Library News – Page 62

Hiroshima Survivor to Speak Sept 10

Yoshiko Kajimoto will describe her experience as a Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor at a presentation 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A.

On Aug. 6, 1945, Kajimoto was a student directed to work in an airplane parts factory 2.3 kilometers from the epicenter of where the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Kajimoto is speaking across the Midwest as part of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation’s goal to warn about the future destructive use of nuclear weapons.

Foundation Chairman Steven Lloyd Leeper will speak about the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the call for disarmament. He is a well-known peace activist and the first American to head the foundation. A reception will follow the talk.

“As a Japanese studies librarian in Iowa, I find that there is much about Japanese history and culture that I would like to share with my friends and colleagues here,” says the UI Libraries’ Chiaki Sakai, who helped arrange the presentation. “When I learned about the opportunity from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum to have an atomic bomb survivor visit campus, I thought it could be a way for people learn from her dramatic experiences.”

This talk is sponsored by and in cooperation with the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum. UI sponsors include: the UI Libraries, Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, International Writing Program, the Bose Lecture Series of the Department of Political Science, Department of History, the UI Center for Human Rights and International Programs. Individual sponsors include Yozo Iwashita, Sakuragaoka Junior High School, Teiji Okada, the Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA), Mariko Mizugaki, Shinichi Kishi, the Hiroshima Peace Action Center, the Hiroshima Council against A- and H-bombs, Iwane Fujii, Takashi Yamaguchi and Yumi Ozaki.

Graphic & Web Designer Vacancy at UI Libraries

The University of Iowa Libraries has a half-time Graphic & Web Designer position vacancy. The application deadline is September 9, 2008. Please follow the links to see a complete position description, including application instructions, for the Graphic & Web Designer position.

Creative, skilled, highly technical position designing web and print projects for the University of Iowa Libraries. Work as a member of a communications team that connects students, faculty/staff and general public to UI Libraries resources and services. Responsibilities: designs and implements innovative approaches to web communication for the UI Libraries’ website… (for the complete description).

Duck Your Head at the Main Library

As the fall semester starts, the Main Library is open and ready for students.

The second floor ITC (computer lab) is open;
Library staff is available at the reference desk and through IM until midnight;
You can check out books and study in the library until 2 a.m.

When you walk into the middle of the building you’ll notice the large plastic air tubes. These are circulating warm, dry air throughout the building. This summer during the flooding, the University’s steam tunnels (part of the heating and air conditioning system for the entire campus) were damaged. In order to maintain a comfortable temperature and appropriate level of humidity, Facilities Management has installed this temporary air circulation system.

If you have questions about where your classes are or just need help finding something, feel free to contact our reference library staff at 319-335-5299.

Electrical Work Causes Power Disruption in Main

UI Electrical Distribution will be shutting down some power to the Main Library this morning in order to accommodate installation of a new temporary dehumidification system. The dehumidifiers that were being used the past two months are being replaced with a different system. This shutdown will cause some air-handlers and elevators to be off, and judging from past experience this action will cut power to the equipment in the ITC area on second floor. The shutdown is expected to last for a good portion of the morning.

Kraft and McCartney Part of Rebuild Iowa Task Force

Nancy E. Kraft, Head of Preservation and David McCartney, University Archivist in the University of Iowa Libraries have been asked to participate in Governor Culver’s Rebuild Iowa project. They are part of the Cultural Heritage and Records Retention Task Forces.

Each of the nine Rebuild Iowa Task Forces is charged with developing and setting out a plan for action in a specific issue-area integral to Iowa’s rebuilding efforts. This charge and a list of Rebuild Iowa Task Forces are detailed in Executive Order Number 7, signed into law effective June 27, 2008 by Governor Culver.

The Cultural Heritage Task Force will consider the impact natural disasters of summer 2008 had (or continue to have) on cultural organizations and individuals associated with the arts, history and culture in Iowa. The Task Force will recommend immediate action steps needed, articulate unmet technical and financial needs, and recommend policies for long-term rebuilding efforts that incorporate arts, history and culture.

The Records Retention Task Force will consider the issue of records physical and electronic storage. Such documents may include historical records, vital records, court documents, private business records and others. The Task Force will consider how the recent natural disasters have impacted physical preservation of such records, best practices for records retention, and the dual needs of digitization and hard-copy retention.

These task forces also are collecting imput from Iowa citizens at local listening sessions. All of this gathered information and recommendations will be presented to the Governor in a report at the beginning of September.

Faculty Proxy for Interlibrary Loan

On August 1st, faculty members will be able to authorize a designated person (proxy) to request and pick-up materials in their name for Interlibrary Loan materials. An online request form is available at http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/forms/ill.html.

A list of items checked out or requested via the Proxy card can be viewed by logging in to the Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery system.

To access the proxy account use the three sets of three numbers from the pink barcode number on the Circulation-issued proxy card as the Hawk ID. The password will be emailed to you shortly after submission of this form.

If you later wish to have the account cancelled, please contact interlibrary loan staff to cancel the account and prohibit any further checkouts or requests.

Katzenmeyer Featured in Local Press

Library staffer Grace Katzenmeyer and her friends are featured in an article in the Senior Living section of the Iowa City Press-Citizen. These women have been friends for more than 70 years.

Revised Library Material Due Dates

To best support our library users needs and accommodate difficulties they had returning materials while the Main Library was evacuated (the period from Friday, June 13 through Wednesday, July 9), we have adjusted the following due dates.

Faculty loans

June 1, 2009

Graduate loans

January 28, 2009.

Short term loans

August 1, 2008

Items that were recalled

August 1, 2008

This week we will begin processing recalls and sending notices that were received while the Main Library was closed.

If you have any questions about due dates, you can “Check My Account” from the Libraries’ website. You may also contact Main Library Circulation staff at lib-maincirc@uiowa.edu or 319-335-5912.

Volunteers at Main Library – UPDATED

Moving Special Collections materials to the lower-level storage area has progressed very quickly, and we expect to have the third floor hallway cleared today.

However a few volunteers are needed Thursday afternoon and Friday. Please call the Main Library Information Desk at 319-335-5299 to sign-up for a shift on Thursday or Friday.

NO volunteers are needed over the weekend.

While we resume business as usual in the Main Library, library staff is also trying to return evacuated materials to their appropriate places in the lower-level storage space. Returning the materials will be a much slower process than taking them out to make sure that items are retreivable.

We could use a few volunteers to help with this effort over the next week. Only 30-40 people are needed at a time. We will be moving materials only during the Main Library’s modified summer schedule:

Saturday, July 12 – 12 p.m. until 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 13 – 12 p.m. until 6 p.m.

Frost Saving Libraries in Peru

Last November, University Conservator Gary Frost visited Arequipa, Peru, at former UI Librarian Helen Ryan’s invitation to assist in preservation assessment of the historical libraries in the area. Gary has returned to Arequipa to provide further assistance along with a couple of his colleagues from other universities. A major activity will be moving an entire collection out of a condemned, earthquake damaged library.

You can follow the progress of the team on Gary’s blog.

Arequipa is in the southern region of Peru near the border with Chile. With a population of one million, it is the second largest city. The city is 40 miles from the coast and surrounded by volcanoes and expansive canyon lands. The region has had long pre-Incan settlement with an archeological record of more than 6,000 years. The Incan intrusion began in the 14th century. Spanish settlement was established in 1539.

Libraries for the education of clerics were founded beginning in the mid 17th century. Subsequent acquisition programs have continued to build the collections bringing together printed books imported to Peru as well as those printed in Peru over a period of five centuries. The genres collected include civil and canon law, theology, ecclesiastic history, philosophy, sociology, and linguistics. The church libraries have also served as repositories for magazines, newspapers and regional imprints of various kinds.

The project team will demonstrate actions needed to preserve these historical libraries. Specialists Chela Metzger from the Kilgarlin Center for the Preservation of the Cultural Record, University of Texas at Austin, Anna Embree, from the School of Library and Information Studies, The University of Alabama and project director Gary Frost, UICB Instructor and University of Iowa Libraries Conservator will demonstrate non-damaging exhibit installation, methods for preservation of historical libraries and cleaning and stabilization of book collections. The team will also participate in salvage of collections from earthquake damage.