In Memoriam We are sad to note the recent loss of several friends and colleagues. Carolyn Berneking (1915-2011) graduated from KU in 1937 with a degree in music, and earned her master’s in library science from Emporia. She worked for several public and academic libraries before returning to KU as a serials librarian; after retirement, Carolyn volunteered at the University Archives in Spencer for fourteen more years. Edwyna Gilbert (1936-2011) was a professor emerita of English and the chair of the KU Libraries Board of Advocates. “We were most fortunate to count Edwyna as a colleague and friend,” said KU Libraries Dean Lorraine Haricombe. “As chair of our Board of Advocates and in her many roles across campus, Edwyna emanated an affection for KU that inspired all of us. Despite her humble demeanor, her ardent passion for the people and programs she believed in led her to willingly embrace not only the role of an educator, but that of an advocate. Her contributions and spirit of enthusiasm will have a lasting and positive impact at KU and beyond.” L. E. James (Jim) Helyar (1931-2011) served as a KU librarian from 1955 to 1956 and from 1961 to 2006. Jim, who served as the graphics curator at Spencer and worked for KU for more than 48 years, was an expert on the 1851 World’s Fair and worked extensively on the Gould Collection.
National Endowment for the Humanities awards $70,939 to KU Libraries for cataloging and digitizing John Gould bird illustrations By Sarah Kanning
KU Libraries was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to catalog and digitize scientific illustrations from the collection of John Gould (1804-1881), a notable nineteenth-century British publisher of illustrated bird books. The NEH grant will help fund the costs of creating metadata and providing access to the Gould collection, as well as the related research archive of the late Gordon Sauer, leading Gould biographer and historian. Approximately 6,300 of Gould’s drawings, watercolors, lithographic stones, lithographic proofs, color trials and published prints will be digitized and made accessible online for access by scholars around the world. The grant was one of only 33 in the nation awarded by NEH this year for humanities collections and reference resources projects, and one of two in the state of Kansas in that category. The Gould manuscripts and publications form the centerpiece of the Ralph Ellis collection of 25,000 natural-history volumes, which is one of the best ornithological libraries in America for the period up to 1945, when Ellis died and the collection came by bequest to the University of Kansas. In addition to the development of ornithological science and illustration, the Gould collection offers insight into the techniques of lithographic printing and watercolor painting and the naturalhistory publishing business during the mid-19th century. v
Alexandra (Sandy) Mason (1931-2011) served as the first librarian of the Kenneth Spencer Research Library and was the one who inspired the current head of Spencer, Beth Whittaker, to pursue a career in librarianship. “Sandy was a huge influence on generations of librarians and scholars,” Whittaker said. “She set the highest standards for special collections librarianship and lived up to those standards.”
KU Libraries team up with gridiron Jayhawks for Touchdown Challenge 2011
KU was the first public university in the nation to share faculty research with audiences beyond those with academic journal subscriptions.
The Touchdown Challenge campaign, now in its second year, is dedicated to raising funds for the seven libraries on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses. Participants in the challenge will pledge a certain amount of money per touchdown that KU scores during the 2011 season and postseason play. The contributions support the KU Libraries’ enrichment fund. Zenger, who earned his doctoral degree at KU, emphasized the importance of the library for undergraduate and graduate students alike. “In many ways, the library is the heart of campus and touches each one of the students at KU.” Gill is also a supporter of the libraries. He said that the entire staff encourages all football players to focus on education, and that the libraries are an essential part of helping them thrive academically. “As every one of our football players knows, education is the number one priority,” Gill said. “It is up to each student to stay on top of his grades. The critical support the library provides — not only to KU student-athletes, but to the student body as a whole — makes that possible.” In addition to teaching hundreds of workshops and courseintegrated instruction sessions each semester, library faculty teach for-credit courses aimed at improving information literacy.
Now KU has once again taken the lead in forming a coalition with 21 other universities and colleges with established faculty open access policies in North America—such as Harvard University, Stanford University, Duke University and Concordia University in Montreal—to establish the new Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions. READ poster featuring Coach Turner Gill. Photo by Jeff Jacobsen.
“Librarians work with all students to help them develop a better understanding of the research process, an important step that contributes to improved student retention now and helps them develop lifelong information and technology literacy skills,” said Lorraine J. Haricombe, dean of KU Libraries. “KU studentathletes benefit from a specially designed research methods and information literacy course taught by KU librarians. We are proud of our partnership with Kansas Athletics, and we look forward to the second year of this campaign to benefit all KU students.” “The University of Kansas is known not just for its great athletics program, but also for the high level of expectations in academics,” Gill said. “I hope KU fans will join me in supporting the libraries.” For more information about the campaign, visit the Touchdown Challenge website at www.lib.ku.edu/touchdown. Pledge online or by mailing in the pledge card below. v
P.O. Box 928 Lawrence, KS 66044-0928 1-800-444-4201 | www.kuendowment.org
I want to participate in the Touchdown Challenge!
100 percent of your gift will be used to benefit the area of your choice at the University of Kansas.
My pledge per touchdown (for 2011-12 season and post-season play) is:
Pledge is from:
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q Other amount: _____
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Name(s) as they should appear on receipt
Bibliophile is published in print and online semi-annually by the University of Kansas Libraries for alumni, friends and benefactors. Printing is paid for with private contributions.
City _____________________________________________________________ State ____________________________________________________________ From “A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains” by John Gould (London, 1831). Courtesy of Special Collections, Kenneth Spencer Research Library.
Dean of Libraries - lorraine j. haricombe | Editor - Rebecca Smith Content - Sarah Kanning and Dylan Derryberry Design and production - Courtney Foat and Claire Dooley
By Sarah Kanning
KU Libraries have teamed up with KU Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger and Head Football Coach Turner Gill to launch a fundraising campaign to support KU Libraries.
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Loraine Vosper (1918-2011), wife of former KU Libraries Director Robert Vosper (for whom the KU Libraries Vosper Society was named), was, like her husband, a strong supporter of KU Libraries.
KU establishes first North American coalition of institutions practicing open access
ZIP Code _________________________________________________________ Phone (home or mobile) _____________________________________________
I’d like to pledge my support to: q Library Enrichment
q Library Collections
q Library Facilities
q Other (please specify): __________
I agree to the above and acknowledge that I will receive a statement from KU Endowment with my pledge total to be paid in spring of 2012. The amount to be charged will be based upon the total of touchdown scored during the KU football season, including regular and bowl games.
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Questions?
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Rebecca Smith, KU Libraries: rasmith@ku.edu or 785-864-1761
Known as COAPI, the group will collaborate and share implementation strategies and advocate on a national level for institutions with open access policies. In July, KU Libraries Dean Lorraine Haricombe contacted deans and directors at universities and colleges with
established open access policies and invited them to participate in a teleconference to discuss the possibility of organizing. During the July 19 teleconference, the group resolved to formalize as COAPI. Their next steps will include a pre-conference meeting at the Berlin 9 Open Access Conference in November in Washington, D.C. “Society depends on universities for the creation of new knowledge,” said Haricombe. “We at KU understand well our responsibility to disseminate and share that knowledge to gain the most benefit for science and society.” “It’s my hope that this new coalition will offer academic institutions an opportunity to stand together and establish open access to knowledge in the sciences and humanities as a broad societal norm,” Haricombe said. v
Stansifer gift broadens Latin American collections at KU Libraries By Rebecca Smith
An extensive gift of more than 20,000 Latin American books, pamphlets and papers from a KU emeritus professor will serve to deepen an already substantial collection that he helped to create. Dr. Charles Stansifer, professor emeritus of history and a former director of the KU Center of Latin American Studies, has donated his personal collection and papers, including items from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, Paraguay and other Central and South American countries. Some books will go to the Latin American collection in Watson Library; the rarer books, papers, pamphlets and other ephemera will go to Spencer Research Library. The collection, which Stansifer built over more than five decades, contains thousands of items. The gift is the capstone of Stansifer’s long-standing efforts on behalf of the Latin American collection at KU Libraries. He served on the committee that selected and purchased the core collection in the ‘60s, a time when there were few sources of books from Central and South America in the United States. Collection-building meant traveling to those regions and bringing back the books. “I remember going to Costa Rica with him,” said Jana Krentz, KU librarian and head of KU Libraries’ International Area Studies department. “He would pack suitcases inside suitcases for the trip down, and fill them all with books for the trip back. It was just incredible.” Melissa Birch, KU associate professor of business, worked
Charley Stansifer with KU Librarian John Stratton at the September 22 reception honoring his gift. Photo by Sarah Kanning.
with Stansifer in the Center of Latin American Studies, where he served as director for many years. “Dr. Stansifer is a noted Central American historian, but his interests go well beyond Central America,” said Birch. “Charley was instrumental in the University’s acquisition of the Natalicio Gonzalez collection and in encouraging many scholars to come use the materials. Always a Jayhawk, Charley devotes incredible energy to building bridges between Kansas, its people and its academic institutions, and all of Latin America.” Stansifer explained how his 42-year career at KU led him to make the gift. “During my time at KU, I have become very aware of the outstanding Latin American resources and collections held within KU Libraries,” said Stansifer. “I hope this gift will make this collection even stronger, because the libraries and its resources are vital to research, teaching and learning at KU.” Stansifer was honored for his contributions at a reception in Watson Library on September 22. v