Library News: Updates and New 
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.
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.
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.Some highlights:
- 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."
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?VCU Libraries, in partnership with University Career Services, now offers a handy, one-stop, online guide about how to use library resources to research companies and industries.
- 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.
Health Sciences literally watched their step entering the building due to rough and uneven stairs.Film and Television Literature Index with Full Text is an exciting resource for film, television and new media research. Maintaining international coverage with a North American focus, this database provides comprehensive indexing and abstracts for more than 680 academic journals, magazines and trade publications, with full text entries for some 120 journals. Also included are book chapters, industry reports, Variety movie reviews (1914-present), and more than 36,000 images and movie stills. Through Film and Television Literature Index, researchers can explore the spectrum of media scholarship from theoretical aspects and technical elements to critical reception and popular culture impact.
Arendt and Roseberry will work closely with science departments in the College of Humanities and Sciences, the School of Engineering, VCU Life Sciences, and colleagues on the MCV Campus to meet teaching and research needs of faculty and students in the sciences and engineering. They will collaborate with teaching faculty and colleagues in the VCU Libraries to develop and deliver course-integrated instructional content, as well as extend research consultation services and provide customized, discipline-specific research assistance. They also will help develop the print and digital reference collections supporting the sciences and engineering, and will work closely with colleagues at Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences to meet the needs of faculty and students in sciences and engineering throughout the university community.
Arendt (right) brings a foundation of experience to her new
role with
the VCU Libraries. As science and engineering reference librarian at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, she was liaison to several departments including mechanical
engineering and energy processes, chemistry, physics and psychology. She provided specialized reference services, discipline-specific information
literacy instruction and online content. Arendt also taught a course on information literacy and use of the library. She holds a B.S. in chemistry and psychology from the University of Wisconsin and a
Master of Science in Information from the University of Michigan.
Roseberry (left) brings strong background in science to her new role with
the VCU Libraries. Her experience includes co-authoring an article
published in the International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos and work
as a research assistant as part of the National Science Foundation's
Research Experiences for Undergraduates. While working at a practicum at
Oberlin College's Science Library, she produced an extensive collection
of subject guides as part of a transition to Subject Plus and assisted
with library instruction for biology students. Roseberry holds a
B.A. in physics from the College of Wooster and Master of Library and
Information Science from Kent State University."Answering research questions by text is now an essential part of our package of services," says Research Librarian Kristina Keogh, who is in charge of setting up the new service. "At VCU, we meet our users where they are. They may be across town in a Panera working on a paper or they may be in a quiet corner on the fourth floor quiet-study area and don't want to leave their materials to come downstairs to speak with a research librarian."
Librarians are prepared for a range of questions. Keogh expects to receive both basic and advanced queries--everything from "where do I find this book?" to how to cite a source properly, from how to get started on a project to how late Starbucks is open.
