IRIS
News & Notes
August 2004
Photos from the Russian
Librarians' visit.
State of IRIS Report and Ice Cream Social
Facilities
CL-Cubed
LRC move may be delayed
Annex planning
Uris Library Current Magazines and Newspapers
New signs for Music Library
Services
Document delivery
One stop shopping
RAPID
ILL fee increase
Web Presence
Two Gateways
Carrels and Lockers site
The Reading Project
Orientation
Face time
New faculty outreach initiative
Ten things about the Library
Unified instruction brochure
Staff News: Comings, Goings, and Kudos
Other
CAU bookbinding course
Gifts to the Music Library
Russian visitors
Aren’t July and August supposed to be the down time of the year for Cornell? In preparing this end-of-summer issue of IRIS News & Notes, I was struck by how many things there were to report—this may be the largest issue yet. I want to know when people are going to start taking real vacations!
Here’s what’s new since last time.
State of IRIS Report and Ice Cream Social
Approximately seventy-five people assembled in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room on Wednesday, July 11 to celebrate IRIS’s second anniversary. The event began at 2:00pm with my "State of IRIS" report, which reviewed the past several years in light of the initial IRIS Mission, Vision, and Values document crafted by the IRIS Transition Team in early 2002. In preparing for this talk, I was struck by how relevant the document remains and by how much we have accomplished in the interim. For those of you unable to attend the reception, a copy of my talk is available online. IRIS staff and friends then enjoyed ice cream and toppings dished out by members of the IRIS cabinet. Special thanks go to them and Kim LaMorte and Sara Spoonhower for making the event a success. Even with folks coming back for seconds and thirds, we had plenty of ice cream left over. I guess we can trust Cornell Dairy next time when they claim each ice cream bucket can feed 90!
Facilities
CL-Cubed
The new Cornell Library Collaborative Learning Computer Laboratory, (CL)³, officially opened for business at noon on Monday, August 30 in the former Media Room of Uris Library. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Monday, September 27 at 3:30, with such notables as Provost Biddy Martin in attendance. (CL)³ is an 
innovative collaboration between the Cornell University Library, the Faculty Advisory Board on Information Technology (FABIT), the Department of Computer Science, and Cornell Information Technology. (CL)³ has been designed to support cooperative learning and instruction for multimedia development and software engineering. It contains custom-designed curved computer tables and flexible technology to foster group interaction. The lab’s equipment includes high-end CreationStation hardware, software, and peripherals (such as digital video cameras, digital still cameras, and scanners) that enable the creation of course-related multimedia projects. (CL)³ will allow Cornell faculty and students to test new methods of cooperative instruction and learning. Hours of operation will be noon to midnight, open to the public except when classes are scheduled.
LRC move may be delayed
The planning group for the move of the Language Resource Center (LRC) into Olin Library is nearing completion on their recommendations for location, services, and costs. This plan envisions a highly collaborative environment in which Olin Media and LRC facilities are shared. The cost estimates are high, in part because Olin is an antiquated space to accommodate the LRC’s high end technical requirements. Life safety and HVAC issues will also need to be addressed. Due to these and other considerations, it looks as if the move will be postponed for another year and the Institute for Social Science will find temporary housing for the 2005 school term. Stay tuned for any late breaking news.
Annex planning
The formal construction bid process for the annex expansion begins on August 31 with a review of the bidding contractors. Interviews with two or three of the lowest bidders will held in the first full week of September. Once a contractor has been chosen, the process will move along quickly, with a construction unit trailer set up along the road by the Cornell Apple Orchard within about ten days. A good portion of the large parking lot will be closed temporarily during some of the mechanical work and while work is being done at the front entrance, access to the building will be through the Conservation Lab. We don't expect any interruption in delivery service or use of the reading room during construction and will continue to keep staff informed. The expected completion date for the facility is August 2005. In the meantime, the Library Annex Planning Committee, consisting of Susan Currie (chair), Barbara Eden, John Hoffmann, Cammie Hoffmier, John Marmora, Margaret Nichols, and Zoe Stewart-Marshal, are hard at work. Their first order of business was to agree on what to call each part of the Library Annex:
1977 building = Old Annex and/or Old Warehouse
1998 building = Warehouse 1
2005 buildings = Warehouses 2, 3, 4
The CUL Measuring Project was wrapped up in June and the numbers are being crunched by Facilities. Once the measurement information is complete, the planning committee will send it to unit heads and begin scheduling meetings to discuss collection moves to Warehouse 2.
Uris Library Current Magazines and Newspapers
As reported in the April issue of IRIS N&N, LMT decided to discontinue the purchase of duplicate titles for Uris. In concert with this decision, the Dean Room periodicals collection has been honed and transformed into the Uris Library Current Magazines and Newspapers collection. The emphasis for this collection, now consisting of fifty titles, is popular—as opposed to academic—reading. Occupying the middle section of the open shelves on the east end of the Dean Room, the collection will focus on current events, social issues, sports, music, fashion, and will include such standards as The Nation, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Newsweek, Scientific American, and Time. The section to its left now houses a small Cornelliana collection consisting of the Uris copies of the Cornellian (formerly in the Willis Room) and current year issues of a variety of Cornell student publications. One press in this section will also hold eleven newspapers. The section to the right holds current issues of a selection of journals from the Africana Library.
New signs for Music Library
The Sign Committee has been busy as well this month. New directional signs—similar in type to those in Olin—were installed in the Music Library on August 17, 2004.
Services
Document delivery
Electronic document delivery, under the rubric of MyDocument Delivery (MyDD), will be implemented campus-wide by October 12, 2004 (Fall break). Patrons will be charged a $4.00 request fee for on-demand scanning of up to 30 pages for journal articles and book excerpts. Turnaround time will be 48 hours, and ILLiad will be used to support the campus-wide rollout. An implementation steering committee, chaired by Jesse Koennecke has been formed and includes Baseema Banoo-Krkoska, Carmen Blankinship, Amy Blumenthal, Mike Fordon, Joanne Leary, Keene Silfer, and Linda Westlake.
The committee has established four sub-groups:
Equipment—Amy, Keene, Joanne, and Jesse. Determine hardware and software to be purchased, make the purchase, and install; determine training needs.
Training—Carmen, Baseema, Jesse (others from this committee and the larger group will be added to the training team as the full picture develops). Three of the five ILLiad owning libraries will need training in the Doc Del module of ILLiad. All units will require scanning training.
Documentation/Interface—Joanne, Baseema, Mike, Jesse, Carmen. This group will review what public and staff documentation already exists and how smoothly the service works. Some editing will be needed to expand the service, and there may be opportunities to streamline parts of the service as well.
Billing—Linda, Jesse. Finalize any outstanding billing questions and procedures. Determine and develop any new billing plans. Marketing will be handled by Jim Morris-Knower and Carla DeMello.
Appointments to a second committee, the MyDD Full Implementation Committee, consisting of a representative from each unit library, have just been completed. They include:
Angela Horne—JGSM & Hotel
Jacie Spoon—Adelson (Ornithology)
Nancy Dailey—Entomology
Mike Fordon—Geneva
Michael Friedman—Veterinary
Carmen Blankinship—Olin/Kroch/Uris
Angie Wagner & Steve Gollnick—ILR
Baseema Banoo-Krkoska—Mann
Annie Hoff—Engineering
Jill Ulbricht—Physical Sciences
Natalie Sheridan—Math
Cammie Hoffmier—Library Annex
Nancy Moore—Law
Virgilio Pinto—Fine Arts
Lenora Schneller—Music
Concurrently, plans are underway to investigate what is needed to implement department book delivery services by the spring semester. Susan Currie is chairing a small investigation team, consisting of Deb Lamb-Deans, and Lydia Pettis.
One stop shopping
The former Access Services Office in Olin 116 has a new name—Library Public Services Office—to reflect the expansion of services offered there for Library users. Instead of having to go to different rooms within Olin for information or services, they can now come to a single room, one stop shopping, for the following services:
- Get information about Cornell ID problems involving Library usage, purchase Library cards, or activate spouse or affiliate IDs for library usage.
- Apply for proxy privileges for faculty or staff designates.
- Inquire about, appeal or make payment on OKU bills. Credit cards may now be used for payment.
- Apply for and pick up keys to faculty studies.
- Obtain graduate student carrel and locker assignments, pick up keys, and sign forms. Application is now made on-line.
- Check out graduate carrel laptops.
- Inquire about filming in the Library or the use of public space for a special function.
- Obtain tickets for special events in the library.
- Check for lost and found items in OKU. Items are kept for a few days before they are sent to CU Lost and Found in Barton hall. Wallets, keys or credit cards are immediately picked up by CU Police.
- Submit announcements for posting in the glass case in Olin (first floor).
RAPID
In the last issue of IRIS N&N, we described a new interlibrary loan copy delivery service, called RAPID (Rapid Access, Processing and Information Delivery). Pat Schafer reports that on August 19, Cornell entered "startup" mode by bringing up the borrowing capability component. On August 25, the lending component began initially in selected units (Olin, Kroch-Asia, Uris, and Library Annex). In response to a question on how RAPID was working, Julie Copenhagen, the head of Olin Interlibrary Services, responded, "I love it!" During its first week of operation, Olin put all ILL copy requests from Cornell borrowers received through ILLiad into RAPID: 88% were filled and within 24 to 48 hours. Julie Copenhagen, a veteran of many ILL initiatives, did allow that it was early days and pointed out that impact of the lending effort still loomed. However, since collectively Cornell's five ILS units have over the past three years realized an overall workload increase of 73%, a system that delivers faster service to users with less staff mediation on the borrowing promises to be a welcome addition. Stay tuned for more updates. The project implementation team consists of Julie Copenhagen, Jesse Koennecke, and Pat Schafer.
ILL fee increase
On September 1, Cornell's interlibrary lending fee to libraries outside of any consortial agreement will increase from $15 to $20 per filled request. This will coincide with the timing of a change in the RLG netlending reimbursement rate from $7 to $10 for domestic members and $21 to $30 for international members. Cornell is regularly one of the greatest netlenders. Income from interlibrary lending contributes to the funding of this public service.
Web Presence
Two Gateways
August witnessed the launch of the new Cornell University Homepage. If you haven’t done so already, give it a once-over. 
Access to the library is currently indirectly provided through the “Collections” link on the top gray bar. There is also a link to the library off the Academics page three clicks down, the Research page (under “Places where research goes on”), and Outreach (under “Outreach Gateways”). Under “Facts About Cornell,” one learns that Cornell was the first among all U.S. colleges and universities to allow undergraduates to borrow books from its libraries. Under “Wired Cornell” you’ll find a link to “ask a librarian.” Unfortunately, the library per se is not listed there as one of the “Sites that aggregate Cornell information from a number of sources exclusively for an online audience,” although some library collections are (e.g., RMC, DSpace implementation).
The large majority of university and college home pages provide a direct link to
the main library site. Linda Miller did some checking of the top twenty
libraries listed in ARL and on the recent list published by US News and World Report. There are 32 universities mentioned on the combined list, not including Cornell (which is on both lists). Of those:
- 27 out of the 32 mention the library on the main page proper. Of the five that do not, three mention the library on a pop up from the main page proper.
- 17 of the top 20 ARL libraries are mentioned on the main page proper. Of the two that do not, one mentions the library on a pop up from the main page proper.
- 15 of the top 20 libraries in US News and World Report are mentioned on the institution's home page. Of the four that do not, three mention the library on a pop up from the main page proper.
- Of our peer Ivy League institutions there are only two others that do not provide a direct link from the main University site and only two other New York State research libraries that are not linked.
The CU Homepage is a work in progress, however, and we are seeking a direct link off the homepage to the Library.
The Library Gateway has undergone a small makeover. Graphics have been freshened, internal pages and navigation have been improved, and the services section has been reorganized to give better access to the growing user services we offer. Many thanks to the members of the Gateway Committee for helping to make this happen, particularly Maureen Morris, for spearheading these changes; Carla DeMello, assisted by Jenn Colt-Demaree, for design work; and Paul Houle for his technical wizardry. Other members of the Gateway Committee include: Joanne Leary, Marcy Rosenkrantz, Nathan Rupp, Kornelia Tancheva, Lynn Thitchener, and Ed Weissman (ex-officio)
Carrels and Lockers Site
The Carrels and Lockers website went live Monday morning, August 30. This site enables graduate students to renew and apply online for carrels and lockers in both Olin and Kroch libraries. Later this semester we hope to extend this service to include faculty members. Kim LaMorte spearheaded this project. The IRIS Design Team (Carla DeMello and Jenn Colt-Demaree) created the site and summer student Chris Broshar provided content updates. Kudos also go to Bethany Silfer, Sara Spoonhower and Loretta Komala, whose work with Kim in the Studies and Carrels Task Force generated this project.
The Reading Project
For the few of you who may not have been reading email over the past month or so, I did want to mention once again the joint effort of the Library and Day Hall in developing The Reading Project site to serve as the central online source for Cornell and the Ithaca community. Within the library credit goes to Lance Heidig for content and stressing the importance of the reading project in the overall context of the Library and literature in the life of an academic institution. And as will be quickly evident once your check out the site, Carla DeMello brought her considerable talent in design and graphic skills to bear and Jenn Colt-Demaree lent her design and development skills to making it all happen.
Also, take time to check out the exhibition of Kafka materials, "Franz Kafka's The Trial Around the World: Selected Translations and Critical Works in the World Area Collections" on display in the Severinghaus Reading Room, Kroch Library, until October 15.
Orientation
Face time
Library staff across the system have outdone themselves in reaching out to new students and faculty. Most libraries held their own orientation events, but many staff participated in collaborative outreach as well. Face time events in which IRIS staff and others participated included:
- Community Resource Fair: Mary Donlon Hall, Tuesday, August 17. Virginia Cole and Ida Martinez participated in this Campus Life mandatory training event for resident assistants (RAs). Several hundred RAs attended this annual fair in which numerous campus groups are represented. Many stopped by the library booth to chat and pick-up handouts to put on their bulletin board. The fair offered a great opportunity to meet Campus Life staff and, through the RAs, to connect to freshmen, transfers, returning, and graduate students from all over campus.
- Barton Hall Orientation Fair: Friday, August 20. Again turnout was strong for this event, which ran from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The Library’s participation was coordinated by Bob Kibbee and the following staff participated: Lenore Coral, Thad Dickenson, Laura Heisey, Mihoko Hosoi, Sarah How, Susan LaCette, Nicole Margirier, Maureen Morris, Mary Paterson, Howard Raskin Susanne Whitaker, and Xian Wu.
- Graduate Community Resource Fair: Trillium, Sunday, August 22. Ida Martinez and Pat Viele staffed the library table at this event for all new graduate students. Ida reports that the event was very well attended and the library table was quite popular. She and Pat fielded questions about computer support, individual libraries ("I'm in Economics—which is my library?"), hours, and library locations.
- Library Technology Fair: Libe Café, Tuesday, August 24.
Planned by the Instruction Working Group, this year’s Library Technology Fair was held in the Libe Café. This venue proved a good choice, drawing around 75 participants. In additon to a welcome table, the were ten “stations” set up providing information on Engineering, Fine Arts, Mann, ILR, Olin, and Uris Libraries; Access Services, DCAPS, MyLibrary, and Wireless access, which proved a popular draw. Special thanks go to Tony Cosgrave and Clay Chiment for their planning efforts.
- First Annual Humanities and Social Sciences New Graduate Students Reception: Libe Café, Tuesday, August 24. Approximately one-hundred people attended this reception, including 65 graduate students from the following departments: Architecture, ILR, Linguistics, Romance Studies, Sociology, Comparative Literature, Classics, History, Education, Public Affairs, English Literature, Economics,
Philosophy, and Asian Studies. Library staff turned out in good numbers to talk with graduate students, including those from Africana, Collection Development, Fine Arts, Music, Instruction, Kroch Asia, RMC, Reference, and Desktop Services. Ida Martinez deserves a big round of thanks for organizing this reception. Others who made it a success include Gaby Gessner, Eric Acree, Tony Cosgrave, and those who supplied great handouts. In addition to library tours offered by Maureen Morris, Katherine Reagan, Janie Harris, and moi, Amy Blumenthal was on hand to help with Wireless connections and Kim LaMorte supplied information and answered questions about graduate carrels and lockers. Special thanks to Jenka Fyfe, the graduate student coordinator in English, who ensured a good turnout from English, and Professor Paul Hyams for joining grad students from the Medieval Studies Program.
- Freshman Scavenger Hunt: The Instruction Working Group contributed a library-related question to the University Orientation Committee for its annual scavenger hunt for freshmen: "Please visit any of the libraries on campus and pick up a map of the libraries or a library hours information sheet. Then connect to the Library Catalog online (ask any library staff for assistance if needed). Find the earliest publication by the University President Jeffrey S. Lehman that is held in the library's collections. On the library map or hours sheet, write down the name of the book and the library where it is held." Answer: 1000 Ways to Win Monopoly Games / Jay Walker and Jeff Lehman. Although Olin and Uris were the libraries on the standard scavener route for the whole university, students were given the option of using any of the libraries on campus.
New faculty outreach initiative
Thanks to the recommendations of the New Faculty Orientation Group, we have a systematized process for introducing new faculty to the Library. The Group, Ida Martinez, Matt Morrison, and Howard Raskin (chair), produced recommendations for engaging new faculty that include the following:
- Librarians responsible for outreach to faculty should approach their colleges/departments in late July/early August to acquire new faculty lists. When more than one librarian may be serving as a faculty liaison (e.g., selectors and reference librarians), they should coordinate the contact process.
- New faculty should be contacted via phone or email during the first month of the fall and spring semesters. Libraries/departments able to make contact earlier than this are encouraged to do so and in person if possible.
- Appointments should be made to meet with faculty in their offices; if they prefer, initial meetings can take place at the library.
- At the initial meeting, a packet of materials (details below) is presented to the faculty member.
- Follow up meetings should be arranged when appropriate. These may include referrals to other librarians with particular areas of expertise, meetings to review specific resources and databases, etc. These meeting should take place in faculty offices, at the library, or in a café or other campus meeting place.
- The initial outreach/contact and follow up meeting(s) are designed to encourage an ongoing relationship with the faculty member.
New faculty welcome packets were prepared for use by library staff. If you need copies, please contact Kim LaMorte. These contain the following information:
- Welcome letter from Sarah
- Ten Things you should know about the Library brochure
- CUL brochure
- DCAPS brochure
- Library Quick Guides
- MyLibrary handout
- Unified instruction brochure
- List of subject selectors
- Library events bookmark
Ten things about the Library
One of the most interesting inclusions in the New Faculty Orientation packets is the “ten things you should know about the Library” brochure, which was inspired by Mann Library’s own listing. I think this is a great list and it offers fodder for giving an “elevator pitch” to anyone wondering why the library is so crucial to the University’s goals. Of course if you have other contenders for the list, please drop me a line.
Unified instruction brochure
The Instruction Working Group created the Library’s first integrated library instruction brochure in time for the fall semester. The brochure features orientation sessions, library tours, and workshops planned for this semester at the following libraries: Catherwood, Engineering, Fine Arts, Geneva, Mann, Olin, RMC, Uris, and Vet. The brochure went like hotcakes at the various orientation sessions, is being distributed at the participating library reference desks, and a PDF version is available from the Gateway. My hope is that all of CUL will be represented in the next version of this brochure. The IWG is co-chaired by Kornelia Tancheva and Tony Cosgrave and includes Virginia Cole, Thad Dickinson, Peter Hirtle, Tom Mills, Jill Powell, Ira Revels, Kizer Walker, and Susanne Whitaker. Carla DeMello designed the brochure.
Staff News: Comings, Goings, and Kudos
Comings & Goings:
As Sarah announced last week, the IRIS Department of Research will become Research and Assessment Services (RAS), effective September 1. With this name change, RAS will become responsible for system-wide statistics and other data gathering and will continue to conduct fundamental research on digital preservation and related topics pertaining to library operations. The assessment component fits within a broader array of institutional research the department undertakes. Nancy McGovern will continue to head this unit and Linda Miller will devote full time to research and assessment in support of the library system. Other members of RAS include: Ellie Buckley, Marty Crowe, Rich Entlich, and Bill Kehoe.
David Wyatt, the J. Stambaugh Professor, Emeritus, has joined the library as the interim Echols curator. We have decided to delay opening a new search for a permanent curator for at least a year and I'm particularly grateful for David's knowledge and experience in the meantime.
David Brumberg retired this month after twenty-seven years at Cornell. He came to the Library as Director of the New York Historical Resources Center, an NEH-funded program to survey manuscripts and archives around the state. In the course of this twelve-year project, David picked up selection duties for United States history. Eventually, he assumed full-time collection development responsibilities, adding to his portfolio British/Commonwealth History, French History, Italian History, History of Science, Medieval History and General European History. In 2002, he reduced his time, but remained in charge of collection development for U.S. History and General history. David has been a wonderful colleague over the years. He has many friends in the library and in the departments he supports, all of whom were amply represented at his retirement party on August 2. ~ Martha Hsu
There are some new faces in Information Services. After Peter Botticelli moved to Europe with his new bride at the end of the summer, Matt Klein joined the Fine Arts Library staff as the new Evening and Weekend Supervisor. A freelance writer, Matt is familiar with the Cornell Libraries having served on the Mann's TEEAL project, 1998-2001. Returning to Olin Library after completing her studies and the Finger Lakes School of Massage and starting her own practice, Karen Ohlsten, joined the Interlibrary Services staff part time. Karen's six years of experience in Collection Management will certainly be a plus as she concentrates on the lending part of the department and the new RAPID. Although certainly not a new face, Access Services' Sam Hultzman was promoted to Reserve Supervisor following Tom Riker's move to New York City where he will begin studying for his MLS. Sam brings to his new job almost five years of circulation experience in Olin and Uris libraries. He received his BA in history from SUNY Albany and has continued his studies at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Also, joining Access Services this semester is Anthony Del Plato. Tony accepted the Evening and Weekend Supervisor position vacated by Scott Moran after he was offered a wonderful career opportunity in his field, teaching, and moved back to New York City. Tony is certainly a familiar face around Ithaca having worked at Moosewood Restaurant for twenty-two years. In addition to management and supervisory experience in that realm, Tony brings to us Cornell Library experience after working as a night supervisor in the Engineering Library, 1989-1991. Although not members of the Cornell Library staff per se, from 2:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. the two Securitas guards in Uris Library are very much the face of the library to our students. This year Mark Lewis and Kerry Brace will ensure a safe and quiet place on campus for studying for the many campus night owls. ~ Pat Schafer
David Rosenthal, temporary part-time computer support specialist with the IRIS Technology Support Team (in Chris Bucko's absence) left us on August 6 for a full-time, permanent IT-support position in the Law School.
Kudos:
The Department of Preservation and Collection Maintenance received a National Leadership Grant for $269,630 from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. In collaboration with the Cornell University American Indian Program and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium in D.C., the department will offer a program of internship in preservation management and practice designed to build a preservation infrastructure within tribal colleges and universities throughout the country. Cornell will train twelve qualified Native Americans to help establish and maintain preservation programs in institutions within their regions. The program will prepare the interns to train other librarians, archivists, and technicians in preservation basics through workshops, seminars, on-site surveys, simulations, needs assessments, and the establishment of a regional disaster plan and response capability.
Nancy McGovern was promoted to Associate Director of the Department of Research (now Research and Assessment Services) on July 1. She was also selected for a seat on the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) Council for 2004-2005 and appointed chair of the Society of American Archivists Standards Committee.
Mikki Knudsen Winberg just had a new children's book published by the Kane Press, entitled A Slimy Story. She is the author of more than twenty children’s books—check them out at her web page.
Peter Hirtle chaired the meetings of the A CENSUS Working Group Meeting and the Working on Intellectual Property at the Society of American Archivist’s annual meeting in August, and also gave a paper on "Digital Rights Management and Archivists." An abbreviated version of his presentation to the New England Archivists on "The USA PATRIOT Act and Archivists" will be published in the October issue of their newsletter; the full text is available on the library's DSpace server.
Ira Revels has been named a member of the Advisory Board for the Library School at North Carolina Central University. She recently attended the Board’s biennial meeting in Durham, NC.
Lenore Coral gave a brief paper on "Current Legislative Issues in the US Affecting Music Libraries" at the recent meeting of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres in Oslo, Norway.
Virginia Cole and Nan Hyland presented a paper at the 10th Annual Reference Research Forum at the 2004 ALA Annual Conference: “Does the Medium Matter? A Comparative Analysis of Openings in Face-to-Face and Computer Mediated Reference Interactions.” The Internal Grants Program last year supported their research for this presentation. Slides of the presentation are available.
Other
CAU bookbinding course
During the week of Aug. 1—6, the Conservation Unit hosted a Cornell Adult University class. Michele Brown, Pat Fox, Amy Stecher, and Roger Clearwater taught twelve willing students the rudiments of book binding and book repair. The participants began the week making case bindings, using buckram and colorful marbled paper. They then learned simple book repair techniques, and how to make enclosures. In the middle of the week, they visited RMC, where Katherine Reagan showed them highlights of Cornell's rare books collection, and they met with Michele Hamill, who gave them an overview of the care and handling of photographs. By the end of the week participants were repairing books from their own collections. The students rewarded the staff by serenading them with a song dedicated to conservation, as well as with a poem, and gift certificates to the Bookery. The Conservation unit and RMC alternate in teaching CAU classes. The next bookbinding session will be held in 2006.
Gifts to the Music Library
Lenore Coral reports that over the summer, the Cox Library received four wonderful gifts:
1) the scores and in some cases performance parts of the late, local composer Ann Silsbee—a gift from her husband Prof. Robert Silsbee.
2) the Leadbelly Archive amassed by the late Sean Killeen—a gift from his family.
3) the music and tutors for all manner of folk and popular musical instruments and some recordings and videos collected by the late Fred Kozlov, local folk/rock musician.
4) the portfolio album containing eighteen musical portraits by Virgil Thomson with eighteen portraits of the same subjects by Maurice Grosser, a gift from Mary Jaffe who knew Thomson in the 1940s in New York City.
Russian visitors
Cornell University hosted eight public librarians from cities across Russia from June 28 to July 2. Sponsored by the Open World Leadership Center, an independent federal agency and administered by the National Peace Foundation, the librarians, two facilitators and an interpreter spent a week in Ithaca making contacts with American libraries and learning how American libraries operate and interact with the public's educational, cultural and civic needs. The program was designed to provide a comprehensive experience of a large research library, a public library, a small community run village library, and two state and regional facilities that provide support to libraries.The librarians spent time at Tompkins Public Library, Fingerlakes Library System, Cornell University Library, South Central Regional Library Council, and the Ulysses Philomathic Library.The program also included time to experience the Ithaca region, a trip to Carrousel and Pyramid Malls, gorges, Treman Park, Moosewood Restaurant, and a highlight, the fireworks at Ithaca College. Two staff members, Sam Hultzman and Paul Heckathorn, organized going out for a drink on the Commons after dinner one night.
Delegates had the experience of staying with families being hosted in the homes of Angela Horne and Aaron Weiss, Patricia and Howard Viele, Joan and Howard Ormondroyd, Margaret, Liese, and Anneke Carlton, Carmen Blankinship, Anne Kenney, Kari Smith and Nancy McGovern. Margaret Carlton expressed her reaction to hosting, "You mentioned you wanted to include some feedback from host families. I hereby thank the National Peace Foundation for their leadership and vision and hope this kind of program can be repeated often! I'd like to tell everybody this was a most positive experience, one I was thrilled to share with my daughters." Feedback from the delegates was overwhelmingly positive as well and they greatly appreciated the effort of all who worked to make this a successful visit. Click here for a slide show of images from their visit. ~Carmen Blankinship
That’s it for this time. In closing, I want to thank all staff who contributed proposals to External Relations for funding. IRIS was well represented in this mix with a bunch of very inventive proposals. As always, drop me a line with comments, questions, suggestions.
Anne
