Author Archives: Gary Daught

First “Escape from Welshimer” event a breakout success!

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Wikipedia defines an escape room as “a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints, and strategy to complete the objectives at hand.” Escape rooms have become a popular form of entertainment in the 2010s, developed from and often incorporating elements from long familiar group activities such as scavenger hunts and haunted houses.

Inspired by a presentation at Mars Hill University (North Carolina) where the escape room concept was used as a first-year student experience to instruct about the library, Research and Instruction Librarian Mary Jackson sought to develop a similar experience here at Milligan College but open it to all students, faculty, staff, and their families. “It is difficult to educate faculty, staff and students about some of the more unique aspects of the library and its collections,” says Jackson. “Students really enjoy having faculty participate with them at campus events. The escape room would allow the library staff to educate and interact with participants, including faculty, staff and students in a fun and entertaining way.”

Escape from Welshimer was the result. The event was held in the evening on Friday, January 18 at the P.H. Welshimer Memorial Library. Advanced signups were encouraged as news of the event was posted on campus bulletin boards, Milligan Libraries’ social media channels, and Milligan Today. 51 participants, which included 34 undergraduate students, 3 graduate students, 10 faculty/staff adults, and 4 children, were divided into 11 groups of 4 or 5 persons arrayed at tables on the main floor of the library supplied with a large packet of items, a laptop computer, and a locked wooden treasure chest. Each group was given a challenge to identify a Milligan College personage and several popular culture references from either the 1970s, 80s, or 90s using Welshimer Library books, media, and archival materials.

The challenges required each group to move throughout the building to collect items, respond to clues, and solve puzzles that would enable them to successfully unlock their treasure chests. Inside the chests were custom created Escape from Welshimer buttons, Milligan Buffalo stickers, and prize redemption coupons. As each group successfully completed their challenge, they were directed to the circulation desk where each person was asked to fill out a brief survey of their experience. They could then use their coupon to receive either a full-size candy bar or (especially popular) Airheads Xtremes as a prize.

As a final activity, group photos were taken to document the event. Everyone successfully “escaped” in under an hour’s time.

Based on survey results, Escape from Welshimer was a breakout success. One participant, sophomore student Audrey Johns said, “It was really fun. I liked solving the puzzles. What an inventive way to learn where things are located in the library!” Mary Jackson added, “The best part was seeing everyone having so much fun moving around the library, working together with friends, and just having a great time. I think it says a lot that several people said the only negative was that it was too short. That is success in my book.”

All Welshimer Library staff were involved in making this event a success through brainstorming, offering feedback, and providing advanced testing. But special shout-outs go to Research and Instruction Librarian Mary Jackson for carrying the lion’s share of planning and logistics, User Services Librarian Jude Morrissey for creating the wonderful event graphics, and Archivist Katie Banks for constructing the buttons and serving as event photographer. Director of Libraries Gary Daught strongly endorsed this event. He was (is!) appreciative of the brilliant creativity and hard work of his library colleagues, and very pleased by the turn-out. “Events like this highlight Milligan Libraries’ active engagement with our learning community. We want to be known by students and faculty as skilled academic professionals who are both competent and trustworthy. But we also want to be known as real people who are approachable and like to have fun. I think the latter serves and strengthens the former. We are looking forward to doing another library escape room in the future.”

Materials and prizes were paid for from an IDEO Grant that Milligan Libraries received from the Bowen Central Library of Appalachia at the Appalachian College Association (ACA). The IDEO, or Innovation & Enrichment Development Opportunities Grant is designed “to assist libraries in partnering with campus constituencies in creative and innovative ways for [the] campus to expand knowledge about library services.” Milligan Libraries thanks the ACA for this award that helped make Escape from Welshimer possible.

Buffs, Buttons & Brownies at Your Library!

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“What?! They’re not doing The Game this year? How are we going to get new students into Welshimer Library to meet staff, and learn about our spaces and services?” That was the initial reaction of librarians to changes to the new student orientation day resulting from this year’s later start of the school year.

The Game, which had new students running around campus in small groups to visit various buildings was an ideal way for library staff to showcase the Welshimer Library. “Participating in The Game as a regular stop along the way was a simple and fun way for us to get new students into the library building right away,” says Director of Libraries Gary Daught. “By removing some of that initial intimidation and creating a positive impression of the library for new students through this event, we were fairly certain they would come to make the library a regular study spot during the school year.” With the loss of The Game to provide that early introduction, the library staff knew they needed to get creative and find an alternative.

As it happens, Daught had read an article in a library publication over the summer about a university library that teamed-up with their university archives to create a pop-up button-making space as a library outreach event. That was the answer! “We could combine a button-making space, with a self-guided tour of the Welshimer Library building, and pans of Instruction Librarian Mary Jackson’s famous brownies. The name for our new event presented itself almost immediately–Buffs, Buttons & Brownies!”

The event was held during the day on Monday, August 27 from 9 am to 4 pm. By all accounts Buffs, Buttons & Brownies! was a success, with over 90 buttons made (the pop-up space continues into Tuesday) and nearly 200 brownies consumed! Mary Jackson expressed well the very positive take-away from the day: “It was a really fun event that gave us a chance to meet and connect with many new students and reacquaint ourselves with returning students. The self-guided tour was low-key and helped students familiarize themselves with the library building and staff. Everyone was very excited for the chance to make a button.” (Picture choices for the buttons were selected by College Archivist Katie Banks from archival holdings.)

Special thanks to Mary Jackson for the delicious brownies, and to Professor John Jackson for lending us his button maker. “I think this could easily become a new regular event for Welshimer Library,” says Daught. “Though I suppose we should probably buy our own button maker.”

Five Years of Therapy Dog visits to Welshimer Library

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Since December 2013, the Welshimer Library has played host to visits from local therapy dogs and their owner/trainers to provide some much needed stress relief to students during Finals Week. “It is hard to believe that this last week marked the fifth year since we began inviting therapy dogs into the library,” noted Library Director Gary Daught. The tradition began after Daught was approached by retired biology professor Dr. Julie Wade who offered to bring her certified therapy dog, a Golden Retriever named “Jake”, to the library. In the years since, the library has had several dogs and owners come to visit. A couple times, we have also had “Kitten Cuddle Puddles” set up in the library by students from Milligan’s Occupational Therapy department.

This semester the library would like to extend “Thank Yous!” to retired Julie Wade with her Golden Retriever “Burton”, Bill Powley with his Golden Retriever “Will”, Mr. Lou Pesch with his twin Weimaraners “Indy” and “Lily”, and Lou’s sister-in-law, Ms. Molly Smolko with her Toy Fox Terrier “Rudy”.

Archives Intern mounts exhibit on the Stone-Campbell Movement

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Kristen Williams, Class of ’18, completed the Holloway Archives Internship at Milligan College this past Spring semester. One of the highlights of Kristen’s internship was curating and installing the “Legacy of Christian Unity: The Stone-Campbell Movement” archive exhibit at P. H. Welshimer Memorial Library. Starting in January, Kristen began researching primary resources of prominent Stone-Campbell figures in the Holloway Archives collections. With the Stone-Campbell Journal Conference being hosted at Milligan in April 2018, Kristen prepared to curate an exhibit to showcase Milligan’s connection with the Stone-Campbell Movement.

When asked about her research, Kristen replied, “I didn’t have any real knowledge about the Stone-Campbell Movement. Learning about the Stone-Campbell Movement and seeing it reflected by prominent people at Milligan was really interesting. Taking the time to research and learn about the movement has helped me better understand what it’s all about and see the impact it has had on Milligan College.”

How does one select from so many historical items for an exhibit? “When I was deciding on which items to place in the exhibit, I looked for books, pictures, and scholarly papers. I found interesting papers that dealt with the theme of Christian unity, which made it really easy to make the connections between the different items.”

“I displayed the exhibit in chronological order. I started with an excerpt from Beside the Waters of the Buffalo: A History of Milligan College to 1941 by Cynthia Ann Cornwell. The excerpt showcased how the division of one church led to the creation of a new church that would later become Hopwood Memorial Church and later a part of Milligan College. I then focused on major figures related to Milligan College: Robert Milligan, Frederick D. Kershner, P.H. Welshimer, B.D. Phillips, Mildred Welshimer Phillips, and Henry Webb.”

When asked to reflect on her internship experience, Kristen shared, “The archives internship has been so fun and interesting! I have enjoyed researching and being in the Archives. I loved finding pieces like Mildred Welshimer Phillips’ badge from the 1950 International Convention of Disciples of Christ. This little badge was tucked away in her folder. It was also really neat to have the exhibit be a part of the Stone-Campbell Journal Conference that was hosted here at Milligan.”

Kristen Williams graduates from Milligan in May with a Bachelor of Arts in English, with a minors in Multimedia Journalism and Women’s and Gender Study. Kristen received the Get Real Ministries “Love God. Love People” Scholarship and was the recipient of Milligan Women’s Soccer Scholarship. Kristen actively served as Assistant Editor for The Stampede, Milligan’s student newspaper. Kristen will attend graduate school in East Tennessee State University’s library science program starting this fall.

Milligan’s Archive Internship opportunity
Each fall semester, students are invited to apply for one volunteer Archive Internship opportunity at The Holloway Archives at Milligan College. The internship begins the following spring semester. All majors are welcome to apply. Please stay tuned for announcements coming this fall.

Have a Milligan history question? Contact library@milligan.edu.
Find out more about Milligan’s archives here.
Find us on Twitter at #MilliganArchives

 

 

A Farewell and an Introduction at Milligan Libraries

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“We lost out to love. Though I can’t think of a better reason to lose, right?” So mused Milligan Libraries Director Gary Daught when he learned that Information Resources Librarian & College Archivist Lindsay Kenderes would be resigning her position at the end of May to join her fiancé in Austin, Texas. “You work really hard to build a great team of librarians, and you want to keep the team together indefinitely, especially when everyone is working together so well. Still, you have to be prepared for changes as folks continue to grow in their personal and professional lives. We will miss Lindsay, of course. But otherwise it’s all good.”

As it happens, “it’s all good” extends to the person we were able to get to fill Lindsay’s position. “Search processes can be very stressful. They take a lot of time, energy, and expense,” notes Daught. “But we were very blessed to have found a local librarian ideal for the position — 2015 Milligan alumna, Katherine ‘Katie’ (Siebenaler) Banks.” Katie has been shadowing Lindsay as a volunteer intern since mid-March, so by the time she assumes the position full-time on June 1 she will be thoroughly familiar with her duties. “This has been the most wonderfully smooth search process I could have ever possibly imagined!”

Gary Daught asked Lindsay to share some of her highlight moments as Information Resources Librarian & College Archivist since coming to Milligan College in 2014. He then asked Katie Banks to share what she is most looking forward to as she prepares to step into the position.

Farewell Lindsay

One of the aspects that I am going to miss most about Milligan College are the people. While working as Information Resources Librarian & College Archivist I have been allowed to collaborate with our library staff, students, faculty, administration, staff, alumni, and the public to the degree I never thought possible in just four years. I am so appreciative of Gary Daught’s direction and mission for the Milligan Libraries, which has allowed me to learn, thrive, and serve in a user-focused academic library environment. I have had the opportunity to collaborate on projects with all of our library staff, including especially:

MCStor, Milligan’s Digital Repository
Starting in 2012, Gary Daught and Meredith Sommers pursued establishing an institutional repository at Milligan College. I entered this project in 2014 and worked collaboratively with David Baker and Gary Daught to implement MCStor, Milligan’s digital repository, which went live in July 2015. MCStor provides digital access to student and faculty scholarly work as well as digitized archive materials, including photographs, manuscripts, and audio recordings. I am extremely proud of this initiative. To date, we have been able to archive over 100 undergraduate and graduate scholarly work submissions, with close to 3,000 digital archive images digitized from the Holloway Archives at Milligan College. I am also extremely grateful for Amanda Bristol and Milligan’s Information Technology Department for hosting MCStor server space and for supporting this mission.

Milligan’s Sesquicentennial 150th Anniversary
One of my major capstones was serving on the History and Research subcommittee while managing digitization projects, researching a high volume of archive reference requests, and curating physical and digital archive exhibits for Milligan’s 150th Sesquicentennial Anniversary in 2016. This event and my involvement proved to be great for promoting the Holloway Archives and Helsabeck Archives. I am extremely grateful that I could serve Milligan College during its 150th anniversary.

Primary Sources Instruction
Collaborating with Mary Jackson and Milligan faculty, Mary and I led instruction on primary sources from the Holloway Archives at Milligan College for the COMM 431 Narrative Journalism and HUMN 250 Interdisciplinary Research Methods courses. Mary is a stellar instruction librarian. I learned so much about instructing students both inside and outside of the archives. I am excited and most appreciative for our faculty’s continued interest to utilize our archive primary sources to enrich their students’ learning experience.

Book Chapter Co-Author
Jude Morrissey invited me to co-author a book chapter titled “Building Bridges with No Trolls: The Practical Ethics of Open Access Institutional Repositories and Digital Archives,” published in Applying Library Values to Emerging Technology: Tips and Techniques for Advancing within Your Mission (ACRL, 2018). I am grateful for Jude’s innovative vision for user services and open access at Milligan Libraries and for suggesting to contribute to this publication!

Promoting the Helsabeck Archives of the Stone-Campbell Movement
With the time and dedication from David Kiger, Katie Banks, John Mark Wade, and David Baker, the Helsabeck Archives of the Stone-Campbell Movement now has an online presence on the Milligan Libraries’ Archive page and serves as a research destination for researchers of the Stone-Campbell Movement.

Archive Internship at the Holloway Archives at Milligan College
During my time at Milligan, I initiated a volunteer archive internship opportunity to be offered each spring semester in the Holloway Archives at Milligan College. Students who complete this internship curate an archival exhibit; arrange, describe and process an archive collection; digitize manuscripts and photos; and analyze primary sources. The skills gained from this internship include: training in appraisal, preservation, arrangement, description, and processing procedures; learning best practices for preservation, care and handling of archive materials; experience with digitization equipment and software; and curation design and exhibit installation. My interns have been Katie (Siebenaler) Banks (2015), Blake Stanley (2017), and Kristen Williams (2018). I have fully enjoyed serving as a mentor with each of my interns and I am extremely proud of all of their accomplishments.

Thank you Gary, Mary, Jude, David B., David K., and Katie for making the Milligan Libraries a wonderful place to work and serve each day. I appreciate all that you do and will miss you all.

Welcome Katie (Siebenaler) Banks

Katie (Siebenaler) Banks graduated from Milligan College in 2015 with a double major in History and Humanities. Her experience in libraries and archives began in high school, when she volunteered at the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library. “As someone who loved history, I was initially thinking of pursing a public history or museum studies degree after Milligan. But then I began to discover how much I like archives.” During her final semester at Milligan, Katie completed an internship in the College Archives with Lindsay Kenderes. The experience was capped by mounting an exhibit on student clubs and traditions. “As a second-generation Buffalo, I had grown up always hearing about Milligan, so it was especially fun to work in the college archives on an exhibit like this.”

Katie went on to Indiana University to pursue a Master of Library Science degree with a concentration in Archives and Records Management (2017). She worked in the University Archives, where she processed archival collections and transcribed handwritten board of trustees’ minutes, including a set of minutes when Robert Milligan was hired as a professor at the university in the 1800s. She also worked in the political papers archives, processing the congressional papers of a former congressmen from Indiana. Her internship was at the home of the first president of Indiana University, where she contributed to an interactive exhibit on women at the university and assisted with library instruction. “My time at Indiana University was invaluable in preparing me for working in an academic library and archives,” she says. Most recently, Katie has been working as a cataloger for the Washington County Public Library, and assisting with reference work at the Welshimer Library.

“I am excited for the opportunity to work with the Milligan community,” says Katie. “I am thrilled and honored to become Milligan College’s archivist. I hope to continue to bring awareness to both archives within Milligan Libraries, and to use them as resources for research and learning.”