TURF-CreWS: Undergraduate Research in Technicolor

What is research? And how exactly is that concept made manifest?  As members of an academic community, we may think of research as a culling—one gathers information from a static collection of preexisting “facts”, and uses said facts as supporting evidence in the construction of an original thesis. That thesis is then articulated, filled out, augmented with the appropriate research materials, and, often, rendered formally in print.

However, after attending Temple’s Undergraduate Research Forum/Workshop Symposium (aka TURF-CreWs), held in the Howard Gittis Student Center on April 18th, it’s clear that research can be a far more fluid enterprise than its face value definition suggests.  Composed of the research projects of 130 undergraduate participants from all of Temple’s colleges, the forum offers these students a setting in which to display and present their ongoing projects. From papers to posters to panels to performances, a wide range of subjects were on exhibit for the Temple community to not only observe, but to engage with as well.

At the event, I was able to speak with three students from three different Temple colleges, whose respective research interests engendered three different approaches to the research process—some traditional, some more creatively employed, but all immanently remarkable.

Andrea Gudiel, Biology: “Deforestation and the Spread of Invasive Species”

While assisting with a graduate student research project  during a field work trip to Madagascar , Andrea found herself focusing on the effects of local human use in her immediate environment. Built infrastructure, such as roads and trails, along with various invasive flora and fauna species, were causing tangible changes within the Madagascan ecosystem.  Though internet connectivity was precarious in her location, she was able to discern a lack in written research in this specific area after conducting preliminary searches. This lack, then, Andrea decided to take up and address herself. Since her trip, Andrea has utilized various library databases—including Web of Knowledge and Gale—to flesh out her  field work. Though still in progress, Andrea told me she hopes to submit the finished project to an international bio-diversity journal for publication.

Daharis Pesantez, Communication Studies, “Networks in New Urbanism”

I was drawn  to Daharis’ poster because its primary subject matter, The High Line Park in New York City (check out the website HERE if you’re unfamiliar with the park), is, in and of itself, very interesting. Daharis’ engagement with the park, though, added several dimensions to its appeal: her poster posed the questions, Do these types of spaces promote diversity within the community?  Within their respective communities, are they perceived as inviting spaces, or as marginalizing? Thinking of the High Line as one of the first “repurposed urban spaces” in what is becoming an emerging trend (including in our own Philadelphia!), Daharis sees these spaces as sites, “networks”, in which social, economic, and cultural intersections are enacted, redefining ideas surrounding urban areas and community engagement.  As of now, Daharis’ footwork has been interdisciplinary and research-based, looking at work in fields such as urban studies, sociology,  and her major, communication. This summer, Daharis will be in New York  conducting on-site research (she hopes to interview parkgoers) and incorporating an experiential aspect into the solid research-based foundation she’s established.

Daharis standing before an easel.

Daharis and her High Line poster

Kenneth Brown, Music Composition, “Two Concertos for Bassoon and String Orchestra”

After being commissioned to write two neo-baroque concerti for bassoon by a fellow composition student, Kenneth began the task of composing. Aided by a Diamond Scholars Research grant, he started at Paley, where he studied a variety of concerti from the baroque period for bassoon and other instruments. With these materials in hand, Kenneth analyzed the key, tempo, meter, and length of the pieces he found in the library, identifying patterns in the scores. Vivaldi’s 10 Bassoon Concerti  in particular was an important resource.  In the process, he found he had to move out of his familiarity with writing specifically for bassoon, learning how to write in baroque concerto form.

During his panel presentation, Kenneth showed us his early drafts, each subsequent draft moving toward becoming “less imitative and more inventive”.  Of his process of composing, Kenneth said, “…I began twisting my baroque-influenced ideas into a more modern shape by playing with meter and introducing unexpected dissonances.” He describes his work as moving toward “Vivaldi through a prism—exploded and refracted.” The concerti now completed, Kenneth was kind enough to share a video of their performance. Take a look below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO7PMh1bq6U

Library Prize for Undergraduate Research and Library Prize for Undergraduate Research on Sustainability and the Environment Winners are Announced

Congratulations to the winners and honorable mentions for this year’s Library Prize for Undergraduate Research and Library Prize for Undergraduate Research on Sustainability and the Environment. Join us to celebrate in the Lecture Hall on May 2 at 4PM.

2012-2013 Library Prize Winners

Eamonn Connor

“Miasma and the Formation of Greek Cities”
GRC 4182: Independent Study (Fall 2012)
Faculty Sponsor: Sydnor Roy

Emily Simpson

“”Represion!” Punk Resistance and the Culture of Silence in the Southern Cone, 1978-1990”
History 4997: Honors Thesis Seminar (Spring 2013)
Faculty Sponsor: Beth Bailey

Nicole Wolverton

“The Murder at Cherry Hill”
English 3020: Detective Novel and the City (Fall 2012)
Faculty Sponsor: Priya Joshi

2012-2013 Library Prize Honorable Mentions

Jordyn Kimelheim

“The Persistence of Chattel Slavery in Contemporary Mauritania”
Political Science 4896: Theories and Practices of Slavery, Then and Now (Fall 2012)
Faculty Sponsor: Jane Gordon

Kyle Repella

“False Pretenders and Friends of Truth: Pennsylvania, the Keithian Controversy, and the Reorientation of the Quaker Empire in the late Seventeenth Century”
History 4997: Honors Thesis Seminar (Spring 2013)
Faculty Sponsor: Travis Glasson

2012-2013 Library Prize for Research on Sustainability and the Environment Winner

Andrea Gudiel

“Deforestation and the spread of non-native species”

BIOL 4391: Accelerated Research in Biology (Spring 2013) 

Faculty Sponsor: Brent Sewall

2012-2013 Library Prize for Research on Sustainability and the Environment Honorable Mention

Veronica Anderson

“Urban climate catalyst: Lima, Peru”

ARCH 4699: Thesis Studio (Spring 2013)

Faculty Sponsor: Sneha Patel

 

Thirty Years at Temple University Libraries: Penelope Myers, Then and Now

Portrait of Penelope Myers.

Penelope Myers, 2009. Head, Access Services at Paley Library, Temple University Libraries.

When Penelope Myers graduated from Temple University in 1968 with a degree in Political Science, she didn’t expect she’d one day return to her alma mater as a librarian. Last week I sat down with Penelope, Head of Access Services at Paley Library, to discuss her life, family, and service to Temple University. She’s seen plenty of change in her three decades at Temple University Libraries and has had fun in her adventures getting here.

As the Head of Access Services, Penelope oversees all Circulation and Reserve services, which includes patron accounts and borrowing privileges, interlibrary loan, and course reserves. She said it’s useful to have a “slow fuse” in the position, although she claimed not to have one herself. She does, however, have a sense of humor: a trait she said is useful in public service. “Personality is important when working with the public, and the ability to make people feel comfortable.” When I asked about her professional role models or supervisory philosophy, she said she follows the motto of “you get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. If you want your staff to give good public service, you must give good service to your staff.”

Change is Inevitable

During her tenure at TU Libraries, Penelope has witnessed many changes both on campus and in the libraries. She’s watched the the campus expand and transform itself from a primarily commuter campus to a residential campus, including the construction of numerous buildings. She spoke about many changes in the libraries, most of which were public service improvements largely due to technological advancements and an increasingly more proactive staff.

Computer screen displaying all text based menus in first circulation system.

First online circulation system at TU Libraries. Templar Yearbook, 1983.

During her first years in Paley Library in the mid-1980s she helped to “wean the patrons off the card catalog” to the library’s first online catalog system. The next biggest improvement, she recalled, was the switch from paper to online journals. That transition began in the mid to late 1990s with the advent of CD ROMs, which replaced print periodical directories. Full-text articles wouldn’t appear in prominence until the 2000s, so staff were still left with locating bound journals in the stacks, which she referred to as “the biggest service challenge of the time.” As smaller libraries across campus closed, Penelope assisted with the opening of The Depository, which is closed-stack shelving facility that houses lower circulating volumes, rare materials, older bound journals, and duplicates. “This was a huge project, but I enjoyed it,” she noted.

Who is Penelope Myers?

Black and white shot of a toddler in a dress with pipe one hand and a newspaper in the other.

Penelope posing with her father’s pipe and The Times (London) cross-word puzzle. [n.d.].

Born in Trieste, Italy in a British military hospital on November 16, 1946, Penelope was raised in the suburbs of London, in Beckenham Kent. She describes it as an “absolutely fabulous place to grow up.” Penelope has three siblings, two older and one younger. “When you’re #3 of 4, you learn to get along with people,” she commented. This trait, she found, comes in handy as a public services librarian. Her father was a physician in the British army and moved the family to England when he took a position as a professor of physiology at the University of London. When he accepted a position as a medical researcher on arterial blood flow at the then Research Institute of Presbyterian Hospital, the family moved to the Philadelphia area in 1963. Penelope remained in England with friends and family while she finished high school. She joined her parents and siblings in Drexel Hill in July 1964.

Black and white portrait of Penelope with bobbed hair.

Penelope’s senior picture in Temple University’s 1968 Templar Yearbook.

Two years later, when her family moved again for her father’s work to Birmingham, Alabama, Penelope stayed in Philadelphia to attend Temple University where she lived in the Peabody dorm, then an all girls dorm. At the time, the main library was Sullivan Memorial Library in Sullivan Hall. The stacks were closed to undergraduates, and she recalls filling out slips to request each book she wanted. The ‘new’ three story Paley Library, which featured open stacks, was finished by the time she graduated.

View through gothic stone archway of students sitting at heavy wooden table studying. Leaded glass windows in background.

Sullivan Memorial Library, 1963.

Penelope graduated in 1968 with a BA in Political Science and a minor in History. Her first “real” job out of college was as a caseworker at the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Welfare Department. She “didn’t last long at that position”, as she recalls, and did what many twenty-somethings do when they can’t figure out what to do with their lives; she traveled around Europe. Her gallivant included Morocco, Spain, Scotland, and England, and she still reflects on that experience as “the most exciting and exhilarating year of her life.” Through a mutual friend, she was introduced to a Philadelphia photographer named Laurence Myers who was living in southern Spain at the time.

When Laurence moved back to Philadelphia, Penelope returned to Philadelphia too, and they married in 1972.

“Librarians Are Fun”

That same year, the Myers moved to Rochester, NY so Laurence could attend graduate school for Photography at the University of Rochester, and Penelope got her first library job as a bindery clerk in the Rochester Institute of Technology library. There, she started hanging out with the Reference Librarians, who were “fun,” she thought, and she “wanted to have fun, too.” So, she enrolled part-time at the nearby library school. Before she even finished her degree she was hired to fill a Librarian vacancy at the Institute of Technology. Penelope spent three years in that position and “loved it.” “I worked with great colleagues and got to do a little of everything,” she reminisced.

In 1976 the Myers left Rochester to settle in Philadelphia, where they had two children: Evan and Rachel, both of whom received undergraduate degrees from Temple University. Penelope devoted seven years to the stay-at-home mom profession until Valentine’s Day

Color photo of family posing together before an outdoor fountain.

Penelope, son Evan, daughter Rachel, and Lawrence Myers. circa 1981

1983 when she took a part-time Reference Librarian position at the Zahn Center library (now closed) in Ritter Hall at Temple University. A month later she moved over to the Paley Library. In summer 1983 she transferred to Paley’s Circulation Unit. Two years later Penelope was hired as a full-time TAUP librarian in the Circulation Unit making a glorious annual salary of $20,000. She attained her current position of Head of Access Services in 1986. She assured me her salary has since increased.

500 Birds and Counting

This avid bird watcher, who has logged over 500 birds, but does not Tweet, looks forward to retirement, which she will spend reading, traveling, and perhaps volunteering at a wildlife refuge. In the meantime, she continues to enjoy her work where, in her words, “the people are great” and “there’s always something interesting going on.”

In Celebration of Women’s History Month and the 150th Anniversary of Ida B. Wells’ birth, Chat in the Stacks honors the pioneering journalist and civil rights advocate who was a champion for women’s rights

Portrait of Ida B Wells.

Uncompromising, fighting and writing for justice is the testimony to the rich legacy of Ida B. Wells (July 25, 1862-March 25, 1931).  Her fearless voice, advocacy and investigative journalism is the link to the modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.  She used her pen as her weapon for justice that inspired hundreds of journalists, especially women around the world.  For journalists, Meredith Broussard and Karen Turner, Wells challenged them to think differently.  “She was an inspiration … her tenacity and passion reminds me of what my purpose is in life,” said Turner.  “She was an audacious and passionate social activist and anti-lynching advocate,” said Broussard. “I loved her because she stood up for what she believed in to remove the evil of lynching.”

Moderated by Kammika Williams-Witherspoon, co-organizer of “Chat” and Associate Professor of Theater, Broussard and Turner were presenters in the Chat in the Stacks program – “Ida B. Wells and the Continuing Legacy of African American Women in Journalism” on March 28, 2013.  The dialogue addressed issues such as the state of journalism, the Black press and representations of African Americans and the lack thereof in journalism at large.  At the center of the conversation was integrity and quality at risk on the Internet because of “cheaper new journalists creating communities,” said Broussard.  Turner suggests that “seasoned journalists are at risk…and cheaper college grads are not asking the right questions.” Her advice to young journalists is to “identify your passion and go for it; sacrifice can change lives; benefit and impact may be realized now or in next generation.”  Ida B. Wells’ life and legacy emphasizes the importance of this.

The Chat in the Stacks series is co-presented by the Faculty Senate Committee on the Status of Faculty of Color, and is part of the Libraries’ ongoing programming series, Beyond the Page: Exploring the Cultural, Historical, and Scholarly Record at Temple University Libraries

Drinking in America : History and Influences

What does America drink?  I am sure many answers come to mind, as there are at least sixty to eighty thousand different beverages available in the United States today. What you may not be aware of is what drinks have been popular throughout our history, and what influences have shaped those drink choices. On the afternoon of March 26th Andrew Smith, instructor in food history, food controversies and professional food writing at the New School University in New York City,  and author of  Drinking History: 15 Turning Points in the Making of American Beverage, discussed beverages in the United States, both in the past and today. He explained how influences such as ingredients, individuals, corporations, and historic events such as colonization, the American Revolution, the Whiskey Rebellion, the temperance movement, and Prohibition have affected what we drink.   In the beginning there was water.  The Native Americans drank it to survive, but they also preferred it in different flavors, so they spiced it up with syrup, barks, fruits, berries, leaves and roots ingredients readily available to them.  Some of the additives produced physical effects, and it was used in spiritual ceremonies and in healing.  When the Europeans arrived, they brought with them some of their traditions as well as their taste for other drinks, so tea, beer, ale, rum, and whiskey became part of the drinking landscape by the colonial era.  In time, wars, political events and social movements each played a part in the beverage selection.  Soda came about as an alternative to alcohol during the time of the temperance movement. While cocaine is no longer an ingredient in Coca Cola as it was then, soda is still popular, and is the number one beverage consumed in America today.

Father Paul Washington: A Community Champion to Celebrate

The Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection will honor Father Paul Washington’s legacy as a leader in the vanguard of social justice at an upcoming exhibit in April that will showcase artifacts from the Paul M. Washington Papers.  Father Washington was the rector of the Episcopal Church of the Advocate at 18th and Diamond Streets in Philadelphia for twenty-five years (1962-1987) and a leader in the local community.  Location, directions and hours can be found at: http://library.temple.edu/collections/blockson.

Father Paul Washington standing outdoors as the press record him.

A few highlights of his involvement in social justice include: the promotion of the Black Power movement by hosting the National Black Power Convention (1968), facilitating the ordination of eleven women into the Episcopal Church (1974), and serving on the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission of the eviction attack (bombing) by the Philadelphia Police on the MOVE household (1986).

At the core of the collection are Father Washington’s extensive correspondence, sermons, and speeches covering over five decades.  In addition, photographs, news clippings, and journal articles provide information to supplement the Washington papers.

The FBI kept a file on Father Washington because of his civil rights activism and involvement in the Black Power Movement during the 1960’s.  Access to the file was gained through the Freedom of Information Act.  It is another valuable source of information available in the Paul M. Washington Papers.