University Librarian John Zenelis has announced the Fenwick Fellow for the 2011-2012 academic year: Dr. Jesse Guessford, Assistant Professor, School of Music, College of Visual and Performing Arts.  Dr. Guessford’s research project, John Cage and Henry Cowell’s New Musical Resource, sets out to find the source of the compositional procedures and techniques used by John Cage between the years 1933 and 1951.

Professor Guessford expects that through this research, he will find a common relationship between the techniques used by Cage and those detailed by Cowell.  He plans to eventually complete two publications:  the first, an extensive journal article highlighting the links between the works of Cage and Cowell’s publication; the second, a book extensively analyzing John Cage’s works between 1933 and 1951.

The annual Fenwick Fellow program assists research by Mason faculty members as well as enhances the collections of the University Libraries. The fellowship provides a $5,000 award for research materials and assistance, along with an office in the Fenwick Library, to support the research project. Conducted each spring, the competition is open to all tenured and tenure-track faculty members at George Mason.

Congratulations to Friedgard Cowan, Cataloging and Metadata Services Librarian,  ITU Employee of the Month for October 2011!  Friedgard will be recognized at a ceremony with Dr. Joy Hughes on October 5.  Congratulations!

Have a federal holiday in your future?  Come and spend some time learning and enhancing your research skills!  On Columbus Day, Monday, October 10, Mason Libraries are offering a variety of workshops and research sessions for graduate students:

• Zotero 101
• Finding Primary Sources
• Mason Thesis & Dissertation Services
• SPSS
• Advanced GIS
• Engineering, ES&P, Business, Psychology, Education, Chemistry, Math, Physics sessions…and more!!

View the full list of sessions and descriptions for October 10 on the Library Workshops calendar at library.gmu.edu/learn.  It’s also a good day to set up a research appointment with your subject Liaison Librarian. Bring a topic – bring a friend!

University Libraries invites the Mason community to visit “Beyond the Book”, an exhibit featuring books and notes from the recent gift by Brian Lamb, founder of C-SPAN and host of the C-SPAN series, Booknotes. The exhibit is located on Floor 2, Wings A and B, Fenwick Library.  The complete Booknotes collection is available for viewing in the Special Collections & Archives Reading Room, Floor 2, Wing C of Fenwick.  [Image source ]