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Diverse Voices in STEM: Year Recap

By Emily McClellan

FSU Libraries have officially wrapped up our first year with the Diverse Voices in STEM Speaker Series. In the summer of 2021, Denise Wetzel, STEM Research & Learning Librarian at FSU Libraries, as well as others around the libraries, wanted to start a speaker series aimed at showing undergraduate students the variety of journeys researchers take to get where they are today, while highlighting their current work. All of this was planned and done in hopes that those from historically underrepresented groups would see someone and hear a story of someone like themselves, and be encouraged to continue on in their STEM journey.

After accepting an amazing offer, Denise departed from the Libraries, and Kelly Grove, STEM Research & Learning Librarian and Emily McClellan, Student Engagement Specialist took over the project. The speaker series ran from September 2021 – April 2022, and included five speakers, a website, and blog posts interviewing FSU STEM alumni. We were able to connect with over 160 attendees across these five events. We want to give a special thanks to our STEM Libraries Team and our Marketing Partners who helped make these events possible.

We’re so grateful to our speakers for sharing their stories and research with the community. Catch up on the Diverse Voices in STEM Speaker Series with the videos below!

Books the New Girl Characters Would (Probably) Read from Our Pop Lit Collection

By Kaylan Williams

New Girl, the popular seven-season FOX sitcom following the lives of four roomates, is beloved amongst many people and for good reason. Here at Strozier Library, our Popular Literature Collection, located on the first floor near the Starbucks, holds everything from science fiction to fantasy, romance to true crime, and history to literary fiction. Without further ado, here are books the New Girl characters would (probably) read from FSU Libraries Pop Lit Collection.

FSU Libraries Presents: New Girl Stress-Busters!

By: Jasmine George

It’s almost Finals Week here at Florida State, and we’re ready to help you through it! The University Libraries will be hosting several events to alleviate stress and to help you finish the semester strong! This year, our Finals Week events will pay homage to the award-winning comedy show New Girl. So get ready for a fun-filled week of snacks, crafts, and games as you prepare for your exams!

We’ve made a webpage! University Libraries will be launching a webpage filled with different online resources to help you ace your exams. The site will show you different ways for you to get connected and maximize your studying! This blog will feature New Girl themed stress-busting activities. Articles, playlists, character quizzes, and so much more! We’ve also added ways to get personalized library help, explore our research guides, and library consultation scheduling. Be sure to check out this exciting webpage on Monday, April 18th!

March Pop Lit Arrivals!

Come check out the new Pop Lit books that have arrived during March!
They’re available now in the Pop Lit collection by Starbucks on the first floor of Strozier Library.

It’s Bridgerton Day!

“The social season is upon us.”
Lady Whistledown, Bridgerton, Season 1

Today is the day! Season 2 of Bridgerton dropped today. So, gentle reader, let’s a look into the world of Bridgerton and mind of Lady Whistledown.

The Netflix hit series Bridgerton is actually based on novels set in Regency England written by Julia Quinn whose works reignited interest in the subgenre over 20 years ago. Quinn’s books are known for their wit, charm and realistic emotions which the viral hit had as well as the passion, drama and sex appeal TV mogul Shonda Rhimes has used to create an empire.

The Pop Lit Collection at Strozier Library has all of the main series which details the romances of the eight Bridgerton siblings. Click on the titles to see availabilities.

The Bridgertons

The Duke and I – Daphne

The Viscount Who Loved Me – Anthony

An Offer from a Gentleman – Benedict

Romancing Mister Bridgerton – Colin & Penelope

To Sir Phillip with Love – Eloise

When He Was Wicked – Francesca

It’s in His Kiss – Hyacinth

On the Way to the Wedding – Gregory

The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After – 1^st epilogue

If you have already torn through the original series or someone else has beaten you to the punch, the world of Bridgerton also includes several epilogues, an affiliated series called the Smythe-Smith Quartet which has significance in the main series (I won’t give it away) and a prequel series which features the family’s roots in the Georgian period of English history.

Pop Lit has several of these titles as well. Not a complete list. Click on titles to see availabilities.

The Smythe-Smith Quartet

Just Like Heaven

A Night Like This

The Sum of All Kisses

The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy

The Rokesby Series

Because of Miss Bridgerton

The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband

The Other Miss Bridgerton

First Comes Scandal

You can pick up these recommended romance reads in The Pop Lit Collection, which is next to the Strozier Starbucks Café on the main floor. Go to the fiction section and look for the call number (a code which helps find the book location) on the spine of the book. You can also get each book through in-library or curbside request.

Written by Shaundra Lee. Have romance suggestions? Email lib-poplit@fsu.edu

Things That Just Make Sense: FSU Libraries

By: Kaylan Williams

Back in April of 2020, when the world was shifting on its axis, the app known as TikTok was skyrocketing in popularity. Within the app, a trend called “Things That Just Make Sense” started to take off – initially just showcasing users’ items in their homes, eventually transcending into the public sphere, like Things in the Olympic Village that Just Make Sense. Suddenly the trend took off all over the app and is still popular today.

FSU Libraries has so many things that make our spaces unique and provide convenience for our students. We thought we’d try out the trend ourselves! Without further ado, here are Things That Just Make Sense at FSU Libraries.

Things That Just Make Sense at Strozier Library:

New Pop Lit Reads

We have a ton of new arrivals just in time for you to pop in and check them out for Spring Break!

We’ve received everything for your spring break reading fancy, from Science fiction to fantasy, romance to true crime, and history to literary fiction. Swing by the Pop Lit section by Starbucks on the first floor of Strozier Library and find your next favorite read for that trip to the beach.

Don’t see something you’d hoped in our Pop Lit section?? Email us your purchase recommendations!!

lib-poplit@fsu.edu

FSU Open Education Month 2022

Celebrate Open Education Week all month with FSU! Open Education encompasses resources, tools and practices that are free of legal, financial and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared and adapted in the digital environment (SPARC). Join us for this opportunity for sharing and learning in open education on campus and beyond. To learn more about FSU Libraries’ open education initiatives, visit our OER & Textbook Affordability Initiatives, eTextbook Information, and OER Guide.

Week 1

March 3: Open Office Hours – Faculty Informal Lunch Space (FILS) is Open Education focused throughout the month. Open space to connect, collaborate, ask questions, or bring your lunch. Dirac Library Conference Room, 11 am – 1 pm.

Week 2

March 8 – 10: OpenEd tabling on Landis and in Strozier Library : Learn more about OER and textbook affordability efforts happening on campus and how you can join the movement. Tuesday, March 8, 4 – 6 pm; Wednesday, March 9, 2 – 4 pm; & Thursday, March 10, 3 – 5 pm

March 10: Open Office Hours: Faculty Informal Lunch Space (FILS) is Open Education focused throughout the month. Open space to connect, collaborate, ask questions, or bring your lunch. Dirac Library Conference Room, 11 am – 1 pm.

March 11: OER Happy Hour: Celebrate our efforts and connect with OER colleagues. Ology at Power Mill, 5 – 7 pm

Week 3

March 17: Open Office Hours: Faculty Informal Lunch Space (FILS) is Open Education focused throughout the month. Open space to connect, collaborate, ask questions, or bring your lunch. Dirac Library Conference Room, 11 am – 1 pm.

Week 4

March 24: Open Office Hours: Faculty Informal Lunch Space (FILS) is Open Education focused throughout the month. Open space to connect, collaborate, ask questions, or bring your lunch. Dirac Library Conference Room, 11 am – 1 pm.

March 25: Equity, Inclusion, and Textbook Affordability at FSU, presented as part of Fellows Forum, Lindsey Wharton and Shawna Durtschi present on how open educational resources can provide opportunity and support diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts. (Zoom link coming soon), 11 am – 12 pm.

March 28: Open Education at FSU: Join us for a discussion on where we are with open education efforts today, from a national perspective (Sonya Bennett-Brandt, Assistant Director of Institutional Efforts at OpenStax), an OER champion on campus, and our student advocates and leaders (Graceanne Hoback, Textbook Affordability Campaign Coordinator, FSU PIRG). (Zoom link: fla.st/Q1H7OGNM ; 12 – 1 pm)

Learn more and join the open community with Open Education events happening nationwide at https://www.oeglobal.org/activities/open-education-week/.

Women’s History Month: Supporting Local Non-Profits

by Kaylan Williams

It’s March, which means it’s Women’s History Month! This month is all about celebrating, highlighting, and commemorating women’s contributions to society and American History. During this time, it’s important to recognize all the ways that you can contribute. Here in Tallahassee, there are a number of fantastic ways to get involved. There are countless non-profits and businesses that you can support, not just this month, but all the time!

Junior League of Tallahassee

The Junior League of Tallahassee is a local nonprofit organization of women dedicated to improving the lives of and providing basic needs for local children and families, through “sustainable programs and strategic community partnership.” Racking in almost 14,000 hours of service over 61 total years, The Junior League of Tallahassee promotes confidence, develops leadership, and empowers young children and families. Each Year, JLT trains new members as volunteers and leaders in our community. But that’s not all, The JLT also has a Community Partner program, whose goal is to further their mission by funding a partnering non-profit, and assist them in launching or growing a project through JLT’s volunteer power, promotional power, and financial grant support capabilities. You can donate to JLT here, and find their website here.

https://www.jltallahassee.org/ home page

Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center Inc.

Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center Inc is personally my favorite Tallahassee non-profit. As soon as you enter the website, you are welcomed with a plethora of very valuable information about sex trafficking right here in Leon County, the risks, and how to prevent it. They have tons of opportunities for training and education on how to recognize, report, and prevent human trafficking, which is so necessary. However, the feature that I admire most is that at the top of the opening website page, there’s a yellow button that says “Quick Exit” that takes you to theweatherchannel.com, in case someone seeks help on their page needs a quick way to change to screen. It’s simple things like that that could keep someone safe. It’s skills like this that make all the difference in the world. You can find more information about them here.

The Oasis Center for Women and Girls

The Oasis Center was created to be a community resource center for women and girls to come together, dream, achieve, and thrive. In 2007, the founder Kelly Otte noticed that there was no one organization focused on empowering and uniting women from all walks of life in our community. The Oasis Center was created with the vision of being a diverse environment that aims to be the central resource where women can become equipped with the tools to reach their goals, and a support system to celebrate with them as they progress on their journey. You can read more about the Oasis Center here.

https://www.facebook.com/TheOasisCenter/photos/4197971613633218

Girls on the Run of the Big Bend

Girls on the Run is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.” GOTR Panhandle was founded in 2013, and by the end of spring 2021, they have served over 3,200 girls at over 50 sites in 17 seasons offering scholarships to girls at Title I schools in Leon, Bay, and Jefferson Counties! This organization does a fantastic job at inspiring young girls to be active in fun and creative ways, while also promoting confidence, happiness, and other necessarily and valuable life skills. You can find more informations about GOTR here, on their website.

https://www.gotrpanhandle.org/5K-Detail#show-photos

These are just a few non-profits that I personally love, but the list is never ending! There’s are so many wonderful ways to get involved in our community, not just for this month, but all the time! Happy Women’s History Month!

STEM Data Fellow Spotlight: Diego Bustamante

For Love Data Week 2022, we are highlighting our FSU STEM Libraries Data Fellows! These posts, written by the fellows themselves, tell their stories of how they became interested in data-related work and their experience as a data fellow to this point. Today’s post is contributed by Diego Bustamante.

Prior to my role as a Data Fellow, my idea of what data is was defined by my previous work with quantitative data collected from laboratory experiments. For example, when I worked as a Research Assistant I recorded quantitative data for chemistry experiments, like mass, temperature, volume, etc. I then conducted statistical analysis on the data in order to draw conclusions from each experiment. I personally enjoy collecting and analyzing data, especially because it can lead to many scientific and technological advancements!

While searching for jobs in FSU’s NoleNetwork in summer 2021, one job title that immediately caught my attention was “FSU STEM Libraries Data Fellow.” The job description was unique amongst other jobs offered on campus. As a data fellow, I was offered the opportunity to develop several professional skills in data reference, co-hosting programming language workshops, writing and publishing blog posts, and many more. I felt like it was a great opportunity and a good fit with my previous experience and skills, and so I decided to apply. Thankfully, I was selected as one of the inaugural data fellows, leading to a journey of professional and personal development that has thus far surpassed my initial expectations.

One of my first tasks in the program was meeting with different librarians at FSU Libraries. In these meetings I was able to learn about different methods and applications for data analysis in a variety of disciplines. For example, I learned that the Digital Humanities Librarian uses a text-mining software to find specific words from books published in the 1800s. She used the data drawn from the software to analyze certain traits of the story by counting the amount of times a character participates in an interaction of this type. This experience helped me realize that qualitative data sets can be used to draw similar conclusions about a study as quantitative data.

Another concept that I have become familiar with while working as a Data Fellow is open data. We discussed this concept during a workshop where we talked about the potential benefits of making research data openly accessible to the wider research community. Initially, I was hesitant regarding the concept of open data, because I saw academic research as a “race” to find a solution to a given problem. However, further discussion of how researchers are compensated for sharing their data made me realize that it is possible to benefit from open data on a personal and global level.

Currently, I am still learning about the many different types of data, its definitions, applications, and its importance. I am also working on developing an open source Canvas module on MATLAB where I explain the basics of the math based programming language in a student friendly manner. I look forward to sharing more about this work in the future!