Archives > IRIS News and Notes February 2003
IRIS
News & Notes February 2003
Premiere
issue of
Arts & Humanities Library News
Contents:
Contents:
Arts
& Humanities Library News
Mozart Exhibit Opens
Janet Reno to Speak in Libe Café
The Return of The Bather
Media Assessment Task Force Established
Olin Facilities Update: A New Look in Reference
Uris Facilities Update:
Kinkeldey Opening
Department of Instruction moves
Fiske/Willis Room Furniture Upgrades
Reminder on Internal Grants Deadline
Honors and Awards
IRIS Alignment with CUL Goals and Objectives
New Issue of The Loo Report
I live on
the west side of town. Every year around the holidays there is a half-mile
stretch on Floral Ave that sports an extravagant light show. This past
year, a patriotic display was added that includes a diminutive Statue
of Liberty and a lighted sign reading “GOD BLESS AMERICA.”
For several weeks last month, the “M” and the lowest bar on
the “E” were dark, transforming the word “AMERICA”
into “A FRICA.” Whether the morph was coincidental or not,
it served as a graphic reminder that Africa is a big contributor to this
country's identity.
February
is Black History Month and the library is doing its part. Sarah Thomas
has made a financial contribution to the Town of Ithaca Black History
Month Community Planning Committee on behalf of the Library. The funds
are being used in part to support the Harlem Renaissance theatrical show,
Mahogany Savoy, which will take place at the Community School
of Music and Art, Feb. 28 and March 1. In addition, the Library is providing
partial support for a series of films that will be presented throughout
Ithaca. Eric Kofi Acree will facilitate discussions following
the showing of two of them at the Tompkins County Museum. For more information
on Black History month programming, check the multicultural resource Web
site.
Here’s
what’s new from the past month:
Arts
& Humanities Library News
The first issue of a new publication, edited by Marty Crowe and
designed by Carla DeMello, has been launched. Arts &
Humanities Library News will appear twice a year, at the beginning
of the spring and fall semesters. It is designed to highlight resources,
services, and library news of potential interest to faculty and students
in the arts and humanities. Copies of the publication were distributed
to 19 departments last week. An on-line PDF
version is also available from the IRIS Website. If you have ideas
of topics to include in future issues, contact Marty Crowe (mjc4@cornell.edu).
Mozart
Exhibit Opens
" Mozart and the Keyboard Culture of His Time," an exhibit curated
by Augustus Arnone, Emily Dolan, Wiebke Thormählen, Neal Zaslaw,
and Lenore Coral, with the assistance of Katherine Reagan
and staff from RMC, will open on February 6 and run through May 30, 2003
in the Hirshland Gallery of the Kroch Library.
A wealth
of sources survives concerning the instruments, playing techniques, and
social circumstances that gave rise to Mozart's music and the music of
his contemporaries. This exhibit presents a collection of documents and
objects that illuminate how this music was performed and understood in
Mozart's time and in the 250 years since.
This exhibit
is but one part of a wider project that will culminate in the meeting
of the 2nd Biennial Conference of the Mozart Society of America on the
Cornell campus from March 27-30. There will also be an exhibit of and
some concerts on the keyboard instruments that Mozart knew in the Johnson
Museum, and lectures and concerts on the topic of the exhibit during these
meetings. — Lenore Coral
Janet
Reno to Speak in Libe Café, February 14
Presidential professor-at-large, former Attorney General, and Cornell
alumna Janet Reno will be speaking at the Libe Café on
Friday, February 14, 2003, from 9:00-10:00am. This event is intended for
library staff, students, faculty, alumni, and friends of the library.
A lottery for ticket distribution is underway. If you are interested in
attending the presentation, send your name (email requests only) by the
close of business on Wednesday, Feb 5th, to Kim Lamorte (kl267@cornell.edu).
Those receiving tickets will be notified by 5pm, Monday, February 10th.
As Attorney General, Reno’s priorities included: reducing crime
and violence by repeat offenders, finding alternative forms of punishment
for first-time non-violent offenders; prevention and early intervention
programs for children; enforcing civil rights laws; creating an elder
justice initiative; and building a Department of Justice that reflects
diversity.
The
Return of the Bather
Think spring! Sarah Thomas has arranged for The Bather, a sculpture
by one of the leading artists of the 20th century, Jacques Lipchitz, to
return to Olin Library as part of the Library's contribution to the aesthetic
development of the campus. The sculpture, which has been on extended loan
to the Johnson Art Museum, will be located in the entry hallway outside
106 Olin in the spot once occupied by a sculpture court before Kroch Library
was built. Here’s a virtual preview of how The Bather will look
in this location.
Media
Assessment Task Force Established
A new task force has been established to assess the current support for
media collections (audio cassettes, reel to reel, video, and DVD) within
OKU and to develop a plan to address their needs for the next five years.
The Task Force will be chaired by Susan Currie and staffed by
Boris Michev. Other staff who have agreed to serve on the Task
Force include: Carmen Blankinship, Barbara Eden, Lance Heidig, Rick
Lightbody, Fred Muratori, Suzette Newberry, Lois Purcell, and
Ron Rice.
The Task
Force will survey holdings in Olin, Uris, Kroch Asia, and RMC; assess
equipment, facilities, space, and storage issues; and make recommendations
on collection development, access, use, and preservation. The Task Force
report will be submitted in May. We anticipate implementing recommendations
by the fall semester.
Olin
Facilities Update: A New Look in Reference
Is it possible to move 7 reference assistants, 1 administrative supervisor,
and one student into 563 square feet of office space and manage to improve
the work environment for each person as well as the overall look of the
office? You bet! Prompted by the move of the new digitization service
into 106F, formerly Reference work space, the staff developed a plan that
would address ergonomic issues, accommodate all of the reference assistants
in one location proximate to the rest of the staff, and facilitate off-desk
responsibilities. Stop by 106E and see how a clever use of office landscaping
has resulted in individual workstations for each staff member as well
as an attractive new look for the office. —Pat Schafer
Rumor has
it that new directional signs for the first floor of Olin are supposed
to arrive this week. They should make it a lot easier for users to navigate
and staff to direct.
Uris
Facilities Update:
Kinkeldey Opening
Last Thursday, the Kindeldey Room was reopened for use following
extensive renovations that included a vaulted ceiling and the liberation
of three large windows facing west toward town and one facing east, overlooking
the Dean Reading Room. The room is beautifully restored, with the addition
of period-appropriate chandeliers, tables, and chairs. Soon to come are
the return of portraits and soft seating at the west end. The room will
be returned to its former use as a place for quiet study.
Department of Instruction Moves
The first in a series of moves for the Department of Instruction was completed
last Friday when Peter Hirtle occupied 309
Uris, former home of the digital camera. Next move will be for
Lance Heidig to occupy 104A just off the Willis Room (aka Carmen
Blankinship’s old office). Still to come, space for an Administrative
Assisant (to be hired) and Ira Revels, who will eventually occupy
102B, the office behind the Reference Desk in the Dean Reading Room.
Fiske/Willis
Room Furniture Upgrades
Also last week new tables for the computers in the Fiske Room were delivered.
These tables are in keeping with the style of the other furniture in Fiske.
Finally, refurbished wooden chairs will soon be replacing the worn out
pink cushion chairs in the Willis Room.
Reminder
on Internal Grants Deadline
The deadline for submitting Letters of Intent for the Internal Grants
Program is February 10, 2003. Remember to use the Preliminary Proposal
Notification Form, which requires the signature of your supervisor and
your AUL (that’s moi). The form is available online.
Honors
and Awards
John Dean has been named the recipient of the 2003 ALCTS Paul
Banks & Carolyn Harris Preservation Award and will receive the award
at ALA in Toronto this summer. This award is given annually to a preservation
professional based upon leadership to the profession, contributions to
preservation methods, writing and research, or training and mentoring.
In receiving this award, John Dean is being recognized for his
contributions in all these categories.
IRIS
Alignment with CUL Goals and Objectives
The IRIS Management Team spent some time last fall conducting an internal
assessment of the CUL Goals and Objectives, 2002-2007 report. We’ve
posted on the IRIS Website a summary document
that highlights the reports prepared by each unit. This exercise was important
on several fronts. First, it gave IRIS an opportunity to become familiar
with the library's priorities, and second it enabled us to assess how
well our efforts support the library's goals and objectives. Having reviewed
the individual unit's responses in preparing the summary document, I came
away very impressed with how responsive each unit is to change and how
well prepared each is to participate in fulfilling CUL's goals and objectives.
I think you will find the summary document makes for an interesting read.
New
Issue of The Loo Report
The long-anticipated second installment of The Loo Report is
now available. It features the opening of the Kinkeldey Room as well as
the results of an informal student survey on favorite spots in Uris to
study, collaborate, use computers, and conduct research. You can read
it here (PDF) or check it out in situ.
That’s
it for this month. As always, drop me a line if there’s something
on your mind.
Anne
