nepal , Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and The Kite Runner. The full assortment appears above the “new books” display on the first floor, under the words “Dedicated to Falvey’s Seniors.”

Alice Bampton is an digital image specialist and senior writer on the Communication and Publications Team.

Mrs. Hopewell in Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People”; Sethe in Toni Morrison’s Beloved; Suyuan Woo, Lindo Jong, An-mei Hsu and Ying-ying St. Clair in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club: literature provides countless examples of this family member who fills such a crucial role in our lives.

From the classics—Gertrude in Hamlet—to the contemporary—Mrs. Iselin in Richard Condon’s The Manchurian Candidate—some literary mothers offer unflattering illustrations. The Bible, however, presents positive role models. Jochebed made her heartrending choice to save her baby Moses’ life. St. Anne shared an uncommon bond with her daughter, Mary the mother of Jesus.

And our University’s patron saint, Augustine, had an exceptional mother: St. Monica. Her faith and her persistent dedication to her son convey a profound influence, as described in Augustine’s Confessions.

Has a mother from literature influenced you? Do you find any literary mothers particularly memorable? Please contribute your suggestions in our “comments” section.

To honor the University’s Senior-Class-Poet contestants and to commemorate National Poetry Month, the Library is publishing contestants’ poems on Falvey’s blog. The Library also has created posters for the contestants’ poems, which are displayed throughout the first floor.

Each spring semester, all seniors are encouraged to enter the Senior-Class-Poet Contest. The Department of English will announce the 2013 Senior-Class Poet later this semester.

…………  …Child

………by Alyssa Moudis

I did not think that this could happen

to someone as nice as you.

I remember shaking in the Church

As your pretty white coffin

Carried you down the aisle.

With purple flowers placed on top,

And I remembered that was your favorite color.

I never thought a funeral could be beautiful.

The altar was filled with so many flowers.

A big photo of you stood up there

But I can’t remember where.

My eyes kept returning to the white coffin.

Forever a nineteen year old,

Two months before twenty,

You will never suffer aging,

But I know you wanted kids,

And that was the part of you taken first.

With tightened fists of tissues I listened,

To the music and to the voices,

You were so loved, so admired.

And today, two of your pictures

Hang above my head, near my pillow,

While I lay across navy blue sheets.

They do not face me.

I have to look behind me,

As we do to see any memory.

Now I drive past your house in my car

And remember, driving, another thing

You won’t do again.  I wonder what

Your mother’s doing as I pass by.  And I try

To picture her, picture how it must feel

To lose a child.

A Senior-Class-Poet Contestant, Alyssa says “Poetry became my favorite area of writing when I quickly learned it is the only other place for me besides my home where I can make my own rules and create my own structure. It provides a freedom for my thoughts whether or not the words are just for me or to be seen by others. It helps me express what I cannot say logically. In poetry it’s okay to be a mess and it’s okay to not be perfect.”

Alyssa Moudis is an English major and GWS minor from Manhasset, N.Y.

On Tuesday, April 30, members of the Villanova community gathered to celebrate the launch of Aurelius, the library’s very own Digital Humanities Initiative. Those in attendance had the privilege of hearing Villanova faculty members describe fascinating projects developed in collaboration with library staff.

Laura Bang, Digital and Special Collections curatorial assistant, opened the event by asking for a definition of the Digital Humanities. Answering this request was no easy feat: because the Digital Humanities (DH) are in their nascent stages as a discipline, providing a proper definition is difficult. However, one audience member accepted the challenge, describing DH as “a digital framework for investigating the humanities, and a humanities framework for investigating digital scholarship.”

Annika Thiem, PhD, Dr. theol. and assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, was the first faculty member to present. Dr. Thiem’s project involves a full-text archiving of Jahrestage (Anniversaries), a novel by German author Uwe Johnson about New York City. Along with making the sprawling 1700 page book full-text searchable, Dr. Thiem’s project seeks to map the areas described in the novel, opening up a spatial dialogue with Johnson’s fascinating textual exploration of the city in the 1960s. Dr. Thiem remarked upon the “provisionality” of DH as a field and described some of the excitement that provisionality can inspire.

Craig Bailey, PhD, associate professor in the Department of History, presented the second project: a digital archival and local community project which explores the rich history of the city of Ardmore, Pa. Dr. Bailey teaches a junior research seminar in history, during which students will research some component of Ardmore’s history by exploring archived material and then log that material on a digital, interactive map in Aurelius web space. In this course, undergraduate history students will not only learn how to research archived materials but also create an interface for the community to access the material.

The event closed with David Uspal, senior web specialist for Library Services and Scholarly Applications, who spoke on his web-development work for these and other projects. Mr. Uspal described his experience with DH as mutually enriching, a process in which he offers technical expertise to faculty members whose unique projects, in turn, challenge him to hone his skill set and learn new techniques.

Corey Waite Arnold is a writer and intern on the Communication and Publications Team. He is currently pursuing an MA in English at Villanova University.

Last week Falvey Memorial Library hosted a conference featuring this year’s Falvey Scholars. Representatives from our Library and each of the University’s colleges consider senior class Villanova applicants on the basis of outstanding undergraduate research. This selection committee then chooses five students to be distinguished as Falvey Scholars. The competition confers awards for each of the following five disciplines: the liberal arts, science, engineering, nursing and business.

We caught up with Victoria Horn, this year’s winner from the Villanova School of Business, and asked her about her project, entitled “Examining the Experiential Pedestal: The Negative Side of Experiential Consumption.”

CA: First, congratulations on being named a Falvey Scholar—I’m sure it feels great to see all that hard work paying off.

VH: Thank you! But I can’t celebrate just yet — there’s still a lot of hard work to be done since our study is not complete. I can assure you I will still be spending many of my nights in Falvey Library.

CA: What was the first germ of thought that directed you towards your larger research project?

VH: I’ve always had an interest in Consumer Research. Actually, one of my application essays to Villanova was about branding, materialism and the psyche behind needing a product. I’d say I’ve always had a Consumer Research seed planted in me, but Dr. Chaplin’s Buyer Behavior course was the one that really made it blossom. After her class I realized I wanted to pursue a larger, more intense, research project with her outside of a classroom setting.

CA: What’s the most exciting thing you discovered during your research process?  Anything that made you feel like you were really onto something unique?

VH: One of my favorite finds was an explanation of how experiences are difficult to compare, and thus tend to be safe from disadvantageous comparisons. The author wrote that it was “literally like comparing apples to oranges.” That description really helped put into perspective how unique my research was going to be since we’re trying to apply a set of standards to something that is inherently unique to each person. I also really loved reading one author’s notion of how materialism was evolving to include more than just traits or values, but extrinsic motivation. Basically, materialism wasn’t just about collecting objects anymore but included people having extrinsic (i.e. need validation from other people) goals and motives. This piece I thought would be vital to our study and it made me feel like my notions weren’t far-fetched.

CA: Where is your favorite spot in our Library, or just on campus generally, to hunker down when you have some serious reading, writing or researching to get done?

VH: The President’s Lounge in Connelly used to be my big go-to for work, but there were many times when it was closed for unknown reasons or there was a function going on inside so I had to go to Falvey instead. I typically do work on the first floor either at one of the tables near the printers or in the 24-hour lounge.

CA: Do you have a research tool you use that you think a lot of people on campus may not know about? A database or a resource you find useful.

VH: I think one of the best things someone can utilize is the [Course] Guide page on Falvey’s website. If you don’t know exactly what database or journal to use, you can just pull that up, click the appropriate subject, find the course/professor you’re taking and you’ll see recommended databases/journals. That page saved me so much time and energy when I first started my research because I really wasn’t sure where to begin my searches.

CA: What’s the best thing you bought this year so far?

VH: I’m a bit of a fitness nut, and I found a Groupon with some friends for 10 kickboxing classes in Ardmore. The classes were amazing and I loved going with some fellow Villanovans. I actually ended up buying more classes from a friend who wasn’t too into them so I can keep going once my work subsides.

CA: Do you have a favorite app?  If you don’t use a smart phone you can pretend I meant “appetizer.”  

VH: I’m probably one of the only Falvey Scholars that doesn’t have a smart phone. But hopefully I can get my hands on one soon. My favorite appetizer would have to be a spinach and artichoke dip; it’s too good.

Corey Waite Arnold is a writer and intern on the Communication and Publications Team. He is currently pursuing an MA in English at Villanova University.

To honor the University’s Senior-Class-Poet contestants and to commemorate National Poetry Month, the Library is publishing contestants’ poems on Falvey’s blog. The Library also has created posters for the contestants’ poems, which are displayed throughout the first floor.

Each spring semester, all seniors are encouraged to enter the Senior-Class-Poet Contest. The Department of English will announce the 2013 Senior-Class Poet later this semester.

……………Hullabaloo

……….by Christi Danner

our argyle eyes and two hands full of dust:

all we had.

and Silence. Silence that cramped

against ‘Moderne White’ painted plaster

into ‘Downy Gray’ sooted corners

and had to stick its elbows and feet out the windows

of our assembly line house.

………..[ if you look long enough into the void

............and decorate it and dust it every Monday

............the void begins to look back through you ]

…………we named it Fred.

mornings were streaming sunlight and its sticky skin

and playing possum under ‘Haven Green’ paisley sheets.

we spent our days like dogs in heat and our nights

…………orphans

one Saturday afternoon, in January, maybe,

(the month of sleet and gift receipts and whiskey)

we dropped a “Carnival Orange” lit match

on the hardwood kitchen floor.

…………our lips met

…………soft

…………melting

…………in the undulating haze and heat and

…………alien orange world

…………of raw throats and roasted eyes.

there we gave birth

to our remains.

…………we left the scene, our moonlit eyes and two hands, hand in hand.

………………………………………………………………………………..all we had.

A Senior-Class-Poet Contestant, Christi says, “Poetry, like real life, is often very confusing. Unlike life, it’s organized, even if the logic is hidden. I like poetry because it lets me put complicated thoughts into concise lines and words.”

Christi Danner is an English major from Allentown, Pa.

To honor the University’s Senior-Class-Poet contestants and to commemorate National Poetry Month, the Library is publishing contestants’ poems on Falvey’s blog. The Library also has created posters for the contestants’ poems, which are displayed throughout the first floor.

Each spring semester, all seniors are encouraged to enter the Senior-Class-Poet Contest.

……………………Untitled #1

……………………by Jack Clark

A cool breeze strikes his face as he walks down the street,
The ever persistent rain soaking his clothes as he reaches for his mittens.
Two holes in the right mitten,
Enough to remind him that he is in fact cold.
The left one is missing the tips of the pointer and middle finger.
It’s February 23rd and it’s raining.
He thinks of nothing but how wet his socks are inside what he calls shoes.
No laces, holes in the sole, the cloth that was at one time white is now brown.
And to think it’s only Monday.
To go home would mean going back to the park, the subway, the alley way.
He turns around to head in what seems to be the right direction.
His hair collects the rain and lets it slowly run down his face into his beard and eventually down to his shirt
His watch reads quarter past 7.
The subway is only a half a mile away and he can already feel the warmth of the dry shelter.
The smell of freshly cooked hot dogs emanates from the underground.
A smell so delicious he can taste it with every inhale.
As he enters the subway he curiously looks around for company,
A middle aged, overweight police officer, an anxious looking woman and the hot dog vendor.
With a sigh he walks over to the vendor and asks him how much a hot dog is.
$4.
Four dollars. Four dollars.
He turns around in time to see the train leave,
Leaving him alone in the subway to look for a place to call home.

“Poetry has always been a great way for me to capture the world I see around me and manifest it into something tangible. People channel this desire in many different ways, in many different artistic manners, and for me that artistic manner happens to be poetry. The story in this poem, which I have left Untitled, is not something I have directly experienced, but everyone has seen a homeless person; everyone has walked by a homeless person and made that split second decision: do I give him or her the two dollars in my pocket? I thought it would be powerful to write a poem from a homeless man’s perspective, albeit it is written from the third person; I tried to capture the feeling and emotion so the reader could empathize with this anonymous man and maybe understand his plight.”

Jack Clark is an English and economics major from Marblehead, Mass.: a small north-shore fishing town that borders the infamous “Witch Town” of Salem, Mass.