Friday, June 27, 2014

Registration

Discussion Group: Inner Space, Outer Space, and Virtual Space: Renovating and Building for Special Collections

-Sponsored by Brigham Young University

Thinking about your next big renovation? Already in the midst of your own? Just finished and willing to share? Join your colleagues to discuss planning a special collections space for the 21st century – in the reading room, on campus, in the community, and online.

Moderators: Jennifer Meehan, Associate Director, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL), Emory University; Naomi L. Nelson, Director, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

Papers panel 10: Joker’s Wild

Moderator: Nina Schneider, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA

“Manuscripts from Print: The Pennsylvania Schwenkfelders and their Dangerous Books”, Katharine C. Chandler, Free Library of Philadephia

As one of the Catholic Church’s first measures of the Counter-Reformation, the Council of Trent prohibited writings by four men in particular: Luther, Calvin, Balthasar Hubmaier, and Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig. Schwenckfeld’s writings in his own time often circulated in manuscript for years before printing, and printers were frequently afraid to reveal their names in Schwenckfeld’s published works, especially as he became better-known and considered heretical by both Catholics and Lutherans. The Silesian Schwenkfelders, people of the book, were forced to eventually immigrate to Pennsylvania from Silesia, and they did so in six migrations—the largest in 1734. Their sea chests were filled with books: print and manuscript copies of Schwenckfeld’s writings and the writings of men in his circle. This paper will investigate the Schwenkfelders’ unusual manuscript traditions: copies of printed books; learning by copying; hymnals; postila—both the traditions in Silesia from the Reformation period and those that followed after the migration to Pennsylvania.  The manuscripts discussed are in the collections of the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Rare Book Department and the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania.

“Retrofitting Underused Special Collections: Visual Literacy and the Yale Bookplate Collection”, Molly E. Dotson, Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, Yale University

Developments over the past three-plus years with the Yale Bookplate Collection make for a useful case study of “retrofitting” a historical archive to a modern-day instruction program in special collections. This paper describes how a visual literacy exercise designed for bookplate materials has become an indispensable tool for orientation and instruction sessions in the Special Collections department of the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library. Encouraged to approach bookplates as traditional research materials as well as sources for creative inspiration, students engaged in this exercise confront the improvisational aspects of analysis and arrive at a more reflective understanding of not only the artifact but also the agents involved in its production and use. This exercise provides a space for multiple approaches to research and education in the book arts.

“Playing the Hand You’re Dealt: What can we learn from Historic Playing Cards?”, Timothy Young, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

Playing cards are ubiquitous in the broad history of book arts and printing, but they are rarely covered in discussions of book history and bibliography. This may be because there are very few guidelines for cataloging playing cards. The Cary Collection at the Beinecke Library is one of the richest resources for playing card history. It was one of the first significant collections that came to Beinecke in the 1960s – over 2600 packs of cards, 460 sheets and 150 wood printing blocks – and a custom cataloging scheme was created to describe the collection – focusing on a number of aspects unique to playing cards. I propose to discuss this cataloging process and to show examples of the roles that playing cards play in illuminating social, political, bibliographic, and ludic history.

Seminar: Making the Private Public: Acquisition, Description, and Access for Sexually Explicit Collections

– Sponsored by the Getty Research Institute

This panel will examine the processes through which special collections staff working in technical and public services make available collections with sexually explicit content (such as pulp sex novels, pornographic comics, stag films, artwork, etc.). These collections present unique challenges for numerous aspects of special collections libraries, including means and methods of acquisition, description, public outreach, and unorthodox research uses. Our panelists will present case studies with practical tips and lessons learned from their experiences with cataloging, reference/instruction, and exhibition of materials with strong sexual content. This seminar should appeal to both print and manuscript catalogers, archivists, and curators and should spark interesting discussions on the opportunities that accompany these often-overlooked (and sometimes purposefully ignored) collections. Images with sexual content will be shown.

Speakers: Jessica Janecki, Original Cataloger/Database Manager, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University; Catherine Johnson-Roehr, Curator of Art, Artifacts and Photographs, The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University;
Meghan Lyon, Technical Services Archivist, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University; Liana Zhou, Director of Library and Archives, The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University

Moderator: Meghan Lyon, Technical Services Archivist, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University

Seminar: Conducting Programmatic Assessment in Special Collections

– Sponsored by Bonhams

Bewildered by assessment? Learn from experts about practical steps you can take to conceive and carry out meaningful assessment initiatives at your institution. Hear how Columbia University conducted a large-scale study of its special collections users with the Archival Metrics Toolkit. Find out about the latest revisions to the annual ARL and ACRL statistical surveys and how they impact your library. See what RBMS has been doing in partnership with SAA to develop new collections, user, and use metrics to support local data gathering and inter-institutional comparisons. Get the latest on the development of primary source information literacy competency standards and how they can enhance instructional outreach. Come away equipped and energized to improve your library operations and services through programmatic assessment activities.

Speakers: Nisa Bakkalbasi, Assessment Coordinator, Columbia University; Martha O’Hara Conway, Director, Special Collections Library, University of Michigan; Christian Dupont, Aeon Program Director, Atlas Systems; Martha Kyrillidou, Senior Director, ARL Statistics and Service Quality Programs

Moderator: Christian Dupont, Aeon Program Director, Atlas Systems

Posters Encore & Beverage Break

“Space planning for Special Collections primary source instruction”, Chris Caldwell, University of Tennessee Libraries and Alesha Shumar, University of Tennessee Libraries

“Scanning Key Content during Cataloging & Accessioning”, Amy Benson, Schlesinger Library, Nell Carlson, Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Deborah Funkhouser, Schlesinger Library, Karen Nipps, Houghton Library

“Paper Towels and Rubber Bands: How Not to Store Magic Lantern Slides”, Amanda Lanthorne, San Diego State University

“The Egg: 50 Years in the 1964 Fine and Rare Book Room”, Mary Catharine Johnsen, Carnegie Mellon University Libraries

“Distinctive Space for the World’s Largest Cartoon Research Library”, Jenny Robb, The Ohio State University Libraries, Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

“Earth to the Moon and the Sky in Between: Embry-Riddle’s Aviation Safety and Security Archives”, Melissa Gottwald, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

“Viva Las Minis: Retrofitting the Mighty Mini for Today’s Special Collection Library” Lori Lynn Dekydtspotter, The Lilly Library, Indiana University and Cherry Dunham Williams, The Lilly Library, Indiana University

“History of Science Rare Book Collecting at the University of Arizona”, Roger Myers, University of Arizona Library Special Collections

“Going ATOMic: Completing the Victoria R.I. Catalogue in the Digital Age”, Valerie Buck, Brigham Young University, and Maggie Kopp, Brigham Young University

““Freedom is Everybody’s Business”: Using Multi-Faceted Outreach to Draw Student Attention to Local Archival Collections on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s”, Joshua Youngblood, University of Arkansas Libraries

Closing Plenary: Library/Archive as Place

Our closing plenary will delve into the construction and use of space, both physical and digital. Jim Reilly will address planning and implementing preservation strategies that balance effectiveness, cost, and environmental impact. Emily Gore will focus on the increasing opportunities for special collections libraries outreach via the development of new digital spaces. Shannon Mattern will share her research on the relationships between materialities of media and spaces by exploring the library/archive as a physical and metaphorical place.

Moderator: Jessica Holada, Director of Special Collections and Archives, California Polytechnic State University

Plenary Speaker descriptions can be found at the 2014 Preconference homepage.

Conference Wrap up: LV Shades of Retrofit

The Preconference Wrap-up looks back at three days of revisiting, reshuffling, and retrofitting special collections in all its dimensions. Echoing the plenary themes of artifact, place, and marketplace, LV Shades of Retrofit focuses on the content and context of special collections as explored throughout the preconference, sharing some final thoughts on the past and future of our collections and the ever-shifting network of relationships that surrounds and sustains them.

Wrap-up Team: Juli McLoone, Rare Books Librarian, University of Texas at San Antonio; Daniel J. Slive, Head of Special Collections, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of  Theology, Southern Methodist University

UNLV Special Collections & Lied Library Open House

National Atomic Testing Museum (ticketed event)

Neon Museum (ticketed event)