David's DuckStory
From his office on the second floor of Chapman Hall, Dean David Frank can look down on the busy students rushing along 13th avenue. And from the vantage of professor and dean, he's developed a fervent belief in the importance of the UO Libraries.
As the Dean of the Robert D. Clark Honors College, Frank sees the impact the UO libraries have on students every day. For example, each year over 100 students use the UO Libraries while writing their senior thesis for the Clark Honors College. The Forensics program, UO's championship debate team (hosted by the Honors College), relies on the UO libraries for debate preparation. It's a championship that "would not have been possible but for our library" says Frank. And hundreds of faculty and graduate students across every school and college utilize the libraries' resources for their own research and publications.
Dean Frank has seen the impact of the UO libraries firsthand in his own teaching and research. Several years ago, he co-taught an Honors College class with Professor Suzanne Clark titled The University in War and Peace. In the class, students used archival materials from the personal papers and presidential records of Dr. Robert D. Clark whose presidency from 1969 - 1975 encompassed pivotal events in UO and US history. Students in the class had the opportunity to work directly with primary sources and documents. Under the guidance of UO historian and archivist Heather Briston, students helped catalogue, describe, and digitize the archive for use by future generations.
Perhaps one of the most exciting outcomes of these kinds of research-intensive classes is that students can post their final papers and theses to UO Scholars Bank, which makes their work accessible to researchers anywhere in the world. At least five students wrote their senior thesis as a result of The University in War and Peace class and Professor Clark and Dean Frank have a forthcoming book on the same subject. The class has also been added to the college's annual curriculum.
Certainly, engaging in study built on past research and reformulating one's own ideas in the context of new information is an invaluable part of any student's college career. With primary research, the payoff is even greater. "Primary research is so important because students will use that kind of judgment for the rest of their lives, whether they pursue business, history, law or any other path" Dean Frank enthuses.
But none of this research, none of this discovery would be possible without a comprehensive research library. Today's libraries include a wealth of books, journals, archival documents, historical photographs, film, and other media. And these collections depend on the support of alumni and other friends of the university who make it possible for the university to infuse its holdings with new materials.
As Dean Frank says, "UO Libraries hold knowledge to help us understand our lives and solve problems. The beauty, art, and science that result from close study absolutely require a good academic library." Indeed, the process of research helps students articulate what it means to be a human being at this point in history; it helps them to imagine a better world and gives them tools to make that world a reality.
Visit the Robert D. Clark Papers Archive»
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