If you tune in to the Big Ten Network for basketball games you might have noticed the LiveBIG segment featuring our social media team that plays during the breaks. The feature introduces the work that Special Collections staff have been doing in online communities on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and for the Special Collections YouTube channel.
On their blog, writers from BTN particularly highlighted the YouTube channel as something unique saying, “Even if old books and maps aren’t your thing, the Special Collections team’s work is really…likeable. Ironic and self-aware, the videos play like an alternate universe cast of New Girl discussing the trivia of Antiques Roadshow in an aesthetic similar to the basement bullpen scenes of Spotlight.” You can read the feature here: http://btn.com/2017/02/19/iowas-special-collections-embeds-its-archives-in-the-digital-space-btn-livebig/ and subscribe to the YouTube channel for updates on new content there: http://youtube.com/uispeccoll/subscribe.
If you did not catch it on TV, here is the original TV segment:
And a second feature they created on their Facebook page:
Congratulations to John Fifield, Caxton Club Grant Recipient
On Wednesday, November 18, University of Iowa Center for the Book students Ian Huebert, Amy Richard, and Special Collections’ Olson Graduate Assistant John Fifield all accepted grants from the Caxton Club at the Union League in Chicago. John’s grant will fund his return to the Biblioteca de la Recoleta in Arequipa, Peru, in January. He will be continuing research on Colonial Spanish monastic libraries and the Transatlantic Book Trade. You can view photos from the projects at the Recoleta at recoleta2015.tumblr.com.
Join us in congratulating John!
Congratulations to Kelly Grogg, Ella Von Holtom, and Heather Wacha for Being Accepted Into the Obermann Graduate Institute
Olson Graduate Assistant Kelly Grogg, and department employees Ella Von Holtom, and Heather Wacha were all accepted as Graduate Fellows for the seventh annual Obermann Graduate Institute on Engagement and the Academy. Join us in congratulating Kelly, Ella, and Heather!
Marie Mattingly Meloney, the creator of this album, gifted it to Laird C. Addis in 1926. It contains many autographs and small mementos from famous figures of the early 20th century, collected during Meloney’s time as an award-winning reporter and editor. She was close friends with Marie Curie, and was responsible for a nationwide campaign to purchase radium for Curie and her laboratory. More information about the album is available here. Donated by Laird Addis Jr.
Medieval Quill Cutting & More: If Books Could Talk Video Series Returns
How does a Medieval manuscript tell its story? If you look closely enough the marginalia, bookplates, library stamps, dirt marks, and page numbers tell a story of how a manuscript was made, who used it, and where it has been. If Books Could Talk is a video series exploring the questions to ask to investigate a manuscript by examining the physical traces that tell its story. If Books Could Talk is a collaboration between the UI Libraries and History Corps.
Delve in and you will be surprised with what you can learn when you listen to an artifact closely.
From the University Archives
Civil rights activist donates rare material to UI: UI archivist cultivates friendship with key player in 1964 voter registration effort
Civil rights activist Eric Morton’s story is the feature in this month’s Old Gold column from University Archivist David McCartney.
On the left you see Eric Morton in 1951, one year after enlisting in the U.S. Armed Forces. (Eric Morton Civil Rights Papers MsC 0999).
Iowa Women’s Archives Curator Kären Mason shared her memories of former Department Head Bob McCown on what would have been his 76th birthday this week. Read more on the Iowa Women’s Archives blog.
Staff Profile: Meet Annie Tunnicliff
Annie Tunnicliff joined the Iowa Women’s archives this semester as the Dorothy Wirtz Graduate Research Assistant. When this versatile performer is not working, she wears many faces. Stop by the IWA Tumblr to read the whole feature.
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Over the summer members of the University of Iowa Special Collections team visited Las Vegas for the American Library Association and stopped by Bauman Rare Books to chat with Rebecca Romney, who you also might recognize as the rare book appraiser on the History Channel series “Pawn Stars.” While there they let the cameras roll as they chatted with Rebecca Romney about the rare book field, collecting rare books, and the types of research that rare book dealers do that ends up being incorporated into catalog records and supporting academic research, all while taking a look at some particularly delightful rare books that they had in the shop.
Here is the result of the trip: A five video series. Enjoy!
The first video: Down the Rabbit Hole. This one includes an edition of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” illustrated by Salvador Dalí.
The second video: The Game is Afoot. The team analyzes the lasting power of favorite characters such as Sherlock Holmes and Lizzie Bennet who continue to thrive through fan works and new interpretations.
The third video: It’s a First Edition Pride and Prejudice!
The fourth video: Et Tu Brute? Taking a close look at a Shakespeare quarto (a single play).
The fifth video: We Go West. A very rare surviving pamphlet, 1848 Latter-Day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide.
If you tune in to the Big Ten Network for basketball games you might have noticed the LiveBIG segment featuring our social media team that plays during the breaks. The feature introduces the work that Special Collections staff have been doing in online communities on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and for the Special Collections YouTube channel.
