University Library E-News
The Oviatt Library is proud to highlight the contributions and activities of the Bonita J. Campbell Endowment for Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), which have enriched the Library, individuals across campus, and the larger community. WISE was established in 2009 by Professor Emerita Bonita J. Campbell, with a mission “To encourage women to build careers in the fields of science and engineering; to advance in their careers; to preserve the story of women who have pioneered in the science and engineering disciplines; and to inform leaders and educators about the contribution that women make in these important fields.”
With spring in full swing, we thought it an appropriate time to share some insights into the essential work that is involved in the ongoing care and cultivation of our Library garden. It is difficult for librarians, book lovers that we are, to take part in a process that actually removes books from the shelves. Yet, as libraries are becoming more assessment driven and therefore more data driven, we are discovering that student requirements are changing.
The Oviatt Library’s newly appointed Associate Dean, Kathy Dabbour, is a true valley girl and CSUN alumna with a strong passion for student success and a long history of working to advance the library’s mission.
Laurie Borchard, Digital Learning Initiatives Librarian and Meet the Librarians of the Oviatt blogger, poses some candid questions to the Oviatt’s newly appointed Associate Dean Kathy Dabbour.
Quick. Clean. Green. With the installation of a refillable water bottle station, the Oviatt Library is saving students money and sending a positive message about the important role that we all play in preserving the planet.
Most recently, two university professors in California were inspired by these valuable archives, spending countless hours in the Oviatt Library’s Special Collections and Archives researching their highly acclaimed books: Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against America by USC History Professor Steven J. Ross and Hollywood’s Spies: The Undercover Surveillance of Nazis in Los Angeles by Laura B. Rosenzweig from the University of California.
Did you know that the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center at CSUN has over one million images produced by Los Angeles-based photographers that document the social, cultural and political lives of the diverse communities of the Southern California region between the 1910s and the present? The archives, now held within the Oviatt Library, contain one of the largest collections of African American photographers west of the Mississippi and the most extensive collection in Southern California.
In this Oviatt Spotlight, we’re zooming in on a significant project in the Library's Tom & Ethel Bradley Center, where the talented team is digitizing thousands of images by American photojournalist Richard Cross. This Q & A with Dr. José Luis Benavides takes us behind the scenes of this project.
As CSUN began rapidly moving on-campus instruction to virtual modalities in response to the COVID-19 virus in March 2020, the University Library faced many challenges, including how to continue to provide resources and services to support student learning and faculty pedagogy and research while Library staff and faculty were required to telecommute. Early on, the Library’s millions of electronic articles, e-books, streaming media titles, digitized archival and scholarly materials, and online research and support services proved invaluable to supporting these needs.
We have long suspected that the Oviatt’s dynamic mix of student employees represent the very best and brightest that CSUN has to offer and – as it just so happens – our students agree.
The Oviatt employs approximately 150 CSUN students at any given time. This large and essential component of the Library’s workforce consists of a remarkable cross-section of the university’s highly diverse student population. Library student employees come from across the street and from around the world.
After almost two years, CSUN students, campus administrators, and the surrounding community all agree that the Oviatt Library’s Learning Commons is an all-around award winner. On any given day during the semester, the open, bright, collaboration-friendly space is crowded and buzzing with a variety of activities.