St John’s College Library Newsletter L
LENT 2018
Ground Floor Displays Although we’re told not to judge a book by its cover, the display area is where the Library wants people to do just that – to get their eye caught by an image, a title, or a topic of interest to them. Enticing students into looking beyond their reading lists is tricky, but a lot of fun, and we hope that having varied displays makes the Library a bit more colourful and welcoming to visitors.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 displayed items together, rather than just picking books at random. Seasonal themes are some of the easiest to devise – for example, getting the horror DVDs and murder mystery books out for Halloween – and provide the opportunity to put up decorations too. Thematic displays can also be used to promote specific events, charities and so on. In November, we celebrated the men’s health charity ‘The Movember Foundation’ with a selection of books by moustachioed authors.
That said, there are many reasons to have displays beyond creating visual interest. One of our main goals is to promote materials which may otherwise be overlooked. For this reason, we focus on three key areas: the General Interest section, which includes fiction, non-fiction, poetry and more; the Audio-Visual collection, containing classic and modern films, music CDs, language learning materials, etc.; and our ‘new acquisitions’, meaning items we have recently added to the Library collection. By promoting these sections, we hope to encourage students to explore the Library beyond their particular topic of study.
Although producing a humorous effect, the downside is that we only showcased male writers on this occasion – we hope to address this imbalance with a Women’s History Month display in March. Choosing items which will appeal to (and represent) our diverse user base is something we try to consider.
Many of the Library Graduate Trainees who have created displays over the years, including me, have taken a thematic approach. This means choosing a topic or event to connect
We also try to create displays which will be useful based on the time of year. For example, we plan to promote books on assessment skills, revision, and handling stress during the busy exam period. Our recent January display was themed around the New Year. We chose books which related to common New Year’s resolutions – hence we displayed materials about mental health, wellbeing, diet, exercise, and language learning. Although library displays can seem unnecessary, we do put serious thought into what our users (particularly undergraduates) might benefit from seeing. The disappearance of an item from the shelf is usually met with an excited “somebody has taken something from the display!” It’s a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. Alice Read, Library Graduate Trainee
Douglas Adams: Life in the Universe When the Old Library opens to the public for the Cambridge Science Festival on Saturday 24 March, how many people will visit? And how many will be there primarily to see the splendid 17th-century building, and how many to view a selection of Douglas Adams’s papers, exhibited for the first time? Will anybody ask if the books on the shelves are real? Do people familiar with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy know it best as a radio serial, a television series, an infamously and perversely difficult text-based computer game, Garth Jennings’s 2005 film adaptation, or the ‘trilogy’ of five novels that made Adams (1952-2001) rather rich and somewhat famous? Are they more partial to his two novels about the holistic detective Dirk Gently? Or to Last Chance to See, his nonfiction book about endangered species; or to his other computer games, Bureaucracy and Starship Titanic? Which of his Doctor Who storylines – The Pirate Planet, City of Death, Shada – is most fondly remembered? If Adams had lived to see to fruition his proposed science-fiction television epic The Secret Empire, would it now sit prominently in his oeuvre? Curating such an exhibition, how does one cater simultaneously to the devoted fan, the casual acquaintance and the person who knows nothing whatsoever about Adams? Did Adams expect writing and artefacts from across his life and career to be displayed someday in the library of his old college? Why did Adams claim that he wrote only three essays during his time studying English at St John’s (1971-1974), when he evidently produced rather more work than that? Might it be that he only actually submitted three (how did he get away with it?), or did his academic pursuits simply not loom as large in his memory as his extracurricular ones?
Is wanting to be John Cleese the best reason to apply to Cambridge? Is an English degree a good route to ensuring that one will be in demand, a quarter of a century later, as a lecturer on the future of technological advancement? Is it much of a surprise that Adams was involved in Cambridge Union debates, in Footlights shows, and in a sketch-writing collaboration with Martin Smith and Will Adams? Does the College Archives Centre still gently vibrate with echoes of Adams-Smith-Adams’s performances in the School of Pythagoras? Why has nothing been done about the discovery that St John’s is a deep-sea squid, even after Adams’s passionate plea during a JCR election? WHY? Was the use of innovative and devastatingly expensive Strips-o’TM Paper technology to create frames simulating two dimensions of the Upper Library display cases, so that the Special Collections Assistant could stay in the Rare Books Reading Room while experimenting with item configurations for the exhibition, at all a sensible application of resources?
(Is anything? Life?) Will you attend Douglas Adams: Life in the Universe on Saturday 24 March 2018, between 11.00 and 17.00, in the Old Library, entry to which is via E staircase, Second Court? Are there any questions? Adam Crothers, Special Collections Assistant
“Don’t let the cardigans put you off” – an introduction to Archives for students In Michaelmas Term 2017, Robert Athol (Jesus) Natalie Adams (Churchill), Sian Collins, John Wells (both UL) and I ran our first introduction to Archives sessions for postgraduate students in the Milstein Room at the UL. We hosted two workshops before Christmas and a third in January. The aim of the session was to give students an idea of the quantity and variety of archival materials available to them in Cambridge, how they could potentially use those records in their research and what they could expect their archive ‘experience’ to be like. Describing the types of material found in colleges and special collections, followed by a brief introduction to external search tools like the National Archives’ Discovery catalogue, provided a basic background, whilst the pros and cons of undertaking archival research were adeptly recalled by current and recentlyqualified PhD students who we asked to speak at the event. This, we felt, was a fitting way to engage students directly with what we were promoting, rather than just delivering a talk from Archivists saying how wonderful Archives are (which of course we are bound to do!). Following the talks we held an audience Q&A session which featured live searches on JANUS and Discovery. This proved to
be quite popular – if a little disconcerting when a search turned up nothing! The final part of the workshop offered students the chance to interpret some documents from the SJC Archive collections. Once divided into small groups the participants were given scans of original material dating from the 15th to 19th centuries. They were asked to answer four questions on each of the documents. The groups were looking to determine the age of the document, its language and what it was (a letter, an invoice, etc.). For some students this was the first time they had encountered original documents, so it was an ideal opportunity to inform them that documents are here to be used, but that they are not always the easiest of items to interpret, particularly when there are palaeographical barriers. Feedback from the students via Moodle for the event has also helped us shape future sessions and has clearly shown that we have filled a gap in research advice available to students. The workshops have proved to be extremely popular with postgraduates so we decided to expand to offer two undergraduate sessions as well. This is something we see occurring annually for both postgraduates and undergraduate students. For more information about the sessions please contact the Archivist (archivist@joh.cam.ac.uk). Tracy Deakin, Archivist
New books for the Working Library We have been updating the book stock in the Working Library. In addition to securing books on reading lists for all Tripos subjects, the Library is also keen to acquire titles of general interest to our students and academics. With the assistance of Directors of Studies, we have so far reviewed and updated our collections in Classics, Engineering, Geography, Law, Archaeology, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Medical Science, Music, Spanish, German, Italian, and Portuguese. We aim to have a thorough review of the remaining Tripos subjects in due course. The Library encourages recommendations from members of College. Please let us know of any titles which will help us to enhance the collections.
New online fines payment You can now pay your library fines (including the College Library and other libraries you are affiliated to) online securely from the iDiscover ‘My Account’ interface, and your records will be automatically updated to reflect the payment that you have made. However, payment online requires you to pay the full amount of the fine (part-payment is not possible). The online system allows payment of an individual library fine (in the event of only one fine incurred), or in the case of fines from more than one library, payment of all, but not some, of them.
Janet Chow, Academic Services Librarian
The Biographical Office The Biographical Office, located on the Mezzanine floor, has bats or snowflakes stuck to the door at certain times of the year, and sometimes fairy lights can be seen shining through the frosted glass. This is a sign interesting things happen in there. For the eleven months of the year when there are no decorations visible it is still a fascinating place to be. What lies within is a long, narrow room, with lots of paperwork in it, plus two members of Library staff who are dedicated to information about Johnians. They are building on the work of former Masters, Fellows, and members of staff who over the years have diligently kept records or proactively researched the lives of members of the College. Our Biographical Collection is one of the best of its kind, bringing together details of family, education, career, and achievements for over 43,000 people admitted to membership of the College from the sixteenth century to the present day. In many cases we are the main repository of information if anybody wishes to find out about those individuals. Alumni and researchers, such as academics, biographers, and genealogists, often report how delighted they are that the College has such excellent records covering all aspects of the lives of Johnians. Much of the data held is confidential, however, and kept securely for the College’s records only. It can be used for statistical purposes without identifying individuals. Current data is still part of the history of the College, and in years to come will be just as useful as the information gathered about Johnians centuries ago. Gathering, recording, and verifying information is a large part of the work that goes on behind the frosted glass. Discrepancies between different sources are discovered, and detective work is done. Facts are provided, and queries are researched. Missing Johnians are found, and friends are reconnected.
The Biographical Librarian may be:
taking a call from a bereaved relative reporting the death of a Johnian
sending someone a list of all Johnians who worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War
dealing with an email from someone researching their ancestor who was a student in the seventeenth century
confirming whether someone’s grandfather rowed with the LMBC and verifying their degree, and whereabouts in College they lived
checking the wording to be engraved on a commemorative plaque.
The Biographical Assistant might be:
sending information to a researcher about someone who was a Fellow in the 1800s
researching Johnians who played cricket for England during a certain period
searching for someone we have lost contact with in order to ensure they receive an invitation to a reunion event
updating someone’s record as a result of receiving their CV
checking through lists of recipients of honours and prizes.
In order to provide information it is important that it has been supplied in the first place, so the office welcomes information from all members of the College. Alumni get in touch to ensure we are aware of their new job, marriage, etc., and staff and Fellows are encouraged to pass on that information for the College’s records if they become aware of it. All Johnians are interesting, and the Biographical Office is interested in all Johnians.
Fiona Colbert, Biographical Librarian
For comments on this Issue, or contributions to future Issues, please contact Janet Chow. Email: jc614@cam.ac.uk; Tel: (3)38662