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University of Iowa

University Libraries

Sep 1 2010

City of Literature in the UI Main Library

When Iowa City was named a City of Literature in 2008, it joined Edinburgh and Melbourne to become the third city worldwide to receive this designation (Dublin, Ireland was named fourth city in July 2010)–a recognition of a century and a half of activity in a small university city that has played a role in the world of literature far out of proportion with its size. Iowa City has long been host to a lively literary scene that has extended beyond the university’s campus to inform the spirit of the community.

An exhibit in The University Main Library, “City of Literature: Literary Life in Iowa City” highlights diverse aspects of literary life both at the University of Iowa and throughout Iowa City.

Literary artifacts such as Dr. Alphabet’s suit and top hat, the application to UNESCO City of Literature and images of the Iowa City Literary Walk poems are part of the exhibit. As well as works by a few of the myriad writers who have called Iowa City home.

The exhibit is free and open to the public during regular library hours.

Sep 1 2010

Iowa City Book Festival Publicity and Marketing Interns Wanted

Marketing interns will assist in all aspects of the marketing and publicity work for promotion of the 2011 Iowa City Book Festival. Interns must be in Iowa City for the summer of 2011.

ICBF 2010 intern, Katelyn McBride says “The internship gave me experience in many different areas: event planning, community outreach, media relations, public relations, creative projects, writing and editing… you meet a lot of different people and do a lot of different things. I felt like a valuable asset to the planning committee. It’s a fun group to work with and a rewarding process to see all your hard work pay off with a successful weekend event.”

Some duties will be based on experience and skills of the interns, others on the needs of the committee. Scope of responsibilities is to assist in planning and organizing promotional plans for the Iowa City Book Festival; also to serve as primary tacticians in the execution of distribution of promotional materials, research, and social media management.

Specific Duties to include, but not limited to:

  1. Attending committee meetings with Kristi Bontrager and Allison Means
  2. Writing articles and conducting interviews about and with authors
  3. Working to schedule interviews and planning for authors
  4. Continuing development of potential partner list of local and regional businesses to be utilized as possible sponsors and/or partners in “A Day in the City of Literature,” and purveyors of event information
  5. Maintaining and updating social media pages and platforms appropriate to publicize the ICBF (www.facebook.com/iowacitybookfestival)
  6. Distributing promotional materials to all participating sites in the Iowa City Area
  7. Creating logistical planning itineraries with regional potential partners for publicity and information distribution
  8. Helping support and publicize upcoming fundraisers in the fall and spring semesters
  9. Researching other events, festivals and area venues appropriate for material posting or physical presence in promoting the event
  10. Assisting in Volunteer orientation prior to ICBF (weekend and weekdays)
  11. Being available throughout the festival for duties as assigned, from set-up to tear down. ** Please keep in mind that from Friday, July 1 through the weekend of July 15 – 17, a schedule of longer hours will be required.

Applicants should be aware that not all duties will be equally challenging, but all will be duties that are regularly performed by committee members during the process of publicizing the ICBF. Upon completion of the 2011 ICBF, the confident and successful intern will be able to receive letters of recommendation from the ICBF planning committee.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Current enrollment or acceptance at the University of Iowa
  • Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
  • Photoshop, InDesign, Powerpoint, and Microsoft Suite experience desired

HOURS

Start date: Thursday, September 23, 2010
End date: Monday, July 18, 2011

Fall 2010 Semester (Sept. 23 – Nov. 30): 2-5 hours/week
Spring 2011 Semester (Jan. 19 – May 2): 10-15 hours/week
Summer 2011 (June 1 – June 30): 15-20 hours/week
July 1 – the Festival: 20+ hours

APPLICATION

Please answer question below and return via email only to kristi-r-bontrager@uiowa.edu before September 13.

Name

Address

Phone

Student ID

E-mail

Describe any course work or job experience that involved any aspects of publicity, marketing or public relations.

What skills make you a good candidate for this position?

What are your career goals? Be specific as possible.

Describe your computer skills.

Aug 27 2010

Sciences Library Open House, Aug 31

Please join us for a special Sciences Library Open House.  This is your chance to see all that the Sciences Library has to offer, while enjoying some sweet treats and refreshments!

Sciences Library Open House
Tuesday, August 31
1:00 – 3:00pm
Sciences Library – 120 Iowa Ave (across from Joe’s Place)

Specifically, come check out the Books, Journals, Reference and Reserve for Biological Sciences, Geosciences, Physics & Astronomy AND Reference and Reserve for Chemistry and Psychology! 

Please contact Kari Kozak (kari-kozak@uiowa.edu or 5-3024) or Leo Clougherty (leo-clougherty@uiowa.edu or 5-3083) for more information and/or view the attached flyer.  Hope to see you there!

Aug 26 2010

Celebrate 90 years of “Votes for Women”, Aug 26

August 26, 1920 marks the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote.  But the campaign for women’s suffrage began long before that and the story of Iowa women reflects the stories of women across the country.

As we celebrate 90 years of equal suffrage, the Iowa Women’s Archives (IWA) is undertaking a project to make these valuable and unique items of local and state history available online. IWA has received a grant from the State Historical Society, Inc. to digitize important documents pertaining to the women’s suffrage movement in Iowa and create a resource page linking Iowa suffrage materials across the state.

For a brief history of the women’s suffrage movement in Iowa and examples of the resources that will be available through the Iowa Digital Library in summer 2011, take a look at Women’s Suffrage in Iowa: A Sneak Peek of a New Digital Collection.

Aug 26 2010

Vascular Plants of Iowa is newest addition to the Iowa Digital Library

When anyone who works with the vascular plants of Iowa—researchers, conservationists, teachers, agricultural specialists, horticulturists, gardeners—have needed information about the state’s plants, they have turned to Lawrence Eiler and Dean Roosa’s The Vascular Plants of Iowa: An Annotated Checklist and Natural History. This meticulously researched volume was first published by the University of Iowa Press in 1994.

Today, through a collaborative project with The University of Iowa Libraries, Vascular Plants has been digitized and pulled together in an easily searchable online research tool (digital.lib.uiowa.edu/uipress/vpi). Like the printed book, the digital version consists of an extended essay on the natural history of the vascular plants of Iowa, a discussion of their origins, a description of the state’s natural regions, and a painstakingly annotated checklist of Iowa vascular plants.

All known vascular plants that grow and persist in Iowa without cultivation are included in the checklist. These are native plants, primarily, but a large number of introduced species have become established throughout the state. Also included are Iowa’s major crop plants and some of its common garden plants. The lengthy checklist provides an accurate and comprehensive listing of species names and common names, synonyms, distribution, habitat, abundance, and origin; county names are given for very rare species, and the most complete information has been provided for all rare plants and troublesome species.

The wealth of information in this well-organized, practical volume describes more than two thousand species from Adiantum pedatum, the northern maidenhair fern of moist woods and rocky slopes, to Zannichellia palustris, the horned pondweed of shallow marshes and coldwater streams—makes it possible to identify Iowa plants correctly.

The print version of the book is available for purchase on the UI Press website .

Jul 26 2010

Flooring Project in Main Library

Work to remove the carpeting in front of the cafe and the alcove seating area between the entrance and exit at the south end starts this Friday. The first step will be to remove existing carpet and seal off the area(s) so prep work can begin.

During this two week project neither staff nor public will be allowed access through the area. The Food for Thought will be closed.  The freight elevator will be available only to the contractor.  The other south elevator (west side) is to be programmed to not stop on first floor.

The old carpet will be replaced by a hard surfaced terrazzo, one which will blend nicely with the flooring adjacent to these spaces.  This work will improve the appearance of the area and make it easier to maintain.

Dust from the grinding/polishing will be contained within the sealed off space and odor should be kept to a minimum. There will be some noise associated with the grinding/polishing part of the project. Certainly, there will be other inconveniences and so thank you for your understanding.

Jul 22 2010

LGBT Life in Iowa City, Iowa: 1967-2010 Online Exhibit Earns Honorable Mention

OutHistory.org, the award-winning website on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer U.S. history, announced the winners of its “Since Stonewall Local Histories Contest,” 41 years after the start of the rebellion that marks the beginning of the modern movement for LGBTQ rights and liberation.

“LGBT Life in Iowa City, Iowa: 1967-2010” online exhibit curated by University Archivist David McCartney and Iowa Women’s Archives Curator Karen Mason earned an honorable mention in the competition. The exhibit is a timeline featuring over 70 images chronicling the history of the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender communities in Iowa City. Content was drawn from collections in the Iowa Women’s Archives, the University Archives, and from the personal collections of several members of the community, who contributed their time to the UI Libraries’ effort.

The contest—the first of its kind—invited people from across the country to create exhibits on OutHistory.org about the history of LGBTQ life in their village, town, city, county, or state since the Stonewall riots, 40 years ago. The contest also offered five cash prizes, from $5,000 to $1,000, to the creators of the top five exhibits. The awards were provided by the Arcus Foundation, which funded OutHistory.org for four years.

OutHistory.org received over thirty exciting exhibits about LGBTQ history. One of the contest’s major goals was to draw attention to LGBTQ history in places that scholars have overlooked. Exhibits include entries about states such as Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Virginia, among others.

The “Since Stonewall” exhibits are all geographically-based, but range dramatically in subject, from one New Yorker’s memoirs, to a history of the Gay Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., an account of a long-lived gay bar in Michigan called The Flame, and a timeline of The Lesbian Mothers National Defense Fund in Seattle. All the entries are listed on the site.

Professors and historians of homosexuality John D’Emilio and Leisa Meyer served as judges of the contest.

Jul 20 2010

ICBF Book Raffle Winner Announced: Robert Oppliger

Congratulations to Robert Oppliger. Nancy Baker, University Librarian, drew his name from the fishbowl of raffle tickets to win the collection of 75 books from Penguin Publishing.

All of the money collected for the raffle will go directly to support the Iowa City Book Festival (Penguin Publishing donated the books for the contest). Thank you to all who purchased raffle tickets.