The MSU Libraries are very pleased to welcome new faculty members to our team and to announce the reassignment of two existing faculty members.
Melody Dale, Associate Professor at Mississippi State University, recently transitioned from the Coordinator of Old Main Academic Center/Education Librarian into the role of Education and Business Librarian at Mississippi State University Libraries. Melody received her Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2012 and her Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in General Business Administration from Mississippi State University in 2008. Melody started at MSU Libraries in 2010 and held various cataloging positions before transitioning into Public Services in 2017 as Education Librarian. Melody is now the Reference Librarian and Subject Specialist for all departments under the College of Education and College of Business.
Cathy Dunn has joined the Collection Management Services department at the Mississippi State University Libraries as Assistant Professor/Acquisitions Librarian. Cathy earned her M.A. in Information Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in May 2019. She worked at the University of Memphis Libraries and at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee while completing her graduate degree through distance education. She is an alumna of Mississippi State University, where she obtained her B.A. in English.
Kate Gregory has joined the Congressional and Political Research Center at the Mississippi State University Libraries as Assistant Professor/Political Papers Archivist. Kate earned her Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Alabama in August 2018 where she researched the lifecycle of born digital records. During graduate school, she worked as a Senior Library Associate in the MSU Libraries where she has been a staff member since 2015. She obtained her MA in English from MSU in 2011 and her BA in English from The University of Mississippi in 2008. In addition to her work in the MSU Libraries, Kate has worked as a freelance writer for The ‘Sip Magazine, taught English at both MSU and East Mississippi Community College, and worked as a copyeditor for the Starkville Daily News.
Jenifer Ishee was recently appointed to the position of Digital Archivist and Coordinator of the Digital Preservation and Access Unit at Mississippi State University Library. She previously held the position of Manuscripts Librarian in MSU’s Special Collections. Jenifer holds an M.A. in history from the University of Nebraska and an MLIS from Kent State University.
Mary Ann Jones, Associate Professor at Mississippi State University has transitioned serving as the Coordinator of Electronic Resources and Acquisitions to serving as the Scholarly Communication Coordinator. Mary Ann earned her Master of Library and Information Studies from Florida State University in 2005 and a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication from the University of Central Florida in 2001. Mary Ann has been at MSU since 2005. She has been involved in the MSU Libraries' Scholarly Communication initiative from its inception and has chaired two of the initiatives' committees, Institutional Repository and Open Access. Mary Ann will be the MSU Libraries' contact for all aspects of scholarly communication including copyright, open access, open data, open educational resources, ORCiD, and Scholars Junction, the MSU institutional repository.
Corinne Kennedy, the Humanities Librarian for Mississippi State University (MSU) will be attending the Tenth International Conference on the Image in Manchester, England, held 5-6 September 2019, sponsored by The Image Research Network. Ms. Kennedy will be presenting in a themed session on Best Practices in the Visual Arts, at this interdisciplinary research conference. The accepted presentation will address the vital importance of teaching those outside the design and arts fields the importance of giving proper credit, where credit is due, regarding images. In addition to the acceptance of her presentation, the Conference on the Image granted her one of the Emerging Scholars Award, the only American to receive the award. The scholarship includes her conference fee, annual membership, and requires her to serve as a chairperson for themed panels. The focus of the conference this year is "Techno-storytelling: Past, Present, Future," with sub-themes including: The Form of the Image, Image Work, and The Image in Society. The themes of the conference address the past, present, and future of a pictographic society. The presentation also has a possibility of its inclusion to the conference peer-reviewed journal.
Bonnie Thornton, former Continuing Resources Librarian at Mississippi State University Libraries, transitioned into the role of Electronic Resources Librarian on July 1. Bonnie graduated with her MSLIS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she worked as a graduate assistant in the History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library providing reference and instruction services. She also worked as a copy cataloger at their large density storage facility. Prior to her time at Illinois, she earned her B.A. in History and Spanish at Augustana College, with a focus on public history and histories of Colonial Spain.
