2017 Conference
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11213/8545
Presentations and materials from "The Stories We Tell," the 58th Annual RBMS Conference in June 20-23, 2017 in Iowa City.
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Item Open Access Seminar G: Today’s Rare Materials: A 90-Minute Bootcamp on Description and Access(2017-06-22) Mascaro, Michelle; Reno, Lauren; Adams, Liz; McDaniel, Elizabeth B.; Hobart, Elizabeth; O'Dell, Allison Jai; Moody, Honor; Sotelo, AislinnThe Bibliographic Standards Committee produces rules for descriptive cataloging of rare materials (DCRM). Many instructions and accompanying examples focus on early print and manuscript materials, but what do we do when faced with today’s rare materials? What are user needs and best practices for cataloging transient art materials, self-published music, artists’ books, zines, Web archives, digital humanities projects, oral histories, and research datasets – and how might these differ from materials traditionally collected by rare book, manuscript, and special collections libraries? This lightning-round seminar will provide a bootcamp on description and access to today’s rare materials. Audience members will understand and be able to articulate challenges in providing access to today’s rare materials, and will gain a toolkit of solutions for cataloging and discovery. Cataloging Tabletop Games for Special Collections, Elizabeth Hobart, Pennsylvania State University Collaborative Cataloging for Comics and Artists’ Books, Elizabeth B. McDaniel, Virginia Commonwealth University Punching Nazis, or Nazis $x Violence against: Comic Books in RDA, Liz Adams and Lauren Reno, Duke University Increasing Access to Print Ephemera in Manuscript and Archival Collections, Honor Moody, Harvard University Cataloging Zines and other alternative publications, Allison Jai O’Dell, Mercy for Animals Cataloging Born Digital Online Collections, Michelle Mascaro, University of California, San Diego Metadata for Web Archives, Aislinn Sotelo, University of California, San DiegoItem Open Access Seminar J: Collecting in the Heartland: Regional Book Arts(2017-06-22) Reese, Garth; Healey, Elspeth; O'Sullivan, Kevin; Myers, Roger; Korenic, LynFrom Salt Lake City to Kansas City, the book arts are flourishing across America’s heartland – providing ample opportunity for libraries in the region to build unique collections. This seminar will gather curators from institutions from the Southwest, Mountain West, and Midwest to talk about the opportunities and challenges of working with local artists and printers in their areas. The group will discuss such topics as collection development trends, outreach to local or regional book arts communities, and strategies for incorporating the work of local artists into the classroom and in other library programming. Moderator: Maggie Gallup Kopp, Brigham Young UniversityItem Open Access Seminar I: Radical Collaboration(2017-06-22) Kaplan, Elisabeth; Richardson, Leah; Katz, Robin; Call, ElizabethWhat’s so special about special collections? In a 2009 report, the Association of Research Libraries wrote that special collections “define the uniqueness and character of individual research libraries.” Positioning special collections as the “crown jewel” of the library serves only to distance us from other librarians and researchers and is not helpful in forging connections within and outside our communities. With limited budgets and staffs, and the ever-changing needs of administrators and user communities, it has become vitally important for special collections to establish our role within larger organizations and within the broader information profession; to build bridges and find advocates and partners not to isolate and set ourselves apart. This interactive seminar will ask attendees to discuss commonly held beliefs about special collections, and presenters will discuss their experiences, both successes and failures, with “on the ground” outreach and in-reach. Moderator: Sarah M. Horowitz, Haverford CollegeItem Open Access Seminar H: Getting What You Want: Advocacy for Financial Resources(2017-06-22) Irwin, Rebekah; Taormina, Mattie; Yun, Audra Eagle; Schreyer, AliceWhat stories do we tell to get the financial resources we want or need? Storytelling is a key component of advocacy, especially when articulating fundraising and resource goals both within and outside an organization. In this seminar, heads of special collections reflecting a range of development experiences will share their practical tips for procuring financial resources from organizational leadership and the donor community. A breakout session will allow audience members to participate in an open conversation about this essential responsibility in the administration of special collections and rare books. Moderator: Erin Rhodes, Colby CollegeItem Open Access Seminar F: 3D Printing Book History: Extending Bibliographical Pedagogy through Additive Manufacturing(2017-06-21) McIntosh, Marcia; Jacobs, Courtney; O'Sullivan, Kevin M.Part case study, part tech-talk, and part invitation to collaborate, this seminar focuses on work extending bibliographical pedagogy through additive manufacturing. 3Dhotbed is a groundbreaking project that seeks to make historical recreations of tools and implements involved in hand-press book production more easily accessible. Leveraging new technologies such as reverse engineering, or 3D scanning, and additive manufacturing, known as 3D printing, the project seeks to provide access to the data necessary to create highly accurate, affordable models for use in demonstration and instruction. Kevin O’Sullivan will articulate the pedagogical benefit of utilizing tactile teaching models in bibliographical instruction. Courtney Jacobs will report on the group’s collaborative pilot to create teaching replicas, and the project’s initial impact integrating fabricated models into undergraduate instruction. Marcia McIntosh will discuss small-scale 3D scanning and printing, provide information on equipment and software used, and walk through post-processing the captured data.Item Open Access Seminar E: Data-Driven Practice(2017-06-21) Fitzgerald, Moira; Rowley, Joshua; Meehan, Jennifer; Hintz, CarrieAssessment work and other associated activities have emerged as increasingly important areas of action, framed particularly by the joint SAA/RBMS taskforces and locally by the growing trend of administrative interest in data-driven decision-making practices. In the course of this seminar, we will work toward demonstrating how the profession is experiencing and integrating this work as part of our new business-as-usual mode. We will look at assessment projects ranging from lightweight agile initiatives to deep ongoing inquiries and use questions to dynamically explore a diversity of experiences and stimulate discussion. Topics such as how to build cultural support for assessment and integrated user experience, the usefulness of data beyond reporting, and the nuts and bolts of building both assessment projects and programs will be addressed. Moderator: Emilie Hardman, Harvard UniversityItem Open Access Seminar C: Put a Hashtag on It: #librariesofinstagram(2017-06-21) Sylvestre, Jay; Hewes, Lauren; Dias de Fazio, Diane; Dean, Jason W.nstagram has over 440 million users, and was named “one of the most influential social networks in the world.” Libraries and special collections have transformed the app from a “fun way to share your life” into a hub for collaborative exhibitions and conversations – an engine for audience building, outreach, and inter-institutional participation. The session, led by representatives of special collections accounts in academia, public, and national research libraries, will demonstrate how Instagram helps explain What We Do, How We Do It, and What’s in the Vault. Hosts will offer ideas on creating and archiving mini-exhibitions, hosting “InstaMeets” and “challenges,” cross-posting, and developing internal policies. This seminar will be hands-on. Join the conversation on taking photos, content selection, posting management, and fostering expanded engagement. Suggested reading: goo.gl/VGKCEr. Session hashtag: #RBMS17IG Jason W. Dean, Southwestern University (@suspeccoll) Diane Dias De Fazio, New York Public Library (@archibrarian) Lauren Hewes, American Antiquarian Society (@americanantiquarian) Jay Sylvestre, University of Miami Libraries (@um_spec_coll) Moderator: Agnieszka Czeblakow, University of Texas San Antonio (@utsaspeccoll)Item Open Access RBMS 2017 Seminar D: Future of Bibliographic Data(2017-06-21) Limper-Herz, Karen; Dondi, Christina; Duntze, OliverThis seminar will examine the use of data in the study of incunabula, a field where ground-breaking work is being conducted utilizing centuries of bibliographic information. Seminar participants will learn about some of the newest incunabula projects, as well as some of the oldest, in a presentation led by the directors of database repositories and digital humanities projects. Seminar participants will study several resources in-depth: Material Evidence in Incunabula (MEI), a global effort to expand copy-specific descriptions of incunables, the Incunabula Short Title Catalog (ISTC), today the most comprehensive database of incunabula, the Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (GW), the more than 100- year-old effort to catalog all surviving incunable editions, and the Atlas of Early Printing, one of the earliest digital GIS book history sites that applies mapping to bibliographic data about incunables. The 15cBOOKTRADE project will also be presented and analyzed. The international collaborative efforts underlying these projects will be highlighted. Moderator: Greg Prickman, University of IowaItem Open Access Seminar A: Leadership & Management in Special Collections: Becoming the Boss, the First Three Years and Beyond(2017-06-21) Hyry, Thomas; Jackson, Athena; Carpenter, Chrystal; Rushing, AmyThis seminar will provide a learning opportunity for professionals in special collections and archives who are interested in moving into administrative roles or those who have recently moved into these roles and are looking for guidance. The four presenters include those who are relatively new to administration as well as those who have been in a leadership role for many years; they bring different perspectives from their institutions which vary in size. As they talk about leadership challenges and opportunities, among the topics the speakers will address are: adapting to institutional cultures, understanding the parameters of the job in general and specifically the issues of advocacy for special collections, strategic planning, and building community relationships; setting strategic priorities in the early years of one’s tenure; managing change and navigating through conflict. Speakers will share their learning moments– as they work to aligning staffing and mission to a library’s strategic plan. Moderator: Verónica Reyes-Escudero, University of Arizona LibrariesItem Open Access Plenary 3: Memory(2017-06-23) Salomon, Frank; Noble, Safiya UmojaThe act of remembering at both the individual and collective level can have far-reaching implications. Remembering — and forgetting — comes to signify the relative importance of any particular combination of information and experience. In this closing plenary, we build on programming from throughout the conference to further explore the ways that memories and narratives interact, shaping what we as individuals and communities choose to remember. We will also examine the role of cultural heritage institutions in providing and interpreting primary sources for exploring our collective past. Moderator: Daniel J. Slive, Head of Special Collections, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of TheologyItem Open Access Panel: Stories We Tell with Students: Pedagogy and Process(2017-06-23) Clemens, Alison; Matheny, Kathryn; Nacca, Elise M.; Rosenkranz, AdamExtending the Narrative of Primary Source Research as a Process: Subject Specialists As Beneficial Interlopers in Special Collections Research Instruction There are several narratives we tell in our research instruction, depending on what kind of librarian does the teaching. Subject specialist librarians teach the story of searching strategies, the library’s online discovery tools, paid databases, evaluation of sources, and research guides. Special collections librarians teach the story of the value and relevance of primary sources, the history of the book, the nature of archives, and how to find, request, and handle special collections materials. There are also many narratives embedded in research: how researchers become interested in topics, how they search for primary and secondary sources, how they gauge the scholarly conversation, and how they modify their topics based on questions generated by the sources. At the Claremont Colleges Library, a team of subject liaisons and special collections librarians has developed a workshop series that brings together the different narratives of special collections librarian, subject specialist, and researcher. In the first workshop students engage with a physical source, interrogating its physical characteristics as well as its contents in order to generate research questions. In the second workshop students search in paid databases and on the web to contextualize their primary source and explore scholarly responses. This case study will tell the story of how we developed workshops that tell the story of research as a holistic process with a holistic view of all the resources available to the researcher – and also how different types of librarians teaching together helps us learn about each other’s domains to become better teachers. Speaker: Adam Rosenkranz, Arts & Humanities Librarian, Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, CA. Await Another Voice: Empowering Undergraduates in Social Justice Collections through Digital Storytelling This paper investigates the rewards reaped and lessons learned from a semester-long course asking students to create a public-facing digital project around an under-researched and underrepresented archive or collection in order to confront issues of power and privilege. The course made use of hands on activities in collections, exposed students to issues of copyright and the postcustodial responsibilities collections have, as well as the biases we can pass along through metadata creation. The practical outcome of this intensive partnership between faculty and librarian was the collection of deliberate approaches to teaching students in special collections, the incorporation of librarian and archivist expertise when partnering with faculty, and the purposeful approach taken when choosing and teaching a digital tool in the humanities. Speaker: Elise M. Nacca, Head of Information Literacy Services, Teaching & Learning Services, University of Texas Libraries Can I Write from the Cat’s Perspective?: Lessons from an Archives-Based Narrative Writing Assignment This case study is of a collaboration between a special collections librarian and first-year writing instructor to craft a researched writing assignment. During a visit to the reading room, students were presented with a collection of documents and photos of a multi-generational local family. They were asked to identify some aspect of that family’s story to develop into a narrative of “a day in the life.” The collaborators share a pedagogical emphasis on discovery learning, which lends itself well to assignments based in archival investigation. In this case, even the assignment planning itself, though grounded in curricular objectives, involved no small amount of improvisation. This proved to be both a strength and a weakness, impacting the choice of materials, negotiation of assignment parameters, and structure of reading room activities. A debrief after the semester’s conclusion revealed overall success: the students were engaged in the process, even when it was challenging or the content unexpectedly provoking, and their essays reflected this. It also brought out aspects of the experience and product that suggest room for improvement, observations that will guide future assignment planning and best practices. In particular, the instructor recommended re-framing the assignment as a “profile,” to ground it more in historical research and source analysis than invention. The librarian advocated for a more thoughtful selection of materials and use of space and visit time. Rethinking these aspects would help such an assignment better address a writing instructor’s research objectives and a special collections librarian’s information and archives literacy outcomes. Speaker: Kathryn Matheny, Reference Services and Outreach Coordinator for Special Collections, W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, University of AlabamaItem Open Access Panel: The Stories Institutions Tell(2017-06-23) Schmidt, Greg; Cuellar, Jillian; Gorder, Erika; Conathan, Lisa“Take due notice of us for the future”: Archives and cultural representation at Williams College In the Fall of 2015, the Log, a Williams College campus gathering space, reopened after renovations. With the opening came renewed attention to a mural prominently featured on its walls. The mural depicts founder of the college Colonel Ephraim Williams and Mohawk leader Theyanoguin on the day they were killed in a 1755 battle of the French and Indian War – a day that is closely tied to the founding of the college almost four decades later. The campus community examined and criticized the mural for its depiction of Theyanoguin and his relationship to Colonel Williams. The local conversation was not an isolated incident in a year that saw campus communities across the nation grappling with their histories and representation of minority groups in public art, memorials, or in naming of campus buildings. As Williams confronts its colonial legacy, the College Archives has become a locus from which to interrogate the depiction of Native people on campus, and the notable erasure of Native presence from contemporary Williamstown. We ask, how can special collections staff support campus efforts to tell the stories of controversial historic representations on campus? How can we assert ourselves as allies of student groups while acknowledging our colonial legacy and serving as stewards of college history? This talk presents our actions and activities that promote a campus culture of open and respectful inquiry regarding the history of Williams College and its relationship to local Native Americans. Speaker: Lisa Conathan – Head of Special Collections, Williams College Libraries The Archivist and Institutional Narratives: Author, Translator, and Muse When it comes time for institutions to recount their histories, they can be commemorative, adulatory, or revelatory. These narratives illustrate the multiple uses of history and memory in American institutional culture as well as the complex forces at work in the broader dynamics of tradition, folklore, truth, authority and collective memory in society. University histories, as public history, embody the dynamics that emerge from the tension between official culture and vernacular cultural expressions; they demonstrate how we navigate the gloaming between memory and history. At the center of this historical work stands the archivist, a key figure with many roles: editor, writer, curator, researcher, translator, and champion. Archivists of higher education are active participants in the work of both traditional scholarship and collaborative approaches to historical analysis and shape the narratives of their institutions. I will examine how archivists participate (from a unique vantage point) in institutional storytelling by highlighting three paths of inquiry and knowledge representation inspired by the Rutgers University 250th Anniversary: 1) official commemorative “products” including a comprehensive illustrated book; 2) academic research that reveals the compelling voices of ignored or forgotten members of the university community exemplified by Scarlet and Black: Rutgers and Slavery, a collaborative work created by history faculty, graduate and undergraduate students and university archivists; 3) non-textual narratives by archivists as curators, represented by the exhibition, “Rutgers Through the Centuries: 250 Years of Treasures from the Archives.” This paper will discuss specific challenges of commemorative history from the archivists’ point of view including the political dimensions of institutional narratives; research, writing, and editing by committee; synthesizing diverse perspectives; and what the archivist does “in the shadows” as custodians of the historical record and what we would write if it was all up to us. Speaker: Erika Gorder – Associate University Archivist, Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries We cannot be represented, we can represent ourselves Abstract: Stories of impact and transformation are central to the special collections narrative. We use stories as tools to concretize the value of our work, and collections themselves tell the stories of the creators and communities they document. Yet, the real challenge for the future of special collections lies not in the stories we tell, but in our ability and willingness to bring to light the stories we don’t tell. Many institutions have explicitly prioritized diversifying collections to more accurately reflect the varied experiences that make up our cultural heritage; some have investigated post-custodial models of collecting and forming partnerships with community archives to accomplish this. These initiatives are mostly experimental, however, and are not incorporated into our work programmatically. While we champion diversity and inclusivity as a profession, our practices have not caught up to our intentions. Our work is still largely grounded in methodologies that are not always welcoming to underrepresented communities and that may not be applicable to unconventional archives. In fact, our basic conception of what constitutes primary sources warrants criticism; until we are willing to undertake this critique, diversity and inclusivity inevitably amounts to assimilation. In this paper I will discuss the stories that are missing from the special collections narrative, and examine how our current strategies for collecting, description, and access exclude voices and histories that do not conform to traditional notions of special collections. I will consider how we can reimagine our professional practices in order to begin building platforms for the stories we have yet to hear. Speaker: Jillian Cuellar – Co-head of Collection Management, University of California, Los AngelesItem Open Access Panel: The Narrative of Exhibits and Exhibition Practices: Approaches to Design and Execution(2017-06-22) Seppi, Greg; Markman, Kris M.; Whittaker, Beth M.; Marini, FrancescaA Survey of Exhibition Practices in North American Rare Book Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Rare book libraries, special collections and archives use exhibitions as a way to tell their stories, including stories of their institutions, their collections, their donors, and their communities. Is there a shared narrative among institutions? Are we all following similar approaches? Are there particularly innovative approaches in place? What are the differences and similarities with museums? This paper will discuss the results of a pilot study based on a survey of exhibition practices in North American rare book libraries, special collections and archives. The survey covers a representative sample of institutions, both academic and non-academic, including, among others, the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto, and the Grolier Club in New York. The main purpose of this study is to: assess how exhibition programs are run; identify what their main goals are; identify who the audience is; identify current trends and new emerging approaches; identify successes and challenges; assess differences and similarities with museums. Areas covered include: exhibition topics and themes, staffing, funding, accessibility issues, design approaches, metrics and how impact is measured, best practices, collaboration and interaction with museums, etc. The results of this study provide insight into exhibition practices in rare book libraries, special collections and archives, and are useful to both established professionals and institutions that are just starting this kind of programs. Speaker: Francesca Marini, PhD – Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Special Collections and Director of the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas) Telling the Story of Our Collections through Space and Permanent Exhibits The University of Kansas’ Spencer Research Library boasts the iconic North Gallery, a sweeping space with views into the library’s closed stacks that has hosted events ranging from class tours and lectures to music performances and marriage proposals, and has remained unchanged since the building opened in 1968. Over the past few years, a team from across the libraries has set out to redesign the space to incorporate permanent exhibits and multimedia installations that enable us to tell the story of our campus, our library, our donors, and our collections to visitors both scholarly and casual. Honoring the architectural and emotional integrity of the space while also representing all of the library’s four major collecting areas has been an important goal. For decades, the space showcased only a portion of our rare books, both a legacy of segregated physical spaces and a manifestation of divisions within the library that we have since worked hard to eliminate. The reprogrammed space, which now reflects the wide diversity of our materials (in both topic and format) affords visitors of all ages and abilities a rich and deep look into our collections via a self-guided tour. The hard work of crafting and shaping a narrative from thousands of volumes, millions of photographs, and dozens of collection strengths has also led to a deepening of our staff’s knowledge of our collections and our capacity to tell new and different stories in our work with students and researchers. Speaker: Beth M. Whittaker – Assistant Dean of Distinctive Collections, Director of Spencer Research Library. University of Kansas. Through Their Eyes: How Visitors View Exhibitions This paper will report on the results of a study of user engagement with special collections exhibitions. Wearable eye tracking technology was used to record how participants moved through two exhibition spaces and to track exactly what objects they looked at, and for how long. Wearable eye trackers are lightweight glasses with a built-in video camera and infrared sensors that detect pupils and track eye movements across the visual field as captured by the camera. A total of 23 participants viewed one of two Harvard Library exhibitions: Shakespeare: His Collected Works at Houghton Library or Opening New Worlds: The Colonial North American Project at the Harvard University Archives. Each participant spent approximately six minutes viewing the exhibition while wearing the eye tracking glasses, and then completed a short questionnaire. Participants were asked to rate on a five-point scale their interest in the topic, familiarity with the topic, knowledge of the topic, how much they enjoyed the exhibition, and if they would view future exhibitions at Harvard Library. Overall ratings for Shakespeare exhibition were slightly higher than Colonial North America. This paper will discuss participant’s trajectories through the two exhibits and how the physical layout of the space interacted with these trajectories. In addition, I will discuss how much attention participants paid to exhibition labels, with an emphasis on how much time was spent reading versus skimming. Speaker: Kris M. Markman – Director of Digital Learning & User Experience (DLUX) for the Harvard Library.Item Open Access Panel: Documents Abroad: Latin American Materials and Special Collections in the United States(2017-06-22) Dezelar-Tiedman, Christine; Zeter, Mary Jo; Valiant, Seonaid; Gardinier, LisaCross-Pollinating the Collections: Building Latin American Studies Collections with the Combined Strengths of Special and Circulating Collections While the University of Iowa has never been a powerhouse of Latin American studies, it presents unique opportunities, particularly in literature, for building distinctive collections, and especially when considered holistically, across general circulating collections and special collections. Existing collections in English in Special Collections, such as zines, provided a template for parallel complementary Spanish-language collections, plus building stronger complementary circulating collections of comics and alternative press material. Campus strengths, such as the International Writing Program and a MFA in Spanish Creative Writing, are reinvigorating Spanish-language literature collections with small and fine press publications, which are split between circulating and special collections on a case=by-case basis. Speaker: Lisa Gardinier – University of Iowa The Documents of Contact and Conflict: The Edward E. Ayer Collection The lumber magnate Edward E. Ayer is remembered by Chicagoans as the first president of the Field Museum of Natural History and as a trustee at the Newberry Library. Why did Ayer collect more than a million artifacts for the Field Museum and donate about 30,000 items, including colonial documents by Spanish priests and Nahua acolytes, to the Newberry Library? I will explore how Ayer and his librarian, Clara Smith, built a network of book dealers, historians, and friends in order to acquire rare materials related to the history of contact and conflict between westerners and indigenous peoples at the turn of the twentieth century. Speaker: Seonaid Valiant – Newberry Library The Story of Latin American Comics Through Exhibits The Michigan State University Comics Forum is an annual event that brings together scholars, creators, and fans of comics and graphic storytelling. Latin American comics from MSU Libraries’ Special Collections were exhibited in the Residential College in the Arts & Humanities to coincide with the 2016 Forum, which was held in the College’s exhibition gallery and adjacent classrooms. The exhibit focused on original Latin American comics, showcasing some of their most iconic characters and series, such as Argentina’s Mafalda, Chile’s Condorito and Mexico’s Kaliman, but also highlighted newer forms of creative expression such as Colombian comic zines and Nicaraguan mangas. A sampling of the Libraries’ extensive collection of U.S. Latino/a comic art and some original Cuban comics was included as well. I will share my experiences in curating this extensive exhibit, including the challenge of selecting comic books and other graphic works from MSU’s exceptionally large collection, conceptualizing the presentation of the materials and creating engaging labels. Speaker: Mary Jo Zeter – Michigan State UniversityItem Open Access Panel: Defining the Archive(2017-06-21) Jackson, Athena; Fournier, Arthur; Stingone, WilliamThis session considers the inconstancy of the term “archive” and how ever-changing notions of what archives are, or should be, present both challenges and opportunities in the work that we do. From the French Revolutionary ideas of transparency and authority to contemporary ones informed by the technological utopianism of Silicon Valley, it is a term that shapes the public understanding of our profession and shifting estimations of its overall value to society. The session will wed reflection on historical and theoretical contexts with more immediate, front-line awareness of how those contexts might inform the present day decisions that archivists, librarians, and professionals in the rare book trade make about the historical record, from the primary identification and acquisition of significant archival materials, to their description, preservation, and use.Item Open Access Panel: Capturing Voices in the Heat of the Moment: Election Reflections 2016(2017-06-21) Minor, Joel; Woolcott, Liz; Duncan, Jennifer; Williams, RandyHow will we tell the story of the 2016 presidential election to future generations? How will our children’s children understand the popular political uprising we witnessed last fall? On the morning of November 9th, curators and librarians in the Utah State University Library’s Special Collections and Archives recognized the need to capture both the dismayed and the jubilant voices of the electorate, examples of which we witnessed pouring onto our own social media channels. Raw emotions gave way to an urgent professional responsibility to make sure that these reactions were preserved. By noon, an expedited IRB proposal was submitted and we were discussing survey instruments, metadata, and marketing strategy. By 5:00 the Election Reflections project was launched, complete with a website. Using the power of social media, the project quickly took on a life of its own. This session will tell the story of how and why we launched a project to gather immediate responses to a stunning political upset—and how our project could serve as a model for others looking to capture voices in similar moments. We will also report on the creation of the resulting digital collection, which within 24 hours had already received deposits from 22 states and one Canadian province.Item Open Access Seminar D: Every Space Is Special: The Art and Science of Pop-Up Special Collections Exhibits(2017-06-21) Settoducato, Elizabeth; Jones, Ruth Ann; Krolikowski, CindyMost libraries collect or have acquired material referred to as special collections, and many institutions have permanent, secure and collection-friendly exhibition space to display those treasures. Whether your institution already has exhibition space, is working towards the establishment of permanent secure display areas, or is looking to expand outreach efforts, pop-up exhibits are an exciting possibility. These exhibits involve the use of non-traditional building, library or off-campus space to organize and publicize same-day or short duration special collections exhibits that will pique the curiosity of your patrons and raise the recognition factor of your special collections as vehicles for study, research and reflection. Three institutions will describe their use of pop-up exhibits, as both supplemental to established display spaces and as stand-alone events. Moderator: Patrick Olson, Michigan State University LibrariesItem Open Access Panel: Materialia Lumina: The Contemporary Book in Its Historical Context: Philosophical Musing of Three Master Printers(2017-06-21) Koch, Peter Rutledge; Maret, Russell; Shanilec, GaylordThis session will explore the book as a work of art, from the perspective of three master printers, Peter Rutledge Koch, Russell Maret, and Gaylord Schanilec. This program idea originated from the California Rare Book School course on the contemporary book in its historical context led by Peter Rutledge Koch in August of 2016. The idea is to tease out the meaning (intentionality) of similarity and divergence between contemporary hand-made books and selected canonical books spread over the 2000-year tradition of artistic expression (writing, typography, printing, binding, structure, paper making, and image making) in book form. Drawing from examples of ancient to contemporary books presented in the form of a vertical tasting of the book, we will explore “how to read a book; notes towards an analysis of connoisseurship.” Questions to consider: 1) Book to Book: How do books talk to each other (subject, historical provenance, materials and meaning, techniques of manufacture, commerce, audience and readership, design to design); 2) Between the Maker and the Reader: What is the artist trying to convey (intentions, messages, signals, metadata, colophon, artist statements, publisher’s notices, advertising); 3) Book to Reader: content speaks to reader (visual content—illustration, language and meaning, qualities [materialia lumina], visual content, color, design, illustration, typography, stagecraft and presentation, touch, tactility, mechanics, and smell. This session discussion will focus on this vertical connoisseurship framework as a teaching tool for librarians and collectors on the history of the book and contemporary book arts. Moderator: Danelle Moon, University of California, Santa Barbara.Item Open Access Plenary 2: Representation(2017-06-22) Aguayo, Angela; Weaver, JanetArchives and special collections preserve cultural artifacts that illuminate the lives and societies of those who created them. However, our ability to understand and interpret these materials is inherently limited by our own knowledge and experience, as well as the fragmented and biased documentary record, often de-contextualized by the removal of cultural heritage from its place of origin. In this plenary, we examine evidence and absence in the historical record, and interrogate the limits of representation. We will also explore strategies to better represent historical and cultural perspectives that have been lost, silenced, or misrepresented. Moderator: Agnieszka Czeblakow, PhD, Rare Books Librarian, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries