Behind the Archives Door Series: Fall 2015 Events

StainedGlass

Image of the Shelmidine Stained Glass

Each month, the Archives & Special Collections will hold a series of informal presentations on current research, unique resources, and rare books. Join us for informal discussion, refreshments, and the opportunity to handle documents and artifacts hundreds of years old!

9/10:  ‘I was cut out for the wilds’: The Landscape of Gender in the Journals of Abby Williams Hill Tiffany MacBain, Associate Professor of English.
Join us for a look into the ongoing research of Tiffany MacBain, Associate Professor of English, as she draws on the Abby Williams Hill collection in the Archives & Special Collections. Many know 19th-century Tacoma local Abby Williams Hill as a painter of landscapes, but her journals reveal a woman anything but genteel. In the wilds, Hill enacts her project of gender critique and revision, and urges others to follow suit. Light refreshments will be served.

10/6 (time change to 4:30 p.m.): A Musings in honor of Aileen Kane – Suzanne Moore.
Suzanne Moore is a letter artist, painter, and printmaker whose eclectic interests meld in the diversity of her artists’ books. Her books blend abstract and representational imagery, rich color and surface treatments with textual content and contemporary lettering to create work that obscures the line between word and image. Moore recently completed her work celebrating Aileen Kane, centered on the letter “A.” Moore uses historical, symbolic, and spiritual aspects of the letter A in her work, A Musings for Aileen. The book was commissioned by the Collins Library, and will serve as a reminder of Aileen’s dedication to language and literacy as well as offering students a contemporary example of historical manuscript principles.

After our regular lecture all are invited to a reception at 5:30 to celebrate Aileen and completion of Suzanne Moore’s book, A Musings for Aileen.

11/3: Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, Colorado – Alicia Bailey.
Alicia has a particular passion for works that include elements beyond surface printed images and text; that move beyond traditional book forms and embrace presentation flexibility, rigid page construction and use of alternative materials. For this presentation, Alicia will bring selections from Abecedarian Gallery’s recent exhibition Content: Artifact, her own collection, and her own work, to share. After a brief overview of her involvement with contemporary book arts, Alicia will talk about specific individual works, their construction, appeal and relevance, with opportunities for questions from the audience and hands on examination of some very special book works.

Alicia is affiliated with several artists’ book professional organizations and has served on the Executive Committee of Guild of Book Workers since 1998. She is owner/director of Abecedarian Gallery in Denver, Colorado, founded in 2007 and focused on the exhibition, promotion and sale of contemporary artists’ book works. Alicia also acts as an independent curator/juror, instructor/mentor and regional events coordinator in the book arts. In her studio work, she has focused on book arts since the mid-nineties, producing artists’ books, sculptural books and limited edition books. Her work has been featured in dozens of solo and group exhibits throughout the world and is held in numerous public, private and special collections.

http://www.abecedariangallery.com

 

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House of Twenty Thousand Books

20000BooksThere is no end to the praise of books, to the value of the library. Who shall estimate their influence on our population where all the millions read and write ?
~Ralph Waldo Emerson in “Address at the Opening of Concord Free Public Library”

I was having dinner last week with a neighbor who, with his team, recently had a meeting with Bill Gates to discuss their project within the Gates Foundation. One of the words he used to describe Gates was “polymath.”

He spoke of Gates as having an incredibly deep knowledge in a wide variety of subject matter and how he can comprehend and discuss numerous topics at the highest level.

Chimen Abramsky also has the polymath gene and in The House of Twenty Thousand Books noted journalist, author and Abramsky’s grandson, Sasha Abramsky, gives us a moving and stimulating look at his grandfather and the books that surrounded and sustained his life.

This is first and foremost a love story of a man and his books.

Read more of the Book Patrol article: House of Twenty Thousand Books

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From the Archives: Congratulations 2015 Puget Sound Graduates!!

Academic Procession to Memorial Fieldhouse, Class of 1949

Academic Procession to Memorial Fieldhouse, Class of 1949

You made it!

What an outstanding achievement! Your success is well deserved and all of your hard work certainly does not go unnoticed by your fellow Loggers. Now is the time to take all of what you’ve learned here at the University and use that knowledge to spread your wings and make your dreams a reality. You are all such unique, talented, intelligent individuals, and you have support from all of us here at Puget Sound. Good luck with all of your future endeavors as you enter the next exciting chapter of your lives. You rock Class of 2015!!

And remember… once a Logger, always a Logger! Hack hack, chop chop!

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Presentation by Paper and Book Artist Helen Hiebert, Monday, June 29th, 12:30 – 2 p.m., Library Room 020

Artist Books from Helen Hiebert Studio (http://helenhiebertstudio.com/)

Artist Books from helenhiebertstudio.com

Nationally recognized paper and book artist, Helen Hiebert of Edwards, Colorado will share examples from her studio practice, including Interluceo, her newest artists’ book about paper, geometry and light, and The Wish, a community installation project that resides in a Denver library, as well as her efforts to put hand papermaking on the map through her how-to books and blog. Helen will also bring copies of several of her other artists’ books to show.

Helen Hiebert is a Colorado artist who constructs installations, sculptures, films and artist books using handmade paper, thread and light. She teaches and lectures about papermaking and lampmaking and exhibits her work internationally. She is author of the books Papermaking with Plants, The Papermaker’s Companion, Paper Illuminated, Playing With Paper, and Playing With Pop-Ups. Helen has an extensive network of paper colleagues around the world and her interest in how things are made (from paper) keeps her up-to-date on current paper trends, which she writes about in her weekly blog post called The Sunday Paper. Helen’s most recent installation, The Wish, is a giant dandelion sculpture at Anythink Huron Street Library in Thornton. She holds an annual paper retreat in her Red Cliff studio each September.

Sponsored by the Collins Memorial Library, in association with the Puget Sound Book Artists.

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“Cover Page Markings” Date Back to Libraries Before Computers

Pencil markings on cover page. (Indicated by red arrows)

Pencil markings on cover page. (Indicated by red arrows)

Did you know that Markings found on cover pages in books date back to libraries before computers?  Back then, library staff created cataloging (to help our users find our books) which had to be typed on cards and filed manually in the card catalog.  This means there were limited “retrieval points.” But if we needed to remove a book from the collection, we needed to find and remove all the cards in the card catalog for that book.  Every book had at least a main entry card, which was the most important card of all, because it told us how many other cards were in the catalog for that book, and what they were.  The three dashes you see on the title pages of books indicate the start of the main entry that was used on that all important card (which is usually the main author or sometimes the title).  Frequently, the main entry was obvious, but cataloging rules sometimes made it a bit obscure.  The underlining is the start of the title.

We no longer need to follow this practice because technology means we have multiple ways to find and remove the cataloging records from our catalog.

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Library resources and campus librarians available to assist you this summer

From left: Lori Ricigliano, Peggy Burge, Andrea Kueter, Eli Gandour-Rood, Katie Henningsen, Ben Tucker

From left: Lori Ricigliano, Peggy Burge, Andrea Kueter, Eli Gandour-Rood, Katie Henningsen, Ben Tucker

Doing research on or off-campus this summer?  Library resources are available to you throughout the summer, including your campus librarians who are here to assist you on-campus or virtually.

Here are some great resources to keep in mind, or better yet to bookmark on your favorite devices.

Guide for Summer Research Grant Students

Guide to Ask a Librarian and Research Help

Links to research assistance, subject guides, and useful resources compiled by your friendly librarians.

Collins Library Hours

May 18th to August 14th

Monday & Thursday                                 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday               7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday                                                      9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday                                                         Closed

For exceptions to these hours, and hours for dates not listed here, check the Library Hours page.  Daily hours are also posted on the library’s main web page along with links to other useful information.

We hope you have a fantastic summer, and we’ll look forward to seeing you next Fall!

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From the Archives: Zodiac Horsemen

HorsemenOne of the more frustrating things about working in Special Collections is that often there are books written in foreign languages, and they don’t come with translations. One example of this is a reproduction of an illustrated manual of military technology called Bellifortis. This treatise, which was originally written in the very beginning of the 15th century, includes illustrations of everything from catapults and trebuchets to crazy death pitchforks.

Unfortunately, the manuscript itself is written in Latin, the book of accompanying essays we have for it is written in German, and the academic area of the Internet does not seem to be very keen on sharing their research on this treatise. Therefore, the actual captions and relevance of most of the illustrations is a bit of a mystery. These seven horsemen were clearly inspired by astrology and mixing the zodiac symbols together into outfits and horses. Since there are really no accompanying captions, the actual reasoning behind these images is unknown, but they’re kind of fun to look at, especially if you know your zodiac sign (and those of your friends!).

If you’re interested in seeing some of the crazy death pitchforks, you can always visit the Archives & Special Collections on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday between 1:00-3:00 p.m.!

By Morgan Ford

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“Drawn the Road Again” – Unique Places Visited by Tacoma Artist Chandler O’Leary

CollinsDoors_ChandlerThanks to Chandler – Illustrator, letterer(erer) and entrepreneur living and working in Tacoma, the Collins Memorial Library will soon receive a print of it’s welcoming doors from her illustrated travel blog.

Chandler has been a big part of enriching our library exhibits over the years. You may have seen Chandler’s pictures of Mount Rainier in the library’s Rocking Chair Room as part of her 2011 exhibit, “Local Conditions“, which captured scenes of the changing faces of our beloved mountain. Also in the Northwest Reading Room by the window is “Tugboat Thea“,  a hand-lettered and carved linoleum block print featuring a quote by Thea Foss, Tacoma business pioneer and inspiration for “Tugboat Annie”. (Created as a collaboration between Chandler O’Leary of Anagram Press and Jessica Spring of Springtide Press.) The library also featured her 2009 exhibit “To the Letter – A Solo Exhibit of the Work of Chandler O’Leary“.

 

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“Buck: A Memoir” By M.K. Asante

BuckA coming-of-age story about navigating the wilds of urban America and the shrapnel of a self-destructing family, Buck shares the story of a generation through one original and riveting voice.

Check out this book that was deemed “A story of surviving and thriving with passion, compassion, wit, and style” in the Popular Reading Collection!

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Dylan Harvey Wins Library Art Award 2015

1.) "Toaster", 2015, 2.) "Timer", 2015, 3.) "Clock Radio", 2015, Crushed appliances and mounted digital print

1.) “Toaster”, 2015, 2.) “Timer”, 2015, 3.) “Clock Radio”, 2015, Crushed appliances and mounted digital print

Dylan Harvey, a graduating studio art major, is the 2015 recipient of the 13th annual Library Art Award for his series of crushed appliances. The selection was based on a number of factors, including originality, creativity, content integration, craftsmanship, and viewer engagement. Congratulations, Dylan!

Artist’s Statement:
“What is valuable? Packaging creates an illusion of perpetuity and attempts to elicit an emotional response in the consumer. I incorporate the satisfaction of buying something new and full of potential, immediately with the degradation of the object’s value at the end of its useful life. I emphasize the fleeting moments of the object’s novelty by juxtaposing crushed common household items with pristine packaging.”

-Dylan Harvey

Comments from the Judges:
“The smashed appliances evoke an primal response…novel integration of domesticity and art…provides insights into how consumers respond to products when the packaging has changed…takes an object that has outlived its usefulness and repurposes it…raises questions about waste and overconsumption…explores the role of packaging in consumer behavior…the background digital print helps the viewer situate the object within its environment.”

About the Judges:

Hilary Robbeloth is a Metadata Librarian at Collins Library.
Jada Pelger
is the Information Resources Coordinator at Collins Library.
Jamie Spaine
is Administrative Coordinator at Collins Library.
Lori Ricigliano
is the Associate Director for User Services at Collins Library.

 

 

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