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Typewriters and a ditto machine
Oct 23 2015

News and Updates from Special Collections 10/23/2015

Posted on October 23, 2015January 14, 2019 by Colleen Theisen

Upcoming Events

Halloween Event in the Learning Commons

Cover of "Japanese Fairy Tales" bookThis Halloween, join Special Collections and University Archives as we create a pop-up museum featuring items by American writer and artist, Edward Gorey, along with some of our more literally gory books.  You’ll even be able to take a bit of our collections with you, in button form!  We’ll have the library’s button maker available for you to create a gory (or Gorey) button of your very own.

We’ll be in Group Area D from 3:00-6:30pm in the Learning Commons on Tuesday, October 27th so head on over and prepare for some Gor(e)y sights.

 

Staff Awards and Recognition

Janet Weaver Receives League of United Latin American Citizens Builder Award

Image of Janet WeaverWeaver, who works as the assistant curator of the Iowa Women’s Archives, has conducted hours of interviews and research to create the Latino historical archives and the Mujeres Latinas project at the university to ensure that the history of LULAC’s Eastern Iowa councils is not lost.

 

 

Event Recap

40th anniversary ICON Science Fiction Convention

ICON logoSpecial Collections had a large presence at the 40th anniversary ICON Science Fiction Convention that took place last weekend in Cedar Rapids. ICON was founded forty years ago by students in Joe Haldeman’s science fiction class at the University of Iowa, and Rusty Hevelin was closely tied to this convention family.  Librarians from Special Collections participated in four ways:

  1. Official presentation of a check for $1,955 at the opening ceremonies. The community raised the money last year in an auction to support digitizing Rusty Hevelin’s fanzines.
  2. Had a table in the dealer’s room to give updates about the Hevelin Collection fanzine digitization.
  3. Appeared on many panels throughout the convention including an update about the digitization project, educational panels about science fiction topics, and they also hosted a panel about getting the most out of the library as a writer in partnership with librarian Lisa Martincek.
  4. Participated in a collaborative fanzine making project throughout the weekend teaching how to use traditional technologies such as typewriters and ditto machines. This project had an unexpectedly huge response from the community with contributions from multiple generations of fans ranging from children to award winning authors. A full report of this project will follow in a later blog post.
Laura and Pete presenting at a panel
Laura Hampton and Pete Balestrieri presenting
Colleen and Pete at a table in the dealer's room
Pete Balestrieri and Colleen Theisen in the dealer's room
Multiple generations of fans typing on typewriters
Multiple generations of fans typing a zine (Center is Hugo Award Winning author Joe Haldeman)
Typewriters and a ditto machine
Typewriters and a ditto machine
Special Collections staff with an oversized check
Special Collections staff with the donation check

Special Collections is already looking forward to ICON 41 next year!

 

New Acquisitions

An Alice in Wonderland Acquisition for the 150th Anniversary of its publication

Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Sesquicentennial Edition. Inky Parrot Press, 2015.

This sesquicentennial edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland hosts a variety of creepy yet intriguing illustrations, juxtaposing Japanese artistic interpretations of Alice with Welsh interpretations, English, Italian, South African, Russian, Indonesian, and more.

Cover of 2015 edition of Alice
Title page of 2015 edition of Alice
Inside image of 2015 Alice

 

News and Announcements

Oberman Center House Logo

“Alt-Ac” Newsletter

Amy Chen is working with a team at the Obermann Center to set up a newsletter on alt-ac careers that will go out a few times a semester. The newsletter will link to articles on the topic and it will also cover upcoming events, speakers, and contacts that would be of interest to alt-ac inclined graduate students. To make sure this newsletter is successful, she needs to locate the students who would be interested in receiving this information.

If you want to learn more about alt-ac careers, please complete this sign-up sheet: https://goo.gl/Wg5UkH.

 

Upcoming Campus Events of Interest

Image from Aristotle's book which is the subject of the lecture2015 Brownell Lecture on the History of the Book | Center for the Book

Mary E. Fissell on “Making Babies: A Look at an Early Sex Manual”

Thu, 11/05/2015 – 7:30pm, W151 Papajohn Business Building (PBB) 

Aristotle’s Masterpiece was the bestselling book about making babies on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean from the late 17th to the early 20th century—but the book isn’t by Aristotle, and it’s not usually considered a masterpiece…

 

 

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Posted in News, Weekly UpdateTagged Alice in wonderland, alt-ac, awards, Brownell lecture, colleen theisen, ditto machines, icon, janet weaver, joe haldeman, LULAC, mary fissell, news, science fiction, typewriters
World War 1 map
Sep 04 2015

Special Collections Week in Review, 8/28 – 9/4, 2015

Posted on September 4, 2015January 14, 2019 by Colleen Theisen

 Recently on the Web and Social Media:

 

1930's Science Fiction Fanzines

The Hevelin Fanzine Digitization Project was featured on The Verge.  The University of Iowa Libraries is digitizing science fiction fanzines from the 1930s-1950s.

 

 

 

hallAugust Old Gold column from University Archivist David McCartney, Harrison Hall, the Residence Hall That Never Was. 

The planned 1,100-student high-rise, proposed in 1966, never got off the ground.

 

 

An artists book with three spoons in the binding

A Culinary Alphabet by Annie Tremmel Wilcox, published in 1998 was featured on our Instagram page. This culinary artist’s book has three spoons as part of the binding.  [Szathmary N7433.4 W524 C8 1998]

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Events:

 

1. The first Iowa Bibliophiles meeting of the 2015-2016 season

Cheryl Jacobsen Image

University of Iowa Center for the Book calligraphy instructor Cheryl Jacobsen will present about calligraphic hands featured in Medieval manuscripts held in Special Collections.

6:00PM – Stop by to view a repeat showing of the livestream video of Alison Altstatt’s September 4th talk

6:30PM – Refreshments served

7PM – Cheryl Jacobsen’s talk

Special Collections Reading Room, 3rd Floor Main Library, 125 W. Washington, Iowa City, IA

 

2. Special Collections Editions featured in Old Capitol Museum Exhibition

 

donqOpening Reception for The Quest Begins: Quixote at 400

Thursday, September 17, 2015 – 5:00pm to 7:00pm

Old Capitol Museum

 

Exhibition: Illustrations of Don Quixote: Interpretation of Imagination

September 17, 2015 to January 3, 2016

Old Capitol Museum Keyes Gallery for the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences

Explore artistic interpretations of Cervantes’ tale from the 1600s to the 1930s through collected images from editions of Don Quixote from the University of Iowa Libraries.

 

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the sponsoring department or contact person listed in advance of the event.

 

New Acquisitions:

 

1. A new acquisition for our collection of miniature books.

Miniature book - view of the coverAmos Paul Kennedy, Jr., Descent of Mount Gadam, Jubilee Press, 1993.  Adapted from a folktale of the Mensa Bet-Abrehe people of northern Ethiopia. Includes a linocut outline map of Africa.

https://vine.co/v/eTJBM6xpHaH

 

2. A new addition to the University of Iowa Libraries’ map collections for studying World War I.

World War 1 mapThe Markets of the World. Open to Great Britain: Closed to Germany, London : Roberts & Leete Ltd., [1916].  This map shows sources of import for Britain during 1916.

https://vine.co/v/eT5YZ5uwWnm

 

Just for Fun:

Our graduate assistants made a parody of our new acquisition unboxing videos we’ve been making on the social media site Vine.

Please welcome our “new acquisition,” graduate assistant John Fifield.

https://vine.co/v/eIYrx5PBEwY

 

Want to stay connected?  Follow us on social media:

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Posted in News, Weekly UpdateTagged abecedarian, colleen theisen, culinary alphabet, Descent of Mount Gadam, Don Quixote, exhibit, hevelin collection, Iowa Bibliophiles, Jubilee Press, map, new acquisition, news, Old Gold, The Markets of the World
Aug 14 2015

News from Special Collections 8/14/2015

Posted on August 14, 2015December 2, 2016 by Colleen Theisen

News:

1. New Hours:

Responding to library use patterns, we will be shifting our evening hours when the fall semester begins. On August 25th, we will be open until 7 PM on Tuesdays and we will no longer open on Thursday nights.

Image of a clockOur new hours are:

Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays: 8:30 AM – 5 PM

Tuesdays: 8:30 AM – 7 PM

 

 

2. Request Fall Class Sessions Now

Image of a class using Special Collections materials

Classes are beginning to schedule their sessions at Special Collections for the fall.

To get your desired date and time, sign up soon using our request form.

 

 

 

3.  Save the Date:  First Iowa Bibliophiles Talk of the 2015-2016 Season  
6 pm on September 9, 2015, with refreshments at 5:30PM, just before the speaker.  More details will follow soon.

 

4. New Collection Guide Search Engine


ArchivesSpace Logo5Our collection guides may suddenly look a bit different that they did before. We officially have transitioned behind-the-scenes from an Archon-based interface to using ArchivesSpace to host our finding aids. ArchivesSpace is a new open source archives information management application for managing and providing web access to archives, manuscripts, and digital objects. The University of Iowa is one institution among a team of beta testers for this product.

Feel free to contact members of our staff if you need help navigating the program or if you have any other related questions.

 

5. Mobile Museum Visits the Iowa State Fair August 13-23

The University of Iowa’s Mobile Museum will be at the State Fair all week.

Over Here From Over There: Iowans in World War II tells the story of Iowans during World War II. Nurses, Red Cross workers, and soldiers, as well as those who contributed to the war effort on the home front, are represented through letters, diaries, photographs, and artifacts from collections housed in the Iowa Women’s Archives and Special Collections. One portion of the exhibition focuses on the wartime correspondence of Lloyd and Laura Davis, a Cedar Rapids couple who married in 1942. The Davises spent the first years of their marriage apart when Lloyd was drafted into the Army. He eventually served in both North Africa and Europe while Laura Davis, a social worker, spent the war years in Cedar Rapids helping to set up daycare centers for the children of working mothers.

The Mobile Museum can visit your community. Follow this link to submit your request.

6. Big Ten Network Commercial

Greg Prickman filming a commercialThe Big Ten Network stopped by yesterday for a shoot for a commercial for the University of Iowa Center for the Book that will feature Special Collections materials and Greg Prickman, Head of Special Collections.  Watch for the commercial this fall during football games on the Big Ten Network!

 

 

Recently on the Web and Social Media:

1. Digitization

Image of librarian Laura Hampton digitizing a fanzineThe Hevelin Collection Tumblr featured a post showing librarian Laura Hampton conduct the behind-the-scenes work to digitize the 1930s-1950s science fiction fanzines from the James L. “Rusty” Hevelin Science Fiction Collection.

See the post here.

 

 

2. Star Charts

Image of a star chart from 1548The UI Map Collection Tumblr recently featured our stunning 1548 copy of Alessandro Piccolomini’s astronomical text, which is a continual favorite in classes and in the reading room for its impressive star charts.  See the post here.

De la sfera del mondo; libri qvattro in lingva toscana … De le stelle fisse; libro vno con le sve figvre e con le sve tauole … Venetia [N. de Bascarini] 1548.

 

New Acquisitions:

1.  University of Iowa Nursing Scrapbook c. 1913-1917

From the opening page with a handwritten poem “What Makes a Good Nurse,” to the day-to-day ephemeral documentation of life at the hospital, such as baby onesies and memos, dance cards and graduation programs, this scrapbook documents life as a nursing student from 1913 to 1917 here at the University of Iowa. It is an incredible addition to the Iowa Women’s Archives.

Scrapbook page with tiny photographs
Scrapbook page with tiny baby onesie
Scrapbook page with dance cards from 1917
Scrapbook page with photographs

2. Sculptural Book Arts Piece from Daniel Essig

Image of the artiwork titled "sentinella" with a wooden boat filled with metal type, a wooden bird, and a small book with a coptic bindingResponding to requests from multiple University of Iowa professors for a teaching example of sculptural books arts as well as for a contemporary example of work from the book artist Daniel Essig, we put the two together and acquired Sentinella by Daniel Essig, a sculpture made of Italian Olive, mahogany, milk paint, printers type, mica, thorns, as well as Ethiopian and Coptic bindings.

You can see a video of its arrival and box opening below.

https://vine.co/v/edHQXmahVVM

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Posted in NewsTagged news
Incunabulum binding image
Aug 07 2015

News From Special Collections 8/7/2015

Posted on August 7, 2015December 2, 2016 by Colleen Theisen

Summer 2015 New Staff and Staff Changes:

OBnINunsAmy Hildreth Chen is the new Special Collections Librarian in charge of the Instruction Program. Previously, she was a 2013-2015 Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Postdoctoral Fellow in the Division of Special Collections at the University of Alabama, where she oversaw instruction, exhibitions, and social media. In 2013, she received her Ph.D. in English from Emory University with a dissertation on the acquisition of literary collections. She also is an alumna of Iowa, as she graduated from UI in 2006 with a BA in Political Science and honors in English.

 

11222226_627153448065_8824884415556771774_nLaura Hampton recently joined the department as a Digital Project Librarian working on digitizing 1930s-1950s fanzines from the James L. “Rusty” Hevelin Science Fiction Collection. In May 2015, she received her MLIS from the UI School of Library and Information Science and Center for the Book. During her time at Iowa, she worked as a graduate assistant in Special Collections, and as a Reference Assistant at the Hardin Library of Health Sciences. Previously, she earned her undergraduate degree from New College of Florida in Sarasota, Florida where she graduated with a BA in literature.

 

John-FifieldJohn Fifield is the new 2015-2017 Robert A. and Ruth Bywater Olson Graduate Assistant.  He is a student in the School of Library and Information Science and the Center for the Book and he holds a Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance from Oklahoma State University. John is currently conducting bibliographic research at a convent’s library at the Convento de la Recoleta in Arequipa, Peru and will officially join the department in mid-August.  His research interests include the Spanish colonial book trade as well as food culture.

 

 

Recently on the Web and Social Media:

1. If Books Could Talk

The third video in the series If Books Could Talk is now live.  If Books Could Talk is a partnership between UI Libraries’ Special Collections and Music Library with History Corps, a public digital history project from the UI Department of History.  The series investigates what can be learned by looking closely at medieval manuscripts.  Subscribe to the UI Special Collections’ Staxpeditions channel on YouTube with any GMail or Google ID to get notifications whenever a new video is posted.  Historian Heather Wacha posts a complementary essay for each episode which can be found on the History Corps website.

 

2. Library Journal Article, “University of Iowa Libraries Begin to Digitize Decades of Fanzines.”

Library Journal recently had a feature article about the University of Iowa Libraries’ initiative to digitize 1930s-1950s science fiction fanzines in the James L. “Rusty” Hevelin Science Fiction Collection.  After the digitization, the scans will be open to a small group of fans to log in and help crowdsource metadata in an unprecedented effort to harvest the knowledge of the fan community and make available information about these fan-made publications. Read it here.

3.  Daily Iowan Coverage

Last week The Daily Iowan covered two events that Special Collections partnered to create, an event introducing teens to 1960s-1980s comic books as a partnership with the Iowa City Public Library, and ongoing efforts to recreate historic recipes from the Historic Foodies, a community group that is a partnership with the Old Capitol Museum. Read about the comic book event.  Read about Historic Foodies.

4. Vine Channel

This summer the Special Collections team has been testing the social media site Vine which is a site dedicated to very short videos that are less than six seconds long. You can see in the section below a short looping video of our librarian Margaret Gamm opening a new acquisition.  The videos may be seen on our Vine channel,  or shared to our Twitter  or Tumblr.

 

New Acquisitions:

1. Fluxus maps

“Hi Red Center,” 1965, was edited by Shigeko Kubota, designed and produced by George Maciunas, and maps the activities of the “Hi Red Center” avant-garde art collective conceptually onto the Tokyo landscape where the activities took place.  The back of the map has documentary photographs of events and happenings mapped on the other side that took place between 1963-1964.

The second map, “Fluxus Island in Decollage Ocean” is from Nam June Paik from 1963.

The two items join our extensive Fluxus holdings much of which can be found in the Fluxus West Collection, MsC 763.

 

https://vine.co/v/eX0dDFUZrTu

Nam Jun Paik's Map, Fluxus Island, 1963.
Nam June Paik’s Map, Fluxus Island, 1963.
Shigeko Kubota's Map, "Hi Red Center" 1965.
Shigeko Kubota’s Map, “Hi Red Center,” 1965.



 

 

 

 

 

2. 1499 Codex with a Unique Binding

This book from 1499 is a manual for confessors that still has its first binding, a “wallet” style binding.  Meant to be used and carried around, these everyday bindings do not survive in great numbers.

The transition from the manuscript tradition to the earliest printed books is one of our most frequent topics that we teach in the classroom, across the disciplines on campus, for visiting classes from other colleges and universities, and for community groups.

Citation: Baptista de (Trovamala). Summa casuum conscientiae quae Baptistiniana nuncupaor (second version, known as Rosella casuum). Add. Sixtus IV: Bulla “Etsi dominici gregis” 30 December 1479. Rubricae iuris civili et canonici. Venice: Paganinus de Paganinis, 21 December 1499.

 

Incunabulum binding image
Incunabulum binding waste
Incunabulum inside text
incunabulum title page image

Congratulations:

me_2Kelly Grogg, Special Collections’ Olson Graduate Assistant was awarded the Rovelstad Scholarship in International Librarianship, which will fully fund her travel, housing, and registration to attend the World Library and Information Congress hosted by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) taking place in Cape Town, South Africa.  This scholarship is intended to encourage students who have an interest in international library work and enable them to participate in IFLA early in their careers.

 

speccollSelfie1-thumb-500x333-9148Margaret Gamm, Special Collections Acquisitions and Collections Management Librarian was honored as a “Bright Young Librarian” by Fine Books and Collections Magazine.  See the article here. 

 

 

 

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Posted in NewsTagged new staff, news2 Comments

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