Friends of the UNCG Libraries

The first scanning event for UNC Greensboro’s PRIDE! of the Community project was held on May 19. In partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Guilford Green Foundation, the PRIDE! project hopes to record the often invisible history of the LGBTQ+ community as it relates to North Carolina, especially in the Triad area and Greensboro. Digital Projects Coordinator David Gwynn, Special Collections Technician Stacey Krim, and Manuscripts Archivist Jennifer Motszko were all present at the first scanning event to ensure the transition from physical to digital went smoothly. Most of the items they scanned during the first event were from one of their partners, the Guilford Green Foundation. They hope that as time goes on, more LGBTQ+ people and organizations will take advantage of the PRIDE! scanning days. These events serve as a way to create digital copies of physical items such as photographs, t-shirts, organizational newsletters and records, bar or club fliers,...

University Libraries’ held its Fourth Annual Members’ Choice event on April 10, allowing Jackson Society members to vote on their preferred selection of books to be added to the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives . The additions twill help grow the collection as it strives to meet the needs of current and future faculty and students, as well as the broader community. Jennifer Motszko, Manuscripts Archivist, gave a short presentation on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol . This first edition, first issue, second state, with red and blue title page and green end papers with illustrations by John Leech and published by Chapman & Hall in 1843 was an instant success, reportedly selling all 6,000 copies of the first edition on the first day of publication. Chapman & Hall, a British publishing house founded in the first half of the 19th century, also published William Thackeray and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. After A Christmas Carol , Dickens woul...

Jennifer Motszko presents award to Ryan Ridpath Assistant Dean Michael Crumpton and Undergraduate Research Award Committee Chair Jennifer Motszko presented the 2017 University Libraries’ Undergraduate Research Award to Ryan Ridpath on May 3 at the Student Honors Convocation. This award is given in recognition of an outstanding original research project or paper written by an undergraduate student or students at UNCG. A successful project demonstrates sophistication, creativity, originality and depth or breadth in the use of library collections and scholarly resources, an exceptional ability to use these resources in the creation of an original research project or paper and responsible use of information including appropriate and accurate citations and credits.   In his paper, Ridpath explores “women’s roles and the emotions attributed to them, comparing them to men in Njal’s Saga , and analyzing the sorts of gendered language and insults hurled by both genders” to “derive ...

University Libraries’ faculty were recently honored by the Provost's Office on April 4. The event was sponsored by Provost Dana Dunn and recognized the outstanding contributions and achievements of UNCG faculty in research and creative activity.  Omar Ali and Beth Bernhardt Beth Bernhardt─Co-PI on a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina for “The Alternative Textbooks Project” awarded a grant to librarians from J.Y. Joyner Library at East Carolina University and Jackson Library at UNCG to develop a two-pronged approach to alternative textbooks. $184,332 including matching funds over two years. Kathryn Crowe─Co-editor, The Future of Library Space . (Advances in Library Administration and Organizations v. 36) Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2016 . Jennifer Motszko and Michael Crumpton David Gwynn─Co-PI wi...

The University Libraries Undergraduate Research Award (ULURA) is given in recognition of an outstanding original research project or paper in any media. Created by an undergraduate student or students at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), successful individual or group projects will demonstrate the ability to locate, select, and synthesize information from scholarly resources.  The winning entry will receive a  $500  cash prize funded by the University Libraries.  Review eligibility, requirements, submission guidelines, evaluation criteria and download your application materials here . Nominations are due by March 24, 2017 at 5 p.m. For more information, contact Jennifer Motszko, University Libraries Undergraduate Research Award Committee Chair at j_motszko@uncg.edu or 336-256-1111. 

Jennifer Motszko has been appointed Manuscript Archivist Librarian at the University Libraries at UNC Greensboro effective July 22.  She had worked as Manuscripts Archivist at UNCG since 2008.  Jennifer holds Master of Arts in History and Master of Library and Information Science degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and a B.A. in History from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Jennifer is currently Vice President/Program Chair of the Society of North Carolina Archivists, and will become President of that Association in 2013-14. Among her accomplishments is her work on the North Carolina Literary Map . For a description of some of the manuscript collections recently processed at UNCG, see Jennifer's blog post .