Dec 01 2016

Special Collections News & Updates 12/01/2016

Posted on December 1, 2016January 14, 2019 by Colleen Theisen

News of Interest:

UI earns No. 1 ranking in university website accessibility: https://now.uiowa.edu/2016/11/ui-tops-in-university-website-accessibility
A Snapshot of Cook’s Point (with a shout out to Migration is Beautiful): http://blogs.davenportlibrary.com/sc/2016/10/13/a-snapshot-of-cooks-point/

Staff Publications:

Instruction Librarian Amy Chen has a new publication.

“Possessing an Inner History: Curators, Donors, and Affective Stewardship,” Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, 12.3 (October 2016), 243-268. https://goo.gl/QwpXSZ

Join us in congratulating Amy!

Events:

Cultural and Textual Exchanges: The Manuscript Across Premodern Eurasia

This Mellon Sawyer seminar is an interdisciplinary collaboration dedicated to mapping cultural exchanges across Eurasia from roughly 400-1450 CE, by focusing on the development, distribution and sharing of manuscript technologies. http://eurasianmss.lib.uiowa.edu/

Friday 2 DECEMBER 2016 – 8:30am-4:45pm / 166 IMU Iowa Theater (Iowa Memorial Union)
William Johnson
“From Bookroll to Codex”
Classical Studies, Duke University
8:30-10:00am

Susan Whitfield
“Beyond Scrolls and Codices: Manuscript Formats on the Eastern Silk Road”
Director, International Dunhuang Project, British Library
10:30am-12:00

Marina Rustow
“Fatimid State Documents, Serial Recyclers and the Cairo Geniza”
Khedouri A. Zilkha Professor of Jewish Civilization in the Near East, Princeton University
1:00-2:30pm

Myriam Krutzsch
“Papyrus as an Ancient Writing Material: Its Structure, Production and Classification”
Aegyptisches Museum, Berlin
3:00-3:45pm

Mark Barnard
“The Dunhuang Diamond Sutra of AD 868: A Conservation Approach That Goes Back to the Original”
Senior Conservator Emeritus, British Library
3:45-4:30pm

Arthur Bonfield, “The Why, How, What, and Result of 60 Years of Rare Book Collecting”

In December the Iowa Bibliophiles’ guest speaker will be Arthur Bonfield who will speak about his 60 years of rare book collecting.

Arthur Bonfield is a Professor at the Iowa Law School and has been collecting books published between 1490 and 1800 for 60 years. He has collected about 1,000 books printed during that period and focuses his collecting on voyages, travels, and geography; English and European history; encyclopedias and dictionaries of the arts and sciences; political philosophy; and herbals.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 7PM in the Special Collections Reading Room, 3rd Floor Main Library

Details on the UI Events Calendar: https://goo.gl/XJpGWK

So you want to visualize your data?

12:15pm on Tuesday, December 6th

https://goo.gl/IsJXTe

Updates from the Iowa Women’s Archives:

Karen Mason, curator of IA Women's Archives @uiowa, shared her #everygirldeserves – to know her history! Details: https://t.co/jpIZT0gfcZ pic.twitter.com/oBzdnbDf2G

— YoungWomen'sRsrcCtr (@YWRC) November 18, 2016

From the Web & Social Media:

https://uispeccoll.tumblr.com/post/153604092214/uispeccoll-happy-thanksgiving-from-university-of

Donate to the University Libraries’ Special Collections Fund

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Portrait photo of Tom Brokaw - public domain image

Nov 11 2016

Special Collections News 11/11/2016

Posted on November 11, 2016January 14, 2019 by Colleen Theisen

Newsfeed:

November “Old Gold” column from University Archivist David McCartney, “What Chicago, UI looked like 108 years ago”: https://now.uiowa.edu/2016/11/old-gold-108-years-ago
Featuring UI Libraries staff Rob Shepard: Daily Iowa article: Keeping an Eye on Segregation in the Nation: https://goo.gl/EcmXhI
Featuring photo from UI Archives: Iowa Now article: Celebrating points of pride, UI reflects on milestones in creating a welcoming environment for LGBTQ community https://goo.gl/6D51Dg

Tom Brokaw Donation News Coverage:

“Iowa Now” Press Release: https://now.uiowa.edu/2016/11/brokaw-donates-papers-to-ui-libraries
UI Special Collections blog: https://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/speccoll/2016/11/10/tom-brokaw-donates-his-papers-and-artifacts-to-ui-libraries/
Press Citizen article: https://goo.gl/dvHc0x
KWWL coverage: https://goo.gl/nawW8I
KWQC coverage: http://kwqc.com/2016/11/10/tom-brokaw-donates-papers-and-artifacts-to-the-university-of-iowa/

New Acquisitions:

Chautauqua Printer’s Blocks Update from Margaret Gamm

Special Collections recently received several small but hefty boxes of printers’ blocks from the Smith-Zimmermann Heritage Museum in Madison, South Dakota. Printers used these heavy metal and wood blocks in the late 19th and early 20^th centuries to create promotional flyers and forms for Lake Madison Chautauqua events. One box contained several blocks related to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

South Dakota had just become a state four years prior, so many people saw the World’s Fair as a prime place to promote the state. Several groups formed to raise funds for a display, and the state legislature eventually approved funding as well. By the time of the Fair, South Dakota had put together a building’s worth of exhibits. More information on South Dakota’s involvement in the fair is available through the University of South Dakota Archives and Special Collections Blog here: https://archivesandspecialcollections.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/south-dakota-and-the-worlds-columbian-exposition-of-1893/

The Lake Madison Chautauqua Association would have been a natural fit for an exhibitor. Chautauqua organizations sponsored community education programs that usually included lecturers in special topics like religion, astronomy, and history. Many presenters travelled around the country, allowing headliners to grow in fame.

The blocks in the images here were created with a variety of techniques and were meant to be used with different types of ink according to different methods. One of the newest types was photogravure, which allowed mass printing of photographic images.

Upcoming Events:

Arthur Bonfield, “The Why, How, What, and Result of 60 Years of Rare Book Collecting”

In December the Iowa Bibliophiles’ guest speaker will be Arthur Bonfield who will speak about his 60 years of rare book collecting.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 7PM in the Special Collections Reading Room, 3rd Floor Main Library

Details on the UI Events Calendar: https://goo.gl/XJpGWK

Staff Publications:

Next Generation PhD

Amy Chen occasionally posts in the blog for the Newly Composed PhD: Writing Across Careers. This blog supports the efforts of the Next Generation PhD, a planning grant the University of Iowa received from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support inquiry to better understand challenges to doctoral education. Her most recent piece is called “PhDs in the Library.”

From Our Online Communities:

Iowa Women’s Archives on Tumblr highlighted some of the papers of female politicians that are held in the archives.

https://iowawomensarchives.tumblr.com/post/152644423160/women-in-the-legislature-need-to-look-like-a

Donate to the University Libraries’ Special Collections Fund

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Aug 12 2016

Special Collections & Archives staff present at the Society of American Archivists Conference

Posted on August 12, 2016January 14, 2019 by Colleen Theisen

Last week, several members of Special Collections attended the Society of American Archivists (SAA) in Atlanta, Georgia. Two of our staff made professional contributions having a poster and a presentation competitively selected.

Instruction Librarian Amy Chen exhibited her poster on “Twentieth Century Literary Collection Acquisition Patterns.” This poster is the result of her research on the marketplace for writers’ papers, begun when she completed her dissertation on the topic for her doctorate at Emory in English in 2013 and continued here at Iowa. Prior to SAA, she spoke about this research in a presentation for the Iowa Writers’ Workshop back in April 2016. She very kindly shared her poster here.

(Click to enlarge)

University Archivist David McCartney spoke at the same SAA Conference as part of a panel called, “Archival Bonds: Love & Friendship in the Archives” about the emotional work that can be involved in documenting historic lives as an archivist. He related the emotions surrounding his efforts to document the former UI student’s life as an example.

You can view tweets from the session here: https://storify.com/libralthinking/saa16-sesson-406-archives-and

Jul 15 2016

Special Collections News & Updates 7/15/2016

Posted on July 15, 2016January 14, 2019 by Colleen Theisen

Newsfeed:

UI Librarians Serving the Iowa Library Association: http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/news/2016/07/11/ui-librarians-serving-the-iowa-library-association/
1960’s Exhibition featured in the University of Iowa Alumni Magazine: http://www.iowalum.com/magazine/digital/july16.cfm
YouTube Series If Books Could Talk finishes final episode: https://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/speccoll/2016/07/12/youtube-series-if-books-could-talk-finishes-final-episode/
How an Obsolete Copy Machine Started a Revolution from National Geographic (a mention of our literary zine collections): http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/mimeo-mimeograph-revolution-literature-beat-poetry-activism/

Staff Publications:

Amy Chen interviewed Tirtza Even—a professor, video artist, and documentary film maker—for Archive Journal’s Notes and Queries section. The interview focuses on Even’s work to promote her Natural Life project, which shares the stories of five juveniles sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Read the article here: http://www.archivejournal.net/issue/5/notes-queries/natural-life-archive/

1960’s Online Exhibition from the University Archives is Now Online!

A new digital exhibition curated by University Archivist David McCartney is now online highlighting over 150 entries pulled from 30 different collections in the University of Iowa Archives such as “Sutdent Life, ” “Pop Culture,” ” Politics & Protest,” ” and “Civil Rights.” Video and audio clips from the time give a tour of the sights and sounds.

Browse the exhibition: http://dsps.lib.uiowa.edu/sixties/

Read about it in the Alumni Magazine: http://www.iowalum.com/magazine/digital/july16.cfm

UI Libraries South Entrance is a Poké Stop:

Stop by the UI Libraries south doors, or near James Sanborn’s Iacto sculpture on the north side courtyard between the UI Main Library and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication to find Poké Stops near the UI Main Library.

If you aren’t up to date on this week’s cultural phenomenon, here is an intro: http://lifehacker.com/what-is-pokemon-go-and-why-is-everyone-talking-about-it-1783420761

From our Social Media: A Manuscript Collection Processing Party

Ain’t no party like a collection processing party! The University of Iowa Special Collections had our first Processing Party, organized by Processing Coordinator Jacque Roethler and Student Specialist Ella von Holtum.

18 staff members and student employees got together for one hour to help process a portion of a MASSIVE collection of papers. We did an initial sort of separating out the correspondence, and we accomplished 28 boxes! Definitely a do again! What would have taken 20+ hours only took one.

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Apr 29 2016

Special Collections Weekly Updates 4/29/2016

Posted on April 29, 2016January 14, 2019 by Colleen Theisen

Newsfeed:

Daily Iowan: Star Trek Lands in the Main Library by Bill Cooney
Daily Iowan TV: Star Trek Exhibit by Zhao Li
CBS Fox 2: Brinton Extravaganza Will Celebrate Silent Film Collection by Steffi Lee.
How I Teach by Dr. Adam Hooks, English Department, University of Iowa.
ACRL Library Marketing & Outreach Group interview with Outreach & Engagement Librarian Colleen Theisen

Launched this week:

1960’s Digital Exhibition
1960's exhibition front page Uptight & Laid-back: Iowa City in the 1960s, an ongoing collaborative project developed by University Archivist David McCartney and The Digital Scholarship & Publishing Studio, brings to life a dynamic and turbulent decade for the University and for Iowa City. The curated topics pages and interactive map invite the public to explore an array of material associated with the campus and the community. The public is also welcome to contribute materials! We’ll be adding to the site over the coming months. Stay tuned!

Deadlines:

May 1, 2016: The Olson Graduate Assistant

The Olson Graduate Research Assistant position in Special Collections is a two year 50% position for incoming or current graduate students at the University of Iowa to join the department and support reference, instruction, outreach, processing, and exhibitions, while having opportunity pursue individual projects.

Apply today: http://www.grad.uiowa.edu/graduate-assistant-job-postings/7181/olson-graduate-research-assistant

June 3, 2016: Proposals for RBMS Seminars for the 2017 Conference in Iowa City

Seminars are 90-minute sessions, given in a variety of formats. They constitute an important educational component of each conference and are a valuable forum for the exchange of ideas and information on particular topics of relevance to rare book and manuscript librarians. Read more.

Upcoming Events:

Break from Busyness (Become a #tribblemaker)

Monday-Friday, May 2nd-5th, 12-3pm

This finals season we challenge you to find time for breaks in your studying. To help, librarians at Main Library have set up a handful of challenge activities designed to help take your minds off of finals, just for a bit. Special Collections staff will be on hand with fur fabric and supplies if you want to become a tribble maker and add to the Star Trek exhibition! Get an “I’m a tribble maker” button and an entry to win the life size Captain Kirk cutout currently in the front case of the gallery. More info.

Guest Speaker: Author Michael Blanding

The Friends of the University of Iowa Libraries will host Michael Blanding, author of bestseller The Map Thief, the gripping story of an esteemed rare-map dealer who made millions stealing priceless maps.

Thursday, May 5, 2016 in the Main Library’s Shambaugh Auditorium. Blanding’s presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m., with a reception and book signing to follow at 7:30 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public. More info.

Iowa Bibliophiles Book Club Meeting

Wednesday, May 11th, Snacks at 6:30pm, Discussion from 7-8pm in the Special Collections Reading Room, 3rd Floor Main Library.

Find a copy of “The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger’s Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare’s First Folio” and join us for a book club.

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/597571477057785/

Stong Minded Men Make Music For Strong Minded Women: A Fundraiser for the Iowa Women’s Archives

Thursday, May 12, 6:30PM at The Mill

Music performances featuring Tom Mason and Homebrewed.
Suggested donation: $10 a the door, $20 with a “Strong Minded” t-shirt
Students $5 (or $15 with “Strong Minded” t-shirt)

Proceeds will go to the Iowa Women’s Archives
Donations can also be made at: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa/giving

More information or RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1030900993623678/

Instruction:

This week we had ten classes in to special collections. Just because it’s close to the end of the semester doesn’t mean we’re slowing down!

While you may be more focused on ending the academic year strong, if you are an instructor, this is the right time to start thinking about requesting class dates and times for summer or fall 2016. Please use our instruction request form to request your upcoming sessions: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/forms/speccoll_class/. It’s especially important to be the early bird if you work with early materials, as our medieval manuscripts are limited to five class uses per semester on a first come-first serve basis.

Also note that Instruction Librarian Amy Chen will be out on vacation for three weeks from May 9 through May 27. During this time, the instruction request form will be forwarded to the Olson Graduate Assistants, John Fifield and Kelly Grogg. They will handle the booking of your courses until Amy returns. Other questions or correspondence to Amy will be answered as soon as possible upon her return to the office at the end of May.

Social Media & Online Community:

You can revisit our third annual Shakespeare Livestream:

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss a video!

Donate to the University Libraries’ Special Collections Fund

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Heidi Wiren Bartlett and Colleen Theisen play History of the Book: The Game.

Apr 04 2016

Updates on History of the Book: The Game

Posted on April 4, 2016January 14, 2019 by Colleen Theisen

By Amy Chen

Amy Chen hosted the fifth play test for the History of the Book: The Game. Four library staff played this time: Heidi Wiren Bartlett, the Digital Scholarship and Publishing Studio Designer; Colleen Theisen, Outreach Librarian for Special Collections; Kelly Grogg, senior Olson Graduate Assistant for Special Collections; and Laura Hampton, Digital Project Librarian for Special Collections. Greg Prickman, head of Special Collections, sat in on the play test.

While the game is likely going to have a name change at some point in the future, you can continue to follow its development on Twitter by following Amy at @amyhildrethchen or the hashtag #hotb. In the next few weeks, following a short period for a few minor revisions, the game will be available for broader play testing either during the work day or for at-home check out. If you are interested in “checking out” the game, please contact Amy.

Image of Katie Hassman, the winner of the game

Mar 16 2016

The History of the Book: The Game to be used in Fall 2016 curricula

Posted on March 16, 2016January 14, 2019 by Amy Chen

By: Amy H. Chen

“The year is 1450. Johannes Gutenberg is printing a book, one of the first in the world. When he is finished, the printed book is born. Follow the history of the book through the next six centuries, through technological advancements, scientific breakthroughs, artistic triumphs, shifts in the socio-political climate, and the fluctuating financial market.”

The following comes from the introduction to Special Collections Instruction Librarian Amy Chen’s game based on book history. This game can be played with cards only, as an enrichment activity within a traditional course, or as a stand-alone class.

Amy developed her game out of her interest in how gamification contributes to increased student learning outcomes in the classroom. Gamification offers students the ability to combine pedagogical challenges with play, motivating them to use fun to work through learning curves. To read a longer introduction to gamification, read Bohyun Kim’s “Keeping up with… Gamification” on the ACRL Blog.

On Tuesday, March 8, Amy conducted a play test of the card version of the game. A play test is when the game is played in order to figure out how the game’s design could be improved. Eight librarians, in two separate rounds of play, contributed their feedback. The first photograph is from the beginning of one of the play tests. The second photograph is of Katie Hassman, Undergraduate Engagement Librarian, who won her round.

After revising the game back on the comments she received, Amy will be interested in reaching out to partner faculty who might like to integrate the game into their course discussions or assignments. If you are an instructor or faculty member at the University of Iowa and you are interested in learning more about the game or testing it for yourself later this spring, please email amy-chen@uiowa.edu.

Additionally, Amy will be teaching an honors first year seminar (1 credit hour) this fall on book history using the game to structure the entire semester’s class meetings, readings, and discussion.

You can follow the development of this game, which began in December 2015, by watching the hashtag #hotb on Amy’s twitter feed @amyhildrethchen.

Jan 15 2016

Special Collections Weekly Update 1/15/2016

Posted on January 15, 2016December 2, 2016 by Colleen Theisen

Instruction: Spring Semester Sign Up

Update from Instruction Librarian Amy Chen

Special Collections librarians can support any aspect of class planning for teaching with rare books and primary source materials.

We had a record-breaking 2015, so sign up early or else our rooms and librarians may already be booked for popular times. Find our class request form here.

New Acquisitions

Update from Acquisitions & Collections Management Librarian Margaret Gamm

Pick Yourself Up From off the Ground by Cuba. One of a kind artist’s book with acrylic graffiti paintings, 2014.

From the University Archives

Update from University Archivist David McCartney

A video paging through a 100+ year old scrapbook from a woman from the class of 1915 who attended the very first Homecoming football game.

Staff Awards

Special Collections Instruction Librarian Amy Chen was selected to be featured as a “Bright Young Librarian” by Fine Books & Collections Magazine. Read the feature here.

From the Web and Social Media

In Case You Missed It: A Compilation of Recent Links & Posts

Blog post reporting on a research trip to Special Collections: Marbled Paper Connections by Emily Pazar. See it here.
Article about the Brinton early film collection: 100 Years Later, New Audiences Discover Legendary Outsider. See it here.
Center for the Book/Special Collections commercial that we filmed last August is finished and will air on the Big Ten Network. Article: here Video below:

Exhibitions

“The Humanity in History”

January 8th-March 1st, 2016

Kelly Grogg, graduate student in the School of Library and Information Science and Special Collections senior Olson Graduate Assistant, has completed her capstone exhibition. It is on display now in the cases outside Special Collections on the 3rd floor.

“Every person featured in this exhibit has contributed to make the world a better place. They may not have ever reached the level of recognition they deserved, but despite their humble beginnings and oncoming obstacles, they contributed to the world in a way that cannot be measured in a ‘neatly packaged, sanitized parable’. These are the people who create history.” – Kelly Grogg

Amy Chen Honored as a “Bright Young Librarian”

Posted on January 13, 2016January 14, 2019 by Colleen Theisen

Special Collections Instruction Librarian Amy Hildreth Chen was selected to be featured as a “Bright Young Librarian” by Fine Books & Collections Magazine. Please join us in congratulating her on this recognition from the wider community.

You can read the feature here.

Sep 25 2015

News From Special Collections 9/19 – 9/25/2015

Posted on September 25, 2015December 2, 2016 by Colleen Theisen

From the Web and Social Media:

Slate featured the Hevelin Collection Fanzine Digitization Project this week. You can read their coverage of the UI Libraries’ work digitizing 1930s-1950s science fiction fanzines here.

New Acquisitions:

Agricola. Trattenimenti sulle vernici. Ravenna 1789.

This book bridges several of our collection areas, covering a very broad array of topics; overall, it could be considered an early “how to” guide. Painting, printmaking, sculpting, cartography, conservation, cooking, gardening, rat extermination, and stain removal are all addressed, and are accompanied by an extensive bibliography.

Staff Publications:

Amy Chen led a group of current and former Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) postdoctoral fellows to write a piece for a CLIR report that is now available online here.

Changing and Expanding Libraries: Exhibitions, Institutional Repositories, and the Future of Academia, by Amy Chen, Sarah Pickle, and Heather Waldroup appears in The Process of Discovery: The CLIR Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and the Future of the Academy, edited by John C. Maclachlan, Elizabeth A. Waraksa, and Christa Williford.

Events:

University Archivist David McCartney assisted in the production of this documentary.

Monday September 28, 2015, 5:00 pm at FilmScene in Iowa City – “Iowans Return to Freedom Summer” (Iowa PBS, 2014, 48 mins). In the summer of 1964, hundreds of predominantly white college students answered the call from Civil Rights leaders to volunteer for Freedom Summer. They joined with voter registration efforts, taught in freedom schools and worked in community centers in towns throughout racially segregated Mississippi. This documentary features five native Iowans sharing why they felt compelled to volunteer. Following the screening there will be a discussion with producer Patti Miller and historian Shel Stromquist, both of whom were among the volunteers.

Event Recap:

Staff from Special Collections including the Iowa Women’s Archives participated in an event for National Voter Registration Day in the Learning Commons on Tuesday, providing a display of historic voting and suffrage related materials. In partnership with the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Johnson County, we registered 82 voters here in the Library, and a total of 171 overall at the four host locations (ICPL, Coralville PL, and Kirkwood). #CelebrateNVRD

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