Author: Brannen Varner

Dissertation Writers Retreat

Brannen Varner Events, Research and Instructional Services

Are you a late-stage dissertation writer? Attend this free, week-long retreat focusing on both strategies for completing and how to plan for life after the dissertation.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will include workshops and presentations; free lunch and childcare will be provided. CWC consultants will be available to assist with any writing questions, and librarians will be available for research assistance. Register at bit.ly/dwr2020 by December 14 to reserve free childcare provided by the Lipman Early Learning and Research Center, catered lunch, coffee, tea, and breakfast snacks, and study room. Monday and Friday, enjoy quiet space devoted to writing.

Questions? Contact Michael Harris at mwhrris2@memphis.edu.

Below is a tentative retreat schedule:

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Find a Wealth of Information in a Few Clicks with Gale eBooks on GVRL

Brannen Varner Collections, Databases

Gale eBooks on GVRL are a one-stop shopping for all of your ready reference needs! Let’s look at an example.

Here’s a familiar scenario: an ENGL 1020 student is writing a paper about Bill Gates. They are only allowed one internet source, and need book sources. What a perfect use of GVRL!  Sure, the database is accessed via the Internet, but the sources themselves are books. Glorious, full-text reference books!

A GVRL search returns two of the full-text reference books; both of the volumes have entries for Bill Gates. The student is skeptical – the entries looks like an internet print-off and they are worried that their teacher won’t believe that it really, truly, is from a book. No worries, just click on the “View PDF” link at the top of the Bill Gates entry and the screen changes to look like the entry from the print edition, just as if the student had photo-copied the page from the book itself.

There is even a “Listen” button. Press the triangle “Play” button and listen to the entry read by a computerized voice. It’s a nice voice – not overly robotic and with excellent pronunciation (not like your incomprehensible caller ID announcer; more like a real, human voice!) It is even possible to translate articles into a variety of languages, making this a truly accessible resource. You can even download the MP3 to listen to an article offline.

Now, would the student like a citation of this source? Of course they would! Click on “Citation Tools” on the right side of the screen and choose from MLA or APA styles. You can even save the citation to one of a number of online options like RefWorks.

The student doesn’t have to check out this eBook or any eBooks. They can access University Libraries’ full Gale eBooks collection through our website, or download the “Gale eBooks” Google Chrome app. After their first login with UofM credentials, they can authenticate and login with his Google account credentials. Once logged in with Google, they can save articles or article highlights directly to Google Drive for future use.

Check out the variety of reference books available to you through Gale eBooks on GVRL. This database is an extremely practical and relevant and accessible to you 24/7.

Donate to the Mid-South LGBTQ+ Archive

Brannen Varner Collections, Special Collections

If you’re interested in contributing to making this project happen, donate to the MomentUM project today! The project funding ends December 4, 2019.

On October 31, 1969, Memphis hosted an event that would forever change the LGBTQ community in our city. Against the backdrop of the Guild Theatre, Bill Kendall organized a revolutionary revel where men dressed as women, women dressed in costume, and everyone gathered to celebrate the art of pageantry and camp. The result was the first public drag show and pageant that Memphis had ever seen: The Miss Memphis Review.

In the 1960s, Memphis city ordinances criminalized same sex dancing, cross dressing, and acts of “vulgar character.” So Kendall strategically chose Halloween, the one night a year where a celebration of gender bending wouldn’t run afoul of these laws. When the crowds arrived at the theatre, they were dressed in costumes as well as formal finery. It was clear that this was going to be a historic event.

Fifty years later, Memphis remembers this event. The Guild and Miss Memphis will be the subject of a historical marker at the Evergreen Theatre on Halloween 2019, the first of its kind in the city. What remains of that late night in 1969 are a few photographs, oral histories that have not yet been captured, and reels of film in critical need of preservation. The Mid-South LGBTQ+ Archive seeks funds to digitize and archivally preserve the audiovisual material from that historic Halloween night. This footage stands to tell the story of what has been called “Memphis’ Stonewall” by community historian, Vincent Astor.

To date, this footage is the oldest of its kind in Memphis and The Mid-South LGBTQ+ Archive wants to make it the cornerstone of how Pride began in the Mid-South. We want our community’s trust to tell the story of all LGBTQ+ persons that call the Mid-South home. Contributions for this project will go to preserve and digitize this and similar film footage and to continue to grow the archive to include a spectrum of narratives that make up the LGBTQ+ community.

Digital Exhibit: Enslaved People in the Southeast

Brannen Varner Collections, Exhibition, Special Collections

Read the news announcement, and visit the digital exhibit.

From the digital exhibit’s website:

“The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) announces a new digital exhibit created and curated by the ASERL Special Collections Interest Group. This collaborative online exhibit recognizes the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans sold into bondage in the English Colonies. This date, in 1619, is regarded as the beginning of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in North America.

The exhibit documents the history of the enslaved in the Southeast and includes material related to the many varied aspects of enslavement, including paper documents and records as well as images. These provide valuable information about the entire infrastructure and system of enslavement as well as the individual and group experiences of enslaved people. Items submitted include photos, letters, bills of sale, emancipation documents, insurance and taxation documents, and maps indicating segregation zones. The exhibit will also explore the legacies of slavery by including documents and images related to convict lease labor and Jim Crow in the 20th century.

Designed to illustrate the social complexity as well as the economic and human impact of the American ‘peculiar institution,’ in all its ugliness, these materials can guide the researchers in accurately depicting the institution of slavery in the Southeastern United States. The goal is to learn from our past and make our resources available to students, researchers, other institutions, and the public.”

The University of Memphis’ University Libraries Special Collections selected and provided materials contributing to this digital exhibit.

 

NEDtalks 11/13 & 11/14

Brannen Varner Events, NEDTalks

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NEDtalks is a bi-annual research forum hosted by the Ned McWherter Library where UofM professors and students share recent research in engaging & entertaining 15-minute presentations in the TEDtalks style. One event of the year is dedicated to UofM professors. The second event, NEDxStudents, is dedicated to UofM students. The Libraries partners with Helen Hardin Honors College for NEDxStudents, and a panel of judges awards the best student presentation of each day a monetary prize.

This year’s faculty NEDtalks will take place Wednesday, November 13, 2019, 3:30 to 5 p.m., & Thursday, November 14, 2019, 2:45 to 4:00 p.m. in the 2nd Floor Common Area in McWherter Library. This is a public event; all are welcome!

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

3:30 – Refreshments & Introduction

3:45 – Dr. Cassandra Nuñez, Department of Biological Sciences, Management-induced social and physiological changes may interact to shape the gut microbiome in feral horses (Equus caballus)

4:00 – Joel Roberts, University Libraries, The Irving Berlin of Memphis: The Early Years of Bob Miller

4:15 – Dr. Cody T. Havard, Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality & Resort Management, Sports Rivalry Man: Superheroes and Comics to Teach Group Behavior

4:30 – Dr. Deranda Lester, Department of Psychology, Oxytocin – More than a Love Hormone

4:45 – Dr. Jeremy Orosz, School of Music, Stylistic and Linguistic Borrowings Between Hip Hop and Country Music

Thursday, November 14, 2019

2:45 – Refreshments & Introduction

3:00 – Dr. William Dean Clement, Department of English, Drawing Out Leviathan: Biblical Monsters in English Poetry

3:15 – Dr. Brad Dixon, Department of History, “made Horse [of us] to carrie”: Native American Porters in the Early South

3:30 – Dr. Ruoxu Wang, Department of Journalism and Strategic Media, User experience (UX) matters: What are the most desired skills in the UX designer and UX researcher job ads?

3:45 – Dr. Donal Harris, Department of English, Seeing and Reading Civil Rights: Literatures of the Freedom Struggle

Visit our website for more information and for past NEDtalks events.

Discover an Accurate and Trustworthy Search Experience with Google Tools 

Brannen Varner Collections, Databases

Internet information is ubiquitous. It can be overwhelming even to seasoned information professionals. We constantly question if the information provided is any good. Gale eBooks on GVRL can be your go-to research resource.

To flourish in today’s knowledge economy, people need “the capacity and disposition to learn in small, quick doses rather than wade through mounds of links and piles of data.”¹ Because GVRL is built with research in mind, it’s chock-full of features to enrich eBook searching and reading experiences. All eBook content is expertly indexed at the title, chapter, and article level, so users can zoom directly to the information they need. Continue reading →

Business Plans Handbook

Brannen Varner Collections, Databases

Just one of the awesome resources within the Gale Virtual Reference Library is the Business Plans Handbook. Published in 2015, this handbook provides business plans actually used by retail, service, and manufacturing industries’ entrepreneurs who need funding for their small businesses. Plans include services like bartending services, mobile hair salon, and web development businesses.

Each entry has industry and market analyses, examples of services offered, personnel needed, operations, growth strategy, marketing and sales plans, and financial analysis. 

If you’re interested in starting your own business, the Business Plans Handbook can give you valuable insight into all of the information you’ll need to get your business off the ground!

Check out all of the great reference resources (dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks) that Gale Virtual Reference Library has to offer!

October Events @ McWherter Library

Brannen Varner Events