Resources available for students have expanded this semester with the addition of new items in Middleton Library, Hill Memorial Library and the LSU Museum of Art.
Middleton Library added a new music software called Ableton Live 9 and Finale that allows students to produce and score their own music in the Music Resources section of the library. Students can take their work with them on a USB drive or burn it on a CD for no cost to them. The programs combined cost more than $1,000, said Mikel Ledee, music resources supervisor.
Phone chargers were also added this semester for students to rent in Middleton. Chargers for iPhone 5, iPhone 4 and earlier, and Droid can be checked out for two hours at a time. This is an upgrade from the library’s docking stations where students have to stand for a period of time until their phone is charged. The chargers were purchased by Student Government.
Middleton also tripled its electronic book collection from 40,000 to 120,000 full-text books. The recent expansion of the electronic book collection is part of an effort to encourage students to use the online databases and resources LSU Libraries has to offer, said Mitch Fontenot, information literacy and outreach service librarian.
Hill Memorial Library received a donation of rare books this semester valued at more than $200,000 from a private collector named Tom Taylor. The 79 titles depict various subjects concentrated in regions including the East Indies, Australia, Asia and Africa, and some date back to the 17th century.
Taylor said the works complete the collection Hill Memorial already has of ornithology books by providing examples from all over the world, while the library’s prior collection focused more on birds of the New World.
The special collections library also hosted its first open house this semester under new head Jessica Lacher-Feldman.
“One of my major goals with this open house is to demystify Hill Memorial Library,” Lacher-Feldman said about the event.
While the University’s libraries added literary resources this semester, the LSU Museum of Art contributed new elements within the artistic realm that Museum Executive Director Jordana Pomeroy said may enlighten students.
A contemporary piece by New Orleans native Rashaad Newsome was revealed this fall. The work breaks the mold of traditional portraiture by using videography and hip-hop elements to relay a message of social status and culture. Part of the reason the exhibit has come to the LSU MOA is to exemplify contemporary art in a growing age of digital media, Pomeroy said.
The museum also installed 17 works by internationally known painter Clementine Hunter, as well as a sculpture by Keith Sonnier this month.