UCLA University Librarian

This post focuses on Jacqueline Hoang, another recipient of the University Librarian’s Undergraduate Fellowship.  Jacqueline is in the creative writing honors program and is working with faculty research mentor Frederick Burwick. 

Jacqueline’s thesis project is not only to write a play but to produce and direct it as well.  As she notes in her personal statement, she hopes the UCLA Library will help her address her lack of experience in playwriting, producing, and directing.  “Since I began I have become reliant upon my local library for things as small as formatting a script to the larger issues of capturing an audience. … Though the work load seems heavy already, I am determined to complete the project successfully with the generous help from the libraries of UCLA.” 

Jacqueline, we hope to be in the front row on opening night!

Today’s post features an excerpt from the personal statement of Sophia Yishu Gu, another recipient of the University Librarian’s Undergraduate Fellowship.  Sophia is a senior in the English honors program, and her faculty research mentor is Gordon Kipling. 

“‘ What is research, but a blind date with knowledge?’ Will Henry’s insightful remark encapsulates the hopeful excitement and delight that every researcher feels as they explore the endless rows of library bookselves, fingering through the discerning words of those who came before them.  Already a bona fide bibliophile, I’ve spent a number of such blind dates at campus libraries under the name of literary research.  Aware of the amazing opportunities at a rsearch institution like UCLA, getting involved with academic research has been one of my main priorities as a student at UCLA.”

What a wonderful approach to research, Sophia!

The third of my series of posts on recipients of the University Librarian’s Undergraduate Fellowship features Lisa Douglass.  Lisa, a senior in the creative writing honors program, is working with faculty research mentor Mona Simpson. 

Lisa’s senior thesis will take the form of a young adult novel; thus, in her personal statement, she explains that her “…research will include searching psychological ramifications of severe bullying in teenagers.  I will search the special collections to see if there are any resources in place for teens in the school systems of Los Angeles.  I will focus my studies on violent crimes committed in reaction to severe bullying and sibling abuse. … I am confident that this is something people need to know about and am convinced that my research will make a change in the current unforgiving nature of the system as it now excludes victims of this type of abuse.” 

Lisa, I’m awed by your passion and commitment; we look forward to working with you!

Check out Jake Nadal’s overview of our preservation program.

http://www.libraryworks.com/infocus/1009/in_focus_1009.htm

I continue my series of posts featuring statements from recipients of the University Librarian’s Undergraduate Fellowship with an excerpt from the statement of Jenae Cohn.  Jenae is also a senior in the English honors program; her faculty research mentor is Elizabeth DeLoughrey. 

“The university library provides unparalleled resources that have elevated the quality of past research projects and continue to add depth and dimension to my English Departmental Honors undergraduate thesis.  The extensive UCLA library collection has guided my initial development of ideas in past projects and, in the future, I intend to continue incorporating library resources into my research for further insight, analysis, and refinement of ideas.” 

Thank you, Jenae.  We look forward to supporting your work!

 As I mentioned in my earlier post about the University Librarian’s Undergraduate Fellowship, I want to share excerpts from the personal statements fellowship recipients made in their applications to give you a sense of what they see as the spirit, potential, and promise of this new program. 

First up is Michael Benitez, a senior in the English honors program, whose faculty research mentor is Arthur Little. 

“I was fortunate enough to gain some exposure to the craft of research at the Charles E. Young Research Library with my Honors Research Seminar, with a few assignments requiring me to complete practice research and to create an annotated bibliography of academic sources for my senior thesis. … While the research I have done as an undergraduate has not been as extensive as what is required for my senior thesis, I have had some opportunities to present my various findings to classmates in the past.  Whether I have received acknowledgement and praise from them or from my professors, I have always gained such a feeling of accomplishment in knowing that I have taught someone something new and I want to continue sharing my work with as many people as I can.” 

Thank you, Michael.  We look forward to helping you develop and share your work!

The James and Sylvia Thayer Short-Term Reesearch Fellowships (http://www.2.library.ucla.edu/special/thayer.cfm ) support the use of special collections materials by visiting scholars and UCLA graduate students.  Collectiosn that are administered by the UCLA Lbirary Special Collections and available for Thayer fellowship-supported research include materials in the humaniteis and social sciences; medicine, life and physical sciences; visual and performing arts; and UCLA history.

Research residencies may last up to three months between March 1 and December 17, 2010. Recipients receive stipends ranging from $500 to $2,500.  Those receiving fellowships are expected to provide a report on the results of their research that can be mounted on the UCLA Library Web site.

United States citizens and permanent residents with the legal right to work in the U.S. who are engaged in graduate-level, post-doctoral, or independent research are invited to apply.

Applications are due December 11, 2009, and should include:

•  Cover letter
•  Curriculum vitae
•  Outline of research and special collections to be used (two pages maximum)
• Brief budget for travel, living, and research expenses
• Dates to be spent in residence
• Two letters of recommendation from faculty or other scholars familiar with the research project

Mail applications to:

James and Sylvia Thayer Fellowship Program

c/o Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections, UCLA Library, A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library, Box 951575, Los Angeles, CA  90095-1575.

Questions about the fellowships may be mailed to the address above or emailed to: lib_thayer@library.ucla.edu

Designed to develop excellent independent researchers, the University Librarian’s Undergraduate Fellowship is a new program targeted at students working on Departmental Honors projects or other comprehensive research projects in art history, classics, comparative literature, and English. Jointly sponsored by the University Librarian and the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, the program is funded by the Council on Library and Information Resources. Twenty $500 stipends will be given in the 2009/10 academic year:  ten at the beginning of the fall quarter and ten at mid-quarter.  

The first ten recipients represent a diverse group of undergraduates with majors ranging from comparative literature to creative writing to English. Their research interests include:

• Victorian and American travel narratives with emphasis on the establishment of cultural identity in an increasingly globalized world
• Severe bullying in teenagers
• Negative posthumous images of Elizabeth I through the plays Henry VIII and The Revenger’s Tragedy
• An exploration of the core concepts of Romanticism
• Chicano theater
• An examination of how visual and literary representations of the Zapotec third-gender identity muxe interrogate and/or reinforce heteronormativity
• Artists’ expressions in literature and the cultural production of writers
• Pulp fiction in American gay and lesbian literature
• Stereopsis and the divisional and unitive possibilities of the human mind 

Each recipient will work closely with a faculty member who serves as an advisor and with a librarian mentor to use research library resources, including special collections and archives, to complete his or her project.  Conversant with research methodologies, information resources, and information technologies associated with specific disciplines, librarian mentors are ideally positioned to collaborate with faculty to meet the information, reference, and research needs of these students.  

Each student’s research project will be presented in a Library program, deposited in the Library’s institutional repository, and made available through the Library’s Web site.  

In the coming weeks, I’ll share excerpts from the personal statements the students made in their applications to give you a sense of what they see as the spirit, potential, and promise of this new program.  I hope you’ll find them as touching and inspiring as I have!   

I’m delighted to announce that the Library is about to launch its first project made possible by the recent gift from the Arcadia Fund.  “Collecting Los Angeles” will gather, preserve, interpret, and make accessible collections documenting the remarkable multiplicity of cultures and at-risk hidden history of this region.

Joining us as curator of this new initiative will be Susan Anderson, an accomplished historian, author, editor, and project manager.  Susan received her BA from Scripps College and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School.  She has consulted for the California State Parks Foundation and the California Endowment, taught at Pitzer College, and curated a statewide touring exhibition on the California African-American community of Allensworth.  Most recently, Susan has served as the Managing Director of the “LA as Subject” program at the USC Libraries. 

This new project will accomplish numerous goals, including transforming the way we engage with local communities, which not only supports our collection building but also aligns us with Chancellor Block’s goal of civic engagement; enabling us to develop multiple new connections among existing collections and attract new audiences to their use; and offering a new model of the collection development specialist as curator.  Susan will join the Special Collections staff, and her first day will by July 27. 

Please join me in welcoming Susan to UCLA, and look for further details of this exciting new initiative.

The Library annually awards a fellowship in the name of former staff member Marie Saito.  This year’s recipient is Christopher M. Salvano who will enter his second year in UCLA’s articulated Library and Information Science and Latin American Studies Masters Program in the fall.

Christopher Salvano joined Tom Saito at the Faculty Center for lunch and learned about Marie’s legacy of thirty years on the UCLA staff and the significance of the fellowship.

In his letter of application for the fellowship, Christopher states, “I entered UCLA’s articulated degree program with the goal of working as an academic librarian with a Latin American subject speciaty, and my experience at YRL has only strengthened that desire.  It is very important to me to find a professional setting that allows me to continue learning new things everyday, challenges me intellectually, gives me the opportunity to work with the public, and that allows me to perform a variety of tasks and responsiblities on a daily basis.”  He served as vice-president of the ALA student chapter this year and will continue working for the chapter next year as it selects its speakers and schedules events.