Libraries@UW-Madison

Newsletter Archive | Library Communications

Issue 41

4/28/2005

News for Staff of UW-Madison Libraries

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LIBRARY NEWS

Eliot Finkelstein and Yvonne Schofer have been named the 2005 Librarians of the Year by their peers in the UW-Madison Librarians' Assembly. Finkelstein and Schofer were honored with the award at the Assembly's annual High Tea, Thursday, April 14.

Two Librarian of the Year awards are given to unclassified staff members each spring to recognize their contributions to the General Library System. One award recognizes a staff member who has worked in GLS fewer than 10 years, and one award recognizes a staff member who has worked in GLS more than 10 years. The awards, created in 1989, recognize staff that have made exceptional contributions to the libraries.

Read more about the 2005 Librarians of the Year
In light of rising journal costs and budget concerns, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution encouraging university researchers and scholars to be more selective when considering where to submit their scholarly work.

"Our intention is to make faculty and academic researchers more mindful about how and where they chose to publish their work," said Ken Frazier, director of the Libraries. Frazier also noted that similar resolutions have been adopted at Cornell University, Indiana University Bloomington, Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley.
Read the UW-Madison Faculty Senate Resolution
Memorial Library received the Badger Herald's 2004-2005 Student Choice award for Best Alone-Time Library. "This award is most timely in that it signals to staff and patrons alike that our efforts to promote an environment that is conducive to study and research are appreciated and necessary," said Lee Konrad, head of Public Services for Memorial Library.

Students voted online to determine the award winners in a variety of categories including best burrito, best lecture hall, meanest bar bouncer and best alone-time library.
Grants are still available from the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries. The Friends provide grants for materials that are outside the limits of the libraries' budget, typically for the acquisition of new materials or the preservation of existing collections. Applications are due by noon Wednesday, May 4.
Read more about grants from the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries

NOTABLES

Ebling Library said farewell to Document Delivery Coordinator Patrick O'Toole March 25. "We appreciate all he has accomplished here and we will miss him at Ebling," said Ebling Associate Director Natalie Norcross in an e-mail to staff.
Amy Rudersdorf, UW Digital Collections; Lisa Saywell, UW Digital Collections; and David Null, UW Archives, have put together a program to help UW-Madison alumni preserve their personal collections. They will hold a workshop called "My UW History" during the Wisconsin Alumni Association's Day on Campus weekend May 5-8. On Friday and Saturday mornings, alumni will be able to learn tips about preserving their memorabilia and artifacts. If they brought any items with them, UW Digital Collections will make a complimentary digital copy for them. Interesting items may also be added to the UW Archives or UW Digital Collections.

"We hope this will provide an opportunity for alumni to preserve their memories of campus and also add those memories to the UW Digital Collections and/or UW Archives," said Null.
April 15 was Lori LaSee's last day at Wendt Library. She coordinated course reserves and binding & preservation for the past six years. LaSee also worked in Middleton Health Sciences Library, College Library in the past and worked for the campus libraries since 1988.
The Center for Instructional Materials and Computing welcomed Jim Jonas April 11. Jonas has taken on the position of Information Services and Electronic Resources Librarian, which include coordinating reference services for the CIMC; developing print, digital and multimedia resources for CIMC user groups; and serving as liaison to faculty in the School of Education. Jonas is a recent graduate of UW-Madison's School of Library and Information Studies and previously worked as an intern at the Health Sciences Libraries.
School of Library and Information Studies Professor Ed Cortez will be leaving UW-Madison at the end of the semester. After 17 years at UW-Madison, Cortez will be the new director of the School of Information Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. A celebration will be held in his honor from 2-4 p.m. Thursday, May 12 in 4207 Helen C. White Hall.
Michael Cohen, CTS; Karen Dunn, Steenbock Library; Albert Quattrucci, Memorial Library; and Mary Rader, Memorial Library, were elected by their peers to be representatives on the 2005-2007 Librarian's Assembly Steering Committee. These four will join current committee members Jaqui Alvarez, College Library; Beth Harper, Memorial Library; and Sharon Mulvey, Chemistry Library. The Librarian's Assembly works on various projects including awarding the Librarian of the Year awards, welcoming new colleagues, coordinating speakers and assembling an annual list of recommended books.
School of Library and Information Studies doctoral student Nola Walker has been named the new research intern for the General Library System. Her first day will be June 15 and she will split her time between Memorial Library and College Library. Walker's internship will focus on public service, including research, outreach and marketing for the libraries. In her second year of this two-year internship, Walker will develop a plan or model for new areas of outreach and marketing for GLS.
Anne Lambert, a longtime member of the board of directors of the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries, and Henry Huang, manager of the InfoLab in Memorial Library, have received awards for their work at UW-Madison.
Read more about Lambert and Huang's awards
Ebling Library is pleased to announce that Ann Combs, senior academic librarian, has been named Ebling Library’s new coordinator of reference and research. Many are acquainted with Combs from the various roles she has filled for the Health Sciences Libraries at UW-Madison since 1995. She has an extensive background in instruction, reference, resource and services development and has been active regionally and nationally as an author, instructor and conference presenter. Combs will bring her experience as former coordinator of Weston Library at the Clinical Sciences Center to her role in leading reference and research activities.and services.
Story submitted by Health Sciences Librarian Sandra Phelps

FEATURES AND EVENTS

Wendt Library will be holding an Open House from 3-4:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, to show their newly renovated areas, including a new service desk area that serves reference and circulation functions. Other renovations include moving the computer lab up to the entry-level floor and combining the computer aided engineering computers and the InfoLab computers so that each could access either network. Wendt also has new chairs, new carpet, new draperies and new security gates on the second floor, the entry-level floor. The Division of Information Technology and Wisconsin TechSearch provided funding for the renovations.
Judy Houck, assistant professor of Medical History and Bioethics, will be speaking on "Hot Flashes and Liberated Patients: Researching the History of Women's Health," at 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 29 in 126 Memorial Library. Houck has written a book on the subject which is forthcoming from Harvard University Press. This lecture is part of the "Evolving Directions in Academic Research and Resources" series sponsored by the UW-Madison Libraries ASHIND Librarians Group.
Staff Appreciation awards will be presented to six staff members at a ceremony from 3:30-5 p.m., Tuesday, May 3, at the Memorial Union. These awards are meant to recognize staff members in any library on campus who demonstrate exemplary working relationships with colleagues or other people in the libraries, contribute to a welcome learning and researching environment, exhibit high-productivity along with teamwork, leadership and cooperation. The awards also recognize staff members that show creativity, initiative and independence that positively influence library services.

Awards are given to one academic staff member, one classified staff member and four student staff members. Each winner will receive a certificate and monetary award. The recipients in this inaugural year are as follows:

Academic Staff Member—Richard West, senior academic librarian, Wendt Library

Classified Staff Member—Lois Milton, LSA-senior, CTS

Student Staff Members—Anna Palmer, SLIS and College Library
                                       Elizabeth Baker, DCG, Memorial Library
                                       Amy Fibich, Bindery, Memorial Library
                                       Timothy Cole, Wendt Library
Museum Specialist Emeritus of the Graphic Arts Collections at the Smithsonian Institution, Stan Nelson, chats with audience members after giving a lecture Thursday, April 7. The lecture, "Recasting Gutenberg," was part of a two-day symposium of the same name hosted by the Silver Buckle Press. Nelson, renown for producing historically accurate recreations of hand moulds and foundry tools, donned an apron reading, "So little time, so many books," for the lecture. Nelson's lecture Thursday evening was co-sponsored by the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries.
Nicholas Basbanes, an award-winning journalist and author, spoke to more than 100 people at the Friends annual lecture, Wednesday, April 20, at the Madison Club. His talk ranged from the distinction between being a bibliophile and a bibliomaniac to the impact of friends and donors in building world-class library collections. Using examples from his books, he described how a solitary bibliophile can move a library's collection on a specialized subject into national prominence.

Basbanes has been called a “certified bibliomaniac” and “the leading authority on books about books.” Now in its eighth edition with more than 80,000 copies in print, his first book, A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in nonfiction for 1995. It was also named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Basbanes’ most recent book is A Splendor of Letters: The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World.

View pictures from the Friends Annual Dinner
Mary Nohl, (1914-2001), did not label herself artist or craftsman, but enjoyed the process of "arts activities." Some of her work will be on display in an exhibit titled "Mary Nohl, Smaller Works" in Kohler Art Library through May 31. She may be seen as a sculptor, painter, jeweler, illustrator, writer—but especially, a builder. Nohl's greatest body of work became the unified whole of her home, informed by her familiar surroundings and by the world at large. Although she is best known for her sculpture-filled yard surrounding her cottage, decorated with wood cutouts, in Fox Point, Wis., this display presents a glimpse beyond, into the interior realm of her lesser-known jewelry, ceramics, wire sculpture and drawings. The exhibit was curated by Jane Bianco, UW-Madison alumna.
Mills Music Library's new exhibit, "Midwestern Fiddlers" displays the history of folk-fiddling traditions and practices in the Upper Midwest. The exhibit uses materials from the Wisconsin Music Archives, including items from the Helene Stratman-Thomas and Robert Andresen Collections. Wisconsin fiddlers, including Otto Rindlisbacher, Leizime Brusoe, Leonard Finseth and Aleksander Bogucki, are featured in the exhibit. "Midwestern Fiddlers" is on display in conjunction with the The Center for the Humanities Future of Folk conference April 14-23. The exhibit will be on display through July 30.

Also as part of the Future of Folk program, Geri Laudati, director of Mills Music Library, led a guided tour of folk on the Web called, "Wisconsin Folklore Resources on the Web," Friday April 15. This was one of many workshops associated with the conference.

The Future of Folk conference is intended to show the "nature of folk culture in a rapidly changing world." For more information, visit the conference Web site.

NEW RESOURCES ON THE WEB

The following items are recent additions to the UW Digital Collections:

Within the Mills Music Library Special Collections, two collections have recently expanded. The Americana Sheet Music Collection grew by 153 items, including digitized sheet music. This collection of sheet music is concentrated on music from the popular tradition and music published in America before 1900. The Americana Sheet Music Collection was funded by a grant from the Friends for the UW-Madison Libraries.

The Wisconsin Sheet Music Collection also has more digitized sheet music in its database, including 72 items that will enhance the collection's records of music written by Wisconsin composers, published by Wisconsin publishers and pieces about Wisconsin. The collection spans from the late 1850s to the present and focuses on popular music traditions. This collection is also funded by a grant from the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries.

Quite a few items were added to two different parts of the History Collection. Nearly 180 volumes, including nearly 6,000 pages, helped expand the Germany Under Reconstruction portion of the collection. Germany Under Reconstruction includes publications in English and German that chronicle the times immediately after World War II. The Germany Under Reconstruction portion of the History Collection is funded by the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries through a Brittingham Grant.

The World War I Collection within the History Collection now includes 211 more images in addition to the previously digitized texts. New images include wartime photos created by Jacob Sitzmann while on assignment in Italy, Germany and Romania. Posters and other ephemera were also added. The World War I Collection is a sampling of the World War I Special Collection held on campus. Digitization of materials for the online collection is funded by a Brittingham Grant of the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries.

The Wisconsin Historical Society expanded the Turning Points in Wisconsin History online collection with more than 50 documents and museum items. New materials include Packers photos, items about the Milwaukee Braves baseball team, documents about effigy mounds in Wisconsin, reports about Indian Reservation Conditions during 1909 and 1910 and memorabilia from the Kenosha Comets, the All American Girls Softball League team started in 1943.

Turning Points also has a section called This Day in Wisconsin History where readers can find a list of historic events for each date. The site also has a blog of odd stories from Wisconsin history.
MARC records for more than 65,000 titles have been loaded into MadCat, the Libraries' online catalog, that combine the MMC microfilm holdings for Pollard & Redgrave's Short-title catalog and Wing's Short-title catalog. Electronic links for the digital versions are available through the Early English Books Online database. The Early English Books Online database includes full-text images of nearly all books printed in England and the colonies from the beginning of printing to 1700.

IN THE NEWS

Cooperative Children's Book Center Librarian Megan Schliesman wrote an article recommending books that would encourage children to explore poetry during National Poetry Month. The article, published April 5 in the Wisconsin State Journal, mentioned books like Hummingbird Nest: A Journal of Poems by Kristine O'Connell and A Maze Me: Poems for Girls by Naomi Shihab Nye.
The Center for the Humanities Future of Folk programs received quite a bit of media coverage and a few also mentioned some of the events which also involved the libraries. An article in The Capital Times April 5 discussed the entire programming but also mentioned the exhibit in Mills Music Library.
The Capital Times published an article April 8 by Parallel Press Poet Harriet Brown in light of National Poetry Month. She discussed two recent poetry chapbooks released by the Parallel Press, Wild Apples and Virgins on the Rocks. Brown is also editor of Wisconsin Trails magazine.
An April 11 article in the Badger Herald discussed a national program in which many libraries are working to digitized newspapers published across the United States. The project is sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
An Associated Press article in The Capital Times April 19 announced the addition of personal letters by environmentalist and UW alumnus John Muir to the State Historical Society's online collections. The letters span more than 50 years and most were written to childhood friends Muir knew when he lived near Portage, Wis.

FYI: National Library News

Historic images of the recently found ivory-billed woodpecker reported by NPR have been digitized by the UW-Madison Libraries for viewing worldwide on the Internet.
Read more about the ivory-billed woodpecker at the Libraries

SNAPSHOTS




In honor of Earth Day, April 22, more than 160 students volunteered to help plant trees beside Memorial Library and on Library Mall, with help from library staff, buildings and ground staff and the UW Police Department. The dozen indigenous trees planted adjacent to Langdon Street include redbuds, crab apples and the 'Cole' variety of serviceberry bred at the UW Arboretum by Professor Emeritus of Horticulture Ed Hasselkus. The UW Police Department and the Lower Campus Community also teamed with fraternities and sororities to clean up lower campus, including Humanities, Memorial Union and Memorial Library. Students and staff removed graffiti, cleaned up trash and trimmed overgrown shrubs. From April 27 issue of Wisconsin Week. Story and photo by Michael Forster Rothbart.

PUBLISHED

Shoshauna Shy's White Horses on Sale for a Song, the latest poetry chapbook release by the Parallel Press, shares childhood experiences and curiosities. Shy's poems allow the reader to look through a young child's eyes and remember those first life experiences that taught something about the world.
Read more about White Horses on Sale for a Song
The Data and Program Library Service published its semester newsletter this April. In an effort to reduce print copies, DPLS will rely on e-mail to distribute more copies. The newsletter will also be available on their Web site. This April 2005 issue ponders the positives and negatives of using PDF documents and the new PDF/A version that is in the works. Other articles discuss the 2004 National Election Studies, Center on Everyday Lives of Families examinations, upcoming National Center for Education Statistics seminars and new studies at DPLS, among other topics.

25 YEARS AGO IN THE LIBRARIES

The May 2, 1980 issue of Added Entries marked the beginning of Yvonne Schofer's career as the humanities bibliographer in Memorial Library. Schofer was just named a 2005 Librarian of the Year

"Memorial's new half-time Humanities Bibliographer, Yvonne Schofer, was born and educated in Nantes, France, and received a Licence es Lettres in English from the University of Nantes. She first came to the United States as a Fulbright scholar, and received an M.A. in English from Mount Holyoke College. She earned her M.L.S at the University of Wisconsin in 1975. Early in her working life, Yvonne held various teaching positions in France, England and the U.S."

Quotation

Libraries@UW-Madison is written by the staff of Library Communications.
Managing Editor: Kristin Knipschild

Please send questions, comments or story ideas to:
Don Johnson, 608.262.0076, 330C Memorial Library,
Kristin Knipschild, 608.262.2853, 348 Memorial Library, or
e-mail Libraries@UW-Madison.