Library News

The University of Iowa Libraries was awarded $5,000 for the Iowa City Book Festival by Humanities Iowa, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities

The grant was one of 17 totaling more than $160,000 awarded at the recent HI board meeting in Ames.

The Iowa City Book Festival will be a daylong celebration of books, reading and writing. The festival also is a celebration of the five millionth volume purchased by the UI Libraries as well as the 40th anniversary of the UI Press. Kristi Bontrager, the library’s public relations coordinator, said it also is a way to thank the public for their help moving books during last summer’s flood.

“It brought back the idea that books are an important part of people’s lives,” Bontrager said. “We saw this as a way to create a dialogue between writers and readers.”

The festival will include workshops on starting a writer’s group, and finding book discussion groups.  There will also be food and music and activities for children.

“The Iowa City Book Festival brings together everything that makes our community so refreshing in summertime: books, reading, writing and sweet corn,” said Holly Carver, the editor at UI Press. “As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the University of Iowa Press, we are delighted to be part of this first-but-not-last annual festival.”

The festival will also include book vendors and book arts demonstrations as well a program by Iowa’s poet laureates, Mary Swander, Robert Dana and Marvin Bell. There also will be a presentation by the editors of “The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa,” David Hudson, Marvin Bergman and Loren Horton; and a keynote address by “The Oxford Project” creators Peter Feldstein and Steven Bloom.

Other programs to promote literacy include workshops on adult literacy, starting up a writer’s group, finding a book discussion group, library research for writers and writing a literary blog among others.

“Books are one of the things that makes Iowa City a special place,” said HI executive director Christopher Rossi. “The Iowa City Book Festival is a great way to celebrate that heritage while also promoting the literary arts.”

Nancy Baker, university librarian for the University of Iowa Libraries, said the book festival should help fill a “cultural gap” in the community.

“We noticed that a book festival was missing from the landscape of our City of Literature,” Baker said. “The Iowa City Book Festival will be a place that brings all kinds of writers, readers and book-lovers together in conversation. With the help of Humanities Iowa and our other partners, we hope to make the Iowa City Book Festival an annual tradition.”

To learn more about the Iowa City Book Festival, check the website www.iowacitybookfestival.org.

“Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver, is the 2009 selection for “One Community, One Book.”

The project promotes insights on human rights in the United States and across the globe and is coordinated by the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (UICHR) in conjunction with other sponsoring organizations from Johnson County and the UI.

The goal of the project is to encourage people to read and discuss the selected book in order to develop a greater community awareness of human rights issues locally, nationally and internationally.

“Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” tells the story of how Kingsolver and her family for one year deliberately ate food produced in the place where they live. Kingsolver wrote the central narrative, and her husband, Steven Hopp, wrote in-depth sidebars about various aspects of food-production science and industry. Kingsolver’s 19-year-old daughter, Camille, wrote brief essays on the local-food project, plus nutritional information, meal plans and recipes.

“Although this does not sound like our typical human-rights themed book, this book acknowledges that there is a right to adequate food for all humans, that not everyone can afford to make these kinds of food choices and that climate change can diminish the ability to grow food,” said Joan Nashelsky, UICHR project assistant and One Community, One Book co-organizer. “With strong local interest in sustainable agriculture, the effects of climate change on agriculture, the local food movement and the ECO Iowa City grant administered by the Iowa City Public Library and the City of Iowa City Public Works Division, the time seems right for a book with broader human rights issues close to home.”

Nashelsky coordinates the project with volunteer Pat Schnack. ECO Iowa City is a grant-funded initiative to improve environmental sustainability in Iowa City.

Kingsolver’s 12 books of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction include the novels “The Bean Trees” and “The Poisonwood Bible.” Translated into 19 languages, her work has won a devoted worldwide readership and many awards, including the National Humanities Medal.

Hopp teaches environmental studies at Emory and Henry College and conducts research in bioacoustics and the natural history of vireos, a group of small to medium-sized perching birds.

Camille Kingsolver attends Duke University, where she studies biology, anatomy and dance.

The “One Community, One Book” project will run from mid-September through mid-November. Teachers, students, librarians, book groups and others are encouraged to participate. By announcing the selection now, the project sponsors hope to allow time for groups to read the book and participate in fall community discussion forums, and for teachers to plan classroom discussions around the book.

In addition to UICHR, past project sponsors have included the UI International Writing Program, Prairie Lights Books, the UI Libraries, Iowa City Public Library, Coralville Public Library, North Liberty Community Library, Hancher Auditorium, Hills Bank & Trust Company, Iowa Book LLC, Iowa City Human Rights Commission, Solon Public Library, UI Charter Committee on Human Rights, UI Department of English, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, UI Department of History, UI International Programs and University Book Store. Iowa City High School and West High School have also participated.

For more information, contact UICHR at 319-335-3900 or uichr@uiowa.edu.

The devastating flood that hit Iowa last summer made headlines around the state, nation and world. Yet many stories would be lost if not preserved – or worse, simply remain untold. Through the national StoryCorps Project, 24 of these stories can be heard through the Iowa Digital Library.

University of Iowa Libraries, along with university and community partners, invited the national StoryCorps Project to collect and preserve stories of everyday heroism and kindness in a program titled, “Under the Current: Collecting Stories from the Flood.” All of the interviews are available in their entirety online in the Iowa Digital Library at digital.lib.uiowa.edu/flood. Each interview runs 30-45 minutes long.

University Librarian Nancy L. Baker, along with the libraries’ public relations coordinator, Kristi Bontrager, thought first-person storytelling would be an ideal way to preserve flood memories.

“The mission of libraries, particularly academic research libraries, is to preserve the heritage, history, and thoughts of a community, to mark these events and provide some way to preserve them,” Baker said. Baker knew that as time passed and memory faded, the stories of what actually happened would also fade. She knew, too, that the stories people had to tell of their flood experiences could provide valuable information for historical research.

“The idea came from the Iowa Women’s Archives, which has a terrific collection of oral histories,” Bontrager said. “This information can be used by any number of people in any number of ways.”

Baker and Bontrager invited StoryCorps to campus. StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening,” preserves tales of everyday life, as well as those that focus on a specific theme. Its work is heard frequently on National Public Radio. In their three days in Iowa City, StoryCorps staff not only recorded flood stories, but also served as mentors and models for students who continued recording the stories after StoryCorps left town. The students were in a class taught by Nanette Barkey, assistant professor of anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and assistant professor in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health.

Bontrager enlisted a number of people around campus and the community to encourage locals to come and tell their stories.

“We solicited stories from UI president Sally Mason and Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey, because they played such big roles,” she said. “But because much of their story had been covered in the media, we also wanted to include other stories that weren’t documented and might have been lost.”

Two UI staff members who together shared their flood memories are Ken Schumacher and Chuck Swanson, both employees of the hard-hit Hancher Auditorium.

“I agreed to do it because there were so many stories to tell,” said Swanson, executive director of Hancher. “Our memories seemed so vivid at the time and yet you don’t always remember the things you wish you’d remembered. This was a historic event, particularly for the university.”

Schumacher, Hancher’s production manager, described the recording experience as “calm.”

“We were in a room with a facilitator and a tape recorder and she didn’t interrupt us unless we got off topic,” he said. “They did a good job of making it comfortable for people to sit and improvise. It was a sort of stream-of-consciousness study. Each of us talked about our unique experience of the flood and how it affected us. I thought about it beforehand but didn’t prepare anything. My only worry was that I was afraid I’d forget something important.”

Both men recall the intense emotions that accompanied the flood. Schumacher remembers the helpless feeling of standing on the hillside by Parklawn watching the flood’s progress and the frustration of knowing he was losing the equipment that enabled him to do his work. Swanson remembers the contrast of the horror of the flood and the warmth of the calls of condolence and offers of help from artists and friends. Despite the difficulty of dredging up these emotions, both men are glad they participated in StoryCorps.

“It’s good to take a look at things when you’ve calmed down and your eyes are dry,” said Schumacher. “If you don’t preserve things that have significance, they will dribble away. The flood will always be a part of us and we need to remember it, especially if we’re building a new building.”

Added Swanson, “It was healthy to talk about the experiences that shaped those days and weeks—it forced me to put my thoughts together. And down the road, when we’re no longer around, you never know how people might use these stories.”

Other interviews in the Iowa Digital Library include a father and teenage son whose home on Taft Speedway in Iowa City was flooded in 1993 and again in 2008; a vice president of a local bank who talked about the bank maintained security and retrieved customers belongings during the flood; and newlyweds who talk about the rollercoaster of rescheduling a wedding in Iowa City that was originally set to take place the weekend of the flood.

For more information about StoryCorps, visit www.storycorps.org

More than 250 years after his birth, a notable collection of musical scores by French composer and music publisher Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) can now be found online. The Rita Benton Music Library at the University of Iowa is pleased to announce this release of the Ignaz Pleyel Early Editions Digital Collection, which is located at http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/pleyel.

This collection of nearly 250 early printed and manuscript scores represents in entirety the music library’s holdings of the work of this single composer. It consists primarily of keyboard and chamber music, including arrangements of large orchestral works. Also included in the collection are songs with keyboard accompaniment and method books providing instruction in certain instruments. Pleyel was a contemporary of more famous composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827); he also apprenticed with Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) early in his career.

Most of the scores were published between 1780 and 1810, and many were issued by Pleyel’s own publishing house. These materials provide insight into publishing practices common in late 18th- and early 19th-century Europe, when engraving began replacing both letterpress printing and manuscript copying. Also, increase in travel across borders caused musical styles to become more international and publishers began to print music outside of its country of origin.

The physical collection was assembled by the late Dr. Rita Benton, noted Pleyel scholar and former Head of the Music Library at the University of Iowa. The Music Library was named in her honor in 1980. “The Rita Benton Music Library has provided access to the Pleyel materials to scholars and performers around the world for a number of years,” says Ruthann McTyre, Head of the Music Library. “We are proud to offer digital access to the collection. Allowing individuals to have these materials virtually at their fingertips is a fitting way to honor Dr. Benton’s devotion to musical scholarship and preservation of this composer’s work.”

This collection is one of many in the Iowa Digital Library (http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/), which contains more than 250,000 digital photographs, maps, sound recordings, and documents from libraries and archives at the University of Iowa and their partnering institutions.

As part of the Maps Department makeover this summer, an abatement team is removing asbestos tiles. They will remove the old tiles and glue/mastic. The mastic removal utilizes a citrusy-smelling chemical. Though the space has been well ventilated to the outside, the odor is still present throughout the lower levels of the Main Library. The abatement project is scheduled to be completed by Thursday, June 25 (tomorrow).

Currently Maps Department staff, Mary McInroy and Paula Balkenende are working from the Information Arcade on the first floor of the Main Library. The map cases have been moved into the hallways and government publications reading room on the third floor.

If you have questions or need assistance with the Map Collection, please contact Mary and Paula via email (lib-maps@uiowa.edu).

Sign up now to volunteer at the Iowa City Book Festival. For information please visit our Volunteering page at http://www.iowacitybookfestival.org/volunteer.html

The Iowa City Book Festival will begin to accept applications for book vendors at 1:00 PM on June 10th. Interested parties should register online at: http://www.iowacitybookfestival.org/bookvendors_terms.html

On June 14, 1990 Mary Swander and Jane Anne Straw read from their book Parsnips in the Snow at Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City. This was the first broadcast of “Live from Prairie Lights” on Iowa Public Radio. Today Swander is Iowa’s poet laureate, and this recording, and thousands of others like it, is now at the University of Iowa Libraries.

Iowa Public Radio has donated all of the original recordings of Live from Prairie Lights to the UI Libraries. Eighteen years and 1,800 programs were captured on CD, mini disc and reel-to-reel. Stewardship of these materials is part of the Libraries’ ongoing commitment to record and make accessible the intellectual output of the University.

“These recordings document an outstanding series of readings,” said Greg Prickman, Assistant Head of Special Collections. “We are grateful to Iowa Public Radio for ensuring their long-term preservation by making this donation.”

Special Collections is already home to the Julie Englander Collection of Contemporary Literature, which contains books inscribed by authors interviewed by the programs’ host, Julie Englander. “It’s wonderful that the series will be available for the public to enjoy in perpetuity,” Englander said.

“We are proud to partner with the University Libraries on this project,” said Joan Kjaer, Iowa Public Radio Director of Communications. “This partnership provides an exceptional opportunity for all kinds of people – scholars, writers, readers, fans of the show – to have permanent access to conversations with the world’s best authors.”

Currently 250 of these recordings, including the first reading with Mary Swander and Jane Anne Straw, are available online in the Iowa Digital Library (http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/vwu) and the Virtual Writing University (www.writinguniversity.org). Eventually the entire series will be digitized and freely available via the Iowa Digital Library.

The University of Iowa Libraries, in consultation with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), implemented MINES (Measuring the Impact of Networked Electronic Services) during the summer of 2007. MINES is an online transaction-based survey designed to collect data on the purpose and frequency of use of electronic resources. The survey asks three multimple choice questions during 2-hour random intervals once a month. The third and final implementation on MINES began on  January 27, 2009 and will continue through December 1, 2009.

Highlights from the 2008 report:

• The majority of the users are from the graduate college, and the medical and liberal arts and sciences fields.
• The Libraries’ resources are mainly used from a non-library location on campus (36.6%), but accessing resources using the campus library (27.75%) and off campus locations (35.65%) follow closely.
• The primary purpose of use of the University of Iowa Libraries’ resources is for personal research (36.66%) with coursework representing an important second highest category of use (31.59%).
• The total number of respondents increased between 2007 (n=5,351) and 2008 (n=6,468).
• Graduate/professional students comprised over 40% of the Libraries’ electronic networked resources uses in 2007 (n=2,176, 40.7%) and 2008 (n=2,726, 42.2%).

After prepping the Maps area last week, the actual abatement efforts began earlier today. Despite best intentions (and methods) a citrus-like smell can be detected in some areas of the building. We expect abatement to continue for much of this week.

If the smell causes a problem for you, please consider using one of the other libraries on campus:

1. Lichtenberger Engineering Library is directly across the street in the Seamans Center for Engineering.
2. Pomerantz Business Library located in the Pappajohn Business Building has seating on two levels.
3. Biological Sciences Library on Iowa Avenue provides quiet corners for individual studying.
4. Hardin Library for the Health Sciences located on the health sciences campus offers a 24-hour study room.

Hardin Library is now sending tweets on Twitter.  If you want to follow us, our name on Twitter is HardinLHS.  (http://twitter.com/hardinlhs) 

If you are interested in twittering yourself, stop by the Information Commons on Fridays from 10am-Noon or contact us for help.

University Facilities staff are preparing the Map Collection for asbestos abatement, which should begin next Tuesday.

While the abatement project is underway, Map Collection’s entrance will be in the short hallway, to the east of the copy machines on third floor.

The Map Collection and staff are still available to people needing to use the resources. For more information, please contact the Map Collection (lib-maps@uiowa.edu).

Iowa’s First Lady Mari Culver recently donated a signed copy of Entertaining at Terrace Hill to the Louis Szathmary II Culinary Arts Collection at the University of Iowa Libraries. 

Culver made the donation on a visit to Iowa City in April for a Prairie Lights book-signing event. The cookbook features over 200 recipes from around the state and displays of food photographed at Terrace Hill. The latest in the series of Iowa First Lady cookbooks, it includes recollections by F.M. Hubbell family descendents who were part of the Terrace Hill legacy for many years before the home was presented to the state. For more information, visit http://www.governor.iowa.gov/news/2008/11/5_2.php.

This book joins one of the most wide-ranging culinary collections in the world, with some 12,000 volumes dating from 1499 to 2009, says David E. Schoonover, curator of rare books at the UI. See http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/bai/szathmary.htm for more on the archives.

Art Library materials will not be available for delivery from May 19th - May 26th due to procedures associated with testing the building’s systems.  Please contact Interlibrary Loan (http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/ill/index.html ) for materials needed during this time. 

If you have questions, please contact the Art Library staff at http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/art/e-ref.html or 335-3089.

Join us for the final evening in the six-part series When the World Spoke Arabic: The Golden Age of Arab Civilization.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 7PM, ICPL, Meeting Rm. A

“From Arabic to Latin: The Assimilation of Arab Knowledge” (26 min.)
As dissension mounted between the rival Arab dynasties in Baghdad, Cordoba and Cairo, Christendom rallied to oppose the Muslims in Spain and Jerusalem. This program plots out the decline of the Empire of the Caliphate and the acquisition of Arab knowledge by Europeans starved for Islam’s intellectual riches.

“Forgetting the Arabs: Europe on the Cusp of the Renaissance” (27 min.)
Why was Islamic philosophy, once the epitome of Arab learning, eventually rejected by Muslims? And why, after assimilating it, did Europeans distance themselves from its formulators? This program seeks to understand the religious climate of the late Middle Ages, in which universities and madrassas became centers of power and models for evolving sociopolitical systems.

The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City Public Library, UI Middle East and Muslim World Studies Program, African Studies Program, and Medieval Studies Program are sponsors of this film series.

All films will be introduced by Edward Miner, International Studies Bibliographer, University of Iowa Libraries, with discussion to follow. This film series will be shown in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name in the north foyer of the University of Iowa Main Library. For more information, contact Edward Miner at (319)335-5883 or edward-miner@uiowa.edu.

As a UNESCO City of Literature, Iowa City is home to a vibrant community of readers, writers and bookmakers. This summer, a new festival will celebrate and investigate the city’s literary connections. The inaugural Iowa City Book Festival will be held Saturday, July 18, in Gibson Square outside the UI Main Library’s south entrance.

Presented by the University of Iowa Libraries and the University of Iowa Press, the festival will feature a mix of local and regional booksellers with new and used books for sale, a music stage, children’s activities, food vendors, book arts demonstrations, readings and panel discussions.

The Shambaugh Author Series will bring a mix of local, regional and national authors from a variety of genres to the Festival. Additionally, how-to discussions and hands-on workshops will give festival-goers opportunities to interact in a small group setting with other readers, writers and local literary experts on a wide range of topics.

Discussions will focus on how-to find or start a book discussion group; how-to get involved with adult literacy programs in Iowa City; how-to write a literary blog; how writers use libraries and archives to research; how-to work with a writers’ group. The workshops will provide hands-on opportunities to use library resources to find consumer health information, add historical context to genealogical research or read reviews of the latest best-sellers.

This first year of the Iowa City Book Festival will also commemorate the acquisition of the Libraries’ 5 millionth volume and Press’ 40th anniversary. To recognize this partnership, the Libraries selected one of the Press’ recent publications – The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa, edited by David Hudson, Marvin Bergman and Loren Horton. In addition to adding the physical book to the Libraries’ collection, we are developing digital, fully searchable version of the book in the Iowa Digital Library.

Editor Marvin Bergman will be among the speakers of the Shambaugh Author Series and UI Librarians will demonstrate the functionality of the Libraries’ digital version of this Iowa reference resource.

More information and updates about the Festival can be found on our website www.iowacitybookfestival.org.

Flooring replacement, including asbestos abatement, will begin in the Map Collection on May 18 and in the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) on May 21. Both departments are located on the third floor of the Main Library. The Map Collection project is expected to last through mid-August. The SLIS project should be completed by the beginning of June.

Map Collection will still be open as much as possible, and accessible via another door during the first phase and through the regular door during the second phase. It is very likely the department will close irregularly during normal hours. 

Map Collection visitors are strongly encouraged to call (319-335-5920) or e-mail (lib-maps@uiowa.edu) ahead to make arrangements.

The School of Library and Information Science will remain open regular summer hours. For questions about the project in SLIS, please contact the school at 319-335-5707 or e-mail (slis@uiowa.edu).

The open house and exhibit, “De Partu Hominis; Six Centuries of Obstetrics,” will feature rare books on childbirth from the 15th through the 20th centuries.  Visitors can view and page through early atlases and manuals used by midwives and physicians featuring illustrations and descriptions of birthing chairs, forceps, caesarean section, the development of anesthesia, and complications of labor and delivery. 

Among the dozens of works to be displayed include William Hunter’s striking 1774 atlas, The anatomy of the human gravid uterus, Oliver Wendell Holmes’ controversial 1842 treatise,  The contagiousness of puerperal fever, and De formato foetu, a set of plates rendered in the Baroque style, published in 1626. 

Thursday, May 14 from 4:30 to 7:30
John Martin Rare Book Room, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences 

The exhibit is part of a series of public lectures and presentation sponsored by the University of Iowa History of Medicine Society.  The John Martin Rare Book Room is located on the fourth floor of the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.  For additional information, please contact Ed Holtum, Curator at 335-9154.

Space is still available in the Energy Workshop scheduled for May 19th.

The University of Iowa Libraries’ will sponsor a 3-hour hands-on workshop in using U.S. Department of Energy databases and will be taught by Tim Byrne, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, DOE, Oak Ridge, TN.  Participants will learn to navigate DOE databases, develop query formulation, and database-specific search techniques.  Participants will become familiar with major web sites and learn to use databases through individual and federated searching.

Tuesday, May 19
10 a.m - 1 p.m.
Information Arcade Classroom 1, Main Library

These are .gov resources freely accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.

To register, click here: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/govpubs/us/energy_wkshop.html . Registration deadline is May 15. For more information, contact Marianne Mason  or by phone at 319-335-5538.

Again this semester, due to popular demand, the UI Main Library will be open 24 hours starting Sunday, May 10 at 11 a.m. through Friday, May 15 at 10 p.m.

Computers in the ITC on the second floor will be available all night.

Research assistance will be available at the first floor information desk until MIDNIGHT.

Nite Ride has also extended hours over finals week, so if you need a ride home just give them a call (319-384-1111).

Hardin Library for the Health Sciences and the Pomerantz Business Library are open until MIDNIGHT. A 24-hour study space is available at Hardin.

Biological Sciences, Lichtenberger Engineering, Geoscience, Mathematical Sciences and Psychology Libraries are open until 8 p.m. The Physics Library is open until 7 p.m.

For more information about library hours during finals week, check online at www.lib.uiowa.edu/locations/hours.html.

To help students prepare for finals, the UI Libraries has put together a Finals Stimulus Package: FREE POP!

Main Library, North Exhibition Hall
Sunday, May 10 - Tuesday, May 12 @ 11 p.m. (while supplies last)

Lichtenberger Engineering, Mathematical Sciences and Physics Libraries
Monday, May 11 (while supplies last)

Biological Sciences, Pomerantz Business, Geoscience and Psychology Libraries
Tuesday, May 12 (while supplies last)

Hardin Library for the Health Sciences
Thursday, May 14 (while supplies last)

The UI Libraries received the Diet Coke, Coke and Sprite from an anonymous donor.

Join us for the fifth evening of the six-part series When the World Spoke Arabic: The Golden Age of Arab Civilization.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 7PM, ICPL, Meeting Rm. A

“The Thousand and One Nights: A Historical Perspective” (27 min.)
Encompassing fairy tales, romances, legends, fables, parables, and anecdotes, The Thousand and One Nights is a composite of popular oral stories that developed over several centuries, mainly during the Empire of the Caliphate. This program scrutinizes the wonderfully audacious tale of Scheherazade and what it tells the attentive reader about the dreams of Arab men and women during the empire’s golden age.

“Ulema and Philosophers: Faith vs. Reason in Islamic Arabia” (26 min.)
By replacing paganism with monotheism and tribal life with empire-building, the Arabs of the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties effected a complete paradigm shift in their worldview. This program studies the codification of Islamic law and assimilation of non-Arab texts—and the ensuing competition between the ulema, or doctors of the law, and the philosophers, who saw reason as an equal to divine enlightenment.

The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City Public Library, UI Middle East and Muslim World Studies Program, African Studies Program, and Medieval Studies Program are sponsors of this film series.

All films will be introduced by Edward Miner, International Studies Bibliographer, University of Iowa Libraries, with discussion to follow. This film series will be shown in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name in the north foyer of the University of Iowa Main Library. For more information, contact Edward Miner at (319)335-5883 or edward-miner@uiowa.edu.

Hardin librarians have developed an information guide about Swine Flu. All of the information contained in the guide is free and open to the public.

http://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/swineflu

Did you know that you can text a call number to your cell phone so you can go and find the item in the library stacks?

Simply use Smart Search (smartsearch.uiowa.edu) to find your item. Then click the title to view the full details of the record. On the right in the “Keeping this item” section is an option to “Text” the record. Just click the link, enter your 10 digit number without any spaces or dashes, and hit send. That’s it!

(Note: Carrier charges may apply)

The Asian American Coalition is screening “Finishing the Game” and “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” this weekend to celebrate the Asian Pacific Heritage Month.

Free Movie Screening at 101 Becker Communication Studies Building (BCSB)

“Finishing the Game” Director Justin Lin, 84 minutes   Friday, April 24 at 7:30 PM
Bruce Lee’s shocking death left legions of stunned fans and a legacy of 12 minutes from his unfinished Game of Death. Undeterred, studio executives launched a search for his replacement chronicled here through the eyes of five aspiring thespians who find out what the real game is.

If you are interested in finding Bruce Lee films in the library, please try Author Search in InfoHawk Catalog. If you are interested in learning more about Bruce Lee, try Subject Search with his name.

“Tie A Yellow Ribbon” Director Joy Dietrich, 86 minutes   Saturday, April 25 at 7:30 PM
The feature-length narrative film TIE A YELLOW RIBBON gives a rare view into the emotionally complex interior of a young Asian American woman, a Korean adoptee who needs to come to terms with her damaged past.

If you are interested in learning more about themes from this movie, you may want to try Subject Headings such as Intercountry adoption, Interracial adoption, Korean Americans, Adopted children, etc. for your search. You may be also interested in reading Prof. Sonia Ryang’s Writing Selves in Diaspora: Ethnography of Autobiographics of Korean Women in Japan and the United States (Main Library DS832.7.K6 R938 2008).”

Please contact Sunny Bounyalath at sunny-bounyalath@uiowa.edu if you have questions about attending the events.

As energy independence, demands for innovation in the automobile industry, and a revitalized infrastructure gain urgency in public policy discussions accessing energy research has become increasingly important for the research community, for state and local planners and consumers of energy.

The University of Iowa Libraries’ will sponsor a 3-hour hands-on workshop in using U.S. Department of Energy databases and will be taught by Tim Byrne, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, DOE, Oak Ridge, TN.  Participants will learn to navigate DOE databases, develop query formulation, and database-specific search techniques.  Participants will become familiar with major web sites and learn to use databases through individual and federated searching.

Tuesday, May 19
10 a.m - 1 p.m.
Information Arcade Classroom 1, Main Library

These are .gov resources freely accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.

To register, click here: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/govpubs/us/energy_wkshop.html . Registration deadline is May 15. For more information, contact Marianne Mason  or by phone at 319-335-5538.

Join us for the fourth evening in a six-part series of When the World Spoke Arabic: The Golden Age of Arab Civilization.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 7PM, ICPL, Meeting Rm. A

“The Secrets of the Human Body: Islam’s Contributions to Medicine” (27 min.)
This program investigates the practice of medicine during the Abbasid Caliphate, offering profiles of Jurjis ibn Jibrail, personal doctor to Caliph al-Mansur; Yuhanna ibn Masawayh, head of Caliph al-Ma’amun’s House of Wisdom; Rhazes, whose Kitab al-hawi outlines an exemplary clinical approach; Avicenna, universally known for his Canon of Medicine; and Abul Qasim al-Zahrawi, the father of modern surgery.

“Everything under the Sun: Astronomy, Mathematics, and Islam” (26 min.)
Picking up mathematics and astronomy from where the ancient Greeks had left off, Arab scholars paved the way for the Copernican revolution and the rebirth of science in Europe. This program reveals the Empire of the Caliphate’s role in developing the Indo-Arabic decimal system, algebra, and algorithms and in refining the science of optics and the Ptolemaic model of the solar system.

The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City Public Library, UI Middle East and Muslim World Studies Program, African Studies Program, and Medieval Studies Program are sponsors of this film series.

All films will be introduced by Edward Miner, International Studies Bibliographer, University of Iowa Libraries, with discussion to follow. This film series will be shown in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name in the north foyer of the University of Iowa Main Library. For more information, contact Edward Miner at (319)335-5883 or edward-miner@uiowa.edu.

In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the Asian American Coalition & UI Cultural Centers presents Dr. William Ming Liu on “Asian American Masculinity: The Portrayal of Asian American Men in Mainstream Media.”

Date: Thursday | April 16th, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Asian Pacific American Cultural Center 223 Lucon Drive  319-335-2719

Dr. Liu is the Program Director for the Counseling Psychology Program. He received his doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Maryland. At the University of Maryland, he founded the Asian American Studies Program and was the advisor to the Asian American Student Union. He has taught Introduction to Asian American Studies, Asian American Masculinity, and Asian Americans in Media. He was also the conference chair for the East of California, Asian American Studies Conference while at UM. He currently researches and publishes in the areas of poverty and masculinity, and has a forthcoming edited book on Asian American masculinity. He is the associate editor for the Psychology of Men and Masculinity as well as several other research journals.

UI professor Jennifer Feeley recommends the following books and films to those who are interested in this event. Feeley joined the Dept. of Asian and Slavic Languages and Literature in Fall 2008 and has been teaching courses like “Asian Humanities China”, “Transnational Chinese Cinemas”, “Modern Chinese Writers”, and “Seminar in Chinese Fiction: Modern and Contemporary Urban Literature and Culture.”

Books

1. Racial Castration: Managing Masculinity in Asian America by David Eng
   Main Library E184.O6 E53 2001
2. Writing Manhood in Black and Yellow: Ralph Ellison, Frank Chin, and the Literary Politics of Identity by Daniel Kim
   Main Library PS3553.H4897 Z74 2005
3. Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality and Identity by David Mura
   Main Library E184.J3 M7844 1996
4. Chinese American Masculinities: From Fu Manchu to Bruce Lee by Jachinson Chan
   Main Library P94.5.C57 C48 2001

Films

1. The Slanted Screen (Location Main Media Services Video record 26678 DVD ) is probably the best film for this purpose.
2. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle dir. Danny Leiner.  (Again, a fiction film, but the Asian American male leads are atypical.) Location Main Media Services Video record 16509 DVD
3. Any Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan film.

Refreshments will be provided. For more information or directions, please contact Hien Luong (hien-luong@uiowa.edu) or Lilly Chen (lilly-chen@uiowa.edu).

Join us for the third evening in the six-part series When the World Spoke Arabic: The Golden Age of Arab Civilization.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 7PM, ICPL, Meeting Rm. A

“The Muslim Town: Urban Life under the Caliphate” (27 min.)
Although the first towns the Arabs founded during the expansion of Arabia were only vast campsites, it was not long before their temporary dwellings gave way to the magnificent signature architecture of Arabian culture. What was it like to live in the Arab cities of the Abbasid dynasty, grand oases of refinement and innovation?

“An Art of Living: Arab Aesthetics in 9th-Century Spain” (27 min.)
As life among the aristocracy in Damascus and Baghdad attained its zenith of refinement, another important cultural center was developing in Islamic Cordoba. This program focuses on the remarkable cultural contributions of Ziryab, a talented young musician who fled the East for Andalusia and became the era’s preeminent arbiter of style and taste.

The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City Public Library, UI Middle East and Muslim World Studies Program, African Studies Program, and Medieval Studies Program are sponsors of this film series.

All films will be introduced by Edward Miner, International Studies Bibliographer, University of Iowa Libraries, with discussion to follow. This film series will be shown in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name in the north foyer of the University of Iowa Main Library. For more information, contact Edward Miner at (319)335-5883 or edward-miner@uiowa.edu.

Join the exhibit organizers for the Opening Reception of the newest Main Library exhibit “When the World Spoke Arabic: The Golden Age of Arab Civilization.”

Tuesday, April 7 at 4 p.m.
North Exhibition Hall

There will be Middle Eastern food by Ali Baba Restaurant; Middle Eastern music played on the qanun (or kanun) will be performed by Firaz Sultan. The qanun is a plucked string instrument similar to the zither.

Though the U.S. Census Bureau notes that only a little more than 1.6% of the population in Iowa claim Asian, Pacific Islander heritage, interest and support of Asian and Pacific Studies is well alive at the University of Iowa.

When the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies was founded at Iowa in 1986, substantial support was directed building library collections necessary for research, teaching and learning. Today the Libraries’ East Asian collection is directed by two full-time area studies librarians (one in Chinese studies and one in Japanese studies). The East Asian collection is one of the largest in Iowa and ranks about the middle of our peer institional libraries in the CIC.

To celebrate Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Asian American Coalition has invited Cyndi Chen, the Division Administrator for the Status of Iowans of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage, Department of Human Rights (CAPI) to campus. Ms. Chen is the first administrator for this office and is the first Asian immigrant to serve as an administrator in the state government of Iowa. 

She will be speaking about the issues and concerns facing Asian Pacific Islanders in Iowa.

Tuesday, April 7, 6:00pm-7:00pm
101 Becker Communication Studies Building

Refreshments will be served.

Join us for the second night of the six part film series When the World Spoke Arabic: The Golden Age of Arab Civilization.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 7PM, ICPL, Meeting Rm. A

“The Andalusian Epic: Islamic Spain” (27 min.)
This program addresses the expansion of the Arab empire into Spain, where Muslims ruled with tolerance for more than seven centuries. The introduction and consolidation of Islamic power in Spain, the creation of the Umayyad emirate by the sole survivor of the Umayyad dynasty, the rise of Cordoba as a cultural rival of Abbasid Baghdad, and the gradual ebb of Arab rule on the Iberian Peninsula are all discussed.
“They Surveyed the World: Exploring the Arab Empire and Beyond” (27 min.)
During the 10th century, people routinely journeyed from one end of the huge Arab empire to the other—and even into non-Islamic lands far to the north and the east. Who were these travelers, and what did they seek? This program captures what it was like to be a pilgrim in a caravan bound for Mecca, an official carrying out the Caliph’s orders, a scholar seeking knowledge, a merchant in search of new markets, and an explorer charting the seas.

The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City Public Library, UI Middle East and Muslim World Studies Program, African Studies Program, and Medieval Studies Program are sponsors of this film series.

All films will be introduced by Edward Miner, International Studies Bibliographer, University of Iowa Libraries, with discussion to follow. This film series will be shown in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name in the north foyer of the University of Iowa Main Library. For more information, contact Edward Miner at (319)335-5883 or edward-miner@uiowa.edu.

As part of the International Year of Astronomy, participants from around the world are hosting astronomy-related events in celebration of 100 Hours of Astronomy, April 3-5.

The University Libraries is joining in by providing a look at some of our history of astronomy materials. See rare books by Galileo and Brahe, celestial atlases and star charts, and explore the history of astronomy at the University of Iowa, including films featuring Dr. James Van Allen. 

Friday, April 3rd at 11:30 am
Main Library, Room 2032 

Presentations will be by Greg Prickman, Assistant Head of Special Collections, Wendy Robertson, Digital Resources Librarian, and Kari Kozak, Science Education & Outreach Librarian.

Photos, personal papers, oral histories, manuscripts, military records, original legal documents, maps and artifacts that chronicle lives, historical events and social movements are the kinds of material that make up archival collections. These resources are not only preserved for the historical record, but are collected for discovery and use. Technology has significantly increased the accessibility of these collections through databases that are free to the public.

Federal Documents Librarians at the UI Libraries are hosting a workshop on the use of archival materials. Speakers include: Lori Cox-Paul, Kansas City Regional Office, National Archives and Records Administration; Matt Schaefer , Hoover Presidential Library; Mary Bennett, State Historical Society of Iowa; as well as David McCartney, University Archivist; Karen Mason, Curator of the Iowa Women’s Archives; and Gary Frost, University Conservator all from the University of Iowa Libraries.

For more information, please check http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/govpubs/us/archives_wkshop.html

The workshop is currently full, but you are welcome to add your name to the Wait List.

When was the last time you really devoured a good book? This year, the University of Iowa’s Center for the Book invites faculty, staff and students to join us in celebrating the annual International Edible Books Festival by creating a delicious book to share with your fellow literary and food enthusiasts.

To celebrate this international event, the Book Arts Club is organizing an exhibition of edible books to be on display on April 1st (no joke!) in the North Lobby of the University of Iowa Main Library. There are only two rules; entries must be edible and they must have something to do with books as shapes and/or content. An entry fee of $5 goes to support the Book Arts Club.

Edible books will be on display from 10am - 12 noon, followed by a reception and book tasting from 12 - 2pm. The awards ceremony starts at 12:30 pm, with prizes awarded based on Best Book Structure, Most Creative Literary Reference, and Best In Show. Also, all entries are automatically entered into a raffle for free sketchbooks from Blick Art Materials.

* The International Edible Book Festival is a yearly event held on April 1st throughout the world. This event unites bibliophiles, book artists, and food lovers to celebrate the ingestion of culture and its fulfilling nourishment. Participants create edible books that are exhibited, documented, and then consumed. Information and inspiration can be found on the Festival’s home page at www.Books2Eat.com.

http://www.uiowa.edu/~ctrbook/events/index.shtml#edible_books

With the fall of Rome, Europe turned its back on the marvelous contributions of Classical civilization. But the legacy of Greek thought was not completely lost. It lived on and developed elsewhere: in the Arab world. Supported by expert commentary and enhanced by footage of historic Arab architecture and period works of art, this comprehensive series (in twelve parts, shown over six evenings) documents the remarkable history and the most significant cultural, scientific and technical achievements of the Arab empire, which came to prominence between the 7th and 13th centuries.

Dates: April 1, 8, 15, 22; May 6, 20
Time: 7pm
Venue: Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A

The first showing will be WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 7PM, ICPL, Meeting Rm. A

“The Arabs Make Their Entrance: Islam and Empire” (26 min.)
As the shadow of the Dark Ages fell across Europe, the scene for the advancement of Western civilization shifted to the Near East. This program charts the rise of the Arab empire, from its roots in the long-standing rivalry between the Byzantines and the Sassanids.

“Once Upon a Time: Baghdad During the Abbasid Dynasty” (26 min.)
The victory of the Abbasids over the Umayyads signified much more than the replacement of one dynasty with another. With it, Islam saw the birth of a multiethnic concept of power, in which both Arab and non-Arab Muslims could share authority.

The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City Public Library, UI Middle East and Muslim World Studies Program, African Studies Program, and Medieval Studies Program are sponsors of this film series.

All films will be introduced by Edward Miner, International Studies Bibliographer, University of Iowa Libraries, with discussion to follow. This film series will be shown in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name in the north foyer of the University of Iowa Main Library. For more information, contact Edward Miner at (319)335-5883 or edward-miner@uiowa.edu.

One of the most controversial episodes in the history of public health was the late 19th and early 20th century eugenics movement. Relying on faulty science and nationalist bigotry, eugenicists sought to identify and retain “superior” human genetic stocks while restraining the spread of “inferiors.”

Kathryn Gaskill, Honors Candidate the Department of History, will provide insight into this dubious movement in her presentation to the UI History of Medicine Society,  “A ‘More Perfect’ Nation; The Midwest’s Role in the Eugenics Campaign to Eradicate Degeneracy.”

Tuesday, March 24
5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Main Library, Room 2032
Light refreshments served.

Midwestern states, including Iowa, acted to limit reproduction of their population’s “degenerate” elements by legislating involuntary sexual sterilization of the “feeble-minded” and habitual criminals. These states also attempted to retain the “favorable” members of society through the Country Life Movement, which sought to prevent urban migration by making farm life more attractive to rural young people.

The session is open to the public. For additional information, contact Edwin Holtum at 319-335-9154.

The State Historical Society of Iowa’s popular “History for Lunch” lecture series continues this month with Janet Weaver, assistant curator of the Iowa Women’s Archives at the University of Iowa.

History for Lunch will be at noon Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at SHSI’s Centennial Building, 402 Iowa Avenue (Iowa and Gilbert streets) in Iowa City. The lecture is free and the public is encouraged to bring a brown bag lunch. Call 319-335-3911 for more information.

Weaver’s discussion, “Of Buttons and Barrios: Iowa Women Activists for Labor and Civil Rights, 1910-1960,” focuses on the agency of Eastern Iowa women in the long struggle for social and economic justice that preceded landmark legislative gains of the 20th century.

“Whether button workers in Muscatine or factory workers who lived in Mexican barrios in the Quad Cities, the activism of working-class Iowa women of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds challenges us to reconsider our understanding of early to mid-century Iowa history,” Weaver said.

Weaver earned a master’s degree in modern history at St. Andrews University in Scotland and is the author of a forthcoming article in the Summer 2009 issue of “Annals of Iowa” entitled, “From Barrio to ‘¡Boicoteo!’: The Emergence of Mexican American Activism in Davenport, Iowa, 1917-1970.”

The State Historical Society of Iowa is a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and is a trustee of Iowa’s historical legacy and an advocate for understanding Iowa’s past. It identifies, records, collects, preserves, manages and provides access to Iowa’s historical resources. Its dual mission of preservation and education serves Iowans of all ages, conducts and stimulates research, disseminates information, and encourages and supports historical preservation and education efforts of others throughout the state. Visit www.iowahistory.org or call 515-281-5111 for more information.

W-2s, 1099s, 1040s. It’s like an algebra problem without an answer sheet. UI Librarians have put together some quick information and links to relevant government websites for you.

http://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/taxes

Work is being done in the Main Library this week to replace major water valves. While this work is being completed, water will be shut off to the north end of the building, meaning that restrooms in those areas of the building will be closed.