Library News

Having consulted and discussed reviews written by volunteer readers, the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award committee in the Department of English has narrowed down the list of 14 semifinalist books for the 2013 contest to three finalists:

• "No One Is Here Except All of Us," by Ramona Ausubel (pub. Riverhead Books)
• "When Captain Flint Was Still a Good Man," by Nick Dybek (pub. Riverhead Books)
• "Girldchild," by Tupelo Hassman (pub. Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

All three books have been gathering acclaim. Ramona Ausubel's book, about a remote Jewish village in which the residents reimagine their history when confronted with the outbreak of WWII, was chosen as a finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award and has been named one of the best books of the year by The Huffington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle. The New York Times Book Review describes it as "fantastical and ambitious" and "infused with faith in the power of storytelling." Nick Dybeck's book takes readers to an island off the coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, where a boy's life is changed by his father's involvement in the fate of a local fishery. Malcolm Forbes, for The Daily Beast, calls the book "a complex and riveting tale about deception and betrayal." Tupelo Hassman's book has won the 2012 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize and the 2013 Alex Award and has also appeared on a number of lists of the best books of the year. Popular author Aimee Bender says of the book, which follows a young girl trying to escape life in a trailer park by reading literature, "This amazing debut spills over with love but is still absolutely unflinching and real."

The three finalist books have been given to a panel of three judges including last year's winner, Justin Torres, for the selection of this year's winner. Stay tuned for an announcement in the coming weeks and an update on the celebratory event to be scheduled for late in the fall semester.

On Friday, May 3, hundreds of students preparing to graduate from VCU gathered at the Science Museum of Virginia for the event Your Passport to the World. Held annually, the event celebrates the achievements of the students with a soirée featuring international food from local vendors, music and dancing. Students also have the opportunity of visiting with representatives from many VCU departments to learn more about how to stay connected with the university after graduation and what resources it has to offer for helping graduates to advance their careers. VCU Libraries was, of course, there this past May 3 to talk about the VCU Friends of the Library and our extensive community programs. More importantly, though, we wanted to congratulate the students, every one of whom had visited Cabell Library or Tompkins-McCaw Library, whether in person or online, countless times during their studies. Best wishes for the future, and please keep in touch!

A new lactation room, Room B11 on the ground floor of  the James Branch Cabell Library, is open to all VCU students, faculty and staff who want to breastfeed or pump during library hours. To unlock the door, check out an access control card from the service desk. The room is freshly painted and carpeted and includes a Medela Symphony pump, a comfortable chair and a sink. Family restrooms with changing stations are nearby on the same floor. For more information, contact Jeanne Hammer at jmhammer@vcu.edu or (804) 828-1116. Access cards are for a six-month period and may be renewed.                       

These periodicals tell VCU's official story in news articles, features, calendars and images of students, staff, faculty and leaders. Departments and schools submitted articles and news items. Letters to the editor, editorials and formal messages from deans and the president are also found in the 542 issues in this online collection.

The first of these official news organs was published in May of 1972 as the weekly VCU Today. (It was preceded on the MCV campus by the Medicovan, published from 1948 until 1973.) VCU Today was published on an irregular basis, often monthly, until the 1980s when it became a bi-weekly.

The staff included professional writers, photographers and editors, who represented the views of the university administration and highlighted news that the school wanted publicized. By the 1980s, the newspaper was circulated to full-time staff on both campuses and was also made available in a number of VCU buildings. It was probably the institution's best vehicle for communicating to the large university community.

In 1988, the newspaper became the VCU Voice. In 1998, it became the UniverCity News. In 2001, it became  VCU News. It was published online in 2002 and is today's News Center.

The print issues are housed in the Special Collections and Archives departments in the Tompkins-McCaw Library on the MCV campus and in the James Branch Cabell Library on the Monroe Park Campus.

Dates for the publications:

• VCU Today: 1972-1988
• VCU Voice: 1988-1998
• UniverCity News: 1998-2001 
• VCU News: 2001-2002

Copyright for the materials in this collection is managed by the VCU Libraries. The use of these materials is subject to the stipulations specified in the VCU Libraries copyright page.

The VCU Department of English has just announced the 14 semifinalist books for this year's VCU Cabell First Novelist Award:

• "Fobbit" by David Abrams (pub. Black Cat)
• "Hope: A Tragedy" by Shalom Auslander (pub. Riverhead Books)
• "No One Is Here Except All of Us" by Ramona Ausubel (pub. Riverhead Books)
• "The People of Forever Are Not Afraid" by Shani Boianjiu (pub. Hogarth)
• "A Land More Kind Than Home" by Wiley Cash (pub. William Morrow)
• "Forgotten Country" by Catherine Chung (pub. Riverhead Books)
• "The Book of Jonas" by Stephen Dau (pub. Blue Rider Press)
• "When Captain Flint Was Still a Good Man" by Nick Dybek (pub. Constable & Robinson)
• "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" by Ben Fountain (pub. Riverhead Books)
• "Girlchild" by Tupelo Hassman (pub. Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
• "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller (pub. Ecco)
• "The Yellow Birds" by Kevin Powers (pub. Little, Brown and Co.)
• "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore" by Robin Sloan (pub. Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
• "The Girl Below" by Bianca Zander (pub. William Morrow)

This group was chosen from almost 140 submissions based on reviews by readers from the Department of English, the VCU Friends of the Library, and others in the VCU community. Thank you to everyone who served as a reader and helped to make such an exciting selection of novels. Shortly, the three finalists will be decided from among the 14 semifinalists, and those three will then be read by the judges, who will choose the winner.

The Commonwealth Times reports on a new career resource for students that collects VCU Libraries resources in a handy guide. The article. 

Just in time for end-of-semester research projects, VCU Libraries introduces new databases useful to students of business, advertising, mass comm and researchers interested in business trends, entrepreneurship and corporate work and in getting the facts about private and public firms.

• IBISWorld Reports for all 723 U.S. industries categorized by NAICS include market size, competitors, forecasting, business valuations, benchmarking, business environment and global industry reports. A new module includes specialized industries such as: Forensic Accounting Services, Popcorn Production, Psychic Services, Ice Cream Making Machinery Manufacturing,  Fantasy Sports Services and Medical Marijuana Growing.
  
  
• Plunkett Research Online Analysis and market research for industry sectors include trend analysis, statistics, organizations, company profiles and information for job-seekers. VCU Libraries has long offered some of the Plunkett print and online materials but in this new format they are easier to use and more accessible. Plunkett covers some 30 industries plus Asian companies, Canadian industries, international companies and middle market companies. Both IBISWorld and Plunkett are great additions to the Industry Research Guide.
  
  
• PrivCo Business and financial data on major, non-publicly traded corporations, including family-owned, private equity owned, venture backed, and international unlisted companies pulls back the curtain on private businesses such as Subway, pinkberry, IKEA, J. Crew, Levis, Arby's, Brooks Brothers, Twitter, Chanel and 80,000 more businesses that make up most of our major corporations. See Company Research Guide.  
  
  
• WARC Global advertising and marketing trends, including market intelligence, case studies, conference reports, articles, expenditure data, profiles of major brand owners and consumer insight. This publisher's portfolio includes Admap, Market Leader, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research and International Journal of Market Research (full text). This database includes marketing case studies, advertising spending date, some content from sources like Gale American Industry and Emerging Industry Overviews, Nielsen, and more, as well as exclusive content such as a collection of advertising campaign videos.
  
  
• Best's Library Center Offers full-text insurance reports, credit reports, and other in-depth insurance industry information and statistics. It's great for any research on the insurance industry, whether you need basic information or in depth research. 

For further information:
Bettina Peacemaker
bjpeacemaker@vcu.edu (804) 828-8960 

Just as VCU embarks on a year-long celebration of its 175th anniversary as an institution of higher learning, it has a new university archivist: Jodi Koste of VCU Libraries. 

"VCU  has entered a time of transformation throughout the institution," said University Librarian John E. Ulmschneider in announcing Koste's appointment. "The pace and scope of change underscore more than ever the importance of a strong university archives program that captures and describes the rich history of our institution while informing and grounding its move ahead."

As University Archivist, Koste will work closely with VCU Libraries' leadership and colleagues and staff throughout VCU to create a policy and procedure framework for a comprehensive archives program appropriate for a major research university in the 21st century. Koste will also identify staffing and other resource needs and educate the university community about the role of university archives in contemporary research universities.   

As a first step in the process of developing her new role, Koste is working with the Office of the President on setting up systems for managing the presidential papers as well as the official record of the Board of Visitors. "There will be many uses for these materials from the perspectives of the administration and to those interested in VCU's story and its history," Koste said.

"These records are the institution's legacy in many ways and we want to ensure that this legacy is here 50 years from now." 

In her association with VCU Libraries, Koste has long been involved in outreach and in helping people on both campuses find and use materials about VCU. As Head of Special Collections and Archives at Tompkins-McCaw Library she retains responsibility for special collections initiatives related to the MCV Campus and its academic programs, which already have a large archival component.

"Her distinguished career has earned her the esteem of historians, archivists and librarians across the country and the deep respect of VCU faculty and leadership throughout the institution," Ulmschneider said. "I am grateful that Ms. Koste has agreed to take on the important new responsibilities of University Archivist at a time of such profound change at VCU. Her combination of skills, experience, and expertise will ensure that VCU's new university archives starts with the best possible foundation."

Like the forever stamp, one of your library services stays with you, at the same price (free) forever.

One of the many tools VCU Libraries provides students is RefWorks. This web-based citation management tool stores citation and reference information in personal databases. The individual can manage references in folders for individual topics, courses, grants or collaborative projects. It automatically generates bibliographies in various formats (MLA, APA, Chicago).  

All VCU-affiliated users who have VCU and/or MCVH-VCU email accounts may set up free accounts.

If you have a RefWorks account, your references are yours forever. Whether you go onto graduate school at another institution or go into the workplace, you can still have access to your references via the RefWorks Alumni Program. You can continue to use RefWorks to manage research materials of all kinds--whether you are in school or on the job.

Members of the class of 2013: Remember to set up a RefWorks Alumni account before graduation to continue to have this benefit of your VCU Libraries relationship. 

Details about the RefWorks Alumni Program

Students, faculty and staff with RefWorks accounts who leave VCU may continue to have access to RefWorks through the RefWorks Alumni Program. As a participant in the program, you receive: 

• One free RefWorks account
• New updates and feature releases
• 200 MB of file attachment storage
• Use of RefShare to share your folder(s) or account
• Free Web-based training
• Technical support from RefWorks staff

To request participation in the RefWorks Alumni Program, submit an Ask Us email or contact your RefWorks administrator: 

• Marilyn Scott, James Branch Cabell Library, mjscott@vcu.edu, (804) 828-9049
• Jennifer McDEaniel, Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, jamcdaniel@vcu.edu, (804) 827-1150 

Charting your after-graduation or summer path? Finishing your academic program and planning the next steps? Looking for a job or internship? Thinking about launching your own business or starting a nonprofit?

• annual reports
• up-to-date business news (Dow Jones Factiva)
• company profiles (Hoover's, Mergent Online, Company Research Guide)
• industry trends (IBISWorld, Plunkett Research Online, Mintel, Sandard & Poor's Net Advantage)
• profiles of private and public companies
• job seeker resources and tools 
• information about nonprofits and government jobs (A-Z Index of U.S. Government and more)
• an inside look at jobs and companies (Glassdoor) 
• Securities and Exchange Commission filings (EDGAR) 

For one-on-one coaching on how to use the new careers guide, contact Peacemaker at bjpeacemaker@vcu.edu or (804) 828-8960.  

The research guide augments the career center's existing programming, which includes  a wide range of services to support students and alumni in career development. These include assisting at every stage of the job-search process--from choosing a major, to assessing strengths, from referring and managing recruiting events to helping candidates prepare for interviews. About the University Career Center

Members of the Friends of the Libraries and others with VCU electronic ID have access to materials.