Diane Blair Papers Opening Event The papers of the late Diane Blair were opened to researchers in an afternoon ceremony on March 9 in the Helen Robson Walton Read-ing Room in Mullins Library. The ceremony included speeches by G. David Gear-hart, chancellor of the Uni-versity; Carolyn Henderson Allen, dean of the Libraries; Hillary Clinton, secretary of state of the United States, in a pre-taped message; Ann Henry, personal friend and colleague; and James B. Blair, donor of the collection. The Diane Blair Papers comprise 113.5 linear feet and include biographical materials, correspondence, newspaper clippings, research materials, notes, primary and second-ary source documents, manu-scripts, memorabilia, photographs, VHS recorded programs, audio interviews, and electronic data and databases. The materials are divided into five series: personal and family materials, professional materials, Bill and Hillary Clinton materials, general political materials, and photographs and audio materials. While a professor of political sci-ence at the University of Arkansas, Blair was actively involved in state politics. Arkansas Governor Dale Bumpers appointed her chair of the Governor’s Commission on the Sta-tus of Women in 1971, and on Feb. 14, 1975, Blair debated the Equal Rights Amendment in the Arkansas General Assembly against nationally known conservative Phyllis Schlafly.

In 1976, Gov. David Pryor appointed her to chair a Commission on Public Employee Rights.

Blair was named Outstanding Fac-ulty Member by students in 1976 and 1978. She received the College of Arts and Sciences Master Teacher Award in 1982. Blair published two books and authored or co-authored twelve essays appearing in books, twenty-one professional journal articles, and many book reviews. After Bill Clinton and Hillary Rod-ham moved to Fayetteville in 1974, Blair became their close friend and active promoter. Governor Bill Clin-ton appointed Blair to the Commission for the Arkansas Educational Televi-sion Network in 1980, a position she held until 1993. Taking leaves from the University, Blair served as senior researcher in the 1992 Clinton presi-dential campaign and as senior adviser

in the 1996 re-election campaign. Dur-ing the 1992 Clinton presidential cam-paign, Blair gathered audio interviews

of staff members involved in the campaign. Sixty-five of the interviews, for which the Libraries have obtained ownership, are included in the Blair Papers. As presi-dent, Clinton appointed her twice, in 1993 and 1997, to the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broad-casting, on which she served as chair from 1996-2000. Blair was guest scholar at the Brookings Institute in Washington in 1993. She was selected by Arkansas Busi-ness Magazine as one of the “Top 100 Arkansas Women” in 1995, 1996, and 1997. In 1998 the Midwest Political

Science Association presented a panel in honor of her work as a political scientist and educator. The Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society at the University was estab-lished with funds appropriated from Congress in late 2000.

Newsletter of the University of Arkansas Libraries “Real People, Real Research Help” Vol. 24 No. 1, 2010

Diane Blair’s son Bill Kincaid, his wife Missy and their two children attended the event. Pho-to courtesy of Russell Cothren.

Speakers at the event were G. David Gearhart, Carolyn Allen, Jim Blair, and Ann Henry. Photo courtesy of Russell Cothren.

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St. Scholastica Music Library Donated The Dr. James D. Mashburn Music Library, a division of the Mashburn Scholarship Foundation, donated a large collection of materials from the St. Scholastica Monastery music library to the University of Arkansas Libraries. A reception on Janu-ary 14 honored both the Mashburn Foundation and the sisters of St. Scholastica with speakers G. David Gearhart, chancellor of the Uni-versity, followed by Sister Maria DeAngeli, prioress at St. Scholas-tica Monastery, Carolyn Henderson Allen, dean of the Libraries, and Barbara Mashburn of the Mash-burn Scholarship Foundation. The donation consists of mate-rials collected through several decades in the music schools oper-ated by St. Scholastica and include

more than 3,600 audio recordings (primarily 78s and LPs) in the areas of classical, Christian, popular (many Christmas albums) and folk/world items. There are also 378 playscripts, 630 books and 3,644 scores and sheet

music. The collection will be housed in the Libraries with scores and audio materials in the Performing Arts and Media Department. The Benedictine sisters who estab-lished St. Scholastica Monastery in

Fort Smith first came to Arkansas from Indiana in 1878 after rail-road companies asked their order to establish churches and schools along the railroad and minister to German immigrants. They first established their convent in Shoal Creek, but in 1924 they moved to Fort Smith. Over the decades, the Fort Smith Benedictines taught in 62 different schools in 5 states. They also conducted 12 music schools and operated 2 orphan-ages.

Fulbright Alumni Association Records Opened The international education records held by Special Collections regularly draw researchers from around the world. A new manuscript collection, the Fulbright Alumni Association Re-cords, now joins these collections. Established by Fulbright alumni in 1977, the organization is a private, non-profit association consisting of former American Fulbright grant-ees and other supporters of inter-national education. The Fulbright Program, which provides funding for students, teachers, and profes-sionals to study, teach, or do re-search abroad, is one of the most prestigious awards programs in the world. The collection contains his-torical and organizational files from annual meetings, the board of directors, and the executive committee; the association’s correspondence; and materials received from former grantees. Subject files document many topics related to international educational exchange, such as the association’s Eastern European and AIDS task forces, foreign scholarships, survey materials,

foreign affairs, information on specific countries, records pertaining to local chapters, and government reports on international exchange. The collection also contains ma-terials about J. William Fulbright, as well as correspondence, newspaper ar-ticles, and published materials related

to the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the Fulbright Program, established in 1946. Publications by various Fulbright edu-cational commissions and foundations, publications from other international education organizations, as well as photographs and videotapes are also contained in the collection.

Special Collections holds other collections related to international education and cultural exchange, including the J.William Fulbright Papers, NAFSA: Association of International Education Records, Council for International Ex-change of Scholars Records, and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Historical Col-lection. Special Collections Depart-ment Head Tom W. Dillard re-marked on the importance of this collection: “International education is one of our collecting specialties. The new Fulbright Alumni Association records are a real feather in the cap of Uni-versity of Arkansas Libraries. We are grateful for this important archival collection.”

D. W.

Senators Harrison Schmitt, R-N.M. (second from left) and Daniel Moynihan, D-N.Y. (right) together become the 1000th members of the Fulbright Alumni Association, 1978. Also pictured are Arthur P. Dudden (left), president of the Fulbright Alumni Association, 1976–1980, and Senator J. William Fulbright (second from right) of Arkansas, who introduced the original legislation establishing the educational exchange program. MC1492, Box19, Folder34.

Barbara Mashburn performed at the reception, accompanied by pianist Jonathan Story, a former Mashburn scholar. Photo courtesy of Russell Cothren.

Tony Stankus, Librarian and Blogger of Note One of the most widely published scholars in the field of life sciences librarianship is a member of the University of Arkansas Libraries’ faculty. Tony Stankus, who is a university professor and the life sciences librarian, is the author of hundreds of articles, a variety of books, and most recently, a blog, or a shared online journal. Tony came to the University of Arkansas in 2007 from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mas-sachusetts, where he had been the science librarian for thirty-four years. He is a graduate of Holy Cross, and he took his library degree from the University of Rhode Island. After growing up in foster homes and on welfare for his first eighteen years, Tony arrived at Holy Cross with his belongings in cardboard boxes. He graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Russian. Over his long career, Tony has been recognized for his many pub-lications, including more than one hundred articles and ten books. He has also served over twenty-five years as editor of the journal Science & Tech-nology Libraries. Tony has completed a two-year term as Director of the BioMedical and Life Sciences Divi-sion of the 11,000-member Special Libraries Association, but he now serves as Secretary and writes the Division’s blog. In 2009, Tony was named a Fellow of the Special Libraries Association,

the group’s highest award. Only 105 such fellows have been named in the

century the Association has existed. Tony’s blogs cover a wide range of topics, many of which are quite timely. For example, on May 7, 2010, Science magazine published a draft article on the genomic sequence of the pre-human Neanderthals. Three days later, Tony posted a long blog in which he put the scientific announce-ment into context. Early in his post-ing, Tony identified the “most strik-ing finding” of the new Neanderthal study: people of European and Asian ancestry share between one and four percent of their DNA with Neander-thals, but people of purely African ancestry apparently do not. So, Tony concluded, “Neanderthals and Early

Modern Humans did mate—at least in the Middle East…and exchanged

genetic material that remains in our modern DNA today.” While Tony’s blogs are based on a thorough knowledge of the published literature, he writes with an easy and engaging style. In his blog on Neanderthals for example, Tony noted that these pre-humans were short and stocky and “stored more fat around their bellies, and had shorter, thicker arms and legs, had thick short necks and rather big heads.” Tony con-cluded, “in other words, they looked exactly like me” except the Neanderthals had red hair. The blog averages more than

1,000 monthly visits from around the world. It can be viewed

online at http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/dbio/. How Tony finds time to write arti-cles, books, and a regular blog is a mystery, especially since he is widely known for devoting time to helping students with their research. He also serves students through his chairman-ship of the civilian faculty ROTC programs committee. This committee advises and assists Arkansans who prepare for officer training prior to assignment in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the world of science librarianship, Tony Stankus is a remarkable indi-vidual who brings tremendous recog-nition to the University of Arkansas.

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Books and Letters is published twice a year. Editors: Molly D. Boyd (also designer), Anne Marie Candido, Tom W. Dillard, and Juana R. Young. Photos by Molly Boyd unless otherwise noted. Diane Worrell provided extra material for this issue. ISSN 1047-983X. Correspondence should be addressed to University of Arkansas Libraries, 365 N. McIlroy Avenue, Fayetteville, AR 72701-4002. The material contained herein may be quoted or reprinted without permission, provided that appropriate credit is included.

Tony Stankus, Life Sciences Librarian and author of the BioMedi-cal and Life Sciences Division of the Special Libraries Associa-tion blog.

Subscribe to Receive Books & Letters Online The Libraries’ newsletter Books & Letters is now available through electronic delivery. To sign up (and save money and resources!), contact Martha Guirl Phillips at mlguirl@uark.edu or (479) 575-6702 and provide a working e-mail address. It’s that easy to go green.

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New Appointments In February, the Libraries hired Amy Allen as the University’s first full-time University Archivist charged with plan-ning and implementing a University Archives, which is now a new unit of the Special Collections Department. Allen comes to this position after being a manuscript processor for the Con-gressman John Paul Hammerschmidt Papers. She earned a B.A. in English from the Universi-ty of Arkansas and a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Ala-bama. Specifically, Allen’s task is to identify materials of enduring histor-ical value to docu-ment the history of the University and to preserve and provide access to these materials. The University Archives will be a resource for promoting awareness of the value

and use of the University of Arkan-sas’s institutional history, culture, and memory. Case Miner has been hired to be the project director for the processing of the Senator Dale Bumpers Papers. Miner recently completed three years as an archivist process-ing the Congress-man John Paul Hammerschmidt Papers. His back-ground includes a B.A. in English from the Universi-ty of Central Okla-homa and an M.A. in history from the University of Arkansas. Bumpers was a U.S. Senator from 1975–1999, known for his fiscal conser-vatism, social liberalism, and oratorical skills. After serving four years as gov-ernor, he began his senatorial career by defeating incumbent U.S. Senator J.

W. Fulbright in 1974. He retired from the Senate in 1999. The unproccessed collection consists of 1,300 legal-sized boxes of materials. In October, Sarah Spiegel was appointed Visiting Assistant Librarian in Business as the subject specialist for accounting, eco-nomics, finance, information sys-tems, management, and marketing and logistics. Sarah has a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College and an MLIS from the University of Illi-nois at Urbana-Champaign. In the fall of 2009, Phillip Jones, previously the head of the Reference Department, was given the new per-manent assignment of head of the Fine Arts Library, while Donna Daniels of Reference was appointed the new per-manent head of the Reference Depart-ment.

Case Miner, project di-rector for the Bumpers Papers. Photo courtesy of Russell Cothren.

In honor of Black History Month in February, the Libraries hosted an exhibit of a series of relief prints by Delita Martin, a professor at the Uni-versity of Arkansas at Little Rock. The exhibit, titled “She Who Is Brown,” celebrates the diversity among women of color and features the faces of Afri-can American women in earth tones such as amber, mahogany, and Indian red. An exhibit by Fayetteville artist Christy Young titled “Portraits in Color and Light” paid tribute to Women’s History Month in March. Although Young primarily creates portraits on commission, the original paintings in this exhibit were portraits of family members on loan from several private collections, including the artist’s own. Taken together, these portraits display a pleasing range of media, subjects, and settings.

The 2010 Arkansas Heritage Month theme was “Roads Less Traveled: The Enduring Heritage of Rural Arkansas,” and in celebration the Libraries hosted an exhibit of photographs by Maxine Payne titled “God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise: Arkansas Historic Bridges.” Payne’s exhibit emphasizes the historic nature of the enduring

bridges in Arkansas, and also provides factual information about the bridge depicted, including details of its con-struction, design, historical status, and location. Payne is an associate profes-sor of art and departmental chair at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkan-sas.

“Gabe and Owen at Our Pond” by Christy Young.

Art Exhibits for Spring Celebrate Diversity

“Frog Bayou Bridge” by Maxine Payne.

Amy Allen, University Archivist. Photo courtesy of Russell Cothren.

Sarah Spiegel, Business Librarian.

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Extreme Makeover to be Finished Before Fall Semester The Student Technology Fee Advi-sory Committee is charged with dis-tributing funds collected through the student technology fee. During the spring semester, the Committee noti-fied the Libraries that their highest priority was to expand wireless access throughout Mullins Library and expand the General Access Comput-ing Lab (GACL) on the main lobby level of Mullins Library. In response, the Libraries formed the Extreme Makeover Task Force, comprised of personnel of the Librar-ies and campus ITS, who devised a plan in short order to meet the needs of an expanded computing lab as well as renovate the lobby space to better meet the needs of library users. Planned upgrades include improved wireless access throughout the library, thirty-eight new computer worksta-

tions, collaborative workspaces, a quiet computing area, printing work-stations that are better located and more easily accessed, expanded quiet study area in the Periodicals Read-ing Room, new space for personal reference consultations, a combined one-stop service desk, and more com-fortable seating that students can rear-range to suit their needs--whether that be laptop computing or group study. To make room for the expansion, library staff and facilities personnel removed old equipment and furniture, downsized and reorganized current periodicals and reference materials, and rebuilt the main service desk with pieces salvaged from the former ser-vice desks. A postcard featuring Big Red, the University’s Razorback mas-cot, was distributed to 8,000 persons participating in new student summer

orientation, describing the changes. The caption read: “Big Red’s favorite place to study is Mullins Library... and it’s about to get better!”

National Library Week Awards and Celebration

Winners of this year’s Library Employee Awards were announced at the annual Ice Cream Social on Library Workers’ Day, April 13, 2010. The winners were: Rookie of the Year: Anne Reynolds (Interli-brary Loan); Extra Mile: Brian Kelley (Periodicals Room) and Robin Roggio (Interlibrary Loan); Keystone: Tony

Stankus (Reference & Collection Development) and Martha Guirl-Phil-lips (Dean’s Office); Outstanding Sup-port Service: Shannon Rankin (Bind-ing); and Team Project: the Libraries’ Human Resources team—Jeff Banks, Kathy Riggle, and Elsie Nguyen for the implementation of the PeopleSoft software system in the Libraries.

A poster celebrating National Li-brary Week that featured athletic di-rector Jeff Long was distributed to campus departments. Titled “Razor-backs and Libraries: A Playbook for Success,” the poster was developed on the Library Week theme of “Commu-nities Thrive @ Your Library.”

Library Staff Award Winners for 2010, from left to right: Shannon Rankin, Jeff Banks, Martha Guirl-Phillips, Kathy Riggle, Elsie Nguyen, Dean Carolyn Allen (awards presenter), Anne Reyn-olds, Tony Stankus, Robin Roggio, and Brian Kelley.

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