msu students explore book history in special collections...model gypsy wagons, traditional romani...

Summer 2017

MSU Students Explore Book History in Special Collections“Learning about how

books have come to be organized… says

a lot about what was considered

important then, and can be contrasted

with what we think is important now.”

Each week combined theoretical readings with hands-on sessions led by MSU librarians. Asian Studies librarian Xian Wu discussed printing in Asia, for

example, and rare books librarian Patrick Olson guided students through the manuscript era and the birth of printing. In each hands-on session, students were able to closely examine many relevant examples from Special Collections holdings.

“For years, it’s been my dream to have our collection used in a course like this,” said Peter Berg, Head of Special Collections. “I’m delighted that we

were able to work with Liam Brockey to make the course a reality!”

Students were delighted with the course, too! “The class is an amazing hands-on experience,” said one participant. Her classmate agreed: “Every book

or piece we looked at enhanced our understanding of what we were learning.”

In the Fall, Professor Liam Brockey, Department of History, partnered with Special Collections to offer MSU’s first-ever course on the history of the book. The senior seminar drew nine enthusiastic students, who explored book history from the earliest printing technology to contemporary popular culture.

“Book history is an opportunity for students to understand how the availability of written texts has affected the development of science, religion, and culture,” explained Professor Brockey. “Teaching the course in conjunction with Special Collections staff allowed us to present the topic both in the abstract and in its physical reality.”

Liam Brockey

Insight Summer 2017.indd 1 5/30/2017 11:27:18 AM

Insight is published to inform the MSU community about the collections, services and activities in the MSU Libraries. Story ideas and comments from readers are welcome. For information about MSU Libraries, contact the Office of Development for Libraries & Information Technology at 517.884.6446, or visit: http://giving.lib.msu.edu.

Director of Libraries Clifford H. Haka

Director of Development for MSU LibrariesSeth Martin

Editors: Katie Diamond & Ruth Ann JonesPhotography: Shelby Kroske, unless notedDesign: Theresa Moore

Printed on recycled content paper.

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer.

MSU Students Explore Book History in Special Collections • 1A Letter from the Director • 2MSU Libraries: A Year in the Life • 3Establishing MSU as a world-class site for Gypsy/Romani Studies • 5Supporting library student employees on Giving Tuesday • 6Honoring MSU Faculty: The Annual Faculty Authors Reception • 6Special Collections Endowments: Extending Our Reach • 7

CONTENTS

A Letter from the DirectorThe times they are a-changin… Bob Dylan sang, way back when. Some of the changes we’re seeing now could not have been predicted—like a songwriter winning a Nobel Prize in literature, and the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series.

The MSU Libraries are seeing some surprising changes, too. As I write, we’re moving a significant number of print volumes to our expanded Remote Storage facility. High-use and moderate-use materials will remain in the Main Library, with only seldom-used titles being moved. One criterion of infrequent use: the item hasn’t been checked out in 15 years or more. Materials are now retrieved from Remote Storage on a daily basis, and articles can be scanned and delivered electronically.

Moving seldom-used titles out of the high-traffic Main Library will relieve severe overcrowding. Over the last 25 years, nearly all our branch libraries have been closed to return space to their host departments. With each closure, we built more stacks to hold branch collections and at the same time saw our daily traffic increase. In the last few weeks of the semester, when library use peaks, it is now routine to see scores of students sitting on the floor because every seat in the building is occupied.

Expanded use of Remote Storage will allow us to provide students with more group study rooms, more collaborative technology areas, and a long-desired digital scholarship lab—and more seating. Special Collections stacks will move to an expanded location with superior environmental control to preserve its rare and unique holdings.

These changes will position the MSU Libraries to remain an active and essential partner in the teaching, learning and research mission of the University, while still providing access to the rich physical collections built over the last century. It is a strange and yet wonderful time!

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INTERLIBRARY SERVICES

70,569 items from the MSU Library Collection were sent via InterLibrary Loan to other libraries around the world.

16,596 items from around the world were received

via InterLibrary Loan by MSU Students, Faculty, and Staff.

QUICK FIGURES

1,642,992 VISITORS AT THE

MAIN LIBRARY

1,630,948 VISITORS TO THE

LIBRARY WEBSITE

5,012,874 FULL-TEXT ARTICLE

RETRIEVALS USING MSU LIBRARY DATABASES

4,402,889 SEARCHES COMPLETED

USING MSU LIBRARY DATABASES

7,632,359UNIQUE TITLES

COLLECTIONS

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

INSTRUCTION & REFERENCE

The ROVI MEDIA COLLECTION includes:

700,000+ MUSIC CDS160,000+ DVDS17,000+ VIDEO GAMES

7,085,584 VOLUMES

1,994,079E-BOOK TITLES

861,387+ MAPS, GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS, AND SOUND RECORDINGS

Established in 1962, Special Collections holds more than 450,000 books, numerous manuscript and archival collections, and an

extensive collection of ephemera.

30,746REFERENCE QUESTIONSanswered by MSU Librarians in-person, by phone, and online

659PRESENTATIONS given by MSU Librarians to MSU Students, Faculty, Staff, and community members32,942

PARTICIPANTS involved in MSU Library instruction sessions and presentations

MSU Libraries: A Year in the Life

3

This Spring Semester, we hosted five GIS and map related workshops including one on how to use kites for aerial photography—an inexpensive, simple alternative to drones.

3Data was compiled by Joshua Sanchez, User Experience & Assessment Librarian, from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. Graphics are from freepik.com.


“We’re leaving a legacy for a future generation. We’re hoping that our donation will, in fact,

strengthen Roma Studies.”

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Dr. William G. Lockwood explains:

The proper name for those people long known as “Gypsies” remains a complicated issue. Some groups prefer the term Roma and others reject it. Those sharing a common historic origin prefer the term Romanichal or Traveler in England; Cale in Spain; Manoush in France; Sinti in Germany and elsewhere in Central Europe.

The question of a name is urgent because of the extremely negative connotations acquired by the term “Gypsy.” It has come to signify a population that is dirty, lazy, dishonest, criminal and sickly. Historically, Gypsies were commonly accused of witchcraft, poisoning, and child theft. All over Europe, there was great persecution of Gypsies culminating in the Holocaust, during which a half million Gypsies were murdered. After the fall of Communism, there was another wave of persecution in each of the

newly “democratic” East European nations. No wonder that Gypsies might want to change their name.

Deborah Margolis, Area Studies Librarian, with items from the William G. Lockwood Collection of Romani Ethnology and Gypsy Stereotypes. The collection has outstanding research potential on topics such as Folk culture, genocide of European Roma, the media’s depiction of gypsies, gypsy stereotypes, politics and laws related to gypsies, literature, and gypsy music.

4

What's in a name?

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Throughout their long marriage, Bill and Yvonne Lockwood have had shared interests in ethnic groups, interethnic relations, and foodways.

In the 1950s, they connected with the Roma community where they lived in northern California. Bill and Yvonne celebrated and danced with Romani at extravagant slava gatherings. The vibrant Romani music, embellished clothing, and highly seasoned food spoke of a culture with centuries of deeply held tradition.

These positive interactions with the Roma community led Bill to change his career path from Geology, where he had a B.A. and some graduate work, to Cultural Anthropology. It also led Yvonne from Slavic Studies to the Field of Folklore.

In 1957, Bill joined the Gypsy Lore Society and purchased the first items in his collection—articles on Roma in the Balkans. From then on, Bill was devoted to collecting everything he could on Romani Ethnology and Gypsy Stereotypes.

Now, the Lockwoods are generously donating one of the world’s finest collections on the Roma to MSU. Special Collections has received more than 5,700 books, journals, sheet music, posters, and original artworks and 425 music recordings spanning the 19th and 20th centuries. The MSU Museum will receive a marvelous set of artifacts, including model gypsy wagons, traditional Romani costumes, Russian lacquer boxes, tarot cards and fortune telling relics, knives and basketry.

The Lockwoods have also established endowments for Special Collections and the Museum to acquire new materials, provide conservation treatment as needed, and digitize portions of their collections. And, they have made plans for a generous future gift to establish the William G. and Yvonne R. Lockwood

Establishing MSU as a world-class site for Gypsy/Romani Studies

Endowed Romani/Gypsy Librarian, a position which will be responsible for Romani/Gypsy Studies at the MSU Libraries with a secondary appointment as Romani/Gypsy Curator at the MSU Museum.

And finally, Special Collections has received more than 4,800 ethnic and foreign cookbooks gathered during decades of travel. “I’ve always been a bibliophile,” says Bill. “When we’d go to a conference, in say, Romania, we’d schedule a week or two weeks extra to travel around the country.” The Lockwoods have travelled extensively, especially in Eastern Europe, with extended fieldwork in Bosnia and Austria and scores of shorter trips.

“We realized very early on that food was an introduction to different cultures,” recalls Bill. “As a scholar, it was the introduction that food provides to other cultures that grabbed me.”

Bill Lockwood received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970, and is now Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Yvonne Lockwood received her PhD from the University of Michigan, and is now Curator of Folklife Emerita at the MSU Museum. Both Lockwoods have extensive bibliographies of published research.

Bill and Yvonne hope to establish MSU as a world-class site for Gypsy/Romani Studies. Yvonne explains, “We’re leaving a legacy for a future generation. We’re hoping that our donation will, in fact, strengthen Roma Studies. As far as I know, there’s nothing quite like that in the United States.”


6

Supporting library student employees on Giving Tuesday

186%$5,567RAISEDw

$3000GOAL

Honoring Faculty: The Annual Faculty Authors Reception

On November 29, 2016, MSU Libraries participated in Giving Tuesday—a global day of giving—as part of a university-wide fundraising initiative called

“Spartans Will. Empower.” Units across MSU were asked to select a fund to raise money for with a focus on improving student lives.

Raising funds for the Swanson Endowment for Library Student Employees was an obvious choice for the library. The annual income from this fund is used to provide competitive library student employee wages with a preference given to Honors College students. Of all the funds we could have selected to raise money for on

the Day of Giving, the Swanson Endowment for Library Student Employees offered the most direct possible impact on student lives by providing them with much-needed financial aid to support their education.

Once the project fund was selected, the next step was to spread the word about the initiative. As Giving Tuesday approached, we began telling people about our goal through email and social media channels.

Starting at about 8:00 a.m. on Giving Tuesday, donations to the endowment began steadily pouring in. Thanks to our generous donors,

we surpassed the goal of raising $3,000 for the endowment fund and reached over $4,500 by 10:30 a.m.! By 11:59 p.m. that night, our project was 186% funded, reaching a total of $5,567. Given that we exceeded our project’s goal, an additional $1,000 bonus was added to the endowment fund by MSU.

To all those who donated or shared the cause on social media, thank you for making Giving Tuesday a success! Your support means the world to us, and we could not have achieved our goal without you.

In 1998, the MSU Libraries established the Stanley C. and Selma D. Hollander Faculty Book Collection to honor MSU faculty authors who published books, multimedia works, musical scores, and recordings the previous year. In the reception this April, we acknowledged 209 faculty authors and recognized 267 titles! These publications covered an impressive variety of disciplines—everything from a Caribbean music album to a book about DNA replication.

Special thanks to MSU Federal Credit Union for their generous support of the Faculty Authors Reception, and congratulations again to all the MSU faculty authors!

From left: Yuya Kiuchi and Francisco Villarrual, Human Development and Family Studies; Patricia Edwards, Department of Teacher

Education; Jodene Goldenring Fine, Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education.

bit.ly/facultypublications Libraries


Special Collections is extremely fortunate to have endowments provided by generous supporters. With this assistance, we’re able to purchase many rare works to enrich our collection—each one representing a special opportunity for students and researchers. In the last year, endowments have made possible these magnificent additions to Special Collections:

Special funding from Betty Koch• Maison Rustique, or, The

Countrey Farme by Charles Estienne; adapted by Gervase Markham. 1616.

• Markham’s Masterpiece Revived: Containing All Knowledge Belonging to the Smith, Farrier, or Horse-leach by Gervase Markham. 1675.

• Le Vite de’ Più Eccellenti Pittori, Scultori et Architetti [Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects] by Giorgio Vasari. 1647.

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Around the world in colour: a multi-hued tour of rocks and bugs by Barbara Hodgson and Claudia Cohen is beautifully crafted. This artists’ book showcases natural dyes and insoluble pigments from raw materials all over the world. This is the fourth and final volume of the color series. It took 1,060 sheets of paper and 53 distinct dye baths to make it.

The Patricia A. Anderson Library Endowment Fund for Children’s Books• The Cat in the Hat by Dr.

Seuss. First edition, 1957.• Little Women by Louisa May

Alcott. First edition, 1868.

Michigan State University Class of 1994 Library Endowment Fund• Dictionario Salvat by Guy

Laramée. Book sculpture, 2016.

Thomas W. and Marilyn M. Culpepper Special Collections Fund• Epitome Astronomiae

Copernicanae by Johannes Kepler, 1635.

• Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. First English edition, 1561.

Force Family Special Collections Endowment for the Popular Culture Collection• Poor Will’s Almanack

collection. 13 pieces, 1804-1833.

Beatrice V. Grant Cookbook Endowment

• American Cookery by Amelia Simmons. 1812 edition.

• Le Cuisinier François by François Pierre de la Varenne. 1658.

• The Housekeeper’s Encyclopedia by Mrs. E.F. Haskell of Monroe, Michigan. 1861.

• Podarok Molodym KhoziaM ikam [A Gift to Young Housewives] by Elena MolokhovetsM

• Tried, Tested, Proved: Housekeeping in Alabama by the ladies of Anniston and other towns. 1893.

Dr. Carter M. and Ruth C. Harrison Endowment Fund for the Preservation of Special Collections• Student employees

supported by the fund create custom-sized, protective boxes for fragile items in Special Collections.

Professor Stanley C. Hollander and Selma D. Hollander Endowment for Special Collections• Around the World in Colour:

A Multi-Hued Tour of Rocks & Bugs by Barbara Hodgson. Artists’ book, 2013.

• Cutting Paper, by Claudia Cohen and Barbara Hodgson. Artists’ book, 2014.

• Satyrae [Satires] by Aulus Persius Flaccus. Incunable, 1482.

• Twenty Something Sullivan: Architectural Ornament 1881-1885 by Tom Burtonwood. 3D printed book, 2015.

Charles and Ruth Schmitter Fencing Collection Endowment Fund• A Treatise on the Science of

Defence for the Sword, Bayonet, and Pike in Close Action. Signed by the author, Anthony Gordon. 1806.

Alan and Shirley Brocker Sliker Library Endowment • Student employees

supported by the fund prepare food ephemera for access and digitization. Conservation treatments are also supported by the fund.

These incredible additions to our collection would not be available without support from people like you. Thank you!

Special Collections Endowments: Extending Our Reach


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msu students explore book history in special collections...model gypsy wagons, traditional romani...

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