Ghosts abound in our new digital collection about University of Iowa alumna Mildred Wirt Benson, the original author of the Nancy Drew mystery novels. Titles for the biographical articles “The Ghost of Ladora” and “The Ghost of Nancy Drew” play off Benson’s role as a ghostwriter. Teen sleuths confront the supernatural in novels like TheContinue reading “Haunted by Nancy Drew”
Author Archives: Hannah Scates Kettler
“Every book ever published”
Google intends to scan every book ever published, and to make the full texts searchable, in the same way that Web sites can be searched on the company’s engine at google.com… No one really knows how many books there are. The most volumes listed in any catalogue is thirty-two million, the number in WorldCat, aContinue reading ““Every book ever published””
Love in the stacks
Beneath the calm façade of the Main Library’s exterior, among the dusty book stacks and studious scholars, lies the secret side of the Libraries’ holdings: a seething bed of love, lust, and early 20th-century greeting cards. In our dedication to exposing these hidden collections, Digital Library Services brings you a romantic “Best of” from theContinue reading “Love in the stacks”
Online public access cARTalog
As with most technological advances, the shift from the card catalog to the online public access catalog (OPAC) didn’t happen overnight. At the UI, there was a decade of overlap during which users who wanted complete access to the Libraries’ holdings had to search both resources — the card catalog for materials published until 1980,Continue reading “Online public access cARTalog”
Diversity, collections, collaboration
Just in time — barely — for the UI’s celebration of human rights week, DLS is pleased to announce the debut of our African American Women in Iowa Digital Collection. A joint venture between DLS, the Iowa Women’s Archives, and the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa, the project unites the Libraries’Continue reading “Diversity, collections, collaboration”
“Fostering the aspirations”
VII. We strive for excellence in the profession by maintaining and enhancing our own knowledge and skills, by encouraging the professional development of co-workers, and by fostering the aspirations of potential members of the profession. — from “Code of Ethics of the American Library Association” The first-annual DLS Winter Holiday Student Appreciation Celebration was enjoyedContinue reading ““Fostering the aspirations””
Child historians / historic children
While freshman students can often seem impossibly young to those of us on the other side of the information desk, library staff took comfort in finding that the packs of youths roaming the UI’s book stacks on Dec. 5 were in fact junior high school students from around the state, on field trips to doContinue reading “Child historians / historic children”
Being muttonable
While social gatherings with friends and family can be the most enjoyable part of the holiday season, accepting too many invitations can result in exhausting treks through perilous weather to a seemingly endless round of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s parties. However, refusing invitations without offending your would-be host can be tricky, which is whyContinue reading “Being muttonable”
Noble efforts
For many librarians, the urge to collect and preserve the record of human culture isn’t checked at the door on the way out of the office. Just ask Mary Noble, who worked as a cataloger for over three decades at the University of Iowa Libraries. In her off hours, she scoured flea markets and antiqueContinue reading “Noble efforts”
Organizational evolution
It’s almost a month into DLS’ first encounter with back-to-school season, and we’re just beginning to catch our collective breath. After hiring and training a new cadre of digital library production workers – both undergrads and library school students, as well as staff members from other library departments volunteering a portion of their work timeContinue reading “Organizational evolution”