January 2002 (Volume 4)
Introducing, The Thoughtful Gardener
The Friends are pleased to partner with the UW-Green Bay Office of Outreach and Extension, the Green Bay Botanical Garden, and the UW-Green Bay Center for Biodiversity to sponsor the first Thoughtful Gardener Symposium on Saturday, March 23, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the UW-Green Bay Union. So come and celebrate spring by attending a one-day workshop for gardeners who want to grow heirlooms and conserve our vegetable and flower heritage. Learn the history of heirloom plants, why they are important, and how to grow them.
The day-long program features specialists in heirloom gardening.
- In "The Heirloom Gardening Movement," keynote speaker Kent Whealy, executive director of Seed Savers Exchange, Decorah, Iowa, will highlight preservation gardens where 2,000 heirloom vegetables are multiplied for seed each summer as well as historic orchards of 700 19th century apples trees and 200 grape varieties.
- "Heirloom Gardening: Putting It Into Practice" features expert Don Rakow discussing the historical development of gardens and plants over the past 250 years. He also will offer practical advice on putting heritage gardening into practice. Dr. Rakow is director of the Cornell Plantations in Ithaca, New York.
- Breakout sessions, also conducted by experts with extensive background and experience, offer historical as well as practical information. Participants may choose from the following: Heirloom Flowers and Herbs: How to Grown Them; Heirloom Peppers; Tomatoes: A Genetic History; Heirloom Flowers: Their Stories in History; Growing Heirloom Tomatoes; Seed-Saving for Vegetable Gardeners.
Members' fee of $60 includes refreshments, lunch, handouts and parking.
Didn't receive a brochure? Interested in volunteer opportunities? Contact the Office of Outreach and Extension, 920-465-2642 or 800-292-2118.
Happy New Year, Friends of the Cofrin!
Though the holiday season is technically past, and the weather could trick us into believing it is late March, a gift to the Friends in the form of valuable information has extended the holiday feeling for me.
Donald (Don) McCartney, a member of the business faculty at UW-Green Bay, joined the Friends leadership retreat on January 15th and shared with us his rich marketing experience, insight and advice. The information and ideas Don presented will certainly help us better understand what draws all of us to be and remain members of the Friends. With this information we can focus on encouraging others who share our interests to join us.
The participants at the retreat were very excited by Don's insight and ideas. There was much discussion about how the Friends could implement ideas Don suggested or prompted. I'm confident that our energetic organization will become even more vigorous as a consequence of the retreat. An exciting future is in the offing.
I want to congratulate Virginia Dell on her reelection as Vice-President of the Friends and the new members of the Friends Board of Directors, Dorothy Maki, Zeta Turiff and Pam Younk. I also want to recognize the valuable work of Ginny Heim, Diana Margotto, and Chris Sampson during their period on the Board.
With this excitement, ideas and leadership, I am sure there is a productive year ahead.
Books and Baskets : 4
Once again we are holding our popular Books and Baskets raffle. Last year with the help of members who pitched in to help sell tickets we raised nearly $2,500. We almost ran out of tickets!
Basket themes this year are:
- Feast of Food (Cooking and Restaurants)
- Green Thumb (Gardening)
- Made in Wisconsin,
- Pamper Yourself,
- Sports and Leisure,
- Student Survival - The new one we are excited about!
This basket already has a $250 gift certificate for UW-Green Bay textbooks but we could use your help to fill up this basket and the others. If you can donate goods or services, of if you can refer us to someone who can, please call project coordinator Deb Anderson at (920) 465-2539. The items you donate need not be elaborate or expensive. For example, the Student Survival basket could use Fiskar Scissors, board games, a Lava Lamp or computer disks. Pruning shears or garden gloves would be perfect for the Green Thumb basket. We already have commitments for karate lessons, flowers for a year and cookbooks for some of the others.
The Weidner Center has again offered us a great opportunity by inviting the Friends to sell Books and Baskets raffle tickets in the lobby before and during intermission at eight performances of the hit show, Blast, March 26-31.
Volunteer ticket sellers are needed in order to take maximum advantage of the Weidner's generous offer. The dates are: March 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31. We need two volunteers each evening and for the matinees. If you can help, please call (920) 465-2539.
Also, we will again ask members to help sell raffle tickets. Watch your mail for a list of complete basket contents and information on ticket sales. We look forward to your help.
Our Programs and Projects
What's been happening........................
The Programming Committee celebrated the Friends' five-year anniversary with a party open to all members on Sept. 13. President Chuck Matter offered an overview of the organization's accomplishments during its first five years as well as a vision for the future.
October provided a follow-up to last spring's Ancestral Pursuit IV with a genealogy research trip to the archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Thirty-seven people signed on for the Friends-sponsored bus to Madison. The event generated revenue as well as positive feedback from the participants; the committee will consider the outing as an annual event.
Friends who attended the annual Christmas luncheon on Dec. 6 raved about the gourmet menu from the Union dining services as well as the musical entertainment afforded by UW-GB faculty and students. Watch for this event next year.
What's coming up.................................
Planning for Ancestral Heritage V, this year's genealogical workshop, is underway with the event tentatively scheduled Sept. 20-21. New this year is a committee structure for planning and implementing the popular and growing event. Volunteers are invited to help especially on the Programming, Exhibits/Vendors, Publicity, and Registration committees. Contact Deb Anderson at 465-2539 or by e-mail at andersod@uwgb.edu to learn more about volunteer opportunities.
Finally, next year will see the inauguration of a new 2002-2003 speaker series expected to begin in September and continue monthly through the UW-Green Bay academic year. The committee expects to announce the schedule of speakers in the next newsletter. The intent is to showcase university personnel - faculty, staff, students, and administrators - in sharing their special areas of expertise, interest or hobbies in a relaxing, noon-hour brown-bag lunch format. The programs will be open to the larger community as well as to the entire campus. Admission is free; a voluntary donation will be accepted, of course. Speaker suggestions? Let Deb Anderson know (465-2539, andersod@uwgb.edu) or contact committee chair Betsy Foley (339-9059, foleem@execpc.com).
Mark your Calendars now
The Ancestral Pursuit Genealogy Workshop is back by popular demand. The Friends of Cofrin Library and the Green Bay Area Research Center will host the workshop on Friday afternoon, September 20, 2002 in the Ecumenical Center on the UW-Green Bay campus and all day Saturday, September 21, 2002 in the University Union.
Workshop attendees will be able to hear speakers on a variety of topics including different types of records and archives, organizing genealogy, and American history for genealogists. On Saturday, an exhibit area will feature sales tables, free literature, a free surname matching service, and prize drawings.
This is the fifth Ancestral Pursuit Workshop at UW-Green Bay. Previous workshops have attracted attendees from across Wisconsin and out of state. If you would like to receive an Ancestral Pursuit brochure and registration form when it is available, call the Area Research Center at (920) 465-2539 or e-mail speccoll@uwgb.edu.
You can also use the same contact information if you are able to volunteer to help plan or work at the genealogy workshop.
State
of the Library 2001
by Leanne Hansen, Library Director
Despite the discouraging economic news, a number of positive things have happened in the Library this past year in addition to our normal activity. Libraries in general continue to be in a period of transition and our new initiatives mirror that movement from a largely physical print environment to include a virtual online environment as well. Some of these new activities include:
- Electronic Reserves: A new service was developed to place reserve material online in full-text. After testing during the spring semester and refinement during the summer, it went into full operation for the fall semester.
- Information Literacy: During the summer, two of our Library instruction staff attended a special immersion institution to learn more about information literacy, Library instruction, and new techniques. They created some test classes and implemented new ideas during the fall semester.
- Fort Howard Business Archives: In September the Library was presented with the business archives of Fort Howard, capped by a reception in honor of the donation. The items in this donation are of interest to both campus and community researchers.
- Digitizing the Belgian Collection: The first UW System digitizing joint project features our Belgian Collection. Work on the photographs began a year ago and other items in the collection, such as books and audiotapes, will be added this coming year.
- Electronic Information: Records for over 10,000 book and non-book titles were added to the online catalog, as more databases, e-books, and web sites became part of our virtual collection. Remote access was added as licenses would allow.
- Public Relations Committee: Much publicity for the Library was generated through the use of posters, tent signs, campus newspaper articles and faculty/staff Log, and special Library instruction classes.
The Library's most positive resource continues to be our staff. We're blessed to have a dedicated staff that performs well not only in quantity of work completed, but also in the quality of it. That's why it's especially thrilling to receive this year's monetary gift for staff professional development from the Friends. We appreciate that you recognize a Library's best asset is the people who work here. This money will be well used as our staff continues to remain on the forefront of Library trends and to deliver an exceptional product. Thank you!
So what's next? Some of our plans for the coming year include: developing online tutorials and Library guides; implementing Universal Borrowing; developing electronic document delivery; continued development of Information Literacy instruction; planning for a virtual reference desk; planning for Library renovation in 2003-2005; and keeping abreast of changing trends in cataloging.
There's a lot happening at Cofrin Library. We're proud of our past and excited about our future. And we're pleased that Friends of the Cofrin Library are part of all of this.
News from The Cofrin Library Reference Department
Cofrin Library Walk-in Workshops
As a member of the Friends group you have an opportunity to take part in Walk-in Workshops. Walk-in workshops are designed to familiarize the campus community with a variety of important research resources available both on and off campus. This semester we are offering four workshops in March. All workshops are held in the Cofrin Library in room CL 304. Hope to see you there!!
- Cofrin Library Catalog - Monday, March 11, 2:00--3:00 in room CL 304
- Finding Journal Articles using Online Databases - Tuesday March 12, 11:00 - 12:00 in room CL 304
- Full Text Electronic Journals and Books - Wednesday March 13, 1:00 - 2:00 in room CL 304
- Using the Internet for Research - Thursday, March 14th, 10:00 - 11:00 in room CL 304
For more information please contact the Reference Department at 465-2303.
Off Campus Access to Online Databases
Also, as a member of the Friends group you can access Library resources from off campus using any computer with an Internet connection. By connecting to our online databases you can search for journal and newspaper articles and access many of these articles in full-text, which means you can view the content of the article in its entirety without actually going to the print source. In order to connect to these resources you will need to come to the third floor of the Cofrin Library with your Friends card. At the reserve desk you can request the OFFCAMPUS X1 folder containing all of the password and logon information you will need when connecting from off campus.
If you have questions, contact a Reference Librarian in person, by telephone (920-465-2303), or via e-mail at refdesk@uwgb.edu.