@library.edu THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SWARTHMORE COLLEGE LIBRARIES
FALL 2003 Vol. 6, no. 1
We ask the staff...
calendar MONDAYS at McCABE Workshops for students, faculty, staff, and guests. McCabe computer room, level 4, 11:30 a.m., unless noted. RSVP Pam Harris, x2056
September 22 Commonsense Copyright October 6 Internet Searching Techniques October 13 Desktop Document Delivery October 27 Full-Text Newspapers & Magazines Online November 3 Introduction to PDFs November 10 Endnote: Collecting & Organizing Bibliographic Information - 1-3 p.m. December 1 Book & Movie Reviews LIBRARY EVENTS Exhibits are in McCabe Lobby. See Associates page for details.
Faculty Picks Exhibit: Aug. 25 – Sept. 26 Cultural Imports: From Pokemon to Hello Kitty, Exhibit: Oct. 1 – Nov. 12 Reception: Oct. 3, 5:15 p.m. Talk: Prof. Susan Napier, Oct. 3, 4:15 p.m. Science Ctr. #199 Film screening: “Cowboy Bebop Movie,” Oct. 9, 8:00 p.m., LPAC Cinema A Quaker Peaceable Garden: Friends, Flora, & Fauna Exhibit: Nov. 15 – Jan. 12 Reception: Dec. 12, 3-5 p.m. Talk and book signing: Ben Yagota, Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. LPAC Cinema Winter celebration: Jan. 10, 5-8:30 p.m.
Do you use the library? and why? Marie Dalton Essie Mae’s snack bar I do use the library and have a video there now to pick up. It’s something I couldn’t get at Blockbuster’s and it’s free!
Don Osborne Telecommunications Yes. I used both McCabe and Cornell a lot when I was in school. They’re a great asset.
Joseph Quinn Post Office Yes. I got a book for my grandson.
Sharon Armstrong Environmental Services I use the computer and type reports for school. And I use it for research for school work.
Geoff Semenuk Alumni Relations Constantly! The video collection, CDs from Underhill, books. The art book collections are great; so are the secondary source literature books.
Mary Hasbrouck Facilities and Services I use it to get videos, popular fiction, and for my son’s high school project. I also use Books in Print online to see if a book is still available. continued on page 2
What staff and faculty can get from the library: Books - from McCabe, Cornell Science, Underhill Music Libraries. Also from Bryn Mawr and Haverford College Libraries and all other libraries (through E-ZBorrow and Interlibrary Loan). Magazines, periodicals - You can borrow most non-science ones. Or just come in and read any of them. We have lots of newspapers and popular magazines, including Rolling Stone, Consumer Reports, Newsweek, Time, New Yorker, New Republic, Utne Reader, Bust, Vogue. Videos and DVDs - Borrow for a week - they’re FREE. We have almost 5,000! Music - Borrow CDs for six weeks! Computers - Search the web or read your email. Research assistance and information - Helpful for any courses you might be taking. Collection of popular current books - Best-selling fiction and nonfiction are on main level. Exhibits, lectures, workshops! …a world of KNOWLEDGE!
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Vol. 6, no. 1
College staff talk about how they use the library Paula Dale Facilities Planning I’m taking education classes, so I use the library for the reserve readings and to do research for class.
John Schambers Facilities Management I use the U.S. Geological Survey maps. They were useful when I was looking at some property upstate to buy.
Lisa Lee Alumni Relations I use it a lot for recreational books. I find many in the stacks for my book club and sometimes get a couple research books to go with them. I also use the library for research on alums and go to some exhibits.
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Jack McGowan Facilities Management I borrow movies. My daughter uses it for school.
Jacqui West Facilities - Maintenance I get a lot of fiction, movies, and DVDs. Sometimes I go there during my lunch hour to sit and read. I use Tripod to request books from Bryn Mawr and Haverford. I’ll read all of a writer’s books and also books about that writer.
Laurie Dibeler Dining Services I just borrowed “Pride and Prejudice” for my son – it’s on his summer reading list and all the copies at the public library in Exton were already borrowed.
Michelle Hartel Kohlberg coffee bar I get lots of the popular fiction. The books are usually available at McCabe, unlike at the public library where there’s a waiting list for them. And I can keep them longer.
Joyce Watson Essie Mae’s snack bar I used it for my son’s research for a school project (he got an A). And the exhibits are nice!
Millie Dappollone Alumni Relations I used it for my daughter, to get a video of a play she was directing at Ridley High School.
Archival finding aids for Quaker manuscripts are on-line Last year, Friends Historical Library received a very specific request for the correspondence of Ichabod Codding, a famous 19th century Congregational minister from Illinois who was an active abolitionist. His papers had been in the library for almost half a century, but they had been virtually untouched until this request. But now the researcher was able to find them in a Google search on the
Fall 2003
web because the finding aid for these papers had just been posted on-line. FHL has completed the task of putting all of its finding aids for personal and corporate records on-line in both xml and htm form. They plan to re-design the search portal page. The collection can be browsed at: http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/ friends.search.htm.
Dwight Darkow Facilities - Grounds I use the encyclopedias for research, usually about plants. I borrow movies and books, mainly biographies. And my kids use it for school projects.
@library.edu is the newsletter of the Swarthmore College Libraries, published once a semester.
Editors: Pam Harris, Terry Heinrichs and Annette Newman Thank you to all who contributed to this issue, especially: Wendy Chmielewski, Chris Densmore, Ed Fuller, Linda Hunt, Alison Masterpasqua, Amy McColl, Amy Morrison, Mary Ann Wood E-mail: <libnews@swarthmore.edu> Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 19081
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Library space – not quite the final frontier by Peggy Seiden, College Librarian
The Swarthmore College Library is facing a space crisis. McCabe Library has an estimated shelving capacity of 78,000 linear feet. Currently we have about 68,000 linear feet in use. By all accounts, we are out of shelf space or, at least, working shelf capacity – defined as shelves being 85% full. A tour of the stack spaces on levels I, III, and IV would bear out these statistics. It seemed that as recently as five years ago, many college administrations thought that technology would preclude the need for expansion of existing libraries or the building of new ones. Library administrators recognized that as wishful thinking. A few new undergraduate libraries were designed with the idea that they would house more computers than books, but these were all on campuses that already had substantial research libraries. Number of volumes keeps growing The Swarthmore College libraries are continuing to add approximately 15,000 to 20,000 volumes per year, though we have seen some slowing in the growth of our periodical collections in the sciences as more and more science journals become available on-line. The increased availability of digitized back runs of these titles may allow us to save significant space. However, while the science community has readily adopted the on-line format for journals, the response of the social sciences and humanities communities has been different. The faculty and students in these disciplines are enthusiastic users of on-line journals, yet they are not willing to substitute on-line for print holdings, because many of these digitized journals are considered the core titles in these fields. In a recent survey, nearly 60% of the faculty said that for any on-line journal to which we subscribe, the printed copy of a journal needs to be available somewhere in the TriColleges. Digitalization of journal content will save space, but not enough. The growth of our monograph collections is not slowing. The truth is that the print scholarly monograph is not disappearing. In fact, a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education documents a significant growth in output from the largest university presses over the past 20 years. The number of new books published by California, Columbia, MIT, and Princeton doubled, by Indiana and Yale tripled, by Stanford sextupled in that period. In 1980, Cambridge published 543 new titles and Oxford 802. In 2000, Cambridge published 2,376 new books, and Oxford 2,250. ¹ And technology does not yet hold promise for replacing print monographs with on-line. Overall, publishers have focused on digitizing journals, and the tools to retrieve books have lagged behind. Although current 1 Willis G. Reiger. “5 Problems and 9 Solutions for University Presses.” Chronicle of Higher Education, June 13, 2003, volume 49, issue 40, p.B7.
collections of e-books are available, the book in print form is still the best technology and the preferred format for extended use. E-book readers have not been widely accepted. Tri-College collections strategy may save space Another promising strategy for gaining additional growth room is to leverage the joint collections of the Tri-College libraries. About 25% of titles in the three collections (a total of nearly 550,000 volumes) are held by more than one library and about half of these had zero check-outs in the past 12 years. The three libraries could each save substantial space if only one copy of these works were kept – potentially as much as 275,000 volumes. Another 100,000 volumes which are duplicated have had only a single check-out. Do we really need to retain multiple copies of these items? Of course, de-accessioning collections is not just a numbers game. Such decisions are overwhelmingly based on qualitative, not quantitative, data; and for these decisions to be made, both bibliographers and faculty need to weigh in on the issues. Over the course of the next two years, the bibliographers/subject specialists on the campuses are going to work with faculty – first to develop models for what materials could be de-duplicated and then to select those materials. Key questions about such a large scale deaccessioning project remain: Who gets to retain the remaining copy? Do we develop subject specializations in each library, or should everyone have a bit of this and a bit of that? Furthermore, because the time required to review these materials by faculty and librarians is not insignificant, the effort must be worth the pay-off. What if the project ultimately gains the library only a year’s worth of growth? Is it worth the time and effort? Three options for adding shelf-space Ultimately the library needs to look at ways of growing shelfspace. We already have architectural drawings for redesigning the lower level of McCabe for compact shelving. These plans would allow us to move journals to the lower level and provide growth for both monographs and journals. It would also allow us to repurpose some of the existing stack areas for new types of library services such as video viewing/analysis, which is currently housed in inadequate spaces. Optimistic estimates are that we could gain as much as ten years’ worth of growth by installing compact shelving. It’s almost a certainty that we will need to find space beyond the existing four walls of McCabe, Cornell, and Underhill libraries. Ideally, we would like to expand McCabe and include in that expansion some high density storage. A small addition in continued on page 4
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Library space continued from page 3
square footage could provide substantial storage space, probably all the college would need for the lifetime of the building. The other viable option is to find some remote library storage facility. Currently, the Friends Historical Library and Peace Collection use such facilities for some of their collections. Plans to build such a center for Philadelphia area special collections seem to be on indefinite hold, so it is likely that Swarthmore will have to find some other existing site that would allow us to both store and retrieve collections. The cost for storage of materials in off-site facilities is about 1/4 the cost of storing these materials on campus, according to a study done at Amherst College, which shares such a facility with other members of the Five Colleges, Inc. Solving our immediate needs It’s clear that the Swarthmore College Libraries will need more space soon. Ideally the space would come from an expansion of our facilities, but given the current fiscal climate, funding for that option seems unlikely. The addition of compact shelving in McCabe may give us as much as ten years’ growth potential, but funding for that is not a given either. We must consider remote site storage, and we don’t have long to debate whether or not we should seek such a solution. We are already shelving materials on top of each other; and though we are engaged in a project to shift all collections on Level IV to maximize use of existing shelving, we do not have room to add volumes on Levels I and III. I am encouraging the College to recognize the gravity of the situation and provide the resources to enable us to move the less-used materials off-site. It’s not the best solution, but it is the most cost-effective.
Thanks to the faculty! The Library received a great response to its most recent faculty survey. Over 50% of the faculty responded to the Library’s survey on collections development for the Mellon 8 grant. Look for results in the fall issue of the newsletter.
Upward Bound in the Library How can one find American History with the Library of Congress call numbers? Which full-text database will provide you with biographies? Which online dictionary will provide the etymology of a word? Answering these questions, and more, was easy for the Upward Bound students after they completed the summer library orientation this June. The TRIO/Upward Bound Program at Swarthmore College sponsors 50 high school students, primarily from Chester, for a six-week residential program. The students attended academic and elective classes, participated in cultural activities, and learned the necessary skills to prepare them for a postsecondary education, such as using the library. Swarthmore College began to participate in Upward Bound, a federally funded program, in 1964. This year, five of the six counselors were Swarthmore students and the other was a Cabrini College student. Program director C. Kemal Nance is an instructor in the Dance Department. By the program’s end, the Upward Bound participants learned to find and use the amazing collections and resources of the library on their own.
Conscientious objectors focus of new web site If you’re looking for information about conscientious objection to war, a new web site created by Swarthmore College Peace Collection archivist Anne Yoder provides basic facts and also points to opportunities for in-depth research. Enhanced by photographs and other images, the site includes a brief historical outline of conscientious objection in America (from the Revolutionary War to the present), stories and accounts of conscientious objectors, a listing of over 175 archival sources from over 30 U.S. institutions, and links to non-archival sources. The primary sources range from personal papers of men and women who declared themselves to be objectors to
war, to records of organizations that worked on their behalf. New sources are being added as they become known. This is the first comprehensive listing of archival sources on conscientious objection available to the public. The site may be accessed at http:// www.swarthmore.edu/Library/peace/ conscientiousobjection/co%20website/ default1.html. Anne Yoder says of this new site she developed, “Researchers can more easily be led to the sources that the Peace Collection has, but it also makes it possible for us to be collegial and help persons access material from other institutions as well.”
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what’s new
what’s what’snew new
With the new Tri-college more! service coming soon, you will be able to link to the full text (if available) of an article directly from the database you’re searching. Other services are presented in the window that opens from the link, including a Tripod search, an Interlibrary Loan request form, and a connection to LiveHelp, where a librarian can answer your questions. These services vary depending on the citation in the database. When you see the more! button, click on it to see these services. more! is the Tri-college libraries’ name for SFX (for “special effects”), which is a link server created by Ex Libris Inc.
RedLightGreen – the new Google™? Swarthmore College, New York University, and Columbia University will pilot test the new RLG (Research Libraries Group) Union Catalog available via the web, code named RedLightGreen, this fall term. The project is targeted toward the undergraduate researcher, making the vast holdings of the RLG Union Catalog available in such a way that clearly indicates the most authoritative sources. The application will look and act more like Google™ while providing all the information of a traditional library catalog. The system will be optimized for information discovery by taking the large, multi-institution database of the RLG Union Catalog and mining it for
conceptual relationships and holding data. RedLightGreen aims to deliver useful responses to broad, straightforward keyword queries. Behind the simple interface will be the power and depth of one of the world’s largest bibliographic databases. By participating in this trial, Swarthmore will have the opportunity to help shape a new breed of search engine. Many of the resources RedLightGreen will offer are unmatched by anything currently available on the web. According to James Michalko, RLG President, “This is the library community’s chance to reinvent what a catalog is.” For more information on RedLightGreen see http://www.rlg.org/redlightgreen/.
Librarian shortage equals student opportunities There is a serious shortage of librarians facing our country. Many academic and public libraries are already reporting difficulties filling librarian positions, and a recent study estimates that 60 percent of current librarians will reach retirement age by 2020. In response, Swarthmore College and five other academic libraries, Wellesley College, Mount Holyoke College, Occidental College, Atlanta University Center, and Oberlin College, have received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to collaborate on a major project to recruit current undergraduates to the librarian profession and address diversity issues using internship opportunities.
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Although professional library organizations have identified recruitment and diversification as priorities, most programs focus on graduate library school and the post-graduate years. The profession needs models that address recruiting at an earlier stage of students’ education, when they are considering career choices. It is especially important to attract highly talented students who can provide leadership for the profession. This initiative is also designed to help broaden the racial and ethnic composition of the library profession so that it can better serve increasingly diverse populations. The program will begin this fall; details will be announced later.
OS X installed on Mac’s The Macintosh computers in the libraries and on campus have been updated to OS X, the newest operating system. The system requires each user to log in with user name and password, like the PCs. Although the computers will automatically log off after a period of inactivity, ITS and the library recommend that you log off when finished, for security of your user folders and privacy concerns. Changes in library hours Cornell Science Library will be opening at 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays and at 11:30 a.m. on Sundays. McCabe Library will now open at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays. (See page 6 for complete schedule.) Daily Grind fall hours McCabe’s coffee bar, the Daily Grind, will be open this fall term Sundays through Thursdays 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. and will be closed Fridays and Saturdays. The coffee bar is located on the main level of McCabe and features locally baked sweets, fair trade coffee and tea, cold drinks, and nutrition bars.
Quaker testimony for peace is topic of new web site Barbara Addison, technical services coordinator in the Peace Collection and Friends Historical Library, has created a web site, “The Quaker Testimony for Peace: Resources at Swarthmore College.” Based on archival and bibliographic resources in the Peace Collection and Friends Historical Library, it documents the efforts of over 300 individuals and organizations that have advanced the Quaker peace testimony in word and deed. The site includes web links to on-line finding aids and is illustrated with photographs, documents, and works of art. It is available at the Peace Collection web site, http://www.swarthmore.edu/ Library/peace > Web Pages That Highlight Peace Collection Sources; and at the Friends Library web site, http:// www.swarthmore.edu/Library/friends > Online Resources.
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staff notes staff notes Florence Bendrick, McCabe Library Access and Lending Services department, has left the College after two years. Flo worked on the weekends and on Monday evenings, managing the circulation desk. Kate Carter is the newest member of the Access and Lending Services department in McCabe Library, replacing Donny Smith. She will also assist faculty with Blackboard. A graduate of New York University, she worked in the library there as a student. She has worked for a magazine, RealPhilly, CMPExpress.com Inc., and for John Harvard’s Brew House. Kate lives in Wallingford with her dogs and a parrot who’s learning HipHop songs, and she likes to take unusual road trips. Michelle Ciarlo-Hayes, the Peace Collection’s Technical Services Specialist, left her position in March. Michelle is currently working from her home in Elkins Park as a technical writer for an engineering firm. Giving up the long commute to Swarthmore has given her time to pursue her hobbies of creative writing and photography. She has maintained ties to the Peace Collection through a consultancy position with the Peace History Society, whose historical records are located here at Swarthmore. As a member of Gamelan Semara Santi, Swarthmore’s Gamelan (Indonesian percussion) orchestra, So-Young Jones will be performing at the Kimmel Center and at Carnegie Hall this fall. The group will play during the first part of four concerts on October 2, 3, and 4 at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and on October 7 at Carnegie Hall in New York. The Philadelphia Orchestra, under director Christoph Eshenbach, will perform Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony during the second part of the concerts. Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet will be the soloist. So-Young, of the Technical Services department in McCabe Library, has been a member of the Gamelan group since 1997, when it was founded by Music professor Tom Whitman. About 30 students and several faculty and staff participate each semester. Digital services librarian Tammy Rabideau has moved to the Atlanta, GA area, and has accepted a position as Head of Acquisitions for Digital Resources in the library at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her husband, John Turner, is now assistant professor of Middle East Studies at Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA. Tammy worked at McCabe library for four years. Megs Rivello has left her position in Technical Services, McCabe Library, after almost 15 years at the College. Her responsibilities included acquisition and cataloging of resources for Modern Language, particularly Spanish, and other book orders. Mary Beth Sigado, the new Technical Services Serials Specialist in the Peace Collection, oversees its serials collection and ILL and assists with reference work. Previously employed at various libraries, including the University of Pennsylvania Music Library, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Music from Temple University and teaches piano. She plans to attend graduate school for psychology. In April, Donny Smith left the college for his new position as the Reference Librarian at Neumann College, Aston. He worked in McCabe Library Access and Lending Services department for almost six years. He also managed the electronic reserves program and served on the support team for Blackboard. Laura Zielinski is the newest member of the Technical Services department in McCabe Library. Her duties include ordering and cataloging of foreign language materials (especially Spanish), doing some English language ordering and cataloging, and receiving new books in Tripod. A graduate of Oberlin College with a BA in Biology and minor in History, she worked in the library there; she also worked as a lab teaching assistant.
Vol. 5, no.2
Spring 2003
Seiden and Plotkin named “Movers and Shakers” Peggy Seiden, College Librarian, and Helen Plotkin, Director, Center for the Study of Classical Jewish Texts, were named as “Movers & Shakers” in the 2003 Movers & Shakers supplement of Library Journal for their work creating the Library’s Beit Midrash. Located in Bond Lodge 5, the Center provides a space and the resources for students and faculty to study classical Jewish texts in chevruta, the traditional method of study partners poring over text together.
FHL staff contribute to book on Quaker Aesthetics Two staff members of the Friends Historical Library have contributed to a new volume, Quaker Aesthetics: Reflections on a Quaker Ethic in American Design and Comsumption, edited by Emma Jones Lapsansky and Anne Verplanck (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003). J. William Frost, Director of FHL, wrote the essay, “From Plainness to Simplicity,” and Patricia M. O’Donnell, Archivist, wrote the introduction to the section on “Quakers as Consumers.” Many of the essays in the book drew on the documentary and visual resources of Friends Historical Library.
Library hours McCabe Library (610) 328-8477 M-Th: 8:15 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. Fri: 8:15 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Sat: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Sun: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. Cornell Library (610) 328-8262 M-F: 8:15 a.m.– midnight Sat: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Sun: 11:30 a.m. – midnight Underhill Library (610) 328-8232 M-Th.: 8:30 a.m.– 5:15 p.m. 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Fri: 8:30 a.m .– 5:15 p.m. Sat: 10:00 a.m. - 5:15 p.m. Sun: 1:00 p.m.– 5:15 p.m. 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. During breaks and summer: M-F: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Closed weekends
Associates of the Swarthmore College Libraries Volume 6, Number 1
Fall 2003
Between the covers: Faculty picks Asked by the library “What one book would you recommend for the freshmen to read?” the faculty sent their suggestions. These titles are displayed in an exhibit, “Between the Covers: Faculty Picks,” August 25 to September 26 in McCabe. The selections range from Lord of the Rings to the Confessions of St. Augustine. One especially enthusiastic professor suggested that it was worth learning Ancient Greek to read the Greek historian Thucydides. To view the full range of faculty visions for freshmen, stop by McCabe to see the entire display and the interesting reasons for the choices. If you’re interested in book lists, go to http://home.comcast.net/~dwtaylor1/index.htm. Billed as the web’s largest collection of book lists, it features 330 lists in 80 categories.
Manga Ikou! A look into the culture of Japanese anime and manga Japan’s revitalization in the latter 20th century and its reentry into the international economic world have allowed and encouraged it to export items of Japanese popular culture from Hello Kitty to Pokemon. Today they can be seen in countries around the world in forms ranging from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to Spirited Away, which won 2002’s Oscar for Best Animated Film. While Japanese scholars often characterize such cultural exports as culturally “odorless” or neutral, international consumers understand Japanese popular culture, including manga and anime, as being uniquely Japanese. This appeal has caused American popular media to pour efforts into translation and publication of manga. However, the road from a manga story’s introduction into the Japanese market to the same story’s introduction into the American one is a long and winding one. Most of the manga exported starts out as a serial comic sold in a large weekly book-like edition distributed in stores across Japan to be bought and read avidly by young and old alike. From this crucible, the successful stories are published as anthologies of upwards of 20 volumes for a single from The Hokusai Sketchbooks ed. James A. Michener series. Those stories that enjoy continued popularity in a hyper-competitive market are transformed into anime – animated series based on the printed manga storylines – which are often the first glimpses international consumers get of manga. Only the anime and manga with the most international appeal are exported, meaning that some culturally dependent genres such as shojo – girls’ comics – are underrepresented in the international market. Once a story is selected by an American publisher for publication, the translation and “flipping” process begins. Manga are generally published in Japan to be read in reverse from how English books are read: instead of being read left to right, Japanese books and manga are generally read right to left, meaning that all the comic panels must be “flipped” into their mirrors before they are printed for an American audience. Furthermore, cultural references that would be obvious to Japanese readers must often be explained in the text to American audiences or edited out entirely when necessary. The exhibition will focus on this process of “coming to America” and how Japanese popular culture is marketed internationally and changed by being exported. It will also examine anime and other derivatives that are consumed abroad in addition to in Japan. There will be a lecture by Prof. Susan Napier, University of Texas, on Friday, Oct. 3, 4:15 p.m., in Room 199 of the Science Center, on the challenges of translating and marketing manga in America. This exhibition, curated by students Lan Le, Michael Pasahow, and Fraser Tan, will run from Oct. 1 to Nov.12 in McCabe Library.
A Quaker Peaceable Garden: Friends, Flora, & Fauna This exhibit will feature the many contributions of members of the Religious Society of Friends to horticulture, focusing on Pennsylvania, from the 1700s to the 20th century. Highlights include correspondence of 17th century Quaker naturalist John Bartram, pioneer American botanist Humphrey Marshall’s Arbustrum Americanum (1785); manuscripts, plant specimen books, botanical drawings and publications of 19th century botanists Dr. William Darlington, Minshall and Jacob Painter of Delaware County, and Graceanna Lewis. Swarthmore College will be represented by botany professor Samuel Copeland Palmer’s journal of the Bowdoin-Baffinland Expedition of 1929, early plans and photographs of the Scott Arboretum on the college campus, and works on rose culture by Robert Pyle, Swarthmore College class of 1896. The exhibit can be seen at McCabe Library from November 15 to January 12, and is co-sponsored by Friends Historical Library, McCabe Library, and the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College. There will be a reception with the curator on Dec. 12, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Celebrate the founding of the Scott Arboretum in 1929. Come dressed in your best 1920s couture with gauzy fabrics, beads, and feathers! Ben Yagota will give a talk on his book The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College: The First 75 Years and sign copies on Dec. 2, at 7:30 p.m., in the LPAC Cinema. The final event is “Winter celebration, A Special Evening with Joseph Oppe – Public Horticulture: A Look Back” on Saturday, Jan. 10, 5:00 - 8:30 p.m. in LPAC Cinema and Sharples Dining Hall. This popular evening is designed to beat the mid-winter blues. The guest speaker is Joseph Oppe, Director of the Scott Arboretum after John Wister from 1969 to 1979. Invitations will be mailed to Scott Arboretum members; nonmembers should contact the Arboretum Offices to receive information. Advance registration required. For further details, contact Christopher Densmore, FHL, 610-328-8497, or cdensmo1@swarthmore.edu.
Self-described “computer geek” collects Newton prize for books Before leaving for a year of travels in Scotland, Hollis Easter ’03, packed up the collection of books in his dorm room. These weren’t just ordinary books for his coursework; they were his award-winning collection comprised of all things Scottish, Irish, and in between. Easter won first prize this year in the Newton competition for undergraduate book collecting. In his Celtic collection, Easter included The Complete Irish Tinwhistle Tutor and a photocopy of an out-of-print 1885 edition of Ross’s Collection of Pipe Music. Easter says, “Books are wonderful! Though I am a computer geek, I am also a calligrapher, and I must passionately say: Down with digital eBooks! Long live paper, ink, and thread!” Second prize went to Gabriel Hankins ‘03, for his collection of In-Between Books and the Classics. The prize, established in 1930 by A. Edward Newton, a noted bibliophile, and administered through McCabe Library, is awarded annually to undergraduates who have formed the most coherent, promising, and thoughtful book collections. The winner receives $500, while second and third place winners are awarded $250 and $100 each. The Newton Award is the only competition run through Swarthmore College Library. The contest is open to all undergraduates. Joining the Competition To enter the competition, submit an annotated bibliography containing no less than 25 but no more than 50 titles. Also submit a one page essay about your book collecting efforts, the influence of your mentors, the acquisition of the books, and the future direction of the collection. Each collection will be judged by its unifying theme; for example, an author, a subject, or a group of authors. The essay and the annotated bibliography are the most important parts of the application. The judges are looking for students who want to build on their collections and who exhibit a passion for collecting. Previous award winning examples are available upon request. The deadline is Friday, March 19, 2004. Submit entries and questions to Pamela Harris, pharris1@swarthmore.edu.
History of the Contest Around 1928 Professor Robert E. Spiller of Swarthmore College brought a group of students in his English class to see A. Edward Newton’s famous collection of rare books. The students asked such intelligent questions that Newton was impressed and asked Professor Spiller how he aroused such an interest in books. Spiller let him in on the secret. Several years before, a gentleman, since dead, had conceived the idea of awarding a small sum of money each year to the student who had formed the best collection of books - not the largest but the best. Unfortunately, on the death of the originator there was no provision to continue the award and it was feared that that year would be the last. Newton was struck with the idea of doing much good with little money, so he offered to fund the annual prize in 1930 and to make a gift that would allow the prize to continue after his death in 1940. Originally the members of the award committee would visit the dorm rooms to view the collections before making their decisions. Although this practice was discontinued several years ago, the books must be owned and collected by the student. Winners are invited to display their collection in McCabe Library.
Unprecedented success for Library book sale Family weekend in April attracted more than just parents and siblings to McCabe Library. The third annual book sale lured students, visiting families, faculty, staff, members of the community, and shrewd book dealers to the library lobby. Sponsored by McCabe Library and the Associates of the Library, this year’s sale garnered more than $1000 for special events. Over a period of three days, buyers purchased an amazing number of old dictionaries, dog-eared classics, and obscure fiction. Patrons were thrilled at the variety of editions. Next year should be even bigger and better as the campus community will be solicited for donations to the sale.
Associates of the Libraries - Annual Membership Registration - 2003 The excellent quality of our library can be attributed both to the strong support from the College and to the generosity of our many friends. The Associates provide a link between the campus and the community of book-lovers. Members receive: • invitations to events, exhibits, tours, & lectures • subscription to @library.edu • discounts on workshops and tours Annual memberships run from January to January. Corporate Matching Gift Forms may be included with your check or mailed directly to the College’s Gift Records Office.
CIRCLE: Individual $30 Family $50 Sustaining $100 Benefactor $250 Life $1000 Student $5 Other $ ____ Enclosed is $ _________ for my/our annual membership payable to Associates of the Swarthmore College Libraries. Please charge my/our membership to: VISA ___ MASTERCARD ___ DISCOVER ___ Account Number: ______________________________________ Expiration Date: _________________ Or CALL Swarthmore College Credit Card Hotline: 1-800-660-9714 Fund: Associates of College Library NAME: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ADDRESS: ________________________________________________________________________________________ EMAIL: ________________________________________________ TELEPHONE: ___________________________ Mail to: Associates of the Swarthmore College Libraries, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081