
Author Archive

Congratulations to our Newly Promoted and Tenured Librarians!

Photo of Sara Arnold-GarzaSara Arnold-Garza (M.S.I.S., University of Texas at Austin)
Research & Instruction Librarian
Promoted to Librarian II

Ms. Arnold-Garza earned her master’s degree in information studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2011. She joined Towson University in July 2011 as our residency librarian for diversity and innovation. Highlights of her accomplishments include creating finding aid descriptions of the Gantt manuscripts of the Nuremberg trials in Special Collections; developing a tool for tracking and reporting subscriptions during her rotation in Technical Services; and providing information literacy instruction to undergraduate students in the Research and Instruction department. Of special note during her second year, Ms. Arnold-Garza’s residency capstone project, featuring a flipped classroom model, was used by a number of library faculty for instruction and earned her the 2014 OAI Innovation in Teaching Award. Ms. Arnold-Garza’s scholarship includes 14 presentations, workshops, or poster sessions on a variety of topics including the Cook Library residency librarian program; inclusion in the classroom; diversity issues; and the flipped classroom approach to teaching and learning.  Ms. Arnold-Garza received the American Library Association’s 2013 Emerging Leader Award. Also that year, she became the research and instruction librarian, serving as a liaison to the American Civilization, Cultural Studies, International Relations, Metropolitan Studies, and Political Science programs and departments, and working closely with faculty to provide information literacy instruction specifically for their courses.

In addition to several Cook Library committees, Ms. Arnold-Garza’s university service includes the Diversity Action Committee, where she chairs its Campus Climate Work Group, and the Latino/a Faculty Staff Association. She contributes to state and national professional organizations including the American Library Association and several Association of College and Research Libraries committees, including the ACRL Law and Political Science Section, where she is the social media coordinator.

 

Photo of Laksamee PutnamLaksamee Putnam (M.S. in Library and Information Science, University of Illinois-Urbana)
Research & Instruction Librarian/Science Librarian
Promoted to Librarian II

Ms. Putnam earned her master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois-Urbana in 2010. She joined Towson University in January 2011 as the science librarian. She is the liaison for the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Forensic Chemistry, Molecular Biology, and Environmental Science. Ms. Putnam provides user instruction and creates instructional material specific to these disciplines as well as for several Towson Seminar courses. Ms. Putnam co-authored two book chapters pending publication in 2015. She has presented numerous workshops, poster sessions or programs with colleagues at both local and national conferences since 2011 on such diverse topics as inclusion in the classroom, blogs in science information dissemination, and apps in the classroom. She received the 2012 Emerging Leader Award from the American Library Association. Active in the Cook Library marketing initiatives, Ms. Putnam created the puppet “Al Burt” (for Albert S. Cook Library) who is featured in library posters, videos, and guides. She regularly contributes to LibraryTechTalk, Cook Library’s technology blog.

Ms. Putnam served as a First Year Experience adviser for incoming freshmen and was an invited speaker for CIAT. She reported from the 2013 January Conference via Twitter and was a proposal reviewer for the 2014 TU Spark event. Ms. Putnam contributes to state and national professional organizations including the American Library Association, and several American College & Research Libraries committees including the ACRL Science and Technology Section and the New Members Round Table.

 

Photo of Mary GilbertMary Gilbert (M.L.S., University of Rhode Island)
Associate University Librarian for Content Management
Promoted to Librarian IV

Ms. Gilbert earned her master’s degree in library science from the University of Rhode Island in 1976.  She joined Towson University in 1996 as head of serials; in1999 she became head of technical services, and in 2008 she was named assistant university librarian for content management.  Ms. Gilbert manages the library’s $2+ million collection budget and oversees all acquisitions, cataloging, processing, and access of print and electronic resources. In addition, Ms. Gilbert serves as liaison to the faculty of the Department of Foreign Languages and provides customized information literacy instruction for students in that department and in Towson Seminars. She led migration of print journal subscriptions to electronic storage, giving students, faculty and staff 24/7 remote access to journals; implemented a collections enhancement initiative to improve the library’s print collections; established the Legacy Collection of notable books from the original State Teachers College library; and incorporated the 70,000-volume Baltimore Hebrew University library collection into Towson’s Cook Library. Her scholarship includes publication in the peer-reviewed Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship.  She has presented at regional and national professional conferences.

Ms. Gilbert is active in the American Library Association and the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services. She serves on Towson University’s Library Advisory Council, Council of Chairs, and Honors College Advisory Council, and contributes her expertise in content management and collection development to the work of the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions Library Consortium, most recently through the E-Resources Licensing Group, Information Resources Advisory Group (co-chair), and the Next Generation Integrated Library Systems Group. She also serves on the advisory boards of two major publishers – ProQuest North American and Gale.

 

Joyce Garczynski (M.S. in Library Science, University of Maryland, College Park)
Communications & Development Librarian
Awarded Permanent Status

Ms. Garczynski earned her master’s degree in library science from the University of Maryland in 2009. She also holds a master’s degree in communication from the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Garczynski joined Towson University in August 2009 as the communications and development librarian. She is liaison to faculty in Mass Communication and Communications Studies and provides customized course-based information literacy instruction and individualized research assistance to students in the discipline. She also supports Towson Seminars. Ms. Garczynski launched a marketing communications plan and leads efforts to promote Cook Library. Reaching the campus and external community, she develops and coordinates library events including Cook Library Book Club discussions, National Library Week celebrations, and Holocaust Remembrance Day. Receiving a national grant for library initiatives related to Islamic culture titled “Muslim Journeys,” she partnered with the Walters Art Museum to host an “Evening of Islamic Art and Culture” for Towson students. Ms. Garczynski has given regional and national presentations on topics ranging from library social media presence to work-life balance in academia to an analysis of academic integrity policies featured on university websites. She co-authored a book chapter on library marketing and authored or co-authored more than 20 publications ranging from book reviews and newsletter columns to an article in Practical Academic Librarianship: The International Journal of the SLA Academic Division focusing on faculty involvement in database subscription cancellations and named the publication’s best article. She also won the American Library Association’s “Best of Show” for fundraising material she created; the Towson Academy of Scholars Award for her research on academic integrity; a NASA Mars Science Laboratory training stipend; an Institute for Museum and Library Services sub-award related to accessibility of library databases; and the Association of College and Research Libraries President’s Program Innovation Contest for her Albert S. Cook Library Civility Video.

In addition to assisting with development and fundraising efforts of the library, Ms. Garczynski is a member of the University Assessment Council, Faculty Salary Review Committee, and Social Media Working Group. Ms. Garczynski is active in the American Library Association (chair of the Communication Studies Committee since 2013); the Special Libraries Association; the EBSCO Communications Studies Advisory Board; and The Library Quarterly Reviews Selection Committee.

May 12, 2015 at 3:46 pm Leave a comment

Quacks in the Stacks: Study Ducks are Back!

SciFiBookThey’re cute, they’re classy, and just a little bit sassy…

They’re study ducks!

If you find one of these little duckies in the library – feel free to smile and give him or her a good home.

May 11, 2015 at 12:00 am Leave a comment

Finals Extended Hours: Sun. May 10th – Tues. May 19th

LibraryNight(1)Cook Library will extend its hours of availability to accommodate students’ studying needs during the final exam period.  During extend hours, the 2nd & 3rd floors will be open; other floors will be closed at the end of the library’s regular hours.  Course Reserves services will still be available, but all other library services will be closed.

A Photo ID will be required to enter the Library during extended hours.

Extended Hours Schedule

May 10-16 (Sunday-Saturday) 24 HOURS
Begin 10:00 a.m. Sunday (May 10th)
End 2:00 a.m. Saturday Morning (May 16th)
May 16-17 (Saturday-Sunday Morning)
10 a.m. – 2 a.m.
May 17-19 (Sunday-Tuesday) 24 HOURS
Begin 10:00 a.m. Sunday (May 17)
End 10:00 p.m. Tuesday (May 19)

May 4, 2015 at 10:13 am Leave a comment

Baltimore Unrest infoPlaylist

FreddieGrayPrecinctProtestOn the morning of April 12, 2015, Freddie Gray was arrested in West Baltimore. While in police custody he sustained a spinal cord injury, became unresponsive, and died a week later. The firestorm of protests and violence that followed has led to national discussions about policing tactics, race, class, and what it means to be a community. This Baltimore Unrest infoPlaylist created by Librarians Megan Browndorf and Joyce Garczynski contains resources related to the latest news, analysis of what happened to Freddie Gray and the aftermath, the demographics of Baltimore, the history of Baltimore policing and the 1968 Baltimore riots, as well as the recovery efforts.

 Places to go for Information on Current Events:

Includes tweets from activists, reporters, local organizations, and others on the ground and with relevant information

 On Freddie Gray Incidents and the Aftermath:

Demographic and Socioeconomic Context:

Policing in Baltimore:

Context of 1968:

Recovery Efforts:

 

April 29, 2015 at 4:41 pm Leave a comment

Thurs. and Fri. are Deal Days at the Book Sale!

librarybooksaleCook Library’s Annual Book Sale is coming to a close so all the books are priced to go!

  • On Thursday, April 23rd and Friday, April 24th before 2pm: All items are half price
  • On Friday, April 24th from 2-4pm: Get a bag of books for $1

The book sale is on the main floor of the library and is open from 7:30am to 4pm both days.

April 23, 2015 at 12:00 am Leave a comment

Cook Library Room 527 is Now a Dedicated Lactation Room

LactationRoomWith the renovations to the back of the second floor last year, Cook Library lost our dedicated space for new mothers to pump breast milk and nurse their children. Library staff are committed to providing this space and after some construction, the new lactation room, complete with a rocking chair and outlet, is located in room 527 (at the back of the 5th floor).

 

April 22, 2015 at 1:29 pm Leave a comment

*DC Power Outage Impacts Cook Library Resources

Update: All databases and the catalog should be fully operational again. Thanks for your patience :)

Due to the power outage in Washington DC, many library databases are unavailable and catalog information is limited (call numbers are slow load and specific location information is not available).

April 7, 2015 at 4:40 pm Leave a comment

Older Posts


Follow Cook on Twitter

Feeds


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 28 other followers
https://cooklibrary.wordpress.com/author/jgarczyn/
cooklibrary.wordpress.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2015-22
52941
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:HF6QOOVVCV3MNKEJTKDYG5CV5B7B2QQ4
<urn:uuid:b7d05a57-f8ab-46df-ae8e-b712a085d491>
2015-05-23T13:18:40Z
192.0.78.12
sha1:2S62PXJ4K35P22AJEBE53DHA2PIVJA5P
<urn:uuid:a8e32a09-6e63-4276-9e1a-cea2d9e6a7f3>
https://cooklibrary.wordpress.com/author/jgarczyn/
length
response
<urn:uuid:07816814-2a20-4a64-b2a5-f7ccaa2e1bf7>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2015-22
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for May 2015
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf