This week marks the 101st anniversary of the publication of Jay Norwood ‘Ding’ Darling’s first cartoon for the Des Moines Register. To commemorate, UI Libraries has launched The Editorial Cartoons of J.N. ‘Ding’ Darling Digital Collection. The expanded collection now includes more than 10,000 Darling cartoons, a robust Web site contextualizing the collection, and audio recordings of Darling’s dictations that document his voice, vigor, and attitudes about issues ranging from politics to the environment. The collection was spearheaded by the UI Libraries Special Collections Department, which is home to the majority of Darling’s papers.
The Ding Darling Digital Collection is the latest enhancement to the Iowa Digital Library, which contains more than 95,000 digital objects —photographs, maps, sound recordings, and documents—from the holdings of the UI Libraries and numerous collaborators.
To commemorate the anniversary, Des Moines Register columnist Richard Doak wrote a piece in the Sunday newspaper highlighting Darling’s life and encouraging Iowan to make the state a place that Darling would have liked—”open, friendly, clean, teeming with wildlife—and they will come.” Access the article at http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007712090315
University News Services Press release:
http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2007/december/120707ding_darling_library.html
–Nicole Saylor, Head, Digital Library Services