Campus Connection

Test your UWL history knowledge during the first UWL Special Collections Trivia Night Feb. 15

Two UWL seniors have teamed up to try to stump you. UWL seniors Alicia Carlson, marketing, and Rebekah Bain, history, have been working for months to plan the first ever UWL Special Collections Trivia Night — complete with historic facts they dug up in the university’s archive. Students, faculty and staff are invited to form teams up to five to participate in trivia at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at 150 Murphy Library. The event will include free pizza and refreshments. For more information, visit the Murphy Library Facebook page. Signing up ahead of time is appreciated, but not required. Sign up now. [caption id="attachment_51054" align="alignnone" width="685"] Test your UWL trivia knowledge in preparation for Trivia Night Thursday, Feb. 15. What long-running campus event is pictured in this 1970s campus photo? A. Greek Life Recruitment; B. Winter Carnival; C. Winter Finals Celebration; D. Snowtime Competition. Answer at the end of the story. Photo and question courtesy of UWL Murphy Library Special Collections.[/caption]

Marketing major employs skills to increase awareness of Special Collections

Carlson came up with the idea for a trivia night as a way to promote lesser-known resources in Murphy Library Special Collections, where she has worked for five semesters. Carlson was unaware of all Special Collections had to offer prior finding a part-time job there. “I hope students of all majors will realize what a gem and amazing tool they have on this campus,” says Carlson. “Many students aren’t aware of this resource.” [caption id="attachment_51056" align="alignleft" width="300"] UWL senior Rebekah Bain helped do research for Trivia Night. Bain also created the project “History on the Go” to put trivia about the city’s transportation history inside all of La Crosse’s 20 city buses last fall.[/caption] Special Collections is UWL’s archive. It is located in Murphy Library and is accessible from the library’s atrium. It houses many original resources related to local and regional history, as well as rare books, fine-press publications, Midwest poetry, handmade artist books, maps, UWL Oral History Program interviews, and photographs. Carlson has used knowledge from her marketing courses to help promote and plan the event. She has also coordinated promotion with outreach librarians, ordered food and found resources for additional funding. She worked with University Centers to get a food donation from the Event Funding Assistance Committee. And she applied for funds from the Murphy Library Endowment, which provided $400 to help fund the event. It is rare for a student to request endowment funds to do a project on behalf of the library, says Laura Godden, Special Collections historian / academic librarian. In addition to planning trivia night, Carlson has applied her marketing skills to more broadly market Special Collections. She helped create a list of marketing ideas and social media posts, connected with the Vanguards to increase the campus tour guides' awareness and knowledge about Special Collections, and increased Special Collections social media presence and coverage in the Racquet student newspaper. Her work goes above and beyond her job description, says Godden. “The work that she has been doing both increases awareness about Special Collections and helps build her professional marketing portfolio,” says Godden. “I think these two students are doing a great job of putting their university education to work in a way that helps the university.” Participants looking to gain an edge on the competition can visit Special Collections and peruse some of the UWL materials. The answer to the trivia question at the top is: B. Winter Carnival.