UMass Amherst Friends of the Library Newsletter - Spring/Summer 2013 (no.45)

17 Pages·2016·7.29 MB·English

by  Jay Schafer

University of Massachusetts Amherst
ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst
Library News for the Friends of the UMass Amherst
University Libraries
Libraries
Spring 2013
UMass Amherst Friends of the Library Newsletter -
Spring/Summer 2013 (no.45)
Jay Schafer
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Follow this and additional works at:https://scholarworks.umass.edu/libraries_news
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NEWS FOR THE FRIENDS OF THE UMASS AMHERST LIBRARIES
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To celebrate UMass Amherst’s 150th birthday, Special Collections and
University Archives will record, preserve and make available more than
150 new personal oral histories about campus and student life, re-catalogue
thousands of historical campus photographs, and curate physical and
digital exhibits about the campus’s history.
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A Year to Remember and Celebrate
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2013 is the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the founding of our land-grant institution.
The Libraries take the land-grant mission very seriously as we preserve and
present the history of the Commonwealth through digitization projects and as we
offer access to the print collections of the Commonwealth’s largest public
academic research library to all residents.
2013 is the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation and
the 50th anniversary of the death of W.E.B. Du Bois. Du Bois, born in 1868 (only
five years after the Emancipation Proclamation), died the day before Martin
Luther King gave his memorable “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington.
2013 is the kickoff of the UMass Rising Campaign. The Libraries are counting on
your support as we move toward our goal of raising $45 million by 2016. Happily,
From left: Amilcar Shabazz, Jay Schafer,
we are already at more than 80% of our goal but we need your help to achieve 100%.
President Pedro Pires, Rob Cox, Sid Ferreira.
2013 is the 40th anniversary of the opening of the “Tower Library,” renamed the
W.E.B. Du Bois Library in 1994. Designed by Edward Durrell Stone, the Du Bois
Former President and Prime
Library still holds the title as the world’s tallest university library.
Minister of Cape Verde Visits
Special Collections 2013 is the year of many new and exciting services and programs, as you will read on
the following pages. The new Digital Media Lab on Floor 3 of the Du Bois Library
The former President and Prime Minister
is an excellent example of how the Libraries can work collaboratively with others
of Cape Verde, Pedro Pires, visited
on campus to create an innovative modern service for our 21st century students.
Special Collections and University
2013 is, sadly, the year the Libraries lost a long-time champion – Randolph “Bill”
Archives (SCUA) at the Du Bois Library
Bromery. Dr. Bromery was instrumental in bringing the Papers of W.E.B. Du Bois
in the fall. On hand to discuss future
to the Libraries and was, until his death, a passionate supporter of the Libraries,
opportunities for collaboration were Head
the Du Bois Collection, and the W.E.B. Du Bois Center.
of SCUA Rob Cox; Cape Verdean Student
Alliance Advisor Sidonio Ferreira; Director 2013 is a year of celebration and remembrance. If you can celebrate and remember
of Libraries Jay Schafer; and Faculty the excellent work you read about in the following pages, your contributions will be
Advisor to the Chancellor for Diversity greatly appreciated.
and Excellence Amilcar Shabazz.
Best regards,
Jay Schafer
Director of Libraries
Save the Date
Du Bois in Our Time
September 10 - December 15, 2013
University Museum of
Contemporary Art (UMCA)
UMass Amherst
The Life of W.E.B. Du Bois: Artist Visits Special Collections
Its Relevance to Today
In a recent interview in Art in America, artist LaToya
Harlem native and great-grandson of Ruby Frazier (left) said, “[My mentor] always told me,
American civil rights activist W.E.B. Du ‘When your photographs start speaking back to you,
Bois, Arthur McFarlane II (pictured below, that’s when you know you’re making the right work.’
I follow where the work guides me. It recently guided
right) gave the 19th Annual Du Bois Lecture
me to the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, where I have been
in the Du Bois Library and at St. John’s
commissioned to collaborate with a Du Bois scholar to
Congregational Church in Springfield,
create new work that investigates Du Bois’s influence
Massachusetts. McFarlane spoke about
on American social justice, women’s rights, higher
Frazier, an artist creating
the burden and gift of being Du Bois’s
a work for the exhibit, education, the arts, environmentalism, and political
great-grandson. He said that while much
did research in Special action.” Du Bois in Our Time is a landmark exhibition
progress has been made, many challenges Collections. that focuses on the intersection of art and the major
around race and socioeconomic justice
issues of our time, centered on the legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois and the causes he
still plague our lives. He urged lecture- championed, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
goers to consider the relevance of W.E.B. Artists and scholars will create this major modern art exhibit on campus this fall
Du Bois today, calling on the UMass Amherst at the University Museum of Contemporary Art (UMCA). More info: bit.ly/dbiot.
community to help “Black History” and
“American History” merge into one unified
story. When asked what aspect of Du Bois’s
life and work inspires him most, McFarlane
marvelled at Du Bois’s interviews with 2,000
black families, to write The Philadelphia
Negro. When it was published in 1899, the
study became one of the earliest examples
of sociology as a statistically-based social
science.
Du Bois Happenings
Gospel music, shared prayer, dancing, and storytelling illuminated the life of W.E.B. Du Bois in
the third annual Tribute to the Black Church. UMass Amherst Libraries and St. John’s Congrega-
tional Church co-sponsor the event, which takes place at the historic Springfield church every
February. This year, a highlight was a reading from the Bible that belonged to John Brown, who
was a member of the St. John’s congregation.
UMass Amherst Librarian Jeremy Smith presented “Digitizing the Diaspora: African American Archives
and the Revolution in Research,” at W.E.B. Du Bois and the Wings of Atlanta: A Commemorative
Conference at Clark Atlanta University that celebrated the life of Dr. Du Bois. The event featured
notable scholars from around the world, including UMass Amherst’s John Bracey, Bill Strickland,
and Whitney Battle-Baptiste. Du Bois wrote many influential works in the 23 years he spent at
Atlanta University, initially as a professor (1897-1910) and later as the chair of the Department
of Sociology (1934-1944).
LIBRARY Spring/Summer 2013 1
News
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TMNT
Our Fine
Falcon Friends
Peter Laird ’76, co-creator of the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(TMNT), donated a sculpture grouping
of the five main characters of the
popular series. The sculptures consist
of the four well-known and much
loved Ninja Turtles—Michelangelo,
The Falcon Cam is in
its second year and Raphael, Donatello, and Leonardo—
the Library has and their sensei master and adopted
installed a new father, the rat, Master Splinter. Created
camera for better in the early 1980s, initially as comic
viewing.
book characters, they captivated a generation of young adults, spawning a major
View the falcons live business of comic books, TV series, feature films, toys, games and other products.
at www.library. Created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the characters and their stories
umass.edu/falcons became pop culture legends in the 1980s and continue to be popular today.
or click on the Falcon
Kevin Eastman commissioned the bronze sculptures from artist John Dann. The
Cam button on the
sculptures are displayed on Floor 21 near the children’s book collection.
Library website. &
Follow us on facebook
Librarians Teach... Students
to see photos. As we
Rave…
go to print there are
four eggs in the nest. 441
“Last year, librarians conducted and supervised library instruction sessions, Librarian Mike Davis
10,161 80
To support the reaching participants. Librarians taught for departments, programs regularly receives
“Falcons of Du Bois applause at the end
and groups, ranging from Afro American Studies, Isenberg School of Management,
Library,” visit
of his sessions.
bit.ly/duboisfalcons. to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies and almost everything in between…”
“…[this session] may
— Isabel Espinal, Information Literacy Specialist/Humanities Reference Librarian
have been the best,
most academically
“Librarians at UMass Amherst have always played an im-
helpful lecture I have
portant part in the education of undergraduate and graduate
ever attended at
students,” says Espinal (pictured left). “Our role has recently
UMass,” according to
increased dramatically in this area. But numbers only tell
one participant.
part of the story. Students rave about the classes.”
Another student said,
“Students need help navigating the torrent of information
“I will use ALL of
choices they are flooded with,” says Beth Lang, Head of
what I learned in this
Research and Liaison Services. “And we are responding to
session in my future
the call.”
research.”
2 LIBRARY Spring/Summer 2013
News
Announcing
OPEN ACCESS NEWS
Communication+1
The New Digital Media Lab The Libraries have initiated a suite of Library
Publishing Services (LPS) to respond to new
The Digital Media Lab on Floor 3 of the Du Bois Library is designed to support developments in the scholarly communication
students at each point in the multimedia production process, from concept and paradigm shift to digital scholarship. “These
media creation to post-production. This exciting new space brings together all the services include software that facilitates the
elements needed to produce high-quality multimedia from green screen video establishment and sustainability of peer-
room and pro-audio sound recording booths to specialized workstations and reviewed open journals and the capture of
collaboration space. Outfitted with 27” iMacs and dual Mac/PC workstations, it conference materials that are held on campus,”
is a flexible workspace that can adapt to new technologies and learning modes. says Marilyn Billings, Scholarly Communication
Students have access to a wide range of online tutorials, field production guides, and Special Initiatives Librarian.
and self-organized forums. A staff of multimedia specialists provides workshops
“We started communication+1 with a set of
and individual instruction as needed. The Digital Media Lab will have a Grand
definite goals,” says Briankle Chang, editor of the
Opening in September for the start of the fall semester.
new open access journal communication +1 and
associate professor in the Communication
Department. “Although it is still in its early stage
of development, the reception we have received
has exceeded our expectation. The download
records and related indicators are a clear
testament to the vision of democratic scholarship
that Scholarworks embodies, a vision of which
communication+1 is a natural extension and
without which it would not have been possible.”
The journal communication +1 provides an
open forum for exploring and sharing ideas
about communication across modes of inquiry
and perspectives. Its primary objective is to
push the theoretical frontiers of communica-
tion as an autonomous and distinct field of
research. Suspending any judgment regarding
distinction between theory and practice, this
forum encourages critical reflections on
communication and seeks to encourage these
Digital Media Coordinator Jeanne Antill ’81 helps Solana Bethell ’15 and Andrew Takas reflections to and among those who place
’13 practice setting up shots in the green screen room for chroma keying video.
communication at the center of their thinking
and writing. The aim of communication +1 is to
promote new approaches to and open new
horizons in the study of communication from an
interdisciplinary perspective.
scholarworks.umass.edu/cpo/
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News
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Archive of
Social Change
Peace and War: Assessing the Legacies
of Sixties Activism Today
Author Tom Fels and media artist Mark
Tribe gave talks marking the completion of
the Eighth Annual Social Change
Colloquium.
Longtime independent writer and
researcher Tom Fels’s new book Buying
the Farm: Peace and War on a Sixties
Commune (UMass Press, 2012) explores Montague Farm, courtesy of Special Collections and University Archives.
the long history of Montague Farm
A new video that highlights the Archive of Social Change has
(featured in the Social Change video),
been created. Check it out: bit.ly/socialchangevid.
one of the era’s iconic experiments in
social change. Before drawing his own
UMass Amherst—Sustainable since 1863!
conclusions about it in the book, Fels
recounted the farm’s many early
contributions to the counterculture, and
later the farm’s devolution at the hands of
competing farm-family factions, inviting us
to question the balance between idealism
and effectiveness.
Mark Tribe is part of the next generation to
be inspired by sixties activism. His Port
Huron Project (2006-2009) is a series of
reenactments of protest speeches from
the New Left movements of the Vietnam In honor of Earth Week 2013 and
era. Enacted at the site of the original the campus’s Sesquicentennial, the
event, each speech was delivered by an Libraries created “Sustainable since
actor or performance artist. Videos of 1863” T-shirts made from recycled
these performances have been screened bottles, featuring an archival photo
on campuses, exhibited in art spaces, and of the campus’s early days as an
Madeleine Charney, Sustainability Studies agricultural school. The T-shirts were
distributed online as open-source media:
Librarian.
made from post-consumer waste yarns
www.marktribe.net/port-huron-project/.
made in the U.S. and are stamped with a bottle count. The average shirt consists
Tom Fels and Mark Tribe have both of 14 bottles. From the 1,000 shirts ordered: 12,400 bottles were diverted from
donated materials to Special Collections landfills; 199,648 lbs. of greenhouse gases were saved; 137,586 gallons of water
and University Archives (SCUA). were saved; and 1,701 kWh hours of energy were saved.
4 LIBRARY Spring/Summer 2013
News
sustainability news
Library’s Sustainability Fund Wins Gale Cengage
Learning Financial Development Award
“The overall reach The Library is the winner of the
prestigious Gale Cengage Learning
and scope of the Financial Development Award presented
annually to a library organization
endeavors supported which exhibits meritorious achieve-
ment in creating new means of funding
Earth Day 2013
by the Library for a public or academic library.
To celebrate Earth
The Libraries received the award for its
Day 2013, the
Sustainability Fund
very successful campaign focusing on
Libraries co-spon-
the Library Sustainability Fund, which
sored the keynote
is impressive.”
raised $175,000 from 3,500 donors.
address by Annie
The Libraries partnered with the
—Juror for the award Leonard, Director of
UMass Annual Giving Office on the
the Story of Stuff
annual “Second Ask” campaign.
Project and the
Donors were contacted and were requested to make one more gift to close out the
creator of the movie
fiscal year, and many came through. Thank You!
The Story of Stuff.
The Fund made possible a series of workshops which enabled faculty to form Starting as a
connections between their colleagues in disciplines across campus. During ‘20-minute cartoon
“Mapping Sustainability Education at UMass Amherst,” held in the Teaching about trash’ to share
Commons in Du Bois Library, 50 people including faculty from 18 departments what Leonard
(spanning the sciences, art, and humanities) and staff from 7 co-curricular offices learned about the
(including Auxiliary Services, Extension, and International Programs Office) worked way we make, use
Recent together to create a set of student learning outcomes for sustainability courses. and throw away
workshop “stuff” today, The
Mapping “Faculty may apply for $1,000 mini-grants to integrate the use of licensed library
Story of Stuff has
Sustainability resources in their existing sustainability courses and base assignments on Information
had over 15 million
Education Literacy standards,” said Sustainability Studies Librarian Madeleine Charney.
views. Leonard
at UMass Amherst
“The initiative is a strategic fundraising program serving as a model for other founded the non-profit
libraries,” said one of the jurors for the award, commenting on the engagement of Story of Stuff Project
alumni, current students, and faculty in the project. “The overall reach and scope in 2008 to respond
of the endeavors supported by the Library Sustainability Fund is impressive.” to tens of thousands
of viewer requests for
To donate to the Library Sustainability Fund, visit:
more information
bit.ly/sustfund
and ways to get
involved. For more
information, visit:
www.storyofstuff.
org/.
LIBRARY Spring/Summer 2013 5
The Friends of the Library welcomed Chancellor for UMass Amherst to be the greatest
Subbaswamy (known as Chancellor Swamy) and his wife, public research university it can be.”
Mala, to their first Dinner with Friends in April. Upon
New York Times bestselling mystery
arrival at the 11th annual gala, guests toured the new Digital
writer Archer Mayor (pictured, left)
Media Lab (pictured) taking
headlined the evening’s program. The
shape on Floor Three of Du Bois
author of 23 painstakingly researched
Library; funds raised by the
and thus chillingly realistic mystery
dinner benefit the development of
novels, Mayor set his latest book,
this new space. The Chancellor,
Paradise City, in Northampton,
inspired by the lab’s green screen,
Massachusetts. Mayor, who is an
gave an impromptu mock weather report, as guests learned
EMT and a death investigator, regaled the crowd with
about the hardware, software, and staffing of the new facility.
tales from the seamier side of life, the nuances of his work
The Digital Media Lab “represents the masterfully successful and writing habits, and his approach to “fiction,” much of
partnership developing between the Office of Information which is drawn from real life. “The key thread through my
Technologies and the Libraries,” Chancellor Swamy told the career and my writing is a fascination with what motivates
crowd of more than 100 guests in his remarks. “It will create people,” said Mayor. Mayor joined the ranks of our Friends
a holistic support system for our students, allowing them to by donating copies of his books to complete the libraries’
work with new curricular innovations as those arise.” collection of his Joe Gunther series, and invited guests to
bid on the opportunity to have their name included in his
In the preamble to the evening’s program, Chair of the
forthcoming book.
Library’s Director’s Council, Lorrey Bianchi ’69, announced
the bold Campaign for the Libraries, a quest to raise $10M Thank you to all of our donors, sponsors and dinner guests.
for the Libraries over the next three years, “to continue to make Thanks to you, we raised nearly $30,000 toward the Digital
the library excellent, and in doing so, provide the foundation Media Lab.
Friends of the Library Board Member Provost Staros (left) and Friends of the Provost Staros (left) and Chair of
Marda Buchholz ’65, who travelled from Library Board President Elaine Barker ’63, Director’s Council Lorrey Bianchi ’69
California to attend the event, chats with G’69 award the Friends of the Library (right) present Sonia McCallum ’13
Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy and Undergraduate Research Award first place (center), the Emily Silverman Book
Mala Subbaswamy. prize to Ken Lefebvre ’13 for his essay “A Collecting Award in the Undergraduate
Wise Conservator”: The Life and Times of Category, for “Vampires Don’t Sparkle:
Henry Hill Goodell. Vampires Outside the Romance Genre.”
THANK YOU TO OUR 2013 CORPORATE SPONSORS: Bassette Printing (cid:81) Brattle Book Shop (cid:81) Elsevier (cid:81) Lexington Group
Print Associates (cid:81) Sunshine Sign Co. (cid:81) UMass Amherst University Store (cid:81) UMass Catering
6 LIBRARY Spring/Summer 2013
New to the Dinner this year, a silent auction generated spirited bidding for more than Even given the caveat that the winner’s
a dozen items. Treasures included framed replicas of rare and historic documents good name might be assigned to an
from Special Collections and University Archives; a pair of telescoping Sheffield plate unsavory character in an Archer Mayor
candlesticks donated by Friends of the Library Board member Bruce Cherner ’80; a (left) book, lively bidding generated a
Thomas Nast print, from Board Member John Fitzgerald ’68, G’78, and a hand-crafted $600 donation by Director’s Council
Walnut, one-of-a-kind hors d’oeuvre tray by acclaimed artist Michael Coffey and past member Philip DesAutels (right).
President of the Friends Board, Dodie Gaudet ’73.
Photos: Ben Barnhart
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