The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Special Collections Boost A University's Status

For universities striving to improve their reputation — particularly the handful, including U.T.-Arlington, vying to be the state’s next Tier 1 research institution — special collections can provide a boost. And for a general public largely unaware of the items stored in public universities, they can be a veritable treasure-trove. “Tier 1 is all about scholarship and recognition by your peers from around the world for the great and wonderful research that you do,” said Ronald L. Elsenbaumer, the provost at U.T.-Arlington. “And special collections bring that uniqueness to your university. Having those unique, scholarly activities going on that distinguish you, that’s important.” Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/us/in-texas-university-holdings-door-to-history-and-culture.html?pagewanted=1&ref=education

Philadelphia Inquirer Donates Archives To Temple University

The history of 20th Century Philadelphia just came into sharper focus at Temple University. The university’s Urban Archives, a collection that charts the social, cultural and political history of the city, is now home to the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News archives from 1900 to 2005.  The archives – the equivalent of more than 675 file cabinets-worth of original clippings, photos, and negatives dating roughly from 1900 to 2005 – were transferred to Temple in June by Interstate General Media, the newspapers’ parent company, as the organization moved from 400 North Broad Street to a new headquarters at 801 Market Street. Temple’s Urban Archives, part of the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC), also house the Evening Bulletin, 6ABC, and KYW-TV archives, making it one of the most significant primary resources available on city and regional history. Read more at:
http://news.temple.edu/news/2012-07-25/temple-acquires-philadelphia-inquirer-and-daily-news-archives?utm_source=templetoday&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PhillyNewsArchives

Most Popular College Summer Camp May Be The One For Rare Book Specialists

For five weeks each summer Rare Book School brings some 300 librarians, conservators, scholars, dealers, collectors and random book-mad civilians together for weeklong intensive courses in an atmosphere that combines the intensity of the seminar room, the nerdiness of a “Star Trek” convention and the camaraderie of a summer camp where people come back year after year. For many Rare Book School is an important networking opportunity. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/books/rare-book-school-at-the-university-of-virginia.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120724

University Library Opens First Exhibit Of Grateful Dead Archive

Deadheads everywhere have a reason to go to the library. UC Santa Cruz opened a rare kind of exhibit to the public on Friday to display the loads of papers, art and artifacts that make up the university's Grateful Dead archive. Appropriately, the refurbished former classroom on the main floor of the university's McHenry Library has already been christened "Dead Central." What fans will see at the gallery is less than 1% of the entire collection, which is tucked away on a separate floor. Read more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-dead-archive-20120701,0,6084503.story

Experts' Advice To High School Seniors Warns Them College Research Papers Require More Effort

College papers require analysis and research. In college, you may be asked to break down some issue into its parts and offer some evaluation of your own. You may be asked to consult original documents and scholarly sources and offer your assessment of them. This is in sharp contrast with what is expected of written assignments in high school, some of which require no more than a simple summary of what others have said on Wikipedia, and articles found on Google, newspapers, and magazines. Read more at:
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/7-things-graduating-seniors-should-know-about-college/?ref=us

Berkeley's Libraries Expecting To Take A Big Budget Hit

UC Berkeley ranks among the five best universities on the planet. Yet the great university's libraries are in trouble. Blame the decrepit state budget, inflation, a shift from paper to electronic research - or all three. But Berkeley has reduced its library spending by 12 percent since 2008, even as the University of Michigan, its main public competitor, has spent 24 percent more. Read more at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/17/BAV01P0A6G.DTL

Students Can Use Joseph Heller's Typewriter And Desk At University Library Exhibit

Students more accustomed to computer screens than manual typewriters are getting a chance to sit at author Joseph Heller's stained wooden desk and type on the battered Smith-Corona he used to compose his acclaimed novel "Catch-22." A small exhibit at a University of South Carolina library displays the desk, typewriter and lamp used by Heller as he wrote many of his major works. The university library has one of the largest collections of his papers, manuscripts and other memorabilia available to researchers. Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/17/catch-22-memorabilia-_n_1603731.html

 

Pop-Up Books Are Popular At This Academic Library

A college library might not be the first place you'd look to find colorful pop-up books of Charlie Brown, Darth Vader and the X-Men. But Florida Atlantic University's Wimberly Library has become a showroom for these colorful, movable, three-dimensional creations. The university's Arthur Jaffe Center for Book Arts has received a collection of about 450 pop-up titles during the past year, including some of the most popular and unusual books ever produced. But pop-up books aren't just for kids. The FAU collection features every genre found in regular books, including history, cooking, celebrities, geography, religion, health and art. Read more at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-fau-popup-books-20120523,0,3552780.story 

 

The Libraries Are Transforming To The Library At UC San Diego

Thousands of students, faculty, staff and community members use the UC San Diego Libraries every day.  The Libraries provide more than 7 million digital and print volumes, journals and multimedia materials, and its resources and services are accessed on the Web almost 90,000 times a day.  Ever-evolving shifts in user needs and the continuous decline in state funding, have led the Libraries to implement a number of changes, including the consolidation of some library buildings and collections.  Brian E. C. Schottlaender, who joined the campus in 1999 as University Librarian and is the first holder of The Audrey Geisel University Librarianship, talks about the challenges and opportunities that come with organizational change, and how the Libraries will be transitioning over the next year. Read more at:
http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/features/qa_with_brian_schottlaender/

University Of Colorado Advocates For Public Access Legislation

University of Colorado leaders are advocating for a legislative bill that, if passed by Congress, would make academic journals -- which have been soaring in cost -- more accessible. The Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012 would require that taxpayer-funded manuscripts be made available to the public online at no cost and within six months of the article being published in a peer-reviewed journal. Both the CU Student Government and the United Government of Graduate Students have become Right to Research members. Right to Research is an international student coalition focused on open access to research. Read more at:
http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_20556453/cu-leaders-back-bill-that-would-increase-access