Linda Walton, associate university librarian and director of the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, has been accepted for the prestigious National Library of Medicine’s 2011 fellowship program in Biomedical Informatics held at the Marine Biological Laboratory located in Woods Hole, MA. This week-long survey course is designed to familiarize individuals with the application of computer technologies and information science in biomedicine and health science. Taught by a nationally known faculty, the course prepares students to become actively involved in making informed decisions about computer-based tools in his/her organizational environment.
UI Libraries bind 10,000-page, two-foot thick book of poetry
The University of Iowa Libraries now has a massive volume of poetry in its collection, a 100-volume work of 10,000 pages of poetry, measuring two feet thick.
The book, “Poetry City Marathon” was written by Iowa City poet Dave Morice (aka Dr. Alphabet) during a 100-day poetry marathon this summer. The marathon was a highlight of an UI Main Library exhibit from July to October 2010 about the history of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the Actualist Poetry Movement. The full text of the book and is at http://iowacitypoetrymarathon.com/index.html.
Sponsored by Sackter House Media in Iowa City, the book was made as part of the celebration of Iowa City being named a City of Literature by UNESCO. The final text of 10,119, 8 1/2 by 11-inch pages was printed out by Bu Wilson and bound by Bill Voss of the UI Libraries Preservation Department.
Nancy Kraft, head of the Preservation Department, said it was no small task to bind a 10,000-page book. It usually takes about three hours to bind a 200-page book, but “Poetry City Marathon” took 24 hours to bind, spread over four days with a half day devoted to making a special press to put all the pages together.
“You can’t get your hands around all 10,000 pages at once so the book needs to be assembled into smaller units and then bound together using a specially constructed press to hold everything in place, nicely squared up, until the book text block is dry,” she explained.
Kraft added that the book must be supported while reading, which can be done by using blocks to support the “shorter” side and adjusted as the reader turns the page.
Now that the work is complete, Preservation staff and Morice are considering submitting “Poetry City Marathon” to the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s thickest book.
For more details and photos of the binding process, see http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/preservation/.
Digital Collection of Portraits in Conversation with Felix de la Concha
The University of Iowa Libraries is pleased to announce the launch of its latest digital collection, Félix de la Concha’s Portraits in Conversation— http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/felixdelaconcha .
De la Concha is a painter who creates multidimensional portrayals of his subjects while conducting and recording interviews about their life, work, and views on art. The collection features Spanish-language interviews with some of the leading cultural figures in Spain, as well as English-language interviews recorded in the U.S., including with writers at The University of Iowa’s International Writing Program.
Spanish-born de la Concha studied at the Facultad de Bellas Artes in Madrid, where he was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome. His work has been exhibited in museums around the world, with solo exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States. De la Concha lives in Madrid and Iowa City with his wife, poet and University of Iowa professor Ana Merino. The two are close collaborators, with Merino frequently drawing upon de la Concha’s work in her scholarship on the choreography of storytelling.
In 2005 de la Concha embarked on a project to record his portrait sittings with writers and artists. “This series started as a kind of experiment: I wanted to see what kind of portrait would come about if, while I was painting the model, the focus was kept on conversation, and the model’s pose was constrained for only two hours,” he explains. “Each portrait was an unpredictable adventure, both in its conversation and in the painting that resulted.” In 2007 de la Concha began a similar project creating portraits of Holocaust survivors. He has exhibited these works at museums such as the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Madrid and the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College.
This collection of de la Concha’s interviews and portraits is the latest edition to the Iowa Digital Library ( http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu ), which features more than 300,000 digital objects created from the holdings of The University of Iowa Libraries and its campus partners. Included are illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, fine art, political cartoons, scholarly works, and more. The University of Iowa Libraries is a staunch supporter of new forms of scholarly publishing, digital humanities, data curation, and open/linked data.
UICB @ 25 Exhibit in Main Library
The new exhibition in the North Hall of the Main Library celebrates the 25th anniversary of the UI Center for the Book, UICB @ 25: The Future of a Legacy (www.lib.uiowa.edu/exhibits).
The UICB is a unique program that conjoins training in the technique and artistry of bookmaking with research into the history and culture of books. The first twenty-five years of the UICB reach back to the University’s distinctive programs in art practice at the graduate level, while looking forward to the new media world we find ourselves in today.
Trace the history of the UICB through the work of current and former students, faculty and staff. Remarkable works held in the Libraries Special Collections as well as beautiful pieces loaned from alumni bookartists. Learn about the disciplines studied in the UICB – papermaking, letterpress printing, calligraphy and book binding – and view the tools book artists use.
The exhibit is free and open to the public in the University of Iowa Main Library during regular library hours through the end of February.
Iowa Geological Survey Annual Reports online
The University of Iowa Libraries has recently posted the Iowa Geological Survey Annual Report (1893-1941) online. The annual reports contain information on the topography and geological formations of all of Iowa’s counties, assessments of Iowa’s mineral resources, and reports on Iowa’s water resources. Whether being used to grow crops in the field, livestock in the pasture, or to harvest minerals from the ground, the physical environment of Iowa has been the lifeblood of Iowa’s economy. These reports were the first detailed, organized reports on the geology and natural history of Iowa and sometimes included other information like the plant species of the time.
We anticipate this material will be most useful to educators and other individuals in Iowa and surrounding states. This digital collection features the full volumes, complete with scans of both the color and the oversized plates. Some images in this publication may be of lower quality, but there is a collection of exceptional photographs of many parts of Iowa by one of IGSAR’s frequent authors (and former State Geologist), Samuel Calvin.
Hardin Library participates in pipeline education project
Saba Rasheed Ali, an associate professor in the University of Iowa Counseling Psychology Department in the College of Education, received a Roy J. Carver charitable trust grant of more than $11,000 to expand a career education program called Project HOPE (Healthcare, Occupations, Preparation, Exploration): Pipeline Education for Underserved Rural Students.The initiative will allow middle school students to explore future job opportunities in the health science field. The project focuses on rural areas in Iowa that include a large Mexican immigrant population.
In addition to the UI College of Education, other areas collaborating on this project with the West Liberty and Columbus Community Middle Schools include the UI health science colleges (Medicine, Public Health, Pharmacy, Nursing and Dentistry), the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, the State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa and the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC).
Measuring Our Worth
UI Libraries would like your comments regarding the type of information that you use for your research. In particular, we would like to know your experience with federal government information, the services provided, and how you find information that you need.
Here’s a link to a 16-question survey that will help us better understand the value and learning outcomes from using government-authored resources at the UI Libraries: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HSLCRRB
Thanks for completing the survey, so we can do a better job in serving you.
Iowa City Book Festival Named “Attraction of the Year”
Great cities of literature have great book festivals. Thanks to the Iowa City Book Festival, presented by The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City is no exception. The Iowa City Book Festival is the 2010 Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Attraction of the Year.
“The Iowa City Book Festival is just a wonderful addition to the rich literary tradition of our community,” said CVB President Josh Schamberger. “In just its second year, it has already become the kind of event that attracts residents and visitors alike to celebrate books, reading, and authors.”
Attendance at the 2010 edition of the festival was more than four times that seen in the inaugural year, in part due to a concerted effort to work with the retail community to host events in businesses on the final day of the festival. Those events, many of which were standing room only, complemented the impressive slate of readings and discussions that occurred earlier in the festival while attracting customers to the businesses that participated.
“We were very surprised to learn that the CVB recognized the Iowa City Book Festival presented by The University of Iowa Libraries as attraction of the year,” said University Librarian Nancy Baker. “We are thankful to the CVB, the other libraries in Johnson County, and our partners in the business community. We asked these organizations to take a chance on us and our idea, and together we created a great new event in Iowa City.”
One of the festival’s co-directors notes that the award suggests the event is meeting expectations.
“This award from the CVB is particularly gratifying as it recognizes one of our main goals for the festival: to develop an attraction that brings people to the University Library in celebration of our community’s rich literary and book arts heritage,” said Greg Prickman of The University of Iowa Libraries.
Co-director Kristi Bontrager of The University of Iowa Libraries is thankful for the support of a literary town: “I think the success of the Iowa City Book Festival is due to the fantastic support we receive from this community. We are a community readers and writers. And for a couple of days in the middle of July, thousands of us come together to talk about books. What could be more fun?”
Invisible Book-a-Thon Closes City of Literature Exhibit
As the City of Literature: Literary Life in Iowa City exhibit comes to a close this week, Dr. Alphabet will perform a reading. His costume has been on display throughout the exhibit.
Thursday, Nov. 18th, 2010
3:00 – 5:00 PM
North Exhibit Hall, Main Library
Lawrence named Midwest MLA President-Elect
Janna Lawrence, Assistant Director of the Hardin Library for Health Sciences, is president-elect of the Midwest Chapter/Medical Library Association. She will serve as president-elect, president and past-president for the Chapter. Janna will preside over the October 2012 annual meeting to be held in Rochester, MN.