Library News

The UI Libraries welcome National History Day students from across Eastern Iowa to a research workshop. These students prepare projects around a theme and present them at an annual competition.

Reference, Special Collections and Iowa Women’s Archives library staff put together a special library guide webpage for these students: http://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/nhd .

Students will be visiting the Main Library on Thursday, November 19. If you have any questions, please contact Janalyn Moss, Reference & Instruction Librarian, 335-5698.

Food for Thought manager Terry Endreshak was recently profiled in the Daily Iowan’s Spotlight Iowa City series.

Read the full article on the DI website.

click to read letter

To Constitution Day Participants at The University of Iowa Libraries:

The Founding Fathers signed the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. That day marked the completion of one of the most important documents not only in United States history, but in the history of democratic governance. In making this document the core of our new country, the Founding Fathers declared that the rights and freedoms enumerated in the Constitution would be the foundation and guiding principles for the United States of America.

It is precisely because these rights and freedoms are at the core of American democracy that we must remain vigilant in protecting and upholding them. In order to do so, I believe it is the responsibility of every American to study the Constitution. This is why it is my honor to provide copies of the Constitution for you to take home with you.

I applaud your participation in today’s events and hope that you will find the copies of the Constitution useful. I encourage all of you to honor the legacy of our Constitution by remaining engaged in your communities as well as in the state and national issues that matter most to you.

Sincerely,

Dave Loebsack
Member of Congress

Editor’s Note: Representative Loebsack’s office provided copies of the pocket Constitution. You can pick up yours at the North Circulation desk of the Main Library.

Learn your way around the library on your own time and at your own pace. Use the libraries’ downloadable mp3 audio tours of all 5 floors of the Main Library.

Each tour lasts 2-4 minutes, and you should be able to complete the whole tour in under 30 minutes. Knowing where the good stuff is in the library will save you time and effort when you need it.

Download tours at http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/ref/librarytour.html and take them when you have the time.

For more personalized information about the library, doing research or finding the right information, Ask a Librarian!

You can pick up the materials you’ve requested through Interlibrary Loan at the Main Library North Circulation desk any hours that the Main Library is open.

Requests can be made through our online system.

Any questions about Interlibrary Loan can be answered by staff at the South Circulation desk.

It’s the dawn of a new era in the Information Arcade®. In its first 20 years, much of the focus in the Arcade was on integrating technology into teaching and learning, which has become mainstream activity on campus and supported by many different departments like ITS-Instructional Services.

Digital Library Services has relocated to the Arcade to create a center of digital research and scholarship. In the coming year, we will focus on integrating technology into research and scholarship – supporting new forms of scholarly publishing, digital humanities, data curation, and open/linked data. The Arcade will be the home of the Iowa Digital Library and Iowa Research Online. It will also be a place for librarian/faculty partnerships in e-research and other digital library initiatives.

Rather than defining a set of services, we want to remain flexible and embrace the notion of “perpetual beta,” mirroring the collaborative, dynamic processes used in e-research and e-scholarship. To that end we are kicking off an e-Research task force which will employ several information-gathering strategies, ranging from brown bag discussions to a public planning wiki, and work together across disciplines and professional roles (e.g., scholar, librarian, IT professional) to identify themes and develop a plan of action.

Many of the services previously offered in the Information Arcade have been mainstreamed across campus. For example multimedia software titles, including the Adobe Creative Suite, are widely available in campus ITCs and on library public workstations. For specific questions, inquire at the ITS Help Desk (319-384-HELP) or the Main Library Information Desk (319-335-5299).

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).

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.

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.

The University of Iowa Libraries will offer two introductory workshops on Smart Search, a new resource discovery tool, in February. Smart Search makes it easy to search across all UI Libraries content, including books, digital materials and online journals, from one search box.

Both workshops take place in Main Library, Information Arcade Classroom 1. No registration is required, but seating may be limited. Dates and times:

* February 24, 3:30-5:00 p.m.
* February 27, 1:30-3:00 p.m.

For more information, contact the Main Library Reference & Library Instruction Department at 319-335-5299.

Building & Landscape Services will be testing the fire alarms in the Main Library on Thursday, January 22, 2009. 

The testing will take approximately 8 hours and will involve testing strobes and speakers. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Lou Galante at 335-5125 or the Work Control Center at 335-5071.

The first biennial conference, Art, Fact and Artifact: The Book in Time and Place, of the College Book Art Association begins today, January 8 and runs through Saturday, January 10 and is hosted by the University of Iowa Center for the Book.

Conference activities include talks, artist presentations, exhibits, demos, professional development and tours over the three days. A complete schedule is available on the conference website.

Many of the activities including registration and the keynote address take place in the Main Library.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Graduate College, the English Department, the School of Art and Art History, the UI Main Libraries, and the School of Library and Information Sciences.

Get your caffiene fix with a mug o’ joe at the Main Library.

Sunday, December 14; Monday, December 15; and Tuesday, December 16 at MIDNIGHT free coffee will be available (while it lasts) near the Food for Thought Library Cafe.

That should keep you juiced through the wee hours.

Again this year, the UI Libraries welcome National History Day students from across Eastern Iowa to a research workshop. These students prepare projects around a theme and present them at an annual competition.

Reference, Special Collections and Iowa Women’s Archives library staff put together a special webpage for these students: National History Day Research Workshop.

Students will be visiting the Main Library on Thursday, November 13 and Wednesday, November 19. If you have any questions, please contact Kristi Bontrager, Public Relations Coordinator, 335-5960.

Is the election becoming a little too intense for you?  Lighten up by casting your Great Northern Bean to vote in the Main Library’s strictly unofficial presidential bean poll on Election Day, Nov. 4th. 

The bean poll will be located at the kiosk near the Information Desk at the Main Library.

Here’s how it works; simply drop a bean in the glass jar marked with your candidate’s name between 8:00 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4th, Election Day.  Library Poll workers will tally the count and announce the results on Wednesday, Nov. 5th.

The six major presidential candidates according to Project Vote Smart are:

• Charles O. Baldwin (Constitution Party)
• Robert L. Barr (Independent, Libertarian Party)
• John S. McCain, III (Republican Party)
• Cynthia Ann McKinney (Independent, Green Party)
• Ralph Nader (No Party Affiliation, Independent)
• Barack H. Obama, Jr. (Democratic Party)

Through a display at the Main Library, the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., proudly presents, “Delta Women Who Have Served in the Political Arena,” to honor past and present members of the sorority who have served in public office. Members of the 95-year-old organization have labored in various capacities of local, state and federal government.

Political Awareness and Involvement is one of the organization’s Five Point Thrust, and only months after founding the sorority, young Delta women at Howard University participated in the Suffrage Parade on Washington on March 3, 1913. Although Black women suffragists had few allies and their concerns were not on the agenda, Delta women realized that Black women needed the ballot. Asked to march at the rear of the procession, Delta women were not discouraged and marched on Pennsylvania Avenue alongside women representing states, countries, organizations, and colleges. In 2008, Delta women continue to march for freedom and justice!

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world. The Delta Chapter at the University of Iowa will celebrate its 90th anniversary in April 2009. The Iowa City-Cedar Rapids Alumnae chapter is composed of UI alums and current graduate students.

To learn more about Delta Sigma Theta in Iowa, you can check resources like the Catherine Williams Papers in the Iowa Women’s Archives as well as the digital collection of African-American Women in Iowa.

The display will be presented at the south end of the first floor of the Main Library through the end of November.

This Wednesday, October 15, Main Library will serve as a Satellite Early Voting Station.  The voting will take place in the North Lobby, and voting hours will be from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.

University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine faculty members Loreen Herwaldt, M.D., and Marcy Rosenbaum, Ph.D., will present their play “Grand Rounds: Experiencing Cancer” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 25-26, at Shambaugh Auditorium in the Main Library. There will be open discussion with the cast and authors following each performance.

Written by Herwaldt, Rosenbaum and Austin Bunn, a graduate of the UI Writers’ Workshop, “Grand Rounds” explores the physical, emotional, spiritual and social aspects of cancer from the perspectives of cancer patients.

For more information, check the website (www.experiencingcancer.com).

The University of Iowa Libraries will offer two introductory workshops on Smart Search, a new resource discovery tool, in February. Smart Search makes it easy to search across all UI Libraries content, including books, digital materials and online journals, from one search box.

Both workshops take place in Main Library, Information Arcade Classroom 1. No registration is required. Dates and times:

• February 19, 3:00-4:30 p.m.
• February 22, 10:30-noon

For more information about the workshops, contact Steve Ostrem, Reference Librarian at lib-ref@uiowa.edu.

For over 400 years, news was disseminated to the poor and uneducated masses in England, Ireland, and other European countries through street literature. Many forms eventually reached America and other parts of the world. Street literature was a mirror of society, with its half-truths, lies, folk poetry, romances, and all manner of other foibles. Every imaginable subject was covered: politics, church propaganda, birth, death, love, marriage, adultery, murders, executions (often including what was claimed to be a final letter/confession by the accused), other crimes, sea adventures, and wars. 

This exhibit concentrates on types of street literature in England in the 16th through 19th centuries: how it was produced; the subjects it embraced; two of the chief publishers of the 1800s; and samples and copies housed in the University of Iowa Libraries.

The exhibit in Special Collections on the third floor of the Main Library will be on display through March. It is FREE and open to the public during regular library hours.

Each fall, the University of Iowa Libraries hosts research workshops in the Main Library for junior high and high school students who are preparing National History Day projects.

Library staff present online and unique library resources to these students, then students are given free research time.

• Tuesday, October 30th, students from the Linn-Mar School District will participate
• Wednesday, November 14th students from Cedar Rapids, Urbandale, Pleasant Valley and Davenport will participate.

The UI Main Library has been designated as a location for early election voting.

Monday, October 22 from 2 – 8 p.m.
Wednesday, October 24 from 4 – 10 p.m.

To vote early, visit the volunteers stationed in the North Exhibition Hall of the Main Library during the above times.

For more information about the election, check the Johnson County Auditor’s website.

Hispanic Heritage Month is an annual event celebrating the culture and traditions of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean, as well as the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States.

The Hispanic community in Iowa is experiencing an exciting time of change as it begins historic growth in the state.  The Hispanic population in 2006—nearly 115,000—represents an increase of 28% since 2000.  Hispanic enrollment at the University of Iowa during the spring term in 2007 was 767.

The Main Library is hosting an exhibit for the 2007 Hispanic Heritage Month.  It is located across from the Information Desk, near the elevator. The display features selected items from the Iowa Women’s Archives’ “Mujeres Latinas” project and highlights University of Iowa Hispanic and Latina/o students, faculty and alumni, as well as resources available in the Main Library about the Hispanic and Latina/o experience.

For more information on the exhibit contact Rachel Garza Carreón at rachel-carreon@uiowa.edu.

As classes begin at the University of Iowa, the Libraries resume the regular semester schedule.

Open on weekdays until 2 a.m., the Main Library is one of the few places on campus students can go to study late.

The ITC (Instructional Technology Center) on the second floor of the Main Library is the largest on campus. It is open and staffed all the hours that the building is open.

The Food for Thought Library Cafe stays open until 11 p.m. most evenings to satisfy those late night study break munchies.

Starting July 1st, UI students, faculty and staff will be able to login to the Libraries’ online Interlibrary Loan system to request articles and book chapters that the Libraries’ holds only in hard copy. In addition to making their requests online, they will also be able to track their requests online.

This isn’t a new service; students, faculty and staff have been able to request delivery of articles and book chapters from the UI Libraries for years via the Article Delivery Services (the new service will also include the former Pagerunner service), but now they can do it completely online.

Any article from a journal held by the UI Libraries (excluding the Law Library and the Curriculum Lab) can be photocopied and delivered to a home address or delivered electronically through email. Photocopies will be mailed or delivered electronically via email within 24-48 hours.

Contact the Main Library Interlibrary Loan via e-mail (lib-ill@uiowa.edu) or phone 319-335-5917 or the Hardin Library for the Health Science Interlibrary Loan via email (lib-hardin-ill@uiowa.edu) or phone 319-335-9874 for more information.

New alarms on the east-side emergency doors will be tested Thursday, May 31 in the morning. The alarm will be noticeable at the North Desk as well as in areas near the east stairwell. 

Also, on Monday, June 4 the fire alarms in the Main Library will be tested. Testing could last up to 8 hours, and will involve the flashing of strobes and sounding of speakers.  Air handlers will also need to be shut down briefly.

Questions should be directed to the UI fire prevention at 335-5125 or the Work Control Center at 335-5071.

As the semester winds down, the number of people in the Main Library increases and everyone is looking for a good place to study. In an effort to help students find appropriately quiet spaces to work, the UI Libraries has designated a couple of different types of study space.

• Quiet Study – when you are working in these designated spaces in the Main Library, please do not talk and turn off all audible electronic devices. You can find Quiet Study spaces on the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Floors.

Group Study – when you are working on a project with your classmates, these designated spaces provide large work areas to spread out your materials. Group Study areas are available on a first-come, first-served basis for UI students on the Second, Fourth and Fifth Floors.

These designated areas are marked with signs. You can also print a map (pdf) of the Main Library which highlights these areas. More information about undesignated space and Graduate Study Carrels is available.