Three Questions is an initiative to share the value that our faculty, students, and others in the UNT community derive from using the Unique Collections at UNT Libraries.
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How important are Unique Collections in your teaching, learning or research?
I could not get through my research day without the invaluable services provided by ILL, remote storage, and collections development. Coby Condrey gets me the books or e-books I need, and no request is too complicated or too picky for the inestimable James Flowers. James tracks down any book or article housed in the annex, sends multiple scans if page numbers are missing, and recently went over to the Discovery Park annex to dig Unsafe at Any Speed out of a box in the middle of a move! Kevin Yanowski and John Edward Martin are also always ready with their info and advice, Darin Castillo does a terrific job setting up my Course Reserves, and Assoc. Dean Mary Ann Venner has enabled my teaching and research for many years. Excellent, wonderfully helpful library staff!
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How have Unique Collections changed the way you approach your research, teaching or learning?
Willis services have kept up with technological changes that are essential to modern research methods. I make frequent use of the e-formatted books and articles, and access to UNT’s newspapers databases (e.g., Proquest Historical Newspapers) has meant much in researching my last two book projects. And it may seem a minor issue, but a huge, huge improvement for me is the recyclable canvas bag system now used for departmental delivery. I never used delivery in the era of plastic packaging – a huge thank-you to Willis for “meaning green” when getting books to faculty.
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What do you want others to know about your research, teaching or learning?
My work regards the post-WWII decades of American literature and culture, so I’m not usually one of the library’s customers in search of obscure or ancient archival material. But I still rely on the Willis staff on a weekly basis to move vital materials to my departmental or electronic inbox – they are terrific!
Jacqueline Foertsch is professor of English at the University of North Texas and chair of UNT’s Postwar Faculty Colloquium. She is the author of six books in American literature, film, and culture and is at work on Freedom’s Ring: Literatures of Liberation from Civil Rights to the Second Wave and Chariots of Doom: Getting Around to True Crime in Postwar America.
