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Dear Friends, The Merrill-Cazier Library is an essential component to Utah State University’s commitment to championing exceptional education, research and discovery, and community engagement. This spring, we revised our mission statement to better articulate the underlying values of the work we do: We support all people in discovering, creating, and sharing knowledge and diverse perspectives. Of course, our primary constituency is the faculty and students at Utah State University, but this month, Marginalia highlights several initiatives related to how we engage with our local communities to foster curiosity and support information needs. Whether through event programing or preservation of local history, the library strives to be a nexus for curiosity, collaboration, and inclusive community.
In addition, we welcome Elizabeth (Liz) Woolcott into her new role as our Department Head and Associate Dean overseeing library collections. Liz has been at the Merrill-Cazier Library for 20 years serving in a variety of roles related to ensuring that library materials are discoverable. She has a national reputation in the cataloging and metadata field and is the editor of Discoverability in Digital Repositories: Systems, Perspectives, and User Studies, published in April by Routledge. Of course, you can check out the book at the Merrill-Cazier Library, either by joining the Friends of the Library or by registering for a community borrowing card, which is available for a small fee at our Checkout Desk. We hope to see you at the library!
Jennifer Duncan, Dean of Libraries
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Liz Woolcott Associate Dean for Collections & Discovery Liz Woolcott is the new Associate Dean for Collections and Discovery. Liz has worked at USU Libraries since 2003 when she started as an intern in Special Collections & Archives. Over the past twenty years, she has served as a cataloging assistant, Metadata Librarian, and as the Head of Cataloging & Metadata Services. She has an MA in History from USU and an MLS from the University of North Texas. Liz has just wrapped up a 4-year national Institute of Museum and Libraries Services grant that developed an assessment toolkit for digital repositories. In April, she edited and published a book entitled Discoverability in Digital Repositories: Systems, Users, and Perspectives. She enjoys gardening, traveling, and playing games with her three kids. 3 | Marginalia
Students relax with Joey, one of the therapy dogs that regularly visits the Library.
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Library Peer Mentor Spotlight: Braydon Wright Braydon Wright was named the Library's 2022-23 Undergraduate Teaching Fellow of the Year. Braydon has worked in the library for three years, starting in March of 2020, the week before Special Collections shut down due to the covid pandemic. He began by making transcriptions of hand-written documents in the library’s digital collections, but soon expanded his work to include processing the Gil Moore Photograph Collection, answering reference requests, and assisting patrons in the reading room. After a year of working in Special Collections, Braydon became Special Collection’s Library Peer Mentor. In this capacity he has given tours, created online library 5 | Marginalia
guides, and worked with primary source literacy instruction in classes across the curriculum. Dan Davis, who is Braydon’s supervisor, noted that Braydon has been, “a very positive and uplifting personality, always quick to offer a kind and encouraging word to anyone he runs across.” Dan further elaborated that, “he has a gift for teaching, and he has gone out of his way to learn about Special Collections teaching material.”
Historical Archaeology and the Latter-day Saint Past Last semester, Benjamin Pykles (historic sites manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) delivered the 27th annual Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture. Pykles discussed a subfield of archaeology known as historical archaeology that focuses on the more recent past. By examining the last 600 years of human history, Pykles argued that historians can better understand the past through material remnants. While excavating anything from lost cookware to human remains provides this critical insight, Pykles also warned of unintended harm when these sites are discovered. Using the site of Joseph Smith’s first vision as an example, Pykles explained that over tourism has led to ecological disaster in the area. The 2023 Arrington lecture will be held on October 5. Be sure to check out library.usu.edu/news for more information and other upcoming lectures and events!
Scan the code or visit digitalcommons.usu.edu/arrington to watch the 2022 Arrington Lecture.
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Fourth Grade Field Trips with Outreach Librarian, Katie Luder During the last academic year, local fourth grade students visited the Library as part of a jointly organized field trip program. Students explored Utah’s Indigenous history by learning about the Navajo Nation and the Navajo Code Talker’s role in World War II. Students worked in teams to decode a secret message using a hands-on activity created by Outreach Librarian Katie Luder. These field trips are wonderful opportunities for Cache Valley elementary students to become comfortable in an academic library and to learn about Utah’s rich history.
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Photograph of Navajo Indian Code Talkers Preston Toledo and Frank Toledo. National Archives Catalog.
Collecting and Preserving Local Skiing History Representatives from Beaver Mountain Ski Resort have worked together with USU folklore graduate students and the Libraries' to create a new digital collection highlighting the history of the beloved local landmark. Graduate students from Dr. Lisa Gabbert’s spring 2022 seminar in folklore fieldwork set out to collect recorded interviews of the resort’s history and place in the community. They photographed the people, buildings, and machines that have kept Beaver Mountain running and conducted interviews with a wide variety of people, including employees, instructors, guests, community partners, and ski patrol volunteers. The collection contains photographs and original recordings of these interviews, along with the interview transcriptions, which were created with help from a Utah Humanities Council Oral History Grant. New materials will be added to the collection as Dr. Gabbert and students in a second oral history and folklore fieldwork seminar in 2024 continue their research on Beaver Mountain. View all the Libraries' digital collections at digital.lib.usu.edu or scan the code here to enter this featured digital collection!
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The Impact of the Second World War on the Style and Acquisition of Clothing
Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library Spring Lecture with Nancy Hills This spring, USU’s Theater Costume Design Program Head Nancy Hills delivered “Make do and Mend: The Impact of the Second World War on the Style and Acquisition of Clothing” as part of the Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library Lecture Series. Hills discussed the unique compromises made to fashion and attire during World War II—from the nylon shortage to the lack of full-length pants available for young boys, the effects of the war were felt by all. Hills ended the lecture by passing around a period-accurate family blazer. Be sure to check out library.usu.edu/news for other upcoming Friends of the Library lecture announcements and events! 9 | Marginalia
The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation Tribal Library Digital Collection In 2019, the Libraries began conversations with the Northwest Band of the Shoshone Nation (NWBSN) about a partnership to preserve and provide access to their digital archive materials including photos, manuscripts, maps, and audio visual material. The NWBSN maintains a significant library of physical materials but does not have the technological infrastructure to support digital access to those same materials. This is an area where USU Libraries has successfully collaborated with community organizations in the past, and library staff was excited to establish a similar partnership with NWBSN.
Among the items currently in the collection’s inventory are digitized scrapbooks and photograph collections spanning the years 1860 to 2020, which were compiled by Shoshone historians, families, and tribal members. The collection will also include journals, correspondence, genealogies, maps, and audiovisual materials. View all the Libraries' digital collections at digital.lib.usu.edu or scan the code here to enter the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation Tribal Library Digital Collection.
After several years of planning and thanks to generous financial support from USU President Noelle Cockett, the Libraries was able to hire Sarah Berry as a Digital Archivist for a one-year assignment to organize and curate the NWBSN digital collection. Sarah works closely with members of the NWBSN at every step of the process to ensure the resulting collection is meeting their expectations. With Sarah’s dedication to the project, the digital collection went live in April with an initial inventory of 600+ items.
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Marginalia © 2023 Published by: Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library Issue Coordinator: Trina Shelton Graphic Designer: Shay Larsen Photographers: Devin Greener, Kellianne Gammill Contributors: Kellianne Gammill, Shay Larsen, Becky Thoms, Dan Davis, Sarah Berry
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