Libraries@UW-Madison

Newsletter Archive | Library Communications

Issue 44

10/20/2005

News for Staff of UW-Madison Libraries

SEARCH ALL NEWSLETTERS

PREVIOUS ISSUES

LIBRARY NEWS

~ UWDCC launches "Harvest Time" as one-millionth digital object
~ Hendrickson adds to Braun Fund for SLIS students
~ Jacobsen creates endowment fund for second year SLIS students
~ Libraries' E-Resource Gateway provides one-stop shopping for online research
~ Assessment Working Group formed to provide campus-wide assessments

NOTABLES

~ Tweten named new Wisconsin TechSearch director
~ Wendt and Wisconsin TechSearch host Open Houses for Lenny Black
~ Music Library bids farewell to two, welcomes two
~ Lin named committee chair for Council on East Asian Libraries
~ Bram retires after 40 years with GLS
~ Schwartz joins Interlibrary Loan at Memorial
~ Gleason leaves Library Instruction
~ Androski's retirement party pictures

FEATURES AND EVENTS

LIBRARY NEWS

On Oct. 3, the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center digitized an image that represents the Wisconsin spirit and marks a significant achievement for the UWDCC and the university community — digitizing and launching their one millionth digital object.
Read more about the one-millionth digital object and the efforts of the UWDCC
Elizabeth Hendrickson, whose mother, Ethel Brann, taught frequently for the School of Library and Information Studies in the 1950s, has added $40,000 to the fund that bears her mother's name. The fund, established in 1999 with an initial gift of $5,000, now has almost $90,000 through the generosity of Mrs. Hendrickson. Scholarships are awarded from the fund's income to students who plan to become school or public librarians. Although the Ethel Brann Fund was established in 1999, the Hendricksons began their giving many years earlier, giving annual awards to SLIS students.
Larry Jacobsen, former director of the Madison Primate Research Center Library and Information Services, has established an endowment fund in an effort to express appreciation and provide help for students pursuing a graduate education in library studies. A School of Library and Information Studies graduate himself, Jacobsen decided to create the $100,000 endowment which will fund a scholarship award for a second-year SLIS student beginning in 2006.

SLIS Director Louise Robbins indicated that, in addition to demonstrating creativity and continual learning, Jacobsen demonstrated his commitment to the profession by providing both practicum opportunities and paid work for SLIS students. “He has been an exemplary mentor and a model for the type of flexibility, adaptability and willingness to learn that is required of innovative librarians in the 21st century,” Robbins added.
“We are so grateful to Larry,” Professor Robbins said. “This amazing gift is directed to a real area of need—our biggest priority—and exemplifies Larry's long commitment to the school.”
In response to user demand and to make access to online resources simpler, the UW-Madison Library launched the E-Resource Gateway at the start of the fall semester.

The E-Resource Gateway presents all of the libraries' electronic resources in a single list. It allows users to locate material in a number of ways — using alphabetical lists, searching by resource name, using an expanded subject list or doing keyword searches to locate electronic resources of interest.
Read more about E-Resource Gateway
A new working group has been developed by Director Ken Frazier to advance and extend the libraries assessment capability. While the Assessment Working Group will not replace any current assessment efforts, it will work to coordinate assessment efforts of campus libraries. The main task of this group is to identify assessment priorities and focus limited resources on specific assessment projects with campuswide impact. Members of the group include Michael Enyart and Mary Folster of the Business Library, Deborah Helman of Wendt Library, Lee Konrad of Memorial Library, Carrie Kruse of College Library, Abbie Loomis of Library & Information Literacy Instruction and General Library System Research Intern Nola Walker. Elisabeth Owens of GLS Administration chairs the group, which reports to the Library Services Council.

NOTABLES

Carolyn Tweten has been promoted and will be taking over duties as the new director of Wisconsin TechSearch. Tweten has worked with the libraries since 1989 and has served as the assistant director of Wisconsin TechSearch since 1992.
As reported in the last issue of Libraries@UW-Madison, Lenny Black retired from his position at Wisconsin TechSearch Sept. 2
Mills Music Library bid farewell to two staff members this summer. Steve Sundell retired July 5 after 19 years in the Music Library and 28 years in the UW System. His most recent position was head of public services and Curator of the Wisconsin Music Archives. His accomplishments included serving as editor of the Music Library's newsletter, the Jongleur, as well as outreach and the development for Archives.
Alinda Nelson, Music Library Technical Services Librarian, also retired from the Mills Music Library. After 28 years of service to the state and 18 years of service to the General Library System, she officially retired Aug. 31.
View pictures from Nelson's retirement party

As the Music Library wishes these two staff members well in retirement, they also welcome two new staff members who will help the library through this transitional time. Matt Appleby and Lisa Wettleson joined the Music Library this summer. Both recently attended the School for Library and Information Studies and have worked at various libraries across campus.
East Asian Original Cataloger Mary Lin has been elected Chair of the Committee on technical processing of the Council on East Asian Libraries. Her term will last through 2008. The Council on East Asian Libraries serves as a forum for the discussion of East Asian library problems of common concern to librarians and faculty members. It also develops programs for the development of resources and works to improve inter-library and international cooperation in East Asian library development.
After 40 years with the General Library System, Linda Bram has retired from CTS. She has earned the most seniority of any part-time GLS employee. Michael Cohen of CTS said, "She has helped us through this era of rapid change with 4 decades of dedication, hard work, and especially her constant good cheer."
View photos from Linda Bram's party
Richard Schwartz joined the Interlibrary Loan staff at Memorial Library in August. He previously worked at College Library and the Geography Library.
Former Reference Librarian Helene Androski's retirement party was held July 8 in the School of Library & Information Studies commons. As promised in the last issue of Libraries@UW-Madison, pictures of the party are now available for viewing.
Kerry Gleason left the libraries Aug. 10 after serving five years in Library & Information Literacy Instruction. She is now the children's librarian for the Wilmington Institute Library in Wilmington, Del. Gleason graduated from the School of Library and Information Studies in May 2004.

Library & Information Literacy Instruction Program Coordinator Abbie Loomis said, "Kerry has done an incredible job providing support for our program. She will be sorely missed by our teaching community."

FEATURES AND EVENTS

"More from the Fry Collection: Italian History 1300–1900" will include manuscripts, printed ephemera and books from the extensive collection assembled by William F. "Jack" Fry, emeritus professor of physics at UW–Madison. "It is the microhistory that's interesting," as Fry describes his collecting, "not the big things. The common life captured in letters, small town government, the bread baker and shoemaker." This exhibit, showcasing aspects of Italian "micro history" before Mussolini's rise to power, complements an earlier exhibit of the Fry Collection titled Italian Life Under Fascism (1998), now available online. The exhibit will be in Special Collections through Jan. 12, 2006.
"This dread messenger: Public health and human crisis during the age of cholera" will be on display in Ebling Library's Historical Reading Room from Oct. 24, 2005 - Feb. 1, 2006. The exhibit, set in an English town in 1849 as a fresh outbreak of cholera is appearing among the population, places viewers into the mindset of an official from one of the earliest incarnations of public health administration. Using only historical materials published between 1831 and 1849, visitors will witness the environmental and social factors of the time and attempt to untangle conflicting theories about the spread of the disease. The exhibition will illustrate the kind of crisis that informed our modern public health sensibility, made all the more immediate in the aftermath of recent Gulf Coast hurricanes.
Another successful annual Libraries Blood Drive was held Tuesday, Aug. 2. Coordinator Steve Frye reported that the goal of 85 units was met exactly and nearly 100 people volunteered to donate blood.
Library staff raised more than $2,300 to help victims of Hurricane Katrina during a "snack break" Thursday, Sept. 8. Director Ken Frazier invited staff members to visit the staff lounge for free donuts and treats if they made a contribution to the efforts to help Katrina victims.

In addition to the money library staff raised, staff members of DoIT heard about the idea and held a similar event in their department, raising more than $3,300. Together, the libraries and DoIT have helped contribute more than $6,000 to the victims of Katrina.
Coming events hosted by the Friends of the UW-Madison Library include FELIX: A Series of New Writing events and a lecture by author Paul Collins.
A Tea Dance was held Sunday, Oct. 9 by Mills Music Library at the Tripp Commons, Memorial Union. The Dance featured music of Skitch Henderson of the Johnny Carson show played by the Retro Swing Band. Mills Music Library is home to the Skitch Henderson Collection which includes approximately 1,000 compositions and arrangements. This collection piqued interest with members of the Retro Swing Band, a Madison-based group of retirees who enjoy playing big band jazz. In an effort to generate funds to help process the collection and make it accessible, the Retro Swing Band volunteered to perform music from the collection.
View pictures from the Tea Dance
The Friends of the UW–Madison Libraries hosted their semiannual used book sale Wednesday through Saturday, Oct. 12–15, in 116 Memorial Library. The sale featured more than 15,000 donated books, journals and magazines in the sciences and humanities with special collections of literary studies and modern theology.

This was the 20th book sale hosted by the friends in the past nine years. During that time, nearly 300,000 books have been sold and more than $350,000 has been raised.

"As far as I'm concerned the sale was a complete success," said book sale manager James Dast.

The Friends have built this event into the single largest used book sale in Wisconsin, thanks largely to volunteers. This dedicated group has contributed more than 3,000 hours in the last nine years, independently of other library volunteer work.

Sale revenue goes to a variety of supporting activities, such as grants to campus libraries for acquisitions, preservation and conservation. In addition, the Friends annually distribute several grants of up to $1,000 to researchers from around the world who visit Madison to pursue humanities-related research in Memorial Library.

The Friends host a lecture series every semester and have been a sponsor of the annual Wisconsin Book Festival held in Madison.
The Wisconsin Book Festival is an annual event that brings together the public, private and academic worlds in an effort to encourage reading for all ages. Over the past four years, the festival has become a way to celebrate the state's rich literary heritage and the events bring some of America’s finest writers to Wisconsin.

This year the fourth annual book festival was held Oct. 13 – 17. Events included readings, lectures, book discussions, writing workshops, children's events and live interviews in downtown Madison and on campus.

Specifically, the UW–Madison Libraries and the Friends sponsored a lecture by speaker and poet Thylias Moss Saturday, Oct. 15. The libraries also co-sponsored a lecture and film screening by Irish bookseller and scholar Des Kenny Jr. Sunday, Oct. 16, at the Orpheum Theater.

The Wisconsin Book Festival is organized by the Wisconsin Humanities Council. The UW–Madison Libraries, the Friends of the UW–Madison Libraries and other community organizations are among the many sponsors of the festival.
In conjunction with the Wisconsin Book Festival, Memorial Library hosted a Wisconsin Publishers' Showcase for the Wisconsin Center for the Book in the west corridor of the library on Friday, Oct. 14.

Various Wisconsin authors, poets and publishers shared words, art and books with the public during the showcase. The corridor held a book fair with various presses and publishers offering books and information about their work. Throughout the showcase, authors read from their books and poetry in 126 Memorial Library, and some joined the book fair to autograph their books.

The UW–Madison Libraries Parallel Press was represented at the showcase by poets Tim Walsh and Jim Ferris. Walsh composed the Parallel Press chapbook Wild Apples and Ferris penned the chapbook Facts of Life, which was just released this summer. Author John Kaminski was also available to sign the America’s Founders history chapbooks, George Washington: "The Man of the Age" and Thomas Jefferson: Philosopher and Politician. Kaminski is the author for the series of history chapbooks.
College Library hosted the second annual Zine Fest Oct. 14 – 16, where the zine readers, zine makers and curious minds perused a wide array of zines. A zine is a self-published magazine, a non-commercial enterprise, or possibly a gift of communication from one person to another. Zines can be created with a variety of materials ranging from computers to typewriters, and bound with anything from staples to glue.

Presenters included Sanford Berman, Tom Eland, Milo and the Queer Zine Archive, Echo Zine Distro, Tracy Honn of the Silver Buckle Press and Microcosm Publishing. The Zine Fest was sponsored by the Wisconsin Book Festival, the Silver Buckle Press, Punk Planet, College Library’s Open Book Café, Madison Public Library System, the School of Library and Information Studies and the Center for Print Culture in Modern America.

NEW RESOURCES ON THE WEB

Since the last issue of Libraries@UW-Madison, the UW Digital Collections Center has been busy producing more than 101,000 new pages of digital objects. Current collections that have new items include the Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture, Foreign Relations of the United States Collection, The History Collection, History of Science and Technology Collection, Mills Music Library Special Collections, Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books Collection, The State of Wisconsin Collection and The University of Wisconsin Collection.

Recent additions that may pique interest include:

The American Ornithology, or, The Natural History of Birds Inhabiting the United States, Not Given By Wilson was added to the Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture. This book was compiled by Charles-Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857), nephew to Napoleon I and the eldest son of Lucien Bonaparte. The young Bonaparte was a zoologist and assembled this collection of drawn, engraved and colored images in a four-volume set to Alexander Wilson's list of birds in America. This book is held in the Biology Library Rare Book Collection at UW-Madison.

The Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books Collection has more than 1,500 new images which show decorative book bindings from the nineteenth century. This collection has been developed in partnership with the University of Alabama Libraries and is meant to expand awareness of the book as an artifact. Decorative book bindings are often overlooked but can reflect social history, cultural history and bibliographic history.

Seven more manuscripts were added to the Wisconsin Goes to War: Our Civil War Experience section of The State of Wisconsin Collection. These manuscripts are part of an effort by the UWDCC, UW-Oshkosh and the Wisconsin Historical Society to collect letters, diary entries, journals and other correspondence by Wisconsin soldiers and citizens during this historic time. The new materials reflect letters written by Private William Otter as he describes the atmosphere of battle wounds, war rumors and hopes for peace. Letters from Captain Charles W. Felker also help to detail everyday life at Camp Washburn in Milwaukee. This collection was featured in the cover story of the fall issue of Friends News.

The University of Wisconsin Collection includes nearly 200 more images of athletics and well-known athletes at UW. For example, the picture to the right shows Coach Milt Bruhn watching a play from the sidelines of the 1963 Rose Bowl. The badgers went on to win the game by scoring 23 points in the fourth quarter.

IN THE NEWS

The UW Digital Collections was highlighted as the resource of the week by ResourceShelf Sept. 11. The caption said, "Yes, we do love digital libraries here on ResourceShelf, and we stumbled across a really good one this week that we would like to share with you. Clear a block of time in your schedule before you start browsing here because there is plenty to see . . ."
Nikki Busch was featured in an article in the Wisconsin State Journal about tattoos in the workplace. The article mentioned the exhibit she curated for Memorial Library which included a game of "pin the tattoo on the librarian." This exhibit was announced in issue 36 of Libraries@UW-Madison.
CCBC Librarians Megan Schliesman and Merri Lindgren co-authored an article for the Wisconsin State Journal that looked at children's books with a Wisconsin connection. The article was published Aug 1. The books discussed were White is for Blueberry by George Shannon, Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert, Books in a Box: Lutie Stearns and the Traveling Libraries of Wisconsin by Stuart Stotts and The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich.
The Allied Drive story hour program, still going strong, was mentioned on Channel 3 (WISC TV) July 25. For more information about the program, see our previous newsletter story.
See a video of the news coverage for this event
Utne magazine's August 2005 issue featured James Danky in an article titled "The New Monastic Librarians." Danky of the Wisconsin Historical Society Library-Archives, is credited with "looking for local voices" as he ensures that the Historical Society subscribes to periodicals published in Wisconsin. Utne August 2005 issue
The Aug. 19 issue of Isthmus included an article about the cookbook collection at Steenbock Library. Using the cookbook collection as a "getaway," the author explored the vast range of recipes.

SNAPSHOTS




An opening and reception held Wednesday, Aug. 10, displayed photos from the Joel Halpern collection. Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach and Lao Deputy Foreign Minister Phongsavath Boupha gave opening remarks at the event which was held to show recognize the fiftieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Laos.

PUBLISHED

Poet Jim Ferris' life experiences fill the pages of a recently released poetry chapbook published by the Parallel Press. Appropriately titled Facts of Life, the chapbook delves into personal feelings and emotions resulting from living with a physical disability.

Ferris uses the poetry in this chapbook to show the many facts of life, ranging from how an imagination can run wild, to what it feels like to have people stare at a brace on your leg, to experiencing thoughts of suicide. Some poems even symbolize experiences that reveal facts of life. For example, the poem "Apologia" defiantly shows how the structure of a poem can defy the rules of lines and spaces by limping or lurching across a page but still getting a message across.
Read more about this chapbook
The fall issue of Friends News is now available. This issue discusses the collaborative online project, Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books; a look at the library's first reference department; and information about Grants-in-Aid scholars visiting UW-Madison this year.
The 2005 Library Supplement was included in the Sept. 21 issue of Wisconsin Week and highlighted news from the libraries as well as library services. The supplement announced the UWDC's one-millionth image and also discussed the new E-Resource Gateway, exhibits that will be in libraries across campus this year, upcoming events this fall and other notable services and stories. The inside spread of the supplement also included a map of campus libraries.
Ebling Library published the Fall edition of Ebling News online. This issue highlight's Ebling's first birthday as well as recent topics such as evidenced-based practices and the library's new digitization capabilities.

IN PASSING

Friends Board member ellsworth snyder died Thursday, Aug. 11, at the age of 74. Snyder was the longtime music director of the First Unitarian Society and is often credited with building the program from scratch over the past three decades. A memorial service was held Sunday, Aug. 28, and had been planned by snyder himself.

25 YEARS AGO IN THE LIBRARIES

The Alternative Press made it's debut at Memorial Library and was mentioned in the Aug. 15, 1980, issue of Added Entries.

Alternative Press in Wisconsin, a new directory now available in the Rare Book Room at Memorial Library, has been published in coordination with Alternative Literature in Libraries, a conference held in Madison, Wisconsin, on May 2, 1980. It was compiled from questionnaires sent to alternative presses currently publishing and to academic and public libraries within the state. The presses were identified through standard bibliographical/reference tools, through library referrals and by word-of-mouth. Additional mailings were sent out and telephone calls made to make the directory as complete as possible.

It is arranged in two parts, the first by press name and the second by periodical title. It also includes an abbreviated version of the questionnaire used to compile the directory.

An exhibit of Alternative Press materials was also on display in the Rare Book Room of Memorial Library to highlight the acquisition.

According to the online library catalog, MadCat, the Alternative Press can be searched online or can be viewed in the Memorial Library Reference area or the Historical Society Library Reading Room.

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.