Library News

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.