Archived Articles — Archive for November 2006

Men, are your minds “diseased?” Women, do you know the dangers of “chance acquaintances”? Does anyone really know the risks associated with improper dance positions and the danger of the “familiarities” which can result? Do you know what representative citizens think about prostitution? Or the social cost of cavorting with sporting women? The staff of the Department of Government and Geographic Information and Data Services (Gov Info) has put together an exhibit of poignant and, at times, quite humorous, documents used by the US Public Health Services to answer these questions, circa 1920-1950. These pamphlets and books are representative of the kind of information the US government believed important for men, women, and children to have in order to be strong and productive citizens. From hookworm to venereal disease, from leprosy in Hawaii to the plague in California, from alcoholism to trafficking opium, and advocating DDT to combat malaria, there was seemingly no topic too delicate to raise in the interest of social hygiene.

Library staffers, University administrators, and other area librarians gathered in the Guild Lounge on October 10 to welcome new University Librarian Sarah Pritchard, who was warmly introduced by Kellogg Associate Professor Anne Coughlan, Chair of the University Library Committee.

Janet Olson (University Archives) announces the arrival of Greenwood Press's new Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Politics, containing three entries she wrote (several years ago!). Two are brief biographical entries: one on Herbert Bigelow of Ohio and, of course, one on W.D.P. Bliss, the subject on her ongoing research--including last year's Kaplan Center fellowship; the third is a major topical article on the Social Gospel.
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She’s the same Sreedevi you know—with two invisible but important differences. Sreedevi Prasad is reclaiming her maiden name of Sreedevi Satyavolu, and she has just become a U.S. citizen.

Editor's Note: Beginning with this issue, LibStaff Links will begin regularly publishing the minutes of NULSA's general meetings, which will also enable them to be archived and retrieved for reference.

Monday, November 13 (11 am to 4 pm) is NUL staff day at the Library’s annual book sale in the Ver Steeg Lounge—your head-start on browsing a fabulous selection of more than 14,000 new and used books, plus CDs, DVDs, VHS cassettes, vintage record albums, and periodicals. This year’s sale features an especially strong selection of books in literary criticism, journalism and media, business, science and technology, and Northwestern University Press overstock. Hardcover books cost $3 each; quality paperbacks are $2; and mass market paperbacks are $.50 apiece.

Six past and present members of the Library’s Conservation Lab staff have work on display in the Chicago Public Library’s One Book, Many Interpretations exhibit at the Harold Washington Library Center. “It’s an amazing exhibit of the book arts, and it provides an extraordinary showcase of the artistic talents of past and present members of our conservation staff,” says Africana Curator David Easterbrook, who attended the exhibit’s opening—and returned to see it again with guests.

Former staffer Lesa Dowd curated the exhibit, which celebrates the fifth anniversary of the city’s One Book, One Chicago program. Bookbinders and book artists from around the world were invited to participate by reading one of the ten past One Book, One Chicago selections and then binding it in a manner that expressed their reaction to the text. Conservation Head Donia Conn chose Stuart Dybek’s story collection The Coast of Chicago. Her simple but vibrant cover was inspired by her reaction to a story from the book in which a boy and his girlfriend spend their time riding up and down the Red Line.

In its June 2006 issue, the German library monthly Bibliotheksdienst
featured a seven-page article commemorating the 150th anniversary of Northwestern University Library. The author, Gernot U. Gabel, is a prominent bibliographer as well as a library and cultural historian, author of Historic Libraries of Europe (2001) as well as bibliographies on major German and international figures such as Kant, Fichte, Wittgenstein, and Sartre. Gabel's article on Northwestern's library describes it as "one of America's most important collections" and chronicles its history from the modest beginnings in 1856 to the highly successful capital campaign and the completion of the Library Storage Facility in 2003. The final paragraph of the article reads (in translation): "Like the University itself, Northwestern's Library strives for excellence. For the future its goal must not only be to create collections (and corresponding services) appropriate to the needs of a research university: Its success will also be measured by its ability to innovate and to develop projects which can attract new sources of funding." The entire article is online in pdf format .

Jeff Garrett

On September 27 University Archivist Patrick M. Quinn gave a presentation on Northwestern University history to Professor Eugene Lowe’s graduate class on the administration of higher education. On October 4 Patrick gave the keynote address at the Men Off Campus/Women Off Campus (MOC/WOC) alumni dinner celebrating the dedication of the new lounge for commuter students in the Norris Center.

On October 13, as part of the Family Weekend program, Patrick spoke on the origins of Northwestern University at Norris University Center. On October 20 Patrick gave the major address at the breakfast event of the Henry Wade Rogers Society, the organization which comprises the most significant donors to the University.

On October 30 Patrick was the speaker at a faculty lunch at the Fiedler Hillel Center.