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By Maggie Dwyer
As a recent liberal arts graduate student here at UTA, I fancied myself part of the process of book preservation. Though we are active users of databases and online full-text journals, English majors, unlike many other students, also deal with very old texts. And like many other graduate students, I was a frequenter of what sometimes seemed little-visited shelves with books that have a cumulative history amounting to heavy use. When a book is purchased at the library, it is expected to be used many times (one binding company advertises that libraries can get at least 100 uses from a book they bind) in its lifetime. I suspect that some of these elderly books had seen more than 100 circuits through the library turnstiles, and were consequently much abused; they might have broken hinges, or were so loose in the binding to be in danger of falling apart, or the dread of all researchers, had been heavily underlined or pages were missing through being torn or cut out. Upon finishing with the damaged text, I would turn it in at the circulation desk with the remark that it needed repair.
 The Collection Maintenance and Preservation Services Department (CMPS) repairs and returns approximately 3000 volumes a year to circulation. Those repairs called “conservation treatments” might include rebacking or recasing the books, reinforcing or replacing endsheets, tightening the hinges, erasing the underlines, and photocopying replacement pages for those gone missing. Other tasks in the department include binding pamphlets, building protective enclosures for books or other materials, cleaning and repairing paper, and in some cases encapsulating materials in polyester, which allows brittle paper that is in danger of flaking or cracking to be safely handled and read.
The CMPS staff regularly receive inquiries from private individuals regarding repairs to injured books or other materials in private collections. The UTA Libraries have a “modest but adequately equipped facility” in the basement of the Central library, but library staff cannot repair or rebind books from outside of this library. They will, however, recommend a variety of individuals or businesses that might perform the repairs, or offer suggestions for do-it-yourselfers. The CMPS web page designed by department head Jim Wellvang with pages for staff members (including the talented Barbara Hammond of paper marbling fame) lists a wealth of resources. Point your browser to
http://libraries.uta.edu/cmps/welcome.html and you’ll find links leading to lots of conservation and preservation information. Jim Wellvang can be contacted at 817-272-2949 or
wellvang@uta.edu .
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By Dwayne Schrag
Do you need information on today’s Indian tribes in Texas? Are you curious about famous African American women in Texas? Do you want to know more about Mexican American assimilation to life in the Southwest? Are you interested in learning more about Japanese American internment during World War II? Try the Minority Cultures Collection (MCC) on the 2nd floor of the Central Library, adjacent to the attractive new MCC mural-sized painting.
 The MCC was established in 1972. It contains books, journals, and newspapers by and about four ethnic minority groups: African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. Most of the titles in the collection stress twentieth/twenty-first century issues. The states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas are given priority in the collection. Subject areas covered within the collection include anthropology, history, literature, politics, psychology, social work, sociology, theatre, and urban studies. Though most materials are housed on the second floor, the collection extends throughout the libraries. Formats include print electronic databases, microforms, compact discs, and video recordings. Check the online catalog PULSe
http://pulse.uta.edu/ for location information.
Community usage of the collection is encouraged, and the general public is welcome to visit and use the MCC. (For borrowing of materials, see elsewhere in this publication). For assistance, please contact Dwayne Schrag, 871-272-7513 or email
schrag@uta.edu .
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By Ruthie Brock
UTA Libraries provide resources and assist business researchers from Fortune 500 companies and small business in industries as varied as manufacturing sales, airlines, hospitals, and start-up web development companies.
Several databases are available for business researchers at UTA Libraries. One database includes more than 10 million businesses and nonprofit organizations and can be used for targeting markets, researching competitors, and much more. It can search by industry, geographic location, sales, and/or number of employees, and use this criteria to create mailing lists. A similar marketing database focuses on technology-related companies.
The reference collection has a variety of resources beneficial to businesses, including sources for industry ratios and demographic information. For research related to public companies, UTA Libraries has one of the longest-standing print publications, now online, which contains descriptive and financial statement data for approximately 20,000 domestic and foreign companies. To find articles about companies, researchers can use our business articles database. Many of the articles are available full-text and can be printed or downloaded.
The UTA Libraries also have two business librarians who can suggest appropriate resources.
For business related questions contact Ruthie Brock at
brock@uta.edu or 817-272-7152. Carol Byrne can be reached at 817-272-7437 or
cbyrne@uta.edu .
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By Maggie Dwyer
 Dr. Ann Arnold, author of a trio of books on Fort Worth history, has good things to say about her research experiences at UTA Libraries. Not only were the staff cooperative and helpful, but the wealth of Fort Worth Star-Telegram story files and photos are, like all holdings in the UTA Libraries, available for use by researchers from outside the university community.
After retiring in 1990 as a Fort Worth Independent School District psychologist, Arnold decided she had time for freelance writing. Though she has dabbled in fiction, it is her carefully-researched nonfiction material on local subject matters that have brought her to the attention of North Texas readers. And she couldn’t have done it without the UTA Special Collections.
Her interest in local Fort Worth history prompted her to contact Phil Record at the Star-Telegram to find out about archives. According to Arnold, Record pointed her to UTA, where those archives (including an extensive photo collection) are housed. A few years later, Gamblers and Gangsters: Fort Worth’s Jacksboro Highway in the 1940s and 1950s was published, followed by History of the Fort Worth Legal Community. Another book on the Fort Worth medical community is in the works now, all three researched in the UTA Libraries’ Special collection.
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By Tommie Wingfield
UTA Libraries welcome Metroplex students before they become college students. Students and teachers may visit without permits of any kind, and they may use all print and most of the full-text electronic databases on site. Reference librarians are available to assist in finding and using the resources. Photocopiers are available within the buildings.
The Advanced Placement Program allows students and faculty in advanced placement classes to have UTA library cards for checking out materials during the school term. See URL
http://www.uta/edu/library/ap.html.
Any teacher in the area is eligible for a free UTA library card. Teachers from both public and private schools are welcome to bring classes to the libraries for tours or research projects. Librarians will offer instruction to individuals and classes upon request. Parents are welcome too. The Central Library has a collection of children's books and Texas state-approved textbooks with teacher's editions to support the teaching disciplines on campus. These materials are available to library visitors in the Central Library’s Reading Resource Room.
Sometimes the libraries serve schools in unexpected ways. When Mineral Wells had to close their school because of fire damage, they bussed their English students here to do the research for their term papers. Because the library catalog is available online, they searched for books in our collection before they arrived, had the call numbers in hand and pulled the books immediately upon arrival. Time in the library was used efficiently.
If you have questions about library services, please call Tommie Wingfield at 817-272-2658 or email at
wingfield@uta.edu .
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By Rachel Robbins
The UTA Libraries has a guest borrower's card available to individuals unaffiliated with UTA. The card allows you to check out a maximum of five circulating items for up to three weeks at a time from any of our three libraries. The card costs $40 and is good for one year. The applicant must present a current valid photo identification to obtain it.
Area teachers are given these same privileges at no charge upon presentation of a current photo identification from their school. Lacking a school identification then a current, valid photo identification (driver's license, for example) is necessary along with a letter on school letterhead from the principal, secretary or school librarian verifying employment. Card expiration is based on the academic calendar.
Teachers of Advanced Placement Programs may also arrange for this privilege at no charge for their high school students. Students under age 18 will be asked to have a parental consent form on file as well. See
http://www.uta.edu/library/ap.html
for more details on this program.
Patrons of many Texas public libraries, colleges, community colleges, and universities—both public and private—are eligible for a TexShare card. The TexShare card provides users the same privileges as the guest borrower card at no cost. To get a TexShare card, users must apply for the card at their home library. Once the TexShare card is issued users may present it to the circulation desk of UTA's Central Library to activate privileges. Photo identification is required to activate the account. UTA students, staff, and faculty may obtain the TexShare card at all UTA library circulation desks.
For more information, contact Rachel Robbins, Head of Access Services, 817-272-7436 or
rrobbins@uta.edu .
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UTA Library Notes, vol 7 no 1 Spring 2001 |
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