LSA News

No. 59, November 2004

If you have anything you want in the next newsletter, send it to lsaweb@lists.uoregon.edu .

Index BookCrossing: A New Twist in Resource Sharing by Jennifer Rowan The House is Open by Nathan Georgitis The View From Hidden Spring by Pam DeLaittre Ply-Split Braiding: From Camel Girth to Contemporary Craft by Christine Carmichael Dreaming at My Desk by Harriett Smith From the Fact File by Terry McQuilkin Events of Interest Announcements Staff Profile Welcome Goodbye

BookCrossing

A New Twist in Resource Sharing with "Catch and Release" Books

By Jennifer Rowan

I grew up in a family with a decidedly bookish bent along with two sisters whose voracious appetites for reading matched my own. For family vacations, each of us would check out as many books as the fiction limit allowed at our public library, then would read, exchange and reread from our collective hoard. Driving through the brilliant autumn mountainscapes of North Carolina or along the dramatic north shore of Lake Superior, our mother would shout with frustration from the front seat, "Put your books down and look at the view!" In her adolescence, my younger sister read Arthur Hailey's pulp fiction novel Hotel so many times that it became a family joke; later, when she was married and living in Turkey, Dad made sure to pack a copy of Hotel into every box of used paperbacks he mailed to her.

When I lived overseas and during later periods of travel, a reliable supply of English language reading matter always proved problematic. Due to limitations of weight and space, one tended to carry a single book that when finished could be traded in a sort of literary potluck with a fellow-traveler. I read Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward twice on a cross-country train trip fifteen years ago and three more times - one time after another - during a month of travel in Pakistan in 2000. A great travel book is a treasure like no other, and certain books will forever be associated with particular places, people and times.

So, I was immediately intrigued when a German friend told me about the traveling book she picked up during a walk at Mount Pisgah last summer. The softcover book had been left on a rough-hewn wooden bench near the park entrance. A bright sticker inside the front cover identified it as having been freshly "released into the wild" and free for the sharing through a serendipitous, global book club called BookCrossing.com.

(story continued)

The House is Open

by Nathan Georgitis

The staff of Special Collections & University Archives hosted an open house on Tuesday, October 26th to mark the end of the summer closure and to celebrate the recent accomplishments of the department. James Fox, Head of Special Collections & University Archives, welcomed more than 35 guests from across the campus and the community to the Reading Room, which was decorously appointed with flowers and silver balloons. Fox thanked the guests for their forbearance during the closure and heralded a new era for the department, one in which access to special collections will be ascendant.

Fox remarked on the wonderful opportunities students, faculty and scholars have to work with primary research materials at the University of Oregon Libraries. He pointed to display cases containing materials from the University Archives and discussed how they had been used recently by undergraduates interested in studying events at the university. "Most undergraduates at other universities never get the chance to work with primary resource materials," said Fox.

Following his remarks, Fox introduced Heather Briston, Richard & Mary Corrigan-Solari University Historian & Archivist, who spoke enthusiastically about the accomplishments of the department during the closure, in particular the completion of an inventory of 11,000 linear feet of University records. "For the first time in the history of the University," declared Briston, "we now know what is in the boxes!"

Several members of the staff of Metadata and Digital Library Services were on hand to celebrate with their colleagues from Special Collections and eat cookies, including Carol Hixson, Head of Metadata and Digital Library Services. Hixson discussed the role of her department in facilitating access to special collections through the creation of digital collections. Standing before images of cowpokes and Native Americans from the Picturing the Cayuse collection, Hixson outlined the objectives of the Digital Collections program. "With over 400,000 photographs in Special Collections, we can't digitize them all," said Hixson. "Not even close. Our intent is to digitize a selected few in order to demonstrate the breadth and depth of our collections and to bring researchers into the Libraries to see more."

Linda Long, Manuscripts Librarian for Special Collections & University Archives, introduced the Northwest Digital Archives, a database of electronic finding aids to special collections in the Northwest. The database includes over one hundred finding aids to University of Oregon collections. Long remarked on the great progress that has been made in recent years in facilitating access to collections through the creative use of technology. "Guides to University of Oregon collections," noted Long, "are now available to scholars all over the world."

Fox took care to remind his guests that digital bells and whistles would not distract the department from its traditional focus on the management of rare book, manuscript and photograph collections. He introduced Bruce Tabb, Special Collections Librarian, who supported that claim by noting recent progress in cataloging the Burgess Collection and the Warner Memorial Library Collection.

Fox brought the formal proceedings of the open house to a timely close five minutes before the beginning of Game 3 of the 2004 World Series. As the Red Sox forged an early lead behind the commanding pitching of ace Pedro Martinez, guests lingered in the reading room to view the exhibits and talk further with Special Collections & University Archives staff.

The View from Hidden Spring

by Pam DeLaittre

The lemon-yellow leaves from the black walnut trees have been falling for days, the sign the nights are getting cool.

Early this morning I hurried out onto the front porch to bring in the 37-year-old jade tree that has been with me through thick and thin. A start from Leslie's Mandarin restaurant in 1967, when I started working there to put myself through college. For a jade tree to bloom, it needs to be chilled to the 35 degree mark on the thermometer. Every year I play the game of watching the weather like a hawk, for a freezing temperature will kill it. So far every year I've coaxed it to bloom.

On Saturday, we picked up Angus, whose time with his ewes on Gowdyville road had come to an end. He wasn't really interested in leaving them, and we practically had to lift all 275 pounds (or so) of him into the horse trailer. Once home he hopped out of the trailer and made a bee line for the gate, where he waited patiently for me to catch up and let him into the rams' pasture where he has spent his life.

Nelson, Lightning and Blue had been separated from their ewes earlier in the day. They were lying around in the 6 x 12 stall I coop them up in after removing them from their "girls". The rams are still feeling very "macho" at this point in the fall, so I put them in a very confined spot where they can only sort of bat each other rather than facing off from 20 feet apart and running full steam to butt each other. After a day or so, they decide it's not worth the effort and go back to being buddies that live together 11 months a year.

My young paint mare, Meg, has recovered from the deep laceration to her brisket, but it will be next year before I can ride her again. She will have a scar, but no impairment of motion. We never have figured out how she came up with the cut in the neighbors' pasture that I rent in the summer. This was the first time one of the horses had gotten hurt out there.

I made jalapeño jelly for the first time with some of the glut of peppers from my gardern. It was very easy: 1 lb. jalapeño seeded and chopped, 2 cups of water, 1 cup of cider vinegar, boil for 20 minutes (or until soft), strain through 3 layers of cheese cloth, add 1 package of powdered pectin, bring to a boil, add 4 cups of sugar, bring to a hard rolling boil for 4 minutes, then put in jars and seal! If it doesn't frost in the next few days and you'd like to make it I still have jalapeño peppers to share.

Now it is the time of mud, dark early mornings, and soon dark early evenings. As nature folds herself away for the winter, I like to think back over my year, to put it to rest too. I try to learn by my mistakes, and repeat successful occurrences. I added four ewe lambs from Nelson to the flock this year. Next fall I will most likely breed them to Angus, but this winter they get to grow and be "teenagers". Lambing will begin in mid-February, and I can wait.

THE WORLD AROUND US:

Ply-Split Braiding: From Camel Girth to Contemporary Craft

by Christine Carmichael (with special thanks to Shirien and my sister Cammy)

A camel girth is a long, narrow strap that fits underneath the camel's belly and holds the camel's saddle securely in place. In cultures where the camel plays an important economic role, usually for transportation and/or farming, the camel girth fulfills two important functions: a sturdy and practical belt, and a beautiful and decorative embellishment for the camel. Here's a camel dressed up for a fair.

In most Middle Eastern countries, such as Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan, the camel girth, along with the other woven animal trappings, are constructed similarly to the country's other woven textiles, generally produced by rug weavers (women and men). In India, there is a camel girth, unique to the desert area, that has an unusual fabric construction, and is unlike any of the other textiles associated with India. These camel girths, called tangs, are constructed using a technique called ply-split braiding, and are found almost exclusively in the Thar Desert, or Great Indian Desert, which is located in northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. The largest part of this desert is located in the state of Rajasthan. See map.

(story continued)

Dreaming at My Desk

by Harriett Smith

USDA Miscellaneous Publications

Occasionally my retroconversion cataloging work takes me on a focused tour of a specific subject. I've worked on Pamphlets on World War II, Pamphlets on Cookery, and Pamphlets On The Economics Of Foreign Countries, among many others. But lately I've been working my way through an especially large set of analyzed titles: pamphlets put out by the United States Department of Agriculture under the aegis of its Miscellaneous publications series.

At first I thought this would be one of the more boring huge sets I'd have to crank my way through, but it has turned out to be absolutely fascinating. The pamphlets began to be published in this series in the early 1920s, and include titles such as The Story of the cattle-fever tick, Crop report regulations, Reliability of the tuberculin test, and Market diseases of fruits and vegetables. OK, I snored through those, but there are also hundreds of single-sheet advertisements for plans to build just about anything you might want to build. These were a real education for a "five acres and independence" wannabe! What a number of things the rural dweller needed—and possibly still needs—on the farm. Want a shipping crate for sheep? How about a two-bedroom farmhouse with basement? From a ewe stanchion to a self-feeding hay wagon for cattle, from a display stand for farm produce to a circular concrete manure tank, the USDA could provide you with plans through the Cooperative Farm Building Plan Exchange. The Exchange is no longer in existence, but its plans, often developed in conjunction with land-grant colleges, must have been a boon to many people for several decades.

(story continued)

From the Fact File

by TERRY McQUILKIN

Undoubtedly, you're more than a little tired of the election campaign of 2004. But maybe a trip into some presidential history will divert your attention away from the recent barrage of stumping and mudslinging, if only long enough to complete this month's contest. From the clues that follow, see if you can identify the 10 names we've pulled from the minutiae of the American presidential history. To help keep your mind focused on the past, note that none of the presidents described below are living.

1. This president, like many others, was born into a wealthy family. Genealogists have found him to be related, at least distantly, to George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft. Nevertheless, not all of his tastes were aristocratic. He said that "Home on the Range" was his favorite song. And when the Britain's King and Queen came to visit, he served them hot dogs.

2. This president was known for his taciturnity. At a dinner party a woman sat next to him and told the president, "You must talk to me…I made a bet today that I could get more than two words out of you." "You lose," he replied.

3. The election of 2000 was by no means the first in which the outcome was contested. The circumstances that brought one nineteenth century president to the Oval Office gave him several unflattering sobriquets, including, "Fraud President" and "His Fraudulency." Once in office, he banished alcoholic beverages from the White House, hoping to set a good example. But this led to some ridicule, and his wife acquired the nickname of "Lemonade Lucy" because she declined to serve wine or spirits to White House guests.

4. This to-be president, having recently graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College, interviewed for a job during the Great Depression. His interviewers told him that in this community, opinions on one important matter were divided. "Do you teach that the world is round, or do you teach that the world is flat?" they asked. Much in need of a job, the young man replied, "I can teach it either way."

5. Although this president, born in a log cabin, acquired considerable wealth and a good many of the manners of the upper class, his humble origins and the rough behavior of his early years caused his opponents to regard him as ignorant and uncouth. During the presidential campaign, the Whigs distributed a pamphlet which chronicled no fewer than 14 duels and fights in which, it was claimed, he had "killed, slashed and clawed" other citizens. During his second term of office, Harvard bestowed upon him an honorary doctor of laws degree, over the objections of John Quincy Adams, who refused to attend to see his alma mater "disgrace herself by conferring a Doctor's degree upon a barbarian who could scarcely spell his own name."

6. During the presidential campaign, it was learned that the Democratic candidate, a bachelor, had had an affair with a young widow, and that he had fathered an illegitimate child. But whatever harm to his reputation this caused, it was cancelled out by reports of a scandal involving the railroad business dealings of the Republican candidate, and the Democrat won in a close election. In his second year in office, the 49-year-old president ended his bachelorhood by marrying 21-year-old Frances Folsom in a White House ceremony. They were still married when his second term ended 11 years later, and in fact she remained married to him up to his death in 1908.

7. The longest inaugural speech given by an incoming president lasted about an hour and forty-five minutes. It was delivered on a cold, rainy day, and the new president, having refused to wear a hat during the ceremonies, caught cold and died of pneumonia a month later. Although his presidency was too short to be of historical importance, his election campaign produced some memorable slogans and images.

8. This Missouri-born president enjoyed playing the piano, and a photograph of him sitting at the piano, with actress Lauren Bacall sitting atop the instrument, became quite famous. A friend asked what his wife thought of the picture. "Well," he replied, "she said maybe it was time for me to quit playing the piano."

9. This president was first in a number of ways. He was the first Roman Catholic president. He was the youngest man to be elected president. He was the first president to have been awarded a Purple Heart and to have won a Pulitzer Prize. He was not, however, the first graduate of the nation's oldest college to enter the White House; four other alumni (not including a law school graduate) preceded him.

10. On this president's tombstone there is no mention of his having been President of the United States. The epitaph, as was the wish of the man buried there, reads "HERE WAS BURIED [name], AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA."

After you have identified the 10 chief executives described above, submit your answers to Fact File. Answers must be received by November 24. The winner will be determined by the number of correct answers; in the event of a tie, a single winner will be selected by lot. The winner will receive a gift certificate worth $5.00 toward purchases at the U.O. Bookstore, courtesy of the Library Staff Association. All staff and faculty of the University of Oregon Libraries are invited to participate, although the winner of the most recent Fact File contest is ineligible to win this contest's prize.

Events of Interest

LSA EVENTS

Do you want to add some Asian flavor to your Thanksgiving dinner? Come to the Pot-sticker Program on Thursday, November 18, 2004 in the Knight Library Staff Lounge. Kaiping Zhang from Documents is going to demonstrate how to make Chinese pot-stickers, both vegetarian and meat-stuffed. This is a hands-on workshop, and participants are going to learn how to roll the wrapper and pinch the stickers, and how to cook the dumplings. She'll also show us how to make some dipping sauces. Kaiping promises that "at the end they will learn how to eat them when they are really hot. Watch, roll, pinch, cook and eat. How does this sound?" Delicious!

There will be two sessions: one from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., and a second from 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. There is a limit of 10 participants per session, so be sure to contact Kaiping right away to sign up. Also, Kaiping has only one electric hot plate. If you can bring an electric frying pan, an extra hot plate, or an electric wok for the workshop, please email Kaiping or call her at 6-1960.

The Library Staff Association Holiday Sale will be held on Tuesday, December 7, 2004 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Knight Library Browsing Room. Start saving now for those raffle tickets - Bruce Tabb has once more graciously agreed to donate a wonderful dessert to be raffled off.

If you plan to sell anything at the Sale, please accompany your merchandise with an itemized list that includes prices, and bring it to the Browsing Room after 9:30 a.m. on the day of the Sale. In the past the Sale has featured art, crafts, preserves, a "jumble table", plants and seeds - just about anything! (But please - nothing alive except plants.) If you have questions or would like to help with the Sale, please email Pam DeLaittre or phone her at 6-1826.

Then on Wednesday, December 8, 2004, all are invited to the annual LSA Holiday Potluck. The party will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Please remember to bring serving utensils, and to label your food ("vegan", "Amazonian", "Lots 'O Cayenne", etc.). LSA Social Committee will have labels available. If you'd like to help with the potluck, or can bring greenery for decoration, please email Raina Smith or phone her at 6-1837. Former Library employees who need transportation to the Potluck should contact Stephanie Midkiff at 541-346-1661 or smidkiff@law.uoregon.edu.

NON-LSA EVENTS

Jon Jablonski volunteers with St. John Bosco House, a shelter for young homeless women. They are having a fundraiser at Stone Cold Creamery in the Oakway Center on November 11. The Creamery will donate the profit from your purchase if you present a flyer to them; contact Jon if you are interested.

People in the Library

Announcements

Richard Bear is in the process of becoming Risa Stephanie Bear. See her recent op-ed piece in the Eugene Register-Guard. You can read more about Steffi here.

Staff Profile

Welcome:

Brenna Campbell will be filling in for Mandi Garcia in the Beach Lab while Mandi is on Peace Corps leave. Brenna graduated from Wellesley College in 2003 with a degree in Art History. Brenna has pet chickens and plays the banjo.

Goodbye

Andrew Howell is leaving the library after six years as ITC manager and several years on the LSA Publicity Committee. He will be a System Administration Manager for Lunar Logic, Inc., a Eugene-based educational software development company. His last day in the office will be November 16. We wish him the best in his new endeavor.

Been to an interesting conference?

Send us a brief report for publication in the next newsletter. Thanks!

Last updated: 030902
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