Volunteer Virtually With Special Collections

Part of a very old letter with scripted cursive

Volunteer to Transcribe Documents

Have you put volunteer opportunities on hold over the past year due to concerns about the risk of in-person volunteering? Whether you’ve already found ways to give back lately or you’re just looking to join the growing population of volunteers who are donating their time without ever leaving their living room, Hannon Library Special Collections could use your support.

Special Collections and University Archives is an area within the library that contains materials of significant historical and research value that are too valuable, rare, or fragile to place in the open stacks. Many of these materials are primary sources that can elevate students’ research and cover a range of topics.

If you’d like to support the community that uses these resources within Hannon Library, Special Collections has an opportunity for you. Hannon Library is looking for volunteers who can transcribe several handwritten documents created between 1880 and 1939. The transcription of these documents will allow primary source materials to become keyword-searchable and more comfortable to read. Some of the materials are currently indistinct, in cursive, abbreviated, or use specific jargon. Your donation of time will ultimately help student researchers and local historians by making these unique materials easier for them to use. While volunteers have already begun transcribing materials, we are always looking for new volunteers.

Who Can Participate

person with a beard sits on couch on a laptop

Anyone with a computer, internet access, and Microsoft Word can participate in this transcription effort. History buffs may find this volunteer opportunity particularly rewarding as the materials that need transcribing document the experiences of Dr. Francis G. Swedenburg and the Anderson–Phillips family, including how their lives were affected by WWI’s bitter conflict and the Spanish flu.

For more information about this project and how to volunteer, visit Hannon Library’s online exhibit. For information explaining the transcription process, visit the How To Transcribe page.

Tutors Against Procrastination: March 3, 7–11 pm

Tutoring Center Sign

Come to Tutors Against Procrastination to get help with writing assignments as well as math and science courses! Don’t wait until quiet or finals week to start getting support from the SOU Tutoring Center. On March 3, from 7 to 11 pm, join our tutors on Zoom for drop-in style assistance. During the event, no appointments will be necessary.

To get support from the Writing Center during Tutors Against Procrastination, join this Zoom:
https://sou.zoom.us/j/4692175890

For help with math and science during the event, join this Zoom:
https://sou.zoom.us/j/2329428175

Get help with everything from brainstorming and outlining an essay or lab report to preparing for a statistics final. In addition to content, tutors can help with organization, share time-management techniques and even provide tips on note-taking. Tutors will not ever complete work for you, but they are there to support you as you complete your work, answer your questions, and provide the guidance you need to be successful.

If you can’t make it to Tutors Against Procrastination this term, but you still want help from a tutor, don’t worry. Visit our Tutoring Center LibGuide to make an appointment or find out about other drop-in sessions at bit.ly/HanLibTutoringInfo.

If you have any questions about this event, you can email tutoring@sou.edu.

Explore Hannon Library’s Research Services

Blue and yellow background with phone on Hannon Library's Website

Is your time conducting research mostly spent by combing through page after page of Google search results only to come up with information that you’re not sure is credible? Maybe you struggle to narrow your search query to yield relevant results when using one of the databases available through Hannon Library. Perhaps research isn’t an issue for you, but writing a citation sometimes trips you up. 

Hannon Library’s Research Services may be a resource that you’ve left untapped during your university experience so far, but you don’t have to struggle through common research questions alone. Qualified librarians are here to assist you in a supportive learning environment, no matter your level of experience with navigating library resources. Hannon Library’s librarians can support your research in all curriculum areas, and they are available to help with everything from a simple citation question to in-depth research. 

Research Services: Visit the Research Help Desk Virtually, Chat with a Librarian, or Make an Appointment With Your Subject Librarian

There are many different ways for you to get assistance with a research assignment at Hannon Library. 

  • During our regular Research Help desk hours, you can now talk with a librarian face-to-face, virtually over Zoom. To visit our Research Help Desk over Zoom, you’ll need to make an appointment. Make an appointment with a librarian through LibCal. 
  • You can also ask a librarian questions over chat during chat research hours, and you can submit a question through Ask a Librarian anytime of the day. Some students, staff, and faculty find submitting a question through chat or Ask a Librarian to be most convenient. 
  • To receive help with your research tailored to your area of study, you may find it helpful to make an appointment with your subject librarian. Each of Hannon Library’s librarians has subject specialties in which they are uniquely qualified to assist students, staff, and faculty. You are always welcome to email your subject librarian at any time with questions or to set up an appointment. You can find a list of librarians and their subject specialties here. 

Whether you’re finding citing a particular source difficult or needing research assistance specific to a certain subject, Hannon Library’s Research Services can help. For more information, visit our Research Services LibGuide.

Oregon Open Education Week Events 

Books overlaid by the logo of OEWeek2021

Oregon Open Education Week is March 1-5, 2021. Hannon Library is highlighting some of the week’s top virtual events, during which students, staff, and faculty can increase their knowledge of open educational practices.

Celebrate Open Education Week and the mission of high-quality textbook affordability by attending some of the following events. 

  • The first event of the week is the Equity and Open Education Faculty Panel Webinar. This event is on March 1, 2021, from 10 to 11 am. Register for this webinar here.
    • More about this event: Faculty often assume that their course is more equitable when they adopt affordable materials, and it is true that affordable materials remove a significant barrier to success. However, an open license does not ensure that the course materials or course design are inclusive of the diverse students in our classrooms. Jen Klaudinyi, Faculty Librarian at Portland Community College, will discuss her design of the Equity and Open Education Faculty Cohort professional development course. Jen is joined by panelists Tanya Mead, Education Faculty Co-chair at Portland Community College; Andrea Goering, Instructor of Physics and Astronomy at Lane Community College; Steve Owen, Writing Instructor at Lane Community College; and Andy Gurevich, Instructor of Composition, Ancient Literature, & Mythology at Mt. Hood Community College, each of whom has adopted open educational practices with an equity lens, including universal design, cultural relevance, and diverse perspectives.
  • On March 4, 2021, the Student Panel will be facilitated by Emily Wanous, Oregon Student Legislative Director. This event will be from 12 to 1 pm, and you can register online here. 
    • More about this event: Students are often at the center of what motivates faculty and institutions to dedicate resources to promote open education and affordable textbooks. A panel of Oregon community college and university students will share their experiences and advice regarding textbook choices, facilitated by Emily Wanous, Oregon Student Association Legislative Director. Emily will be joined by Dylan DeLoe, Blue Mountain Community College; Aaron Lewis, University of Oregon; Cooper Lash, Oregon State University; and Christopher Byers, Portland State University.
  • Finally, the Keynote Webinar, Imagining an Open Future with Robin DeRosa, will take place on March 5, 2021, from 11:30 am to 1 pm. Register for this event here.
    • More about this event: Open Educational Resources (OER) are a powerful tool for improving college affordability and widening access to knowledge. In this presentation, Robin will introduce the cost-saving potential of OER, but also expand into a broader discussion of how open tools and practices can transform pedagogy and contribute to student success. In a challenging time for colleges and universities, we will look at the potential of “open” to help us realign with our core educational missions, reanimate our teaching, and reimagine higher education’s future in terms that are hopeful, collaborative, and truly learner-centered. Robin DeRosa is the Director of the Open Learning & Teaching Collaborative at Plymouth State University, part of the University System of New Hampshire. She is a thought leader in the field of open education and cofounded the Open Pedagogy Notebook.

For information about all of this year’s Oregon Open Education week events, view this Google document.

 

Meet Our Web & Discovery Librarian

The front of Hannon Library at dusk

Hannon Library is prouTom Dodson sits at a table wearing a jacket, glasses, and a smiled to welcome Tom Dodson, our Web & Discovery Librarian. Tom is a writer, editor, and front-end web developer interested in interaction design, visual design, information architecture, and writing for the web. He’s also a research and instruction librarian with subject knowledge in the humanities. He worked at Harvard Library for nine years, first as a program coordinator for the Office of Scholarly Communication, and then as a web developer and designer.

He holds graduate degrees from the Ohio State University, Kent State University, and the University of Iowa, where he was an Iowa Arts Fellow at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in fiction. His short stories have appeared in Gulf Coast, Consequence Magazine, Chicago Quarterly Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, and elsewhere. His story “Keeping,” forthcoming in The Missouri Review, was awarded the 2020 Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize.

As Hannon Library’s Web & Discovery Librarian, Tom leads the development and management of the Hannon Library website, the ExLibris Primo discovery layer, LibGuides, and other library web platforms. Art and art history, creative writing, and theatre arts are Tom’s subject liaison areas, in which he provides faculty-requested instruction sessions and serves as collection coordinator. Tom also provides research assistance, so you might catch him on research chat or in a one-on-one Zoom consultation. To get in touch with Tom, you can email him at dodsont@sou.edu.