Blogging Again

It has been a while.  We moved the Bell Library to new quarters this year and prepping for that, the actual move, and then the unpacking and reorganizing have been all consuming.  However, a new space is like a fresh slate and I already have new habits.  For one thing, my office is clean, tidy, and organized!  I still have some artwork to hang on the walls, but otherwise it is a cozy (in the warm rather than small sense) and welcoming -- and most important -- usable space.    It also has a sit/stand desk, which I'm not used to yet -- keep putting files on the divide between the desk and the filing cabinet.  Baby steps.

Another new habit:  better priority setting.  I've found a new app for my phone:  Wunderlist  It helps me keep track of my to dos and lets me to set due dates, reminders, sub-tasks, etc.  The reminders help me keep on track and not succumb to distractions -- well, to as many distractions.

Will weekly blogging become another new habit?  Only time will tell.  In the meantime, here's a photo from a Premodern Food Lab event at the Bell Museum of Natural History (no, we are not the library of the museum!) this past fall.  Our event was "Pickles of Yore" and as you can see, they were a big hit!

On her 4th pickle from a 17th-century recipe!

Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktoo

So, I couldn't resist picking up this book:  The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktoo by Joshua Hammer. Of course, all librarians are "bad-ass" -- just ask one what s/he's involved in and you'll know what I mean -- but these guys were heroic under extraordinary circumstances.

Here's the book blurb:  "In the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a government library, Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across the Sahara Desert and along the Niger River, tracking down and salvaging tens of thousands of ancient Islamic and secular manuscripts that had fallen into obscurity. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu tells the incredible story of how Haidara, a mild-mannered archivist and historian from the legendary city of Timbuktu, later became one of the world’s greatest and most brazen smugglers.

In 2012, thousands of Al Qaeda militants from northwest Africa seized control of most of Mali, including Timbuktu. They imposed Sharia law, chopped off the hands of accused thieves, stoned to death unmarried couples, and threatened to destroy the great manuscripts. As the militants tightened their control over Timbuktu, Haidara organized a dangerous operation to sneak all 350,000 volumes out of the city to the safety of southern Mali."

Abdel Kader Haidara

This well written tale left me awestruck by the determination of Haidara and the many people who helped him save these priceless manuscripts, frequently putting their very lives at risk. Today, many of the salvaged volumes remain in danger from poor storage conditions, despite  monumental efforts to preserve them. 

The Timbouktou Manuscript Project web site provides additional information about this endeavor and links to a database of manuscripts as well as to some of the libraries set up to house them, including a library established by Haidara, himself, to house his own family's manuscript collection.

Mapping Cook's Endeavor

Fans of Captain Cook and his adventures and accomplishments might be interested to learn about the work of the Rhode Island Marine Archeaology Project (RIMAP), led by Dr. D. K. Abass.  RIMAP's mapping of  Revolutionary War-era British naval vessels in Newport harbor may have turned up Cook's Endeavour, the ship that took him on his very first voyage of exploration.

The route of Cook's first voyage, HMS Endeavour, 1768-1771

Cook's voyages are well documented.  Not only did he provide the Royal Navy with an account of his ventures, but several crewman on the three voyages also published their own accounts.  Sydney Parkinson, a Scots botanical illustrator, naturalist, and artist, was employed by Joseph Banks, a British naturalist and botanist, to accompany him on Cook's first voyage.  Banks and Swedish botanist Daniel Solander collected hundreds of plant and animal specimens and it was Parkinson's job to draw them in detail.  Parkinson also became fascinated with the people they encountered on the voyage and drew many of them as well, recording his experiences in a journal he kept during the voyage.  Sadly, Parkinson died of dysentery in 1771 while aboard ship.  Although Banks, as his employer, claimed all of his drawings and papers, including his journal, he lent it to Parkinson's brother, who published the journal with some of the drawings in 1773.  We're fortunate to have a copy in the Bell Library collection.

The image at right, depicting the distinctively tatooed face of a New Zealand chief, is one of several published in A journal of a voyage to the South Seas in His Majesty's ship the Endeavour, London, 1773 (Bell 1773 fPa).  Parkinson's images offered the European reading public their first glimpse of Pacific Islanders.

According to the caption on this image (left), sticking out one's tongue at an enemy is a gesture of defiance. 

Check out the Bell Library's online exhibit:  Captain Cook's Voyages of Discovery

Collaborating with Digital Vendors: Going over to the dark side?

I have been approached by several vendors of digital packages over the years who were interested in including materials from the James Ford Bell Library in new digital products.  These vendors scan and package a variety of digital materials, drawn largely from archives and special collections, and then sell the packages to schools and universities.  I resisted.  Although these vendors situated the images within a well-researched historical context, something I favor over letting the images float about with a context, selling this material seemed wrong;  it should be made freely available to anyone who asks.  After two years of dithering, I changed my mind.

I realized that it might be years before this material could be scanned in-house and be made available through our own digital repository.  Participating in one of these programs would get the material out there much sooner.  Second, and I learned this during discussions with Adam Matthew Digital with whom we eventually partnered, our institution received Master TIFFS of all of the images, along with any new metadata that AMD creates for the image.  Third, we receive royalties from sales, which can help us scan more of our own material.  Yay!!!    Fourth, participating in the project did not prevent us from sharing these materials with our researchers on an individual basis;  we are only restricted from including them in a competing large-scale digital project, and we could include scans of items from the collection that we already had that were pertinent to the project;  these items would be under no restrictions, but still would be shared with a potentially broader audience through the project. And fifth, I could help shape the context in which the images were were viewed.

A colleague in another unit in the U of MN Libraries also decided to participate in a different ADM project, so we developed the contracts, procedures, and protocols together, which will now serve as a model for any future projects we or our colleagues may pursue.

The Bell Library is partnering with Adam Matthew in the "Age of Exploration" package, scheduled to be released in 2018.  If you are interested in this or other Adam Matthew Digital projects, check out their web site:  http://www.amdigital.co.uk/

Find Delight In the Book Arts

Noam Sienna:  Contemporary art with early modern roots.

I work with rare and beautiful books every day.  In every respect they are examples of the art and craft of bookmaking, from the design of the type font or the letter form, to the marbled end papers, to the illustrations.

As our knowledge sources become more digital, the book as physical object, whether a manuscript or printed, is becoming more precious.  The Minnesota Center for Book Arts celebrates the book and the book arts, their traditions and new incarnations.

I was fortunate to attend the opening of a new exhibit at MCBA this week:  Take Words With You:  In Our Home and In Our Ways.  One of the students in my graduate seminar, Noam Sienna, is one of the featured artists.  I encourage you to check it out;  it will be on display through May 28, 2017 in the Cowles Literary Commons in the Open Book building, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Noam Sienna is a Hebrew calligrapher and manuscript artist who investigates the relationship between letters, image, color and light, inspired by the tradition of Jewish books throughout the centuries. His graduate work in Jewish History and Museum Studies provides his art with deep roots and a commitment to seeing the past come alive again in the present.
Aaron Greenberg Silver’s artwork is typically created by cutting paper, but he has also worked in watercolor, steel, and clay. He invites the viewer to see objects and ideas in new ways, extracting the essence of a scene or object to portray it unencumbered by extraneous material.
Demetrios Vital’s artmaking begins in awe and curiosity of natural history and Jewish community. In search of a connection between letters and life, he creates and restores sacred manuscripts with careful attention to their history and place within their community. His calligraphic art combines Hebrew scribal traditions and text, with modern sources of inspiration.