University Libraries Newsletter
March/April 2020
Library Resources & Events
USA Libraries Transfers Services Off Site
USA Libraries began planning March 4 to transfer services off site as the University began making arrangements to move classes online. Marx, MCOB, and McCall Libraries closed March 17 and the Baugh Biomedical Library closed March 18 with the transfer of College of Medicine classes to the online setting.
The libraries developed guides to provide quick access to chat and email assistance to support students and faculty. Lists of materials opened for free, temporary access by publishers supplement USA Libraries electronic collections.
Teams meet regularly through the week via Zoom to address administrative processes, reference needs, collections, systems and technology needs, outreach and communication, interlibrary loan, and to communicate within and across the libraries. Employees also connect through a Friday evening social Zoom meeting, a book discussion group, and a Facebook page devoted to Employee Engagement.
USA Libraries' Continuing Services
The USA Libraries' buildings may be closed due to the coronavirus shutdown of the university, but we are still here to help you. If you need assistance, chat service is available from the Marx Library, the Biomedical Library, and the MCOB Business Library. Email help is also available from these libraries as well as from the McCall Library.

For research consultations, contact your liaison librarian. The Interlibrary Loan offices at both Marx and the Biomedical Library are accepting and fulfilling requests for electronic articles and book chapters only. And, of course, our online
resources are available 24/7 as always. Faculty members who need materials for classes, such as videos and ebooks, should contact their liaison librarian or the Assistant University Librarian for Collections, Kathy Wheeler, at [email protected].

Check University Libraries COVID-19 Updates for more information.
For a list of temporarily available resources, see COVID-19 Temporarily Available Collections.

For information about resources designed for clinicians, see COVID-19 Resources for Clinicians.
Temporarily Available Resources
In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, many library and textbook vendors have been either expanding access to subscriptions already owned by libraries, or they've been making their resources available to libraries for free for a limited time. Some of these resources require you to create a free account to access them.

Available resources include textbooks, streaming video, databases, journal content, reference material, course material, and a data visualization tool.
COVID-19 Guide from the Biomedical Library
Clista Clanton, Assistant Director for Strategic Initiatives, Charles M. Baugh Biomedical Library, developed a
COVID-19 guide that brings together critical information to support and update clinicians. Ms. Clanton meets weekly with hospital and College of Medicine committees, including the University Hospital Ethics Committee, USA Health Residency Coordinators, and University Hospital Residency Program Directors to support their work and inform the USA Libraries Leadership Team of needs and issues.
McCall Library Documenting Student
Covid-19 Experiences
The McCall Library is one of several programs across the country collecting documentation related to students’ experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The project is now listed as a volunteer opportunity on the South Serves portal. Students may respond to the need and get volunteer hours credit for adding their voice and their story to the archives. Details on how to participate and what to record are on the site.

Jewish Mobile Oral History Project receives grant from the Alabama Humanities Foundation
Deborah Gurt, Assistant Librarian and Interim Director of The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, was awarded an Alabama Humanities Foundation Major Grant to fund the Jewish Mobile Oral History Project. This community archives project will create a body of narrative interviews from members of Mobile's Jewish community about the history, development and present day experience of a religious minority in Alabama. The McCall Library will preserve the interviews as research objects and build a web portal where they will be accessible. To launch the collection this Fall, we will host a public event promoting intercultural exchange and expanding our ability to understand the experience of another. 
Celebrating Women's History Month in Video
The USA University Libraries have a number of streaming video resources to help you celebrate Women's History Month and learn more about the achievements of women. The following is a list of a few films available through these services, but this list is by no means comprehensive. Check out Alexander Street , Swank , Films on Demand , and Kanopy for more titles.

Abortion: Stories Women Tell: This documentary looks at the issue of abortion through the eyes of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. Abortion providers and activists on both sides of the fence are also interviewed.
Access through Swank

GTFO: Get the F*ck Out: Women in Gaming: Looks at the experiences of women in the gaming world by interviewing game developers, journalists, and academics.
Access through Kanopy

Her Story: The Female Revolution: Leadership : This is the first episode of a four part series that examines the lives of women from several different perspectives. Other episodes deal with personal stories, religion, and work.

Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women: This documentary examines the depictions of women in both print and television advertisements.
Access through Kanopy
The Longest War: Women & Power. Part 1. This three part series deals with issues of women’s rights in Britain. The series focuses on the 20 th century, but it begins in the 18 th century with a discussion of Mary Wollstonecraft.
Access through Films on Demand

Perfect 36: When Women Won the Vote: This film looks at the vote to ratify the 19 th Amendment to the United States Constitution that granted women the right to vote.
Access through Films on Demand

She Did That: This documentary looks at the lives of Black women entrepreneurs.
Access through Kanopy

She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry: This documentary is an account of the modern feminist movement from the 1960s though the present day.
Access through Kanopy

Swimming with Lesbians: Examines Madeline Davis and her community's efforts to create an LGBTQ historic archive in New York.
Access through Alexander Street

Undercover Egypt: Journalist Natasha Wheatley looks at Egypt through the lens of topics such as gender roles, politics, and sexuality.
Access through Alexander Street

Women of Hope: Latinas Abriendo Camino: Examines the lives of twelve Latina women in the United States. The women portrayed include actors, politicians, and novelists.
Access through Films on Demand
Featured Resource: Women's Periodicals of the Nineteenth Century, 1866-1891
The Women's Periodicals of the Nineteenth Century database from EBSCO is the American Antiquarian Society's collection of women's magazines from 1866-1891. A wide range of subjects and publications are represented in this databases including Godey's Lady's Book , Dicken's Household Words and Valuable Whispers , Ladies' Wreath , and Peterson's Magazine . Subjects covered include abolition, temperance, and literature.

USA Libraries Recent Professional Development
Deborah Gurt, Interim Director, Doy Leale McCall Rare Book an Manuscript Library - received a grant from the Alabama Humanities Foundation to support the Jewish Mobile Oral History Project.

Jia He, Cataloging Electronic Resources Librarian - as President of the Southeast Chapter of the Chinese American Library Association (CALA), attended the Chinese American Librarians Association Southeast and Southwest Chapter Joint Online Conference with the theme “Library 2020: Stories and Projects Sharing.” This online conference was held on April 2, 2020 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm (CDT). Ms. He coordinated with Jingshan Xiao, the President of the Southwest Chapter, to arrange this joint online conference. 

Mike Itaya, LTA I, Marx Library - attended the 2020 AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) Conference in San Antonio, TX. Funding was provided through the Stokes Center for Creative Writing.   

Kristina Polizzi, Library Technical Assistant II, Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library - article published in Archival Outlook, titled, "Preserving the Controversaila and the Mundane."
USA Libraries Social Media Links
Marx Library moved its annual National Poetry Month reading to Zoom, gathering a group of some 70 USA students, faculty, staff, and guest children around the screen on April 22. Over 20 readers participated, reading self-authored poems as well as materials by well known poets. Several readers introduced the group to recent works by international poets. Dr. Charlotte Pence, Director of Creative Writing and Director of USA’s Stokes Center for Creative Writing closed the event, reading a haiku she wrote that was inspired by the pandemic experience.