Meet Our Staff: Brandon Assmann

Brandon Assmann
Evening Circulation Supervisor
254-968-1895
bassmann@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Main Floor – Circulation Desk

Hi, my name is Brandon Assmann (pronounced Osmond) and I am the new Evening Circulation Supervisor!  This means I’ll oversee the library at night (5 p.m. to 2 a.m., Sunday through early Friday), on top of compiling stats and helping maintain our amazing collection.

Originally from Iowa, I received a BA in history, secondary education, and a minor in theatre and speech from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.  During my college years, I was involved with numerous theatrical productions, my favorite being The Grapes of Wrath.  After graduation, I spent five years teaching and directing speech and drama at the high school level.  However, I decided teaching wasn’t for me and after working at a few places, I finally made my way to Tarleton.

In my free time I enjoy watching movies, playing video and board games, going for walks, and reading.  I mostly read science fiction and fantasy with some of my favorites being World War Z, Faith of the Fallen, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire… but those tend to change from day to day.

I am excited to begin my career here at Tarleton!

Meet Our Staff: Jacob Martin

Jacob Martin
User Services Assistant - Access Services
254-968-1896
jsmartin@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Main Floor

The User Services Assistant has many different areas of operation, but the main tasks revolve around scheduling rooms inside of the library, most notably the Multi-Purpose Room and the Practice Presentation Room, and staffing the Reference Desk 5-8 p.m. on weekdays. Other tasks that are assigned to this position involve an inventory and recurring health checks of the collection.

Jacob says, "I attended Stephenville schools for my whole life and graduated from Stephenville High School in the top 10% of the class of 2015.  I began studying at Tarleton in August 2015 with the intention of securing a bachelor’s degree in English along with teacher certification to teach at the secondary level.  Due to changes in interest, I graduated on August 10, 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Spanish."

Before joining the library staff, Jacob worked as a machine operator and packaging assistant at Square One Machine, inspected and packaged goods at Schreiber Foods, and served as a student worker in our cataloging department.

Jacob's off-the-job interests include reading philosophical or fantastical material, creative writing, language learning, and  traveling (intercontinentally or internationally).  His spare-time activities include ultimate frisbee, walking and hiking, and reading when there is time.  His favorite books are
The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, and World War Z by Max Brooks.

Meet Our Staff: Alejandra Moncada

Alejandra Moncada
Interlibrary Loan Specialist
254-968-9660
amoncada@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Main Floor – 109G


I graduated from Tarleton State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While I was in school, I worked at the library's circulation desk until December 2016. I took a little break from working, and on September 5th I became the Interlibrary Loan Specialist.  It is my job to process borrowing and lending through ILLIAD for faculty, staff, and students, as well as other institutions. In other words, I request books, articles, and audiovisual materials from other libraries that have them. We do the same and different libraries borrow our materials. Most of the articles are exchanged electronically. The cool part of my job is that I have to package the books and send them by mail.

I grew up in México in a city named San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. I go back and forth every summer or Christmas break to visit my family.  Other than that, I spent most of my time exercising, watching Netflix, or reading. I began to get a passion for books while I was earning my degree, since most of my classes required me to read from different literature movements from Spain, Latin America, and the Caribbean. I like literature because I can learn about history events, fashion and many things that happened around the time the book was published.  Not only that, I like to analyze the writing style of the authors because they have unique ways of telling stories. Others express their political views by using different personifications to pass the censors.  On the other hand, learning about history is another hobby of mine. My favorite topics included World War I, World War 2, the Holocaust, and anything involving dictators.

I am so happy to be here. I look forward to learning more about the library!

Meet Our Staff: Phyllis Kinnison

Phyllis Kinnison
Librarian / Archivist
254-968-1808
pkinnison@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Lower Level, Room B05B


I came to Tarleton in September 2017 to serve as the new Librarian / Archivist. As an archivist it is my job to preserve the collective memory and culture of a community and its people. My job has three parts: (1) I collect materials of continuing usefulness such as diaries, letters, journals, ledgers, reports, etc.; (2) I arrange and preserve each collection; and (3) I describe each collection to help researchers find information. I think my job is very exciting, because I not only get to work with very old materials but also born-digital information stored on new formats such as CDs, DVDs, and hard drives.

I earned a BA in social studies education with a library science minor and a MA in history at The University of Louisiana at Monroe. I later earned my MLIS (master in library and information science) at Louisiana State University. In my career as an archivist, I’ve worked as a project archivist at Louisiana State University, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; the head of special collections at Ouachita Baptist University, in Arkadelphia, Arkansas; and archivist at the Museum of South Texas History in McAllen, Texas. 

My father was in the Air Force the first 16 years of my life, so I have lived in many locations and enjoy traveling. The activities I enjoy include watching movies, reading, and gardening. My daughter, a freelance editor, lives in Austin with my three grandsons. My son lives in Nashville, where he works as the technical director of the Nashville Ballet.

Meet Our Staff: Kortney Davis

Kortney Davis
Administrative Associate
254-968-9246
kdavis@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Upper Level – room 201

My name is Kortney Davis. I started working at the library in August 2016 as the evening User Services Assistant. I am here Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.  I am at the main level reference desk from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. I genuinely enjoy everything that I do here, and my favorite part of my work is interacting with students. When I am not assisting students, you can find me checking shelving flags on the lower and upper levels, running reports for paid fines, and maintaining inventory for the reference section and general stacks. I also assist with scheduling our meeting and group study rooms.

When I am not at work, I am usually at home. I always have my face in a new book regarding a hobby or interest, and I love to cook! I live in Stephenville with my fiancé and our furry children. We have three cats, Pixel, Althea, and Phoebe, and right before I started working at the library, we adopted a puppy named Poppin. My favorite fiction authors are Neil Gaiman, Oscar Wilde, and Janet Fitch. My interests include music of all varieties, aromatherapy, knitting, crocheting, gardening, dying fabric, and geology.

I am so happy to be here! Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and kind. I am looking forward to growing in my career here and getting to know our staff and students.

[ETA - in May 2018, Kortney was promoted to Administrative Associate in our Administrative offices on the upper level, room 201, replacing Leslie Newcomb.]

Meet Our Staff: Joshua Wallace

Joshua Wallace
Instruction Librarian
254-968-9455
jwallace@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Main Floor – room 110A


I began working at the library on June 6, 2016, as an Instruction Librarian. My primary duty is to teach students how to effectively locate, identify, and evaluate information. I also work at the reference desk, and serve as the library liaison to the Criminal Justice and Kinesiology departments.

I grew up in Ider, Alabama (population 723) and I attended The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. There I earned a BA and MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Studies degree. I started my librarian career in 2007 at South Texas College in McAllen. My wife, Yi-Chia Wu, was offered a position teaching Marketing at Tarleton in 2014, and we moved to Stephenville as a result. I then began working as a librarian at Ranger College.

I have been an adjunct history instructor since 2004. I have taught at the University of Montevallo in Alabama, South Texas College, and Ranger College. Starting this fall, I am teaching one section of HIST 1301 (United States History - I) at Tarleton.

In my free time I enjoy traveling, reading history books, cheering for the Crimson Tide football team, and watching science fiction movies. Eating is a real passion of mine. I love trying new restaurants and new cuisine. I also enjoy cooking, but only because I get to eat it afterwards.

Summer Reading Video

Looking for something fun to read this summer? Need a good audio book for your next road trip? The library has you covered! Check out our newest video for staff suggested books and audio books for summer reading.

Tarleton Libraries: Year(s) in Review

You may have heard about the Library Chronicles but do you know what it is?

Library Chronicles is a newsletter magazine published annually by the library's Marketing and Outreach Committee which spotlights events and happenings that have occurred within the library for the specific newsletter's year. Basically, if you've ever wondered what goes on at the library you can find the answer within the Library Chronicles' pages.

The newsletter contains interesting facts about the library and its staff members as well as fun images of events that happen on all the Tarleton campuses.

Check out the Library Chronicles' archive to review the last four years.
http://www.tarleton.edu/library/chronicles.html

Find out about our READ poster reveal, social media accounts, contributions to the campus and surrounding community, and more!

Want more information about the Library Chronicles?

Contact the library's 

Marketing and Outreach Co-Chairs:

Cathy Wilterding

wilterding@tarleton.edu

254-968-9456.

Kym Schow

schow@tarleton.edu

254-968-9871

Library Lovers Month Recap

Library Lovers Month went off without a hitch! We had an overwhelming response to our whiteboard question and our Twitter contest was entertaining. The library handed out buttons all month in support of Library Lovers Month as well as candy on Library Lovers Day (2/14). Library staff also focused blog posts around libraries.

February's display was focused around "What do you love to do?" We asked library stuff to answer this question and put books based on their interests in the display case. We hope you learned some great things about our staff! The library appreciates all the fantastic comments you had to say about us and looks forward to next year's Library Lovers Month!

Leave comments for this year's Library Lovers Month or suggestions for next year's celebration!

Meet Our Staff: Kym Schow

Kym Schow
Coordinator for Access Services
254-968-9871
schow@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Main Floor – Room 109C

Hello everyone!

My name is Kym Schow and I am the new Access Services Librarian. I’ll be overseeing the Circulation department and Interlibrary Loan while also working with off-campus students to make sure they have access to all our lovely resources.

I graduated from Angelo State University in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in fine arts in painting and drawing. After realizing that traditional animation isn’t the way of the world anymore, I decided to do a career evaluation. While my temporary adventures in pre-nursing were unfulfilling, the student worker position I found in the meantime at the Porter Henderson Library was the perfect fit! I was hired on as the Late Night Supervisor in Circulation in May 2010, and that June I started working on my library science degree at the University of North Texas. I graduated December 14, 2012, and shortly thereafter I was hired to join this wonderful team, and now here we are!

I spend most of my free time reading with my Chihuahua, Chibi, tucked away at my side. While my favorite genre is fantasy, I admit that reading fan-fiction is my guilty pleasure. Now that I’ve graduated, I hope to get back into some art projects that have been on the back burner for the past two years. I particularly enjoy working with acrylics and watercolor.

Meet Our Staff: Amy Castillo

Amy Castillo
Periodicals & Electronic Resources Coordinator
254-968-9868
acastillo@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Main Floor – room 112A

Amy oversees the Periodicals collections (print periodicals, microforms, and electronic resources) and staff, and is also the Fine Arts department liaison. Prior to coming to Tarleton this month, she was a Periodicals Specialist at TCU in Fort Worth. She also worked at the Arlington (Texas) Public Library in a number of roles.

Amy says, “I started my library career as a band librarian while in high school. After graduating, my high school band director told my college band director about me and I was hired to be the band librarian at University of Texas – Arlington [where Amy earned a bachelor’s degree in music]. For a long time I thought I would be an ensemble librarian, working with bands and orchestras, I even interned with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Library for a year. However, I really enjoyed working in an academic setting, particularly with serials due to their dynamic nature. Being in the periodicals field is far from boring!”

Amy earned her master’s degree in library science from Texas Woman’s University, and a master’s in liberal arts from TCU. She will complete a graduate academic certificate in Digital Content Management from the University of North Texas next spring.

As for interests outside the library, Amy says, “Knitting, sewing, quilting, and reading are the big ones. I even write a blog about yarn and knitting! I’m also a total cat person. I currently have two, Rose and Ellie, who are very sweet and very spoiled.”

Donna Savage - Quality Service Award

University Librarian Donna Savage was recently awarded the 2012 Quality Service Award which recognizes a staff member who “goes the extra mile,” exhibiting outstanding dedication to Tarleton and one's position, all while maintaining a positive attitude and demonstrating exemplary service. 

All of us on the library staff are so excited that she won this much deserved award!   Donna was also recognized as Tarleton's Employee of the Year for 2004-2005.  Yeah Donna!

Read more about it here - https://www.tarleton.edu/scripts/press/display.asp?id=3742

Meet Our Staff: Lisa Wan

Lisa Wan
Tarleton - Fort Worth Librarian
817-732-7300 x7315
blackwell@tarleton.edu
Texan Hall Library, Room 445, Hickman Building, 4th floor, Fort Worth

I began working as the Off-Campus Librarian on September 1, 2011. I have been working in the Texan Hall Library and the Medical Laboratory Sciences library as a graduate student since February 2010. I provide reference and research services to students, faculty, and staff, as well as give presentations of library resources to classes. I work with librarians at the Dick Smith Library to market and promote library services to our off-campus students and faculty in the Southwest Metroplex. I love being a librarian, and one of my most favorite occasions is when a student has an “Ah-ha!” moment while doing research.

My library career started as a “Superseder” (a person who replaces the old material in legal materials with the new, updated materials) at the Duke Law School Library after my graduation from Baylor University. I loved being in the library and decided that my career path would be to become a librarian. I earned my Master in Library Science from North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas). I have worked mostly at university and law school libraries doing cataloging, acquisitions, and reference. I earned my most recent degree, Master of Education in Counseling, from Tarleton (all on the Southwest Metroplex campus) in August 2011. I will become a Licensed Professional Counselor and counsel adults in my time outside of the library.

I love being with my children whenever they are home, but my daughter and youngest son are at college back east; my oldest son has graduated from college and lives in San Antonio. I enjoy cooking, hiking, hunting with my significant other, and singing in my church choir. Whenever I get the chance to travel, I enjoy visiting friends in Durham, Chicago, and the tiny Appalachian coal mining town of Grundy, Virginia, all places that my family and I have lived.

Writing a Paper? Try These 7 Research Tips

This article by Lynn Jacobs and Jeremy Hyman in U.S. News & World Report offers practical tips for successfully starting, planning, and finishing papers. The following list gives article excerpts and along with links to Tarleton Libraries' resources and services to help you apply the research tips. Enjoy!

• Start from where you are.
• Pick a topic that interests you. Look to course materials, lecture notes, handouts, and so on for ideas.
• Talk to your instructor to see if your topic is on target.


• Think E.
• “The best place to start is not with Google, Bing, or Wikipedia but with E-reserves that the professor has listed” and made available via your library’s site. Tarleton State University Libraries
• “Next stop: the electronic resources (or E-resources) at the library Web page” for online access to articles, reference books, and more. Tarleton Libraries databases
• Subject guides are useful because they list resources by subject and “can be incredibly helpful" when you start researching a topic. Tarleton Libraries’ Subject Research Guides


• Discover WorldCat.
• “One of the best resources is http://www.worldcat.org, a free and public catalog of more than a billion (with a "b"!) items available from more than 10,000 libraries worldwide. . . . It's available in all modalities including online and mobile (with downloadable apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, and most Web-enabled phones).”


• Learn the shortcuts.
• “Use wild-card characters—typically a question mark (?), pound sign (#), or asterisk (*)—when you know only the first few letters of a word or when you want to find all the words that start with a certain string of letters.”
• “Use the Boolean and operator (typically AND or +) to limit the results of a search, and the or operator (OR or -) to expand the topic.
• “Take out any apostrophes (in words such as O'Reilly) and replace foreign language characters (ç, ü) with their English equivalents (c, u).”


• Use the resources that live and breathe.
• Call, visit or email “the reference desk" to get help with "electronic searches” and locating print resources. Contact information for research assistance at Tarleton Libraries


• Learn about ILL.
• If you need something your library does not have, use your library’s interlibrary loan (ILL) services. “The ILL crew will get you the physical book or a copy of the article from another library, usually free.” Request items as early as possible so you can get them in time.Tarleton Libraries Interlibrary Loan Service


• Look for "gateway" sources.
• When starting a research project, you may want to begin with “sources that survey the problem, area, or subject you're researching and point the way to further, more specific studies. They might have names like Cambridge Companion to X, Stanford Encyclopedia of Y, Grove Dictionary of Z, or Oxford Illustrated History of A.”
  -- You can locate these resources using Tarleton Libraries catalog.
• When “reading any source, look in the footnotes and bibliography” for ideas about other sources.
  -- Then use Tarleton Libraries’ SFX Citation Finder and catalog to locate items.
  -- Use the library’s Interlibrary Loan service to obtain items not available locally.
  -- Remember to Ask a Librarian for assistance whenever you need it.

View complete article: Writing a Paper? Try These 7 Research Tips

Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Library Resources You Should Know About

It's Tuesday, that means it is time for a list!

Library resources can make your research life easier. I saw a similar list for another library and was blown away that the Tarleton Libraries have even more to offer you! Here are 10 Library Resources you should know about!

• Tarleton Libraries Online Catalog – Find the books, periodicals, videos, audio books, CD, DVD, etc. available at Tarleton Libraries.

• Online periodicals by title (SFX) - Find online full-text journals by Title and/or by subject category

• Databases by Subject - Find searchable journal article indexes and more relevant for your research subject

• Interlibrary Loan (Illiad) - Have books and journal articles from other academic libraries delivered to you at the Tarleton Library. Articles are often delivered electronically within 24 to 48 hours.

• Metalib - simultaneously search multiple information resources such as the library catalog, online databases, journal articles, newspapers and selected quality Internet resources.

• Online E-books – Full Text books available from anywhere 24 hours a day!

• WorldCat - Find books, media and more in libraries worldwide. Request items using ILLiad

• Research Guides - General subject, topical and Subject-related guides created by Tarleton Librarians

• EndNote Web - Create bibliographies in your choice of citation style with a click -- and much more. (You must establish your EndNote account though Web of Knowledge)

• Subject Librarians - Need one-on-one research assistance? Have questions about library collections or services? Ask a Librarian! Get help and ask questions in person at the library, by phone at 254-968-9249, by email, or via the web at http://www.tarleton.edu/~library/askaref.html

The Tarleton Libraries have these and more resources available for you. We hope to see you in the library soon!

Meet Our Staff: Melissa Cookson

Melissa Cookson
Cataloging Coordinator
254-968-9339
cookson@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Main Floor – Rm109J

I began working at the library on October 1, 2008. As the Catalog Librarian, my job primarily involves cataloging library materials (books, DVDs, audio books, etc.) and maintaining records that are already in the catalog. In addition, I’m the liaison to the Biological Sciences Department.

As a student at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, I majored in Anthropology and minored in German, but I also took courses in a wide variety of other subjects, such as psychology, Chinese art history, and Japanese culture. I received my Master’s in Library Science at Indiana University in Bloomington. My cataloging courses were always some of my favorites, so I’m happy to be here, doing what I love best. Prior to coming to the Dick Smith Library, I worked as a Cataloging Assistant at Colorado College’s Tutt Library and volunteered as a computer class assistant for the Pikes Peak Library District.

When I’m not working, I enjoy reading. My favorite genres are romance, fantasy, mystery, and science fiction. I’m a huge fan of Japanese animation and manga – if I haven’t already seen or read something, I’ve probably at least heard about it or know where to find information about it. I also love rats and have had pet rats off and on for several years. Currently, I have two boys named Bear and Yuki.

Meet Our Staff: Chris Grantham

Chris Grantham
End User Support Specialist
254-968-9030
grantham@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Upper Level – room 250

Chris joined the staff in July 2008 as a computer technician tasked with maintaining the hardware and software on over 200 public and staff PCs and laptops in the Dick Smith Library.

He retired from the Air Force in 2004 with 20 years of service in administrative and computer support with assignments in Europe (Germany & Italy) as well as numerous locations in Arizona and Texas. In his last assignment in San Antonio supporting the Air Force Recruiting Service, he provided technical support to recruiters across 110,000 square miles of South Texas and was responsible for transitioning them from dial-up networks to high-speed broadband networks.

An avid outdoors man, he enjoys hunting, fishing, skiing (both water and snow). Having taken up cycling with in Italy, he was the participated in the “Hotter than Hell” event twice and has taken part in a number of the Multiple Sclerosis Society’s MS150 events (Houston to Austin, Houston to Galveston, and San Antonio to Corpus Christi). He is also a certified scuba diver. When not outside, he enjoys reading science fiction and military novels.

[For the next few weeks, new Library staff members will be introduced here on Wednesdays.]

Meet Our Staff: Tonya Dobson

Tonya Dobson
Assistant to University Librarian
254-968-9246
dobson@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Upper Level – room 201

I began my career within the Texas A&M System in July 2002 in College Station. I worked for the Vice President for Research until January 2005. My husband, kids and I moved back to Stephenville and I began working in the Information Resource department and then I transferred to Payroll in July 2006. I left Tarleton for a brief time to work from home and I was given an opportunity to return in the Dick Smith Library on July 1, 2008 as the Administrative Assistant.

As Administrative Assistant, I serve as Student Worker Coordinator for the library. If you are a student and are interested in working for the library, come see me on the upper level administrative office, Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM, and fill out an application.

My husband Terry and I have been married for 14 years and we have a 13 year old son, Tristan, and a 7 year old daughter, Tatum. I keep busy taking them from football practice to soccer practice and many other activities. I volunteer as a board member of the Stephenville Soccer Association as well as at our church.

[Note:  On February 1, 2011, Tonya was promoted to the position of Administrative Services Coordinator for the library.]

Meet Our Staff: Kim Gragg

Kim Gragg
Circulation / Interlibrary Loan Manager
254-968-9938
gragg@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Main Floor – Rm109V

As Circulation Manager, Kim is one of the first people many students meet in the Dick Smith Library. She oversees the operations of the Circulation Desk, including about a dozen student workers. Training and scheduling all of these workers takes a large amount of time, since the Circulation Desk is open almost 100 hours a week.

Kim is a Tarleton graduate, earning her BA in English in May 2002. She is certified to teach English and language arts for grades 8-12, and taught at Erath Excels Academy for two years. Kim started in her present position at the Dick Smith Library on December 19, 2005, noting, “I worked a week and then had a week’s vacation for Christmas. It was great!”

She added, “I spent a lot of time in the library as a student. I loved the atmosphere of learning and exploration and searching for the unknown. I still love it as a staff member today.”

Meet Our Staff: Tracy Holtman

Tracy Holtman
Assistant Director for Collection Management
254-968-9466
holtman@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Main Foor

Tracy supervises the library’s technical services departments:  Acquisitions, Cataloging, Periodicals and Electronic Resources, and Systems.

Tracy has always wanted to be a librarian. She started working in her school library in fifth grade, and has had a library job ever since. She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Lubbock Christian University, and her masters in library science from the University of North Texas. She spent 13 years at Lubbock Christian University, and has been at the Dick Smith Library for nine years, starting as a reference librarian and moving into the Systems Librarian position after seven months. She serves as the liaison to the Computer Information Systems Department as well as the Department of Accounting, Finance, and Economics.

Tracy has a twin sister named Stacy, and they are the youngest of six children. Tracy’s hobbies are her 24 nieces and nephews, reading, cross-stitch, travel and photography, and collecting “Coke stuff – I have a house full of it!”

[Edited to add: On February 28, 2008, Tracy was named Tarleton's Staff Council Employee of the Month for February 2008.]