2017
H O W A R D - T I LT O N MEMORIAL LIBRARY
Dear friends, I am pleased to share this update on the activities of the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library at Tulane. As you’ll see, we have been engaged on a number of fronts this year: new programs and events, new hires, and new acquisitions to add to our rich array of scholarly resources, all aligned with the goals outlined in our strategic plan. The library is more vital than ever to the academic success of our students and faculty. We’ve seen another increase in visitors (up 7% this year), our workshops and instruction sessions are reaching more users, and our databases, electronic journals, and electronic books are accessed millions of times each year. Our ongoing digitization efforts continue to bring our rare and unique collections to users world-wide. We are busier than ever and happy to be serving the Tulane community in pursuit of its academic goals. As always, your support of the library is crucial for our work. Alumni, parents, faculty, and friends help provide the resources that bring our programs and services to Tulanians near and far. I thank you for your assistance and advocacy and I always welcome your feedback and questions. I also invite you to visit us online at library. tulane.edu and to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all of the latest goings-on. With very best regards,
David Banush Dean of Libraries and Academic Information Resources
EVENTS
Copyright Workshop for Libraries, Archives, and Museums In partnership with Professor Elizabeth Townsend Gard and the Tulane Law School, the Library sponsored a free, two-day workshop on Copyright Strategies for libraries, archives, and museums on February 9th and 10th, 2017. Professor Townsend Gard, co-director of the Tulane Center for Intellectual Property, Media and Culture at the Law School, and Kyle Courtney, Esq., copyright advisor for Harvard University and founder of Fair Use Week, led the course. The workshop drew from Courtney’s First Responders program, designed for Harvard’s 70+ libraries, and was offered in the Gulf South region for the first time. Over 70 participants from Tulane, from local and regional institutions, and from as far away as Virginia and Texas attended. Through presentations, discussions, and hands-on activities, they gained a strong understanding of basic copyright considerations for libraries, archives, and museums.
TOP: Kyle Courtney, Harvard University,
leading a session at the Copyright Strategies workshop BOTTOM: Tulane Law Professor
Elizabeth Townsend Gard at the Copyright Strategies workshop
The Living Library This spring, the Library co-sponsored a local iteration of The Living Library project, bringing this unique experience to the Tulane community for the first time. Originally begun in Denmark, the Living Library is an international effort that seeks to challenge prejudice and broaden understanding of the human experience. The program uses “human books,” volunteers who share their stories with “readers” who “check them out” and engage in dialogue with them about their lives. Volunteer “books” were drawn from Tulane and greater New Orleans. Subjects included a person living with bipolar disorder, a student struggling with TOP: Joel Hochman (’20) and his
“readers” at the Living Library event BOTTOM: Olalekan Ogunsakin,
originally from Nigeria, as a “human book”
anorexia nervosa, and a childhood experience of the 1991 volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. The event was held in the Lavin-Bernick Center for Student Life on March 17 and 19th, 2017. Co-sponsors included Forum Tulane, the Goldman Center for Student Accessibility, the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life, Newcomb-Tulane College, the Office of International Students and Scholars, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, TIDES, and The Well.
EVENTS
Albert Ledner Exhibition at the Southeastern Architecture Archive The Southeastern Architecture Archive (SEAA) opened a new exhibition featuring the work of New Orleans modernist architect Albert Charles Ledner (A ’48). A prominent modernist whose work can be found throughout the city and elsewhere in the United States, Ledner was the official architect of the National Maritime Union, designing its headquarters on 7th Avenue and 12th Street in New York City, as well as many of its regional offices, including one in New Orleans. He studied
with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin and was awarded a Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement from the Louisiana chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He also taught at the Tulane School of Architecture. Ledner, 92, and his family attended the August 17th exhibit opening with many of his former students, colleagues, admirers, and friends. FACING PAGE, TOP: Guests at the Lender Exhibition
opening reception
FACING PAGE, BOTTOM: Albert Ledner (center) with Stacey Pfingsten and Kelly Calhoun at the opening reception TOP: Interior, National Maritime Workers’ Union Office, New Orleans, from the exhibit RIGHT: Plan for the Ledner residence (1955), from the exhibit
EVENTS
First Jazz Recording Marks Centennial with Hogan Donation On February 26, 1917, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, which originated in New Orleans, recorded “Livery Stable Blues” and “Dixieland Jass [sic] Band One-Step” for Victor Records in New York City. The recording, the first for a jazz group, was a surprise hit, selling 1.5 million copies and bringing jazz to the mainstream across the country and the world.
FACING PAGE: Gary Edwards,
Jr., great-grandson of Eddie Edwards, shows off his t-shirt featuring the Original Dixieland Jazz Band THIS PAGE, LEFT: Hogan Jazz
Archive curator Bruce Boyd Raeburn, left, speaking with Gary Edwards, Sr., at the reception honoring Eddie Edwards BOTTOM: “Livery Stable Blues”
Almost exactly 100 years later, the family of Eddie Edwards, jazz trombonist and member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, was on campus to mark their donation of his personal papers and items to the Hogan Jazz Archive. Edwards, a New Orleans native, began playing with Dixieland in 1916 and returned to play with them several times throughout his career. His personal papers include scrapbooks of Dixieland memorabilia, diaries, and correspondence between band members and recording studios. The donation was commemorated with a celebration in the Archive’s home in Jones Hall with Edwards’ family in attendance. The ceremony included playing a copy of the band’s first jazz record on a vintage Victrola phonograph (refurbished by Hogan researcher John McCusker), followed by remarks from the family on Edwards’ legacy.
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David Vitter Congressional Papers The David Vitter Congressional Papers have become the latest acquisition of the Louisiana Research Collection (LaRC) at Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, joining the papers of dozens of Louisiana political figures from Huey P. Long to Hale and Lindy Boggs. The collection contains materials accumulated over Vitter’s tenure as both a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The majority of the files document legislative activities, services to constituents, campaigns, press and communications, and Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. In addition to donating his papers, Senator Vitter (Law ’88) also generously provided funds to process them and has established an endowment to maintain access to them in perpetuity. David Bruce Vitter, Republican, served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (1992-1999), the U. S. House of Representatives from Louisiana’s 1st district (1999-2005), and the U. S. Senate (2005-2016).
TOP: Andrew Mullins, Louisiana
Research Collection, with materials from David Vitter’s Congressional Papers BOTTOM: Senator David Vitter
TOP: Hortensia Calvo, far left,
the Doris Stone Director of The Latin American Library, with David Rubini (far right), Joseph Rubini, (right), and Ashley Pradel (left)
BOTTOM: Brasil Nuova Tavola. Colored
version of one of the earliest maps of Brazil issued in Girolamo Ruscelli’s Geographia, 1561. The inscription in the center of the map reads, “Gli indi natij di questi paesi mangiano carne humana,” or “The Indians native to these countries eat human flesh.”
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Rubini Rare Maps Collection In September 2016, The Latin American Library (LAL) received an important collection of rare maps of Latin America and the Caribbean from Joseph Rubini and his son, David. Joseph Rubini spent a lifetime as an antiquarian map seller in Florida, during which time he amassed not only an impressive collection of rare maps, but also a deep knowledge of cartography. In 2016, LAL received the first gift, a collection of 17 rare maps dating between 1640 and 1873, of Brazil, Colombia, Panamá, Perú, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and the Caribbean, as well as several with a continental scope. In early 2017, the Rubinis donated a second set of 27 rare maps of the region. These beautiful and significant historical maps help enrich the LAL collection and further complement its many other research holdings. Joseph and David Rubini are the grandfather and father, respectfully, of Leo Rubini, ’15 and Jessie Rubini, ‘18.
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Elías Barreiro Collection Elías Barreiro, Cuban-American guitar maestro and longtime Professor of Guitar Performance at Tulane, has donated his personal and professional papers to The Latin American Library. Documenting a professional career that spanned five decades and three continents, the collection contains Barreiro’s personal correspondence; photographs; original guitar scores and arrangements; CDs of his music recordings; and diverse ephemera documenting Barreiro’s concerts and recitals around the world as well as those of his mentor, the renowned Spanish classical guitar maestro Andrés Segovia. Born in Santiago de Cuba, Barreiro studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music and did his post-graduate work with Segovia in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He performed extensively in Cuba and abroad as a recitalist, a soloist with orchestra, and with chamber ensembles. Barreiro’s distinguished legacy in the field of classical guitar continues to thrive among the generations of students he mentored.
TOP: Elías Barreiro with a Tulane
student, 1990s
BOTTOM: Elías Barreiro,
Camagüey, 1951
TOP: John Kennedy Toole as a US
Army language instructor, Puerto Rico, ca. 1962
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BOTTOM: Description of proposed
book cover for the first edition of A Confederacy of Dunces, LSU Press, ca. 1980
ONLINE COLLECTIONS
John Kennedy Toole Collection Researchers from around the world now have online access to the personal and literary papers of beloved New Orleans novelist John Kennedy Toole (1937-1969). Toole is best known as the author of A Confederacy of Dunces, for which he posthumously received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1981. The papers of John Kennedy Toole include correspondence, personal items, and images. A considerable amount of memorabilia that his mother, Thelma Ducoing Toole, kept concerning her son, including reviews and articles about Toole and his works, is also part of the collection, as are the papers of Mrs. Toole and her husband, John D. Toole. This digital project was made possible by an anonymous donor who created the Thelma Ducoing Toole Memorial Fund.
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ONLINE COLLECTIONS
Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology Through a generous gift from Emerita Professor Emily Vokes and the support of Torbjörn Törnqvist, the Vokes Geology Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the Library’s Digital Initiatives and Publishing Group has digitized the entire print run of the journal Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology, which is now freely available through the Library’s journal publishing
program
(http://library.tulane.edu/journals/index.php/
tsgp). The journal, originally published between 1962 and 1997, contains 104 issues and continues to be cited by researchers 20 to 30 times per year. FAR RIGHT: Professor Emerita Emily Vokes RIGHT: Professor Torbjörn Törnqvist BOTTOM: The first issue of Tulane Studies in Geology, 1962
COLLABORATIONS AND RES EARCH
Architecture Students Re-imagine Library Spaces Kentaro Tsubaki, Favrot Associate Professor in the Tulane School of Architecture, made extensive use of Howard-Tilton Memorial Library in the Spring Term 2017—not for information resources, but as a laboratory for his Architecture Studio course (Design 2200/6200). Starting with insights from earlier library collaborations with Anthropology and Marketing courses, Professor Tsubaki, along with several faculty colleagues and their students, examined current library spaces from a number of perspectives and developed schematic drawings for potential new spaces, in particular a new addition for special collections. Students presented their final projects to the library in a poster session on the 5th floor of Howard-Tilton in early September. Although the facilities may never be constructed, the exercise has provided the Library with fresh insights into how we could arrange physical spaces to better serve the Tulane community while also directly engaging a number of students and faculty with the evolving identity of the Library. TOP: Kentaro Tsubaki MIDDLE: Dean David Banush with Architecture student Austin Reeves BOTTOM: Jack Colley, Architecture undergraduate, explains his proposed
design to Adam Beauchamp, Assessment and User Experience Librarian
COLLABORATIONS AND RES EARCH
Discovering (Personal) History in Library Collections The Library’s role as steward of the historical record became highly personal for two researchers in the Louisiana Research Collection (LaRC) and the Latin American Library (LAL). A serendipitous encounter with a random book in Howard-Tilton Memorial Library brought Dennis Lambert’s professional work and family history together. Lambert (E ’96, E ‘00), a civil engineer who studies water-management issues around the Gulf of Mexico, was working on another research project when he noticed the book First American Jewish Families in the library’s collection. The discovery sparked an interest in exploring his Sephardic Jewish heritage and prompted him to learn more about his ancestors, separate from his engineering studies. His detective work paid off. At the Louisiana Research Collection (LaRC), he uncovered a collection of family documents showing that his great-great-great grandfather, Lucius Place, was president of the second drainage district in New Orleans in the 1860s. Place and an associate, French engineer Raymond Thomassy, were involved in 19th-century debates about flood prevention in New Orleans and how best to accomplish that goal. More than 150 years later, the same debates continue today among policy makers, scientists, and residents.
LEFT: Dennis Lambert in the
Schiro Reading Room, Louisiana Research Collection
For Mirzam Perez (G ’09), the personal and professional intersected in a less spontaneous, but no less poignant, way. Perez, who received her Ph.D. from Tulane and is currently Associate Professor of Spanish at Grinnell College, returned to New Orleans this summer to work with primary source materials in The Latin American Library (LAL). She had a specific research goal in mind: examining the circumstances that led to her grandfather’s exile from Honduras in the aftermath of the massacre of July 6, 1944 in San Pedro Sula, a city in the northwestern part of that country. Sifting through newspaper articles and photographs in the research room in LAL, she hopes that her research will inform an upcoming article about exile and the devastating effects it can have on family ties and memory.
RIGHT: Mirzam Perez research-
ing family and political history in The Latin American Library
COLLABORATIONS AND RES EARCH
Building for the Future: Digital Scholarship and Research Data Management Courtney Kearney
The Library has recently made several personnel changes to meet critical goals of its strategic plan. Courtney Kearney, who joined Howard-Tilton Memorial Library in February 2017 as Scholarly Engagement Librarian for the Sciences, has assumed additional duties to support the management of researchers’ data for preservation and access. Research data management is an increasingly important aspect of research support, involving data planning, storage, and sharing. Both public and private funding agencies require data generated by sponsored research be made available to the public and to be preserved for other uses. In her new role, Kearney will work with Tulane scientists and library colleagues to increase researchers’ awareness of the need for data plans and their options for storing, preserving, and exposing their data for discovery and use. Kearney holds an M.L.I.S. from Louisiana State University and a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Bristol in the U.K. Kearney was an intern at Howard-Tilton during her M.L.I.S. program and previously worked at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Another critical goal of the library’s strategic plan is to add support for digital scholarship. Increasingly, Tulane faculty and students are bringing new techniques—visualization, text mining, and other forms of technology-based analyses—to scholarly inquiry. They are also using data sets, digital images, and other media to distribute the results of their research. Support for this evolution in scholarly communication and production is a natural and vital role for the library to play. Sean Knowlton, who has held several roles at Tulane and elsewhere supporting humanities scholarship, recently accepted the newly-created position of Scholarly Engagement Librarian for Digital Scholarship. In his new role, Knowlton will coordinate efforts to integrate digital tools in research, teaching, and learning, working closely with colleagues across departments to ensure that Tulane students and faculty are aware of their options and have appropriate support for digital initiatives. Knowlton holds M.S. and M.A. degrees in Library and Information Science and Hispanic Literature, respectively, from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In addition to his work at Tulane, he has also served as librarian at the University of Colorado-Boulder and at Columbia University.
Sean Knowlton
H O W A R D - T I LT O N MEMORIAL LIBRARY 7001 FRERET STREET NEW ORLEANS, LA 70118
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