LSA News

No. 98, June 2009

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

New Places, New Plants
by Ann Miller

When I moved here last summer I left one of the most important facets of my life, my garden. I had spent twelve years learning about plants which could endure hot, humid summers and warm, dry winters. My natives were Joe Pye weed, wild indigo, goldenrod and the lespedeza (pink bush clover) which was attempting to cover the living room window. Only now, in the spring, have I really started to miss my patch as I remember that the hellebores have finished blooming and that new white iris I bought a year ago should be getting ready to bloom. Have the new owners pruned the rose and cut back the ornamental grasses? Has the "Buddleia That Ate Durham" finally succeeded in taking over?

And yet, there are lots of opportunities here. I have a landlord who graciously allows me to play in his garden, and once I've finally purchased my own place I will have my own patch. But, in the meantime, where should I start?

I knew there had to be gardeners in the library, there always are. So I put out a call for plant recommendations from some folks whom I knew gardened, and others whom I guessed did. The nice thing about gardeners is that they will wax eloquent about their topic. And so, the article pretty much writes itself. In almost every case I've quoted the individual directly. Each person demonstrates an enthusiasm about their plants and gardens or, in some cases, the anticipation to have plants and a garden.

So here, in no particular order for a change, are the suggestions I received plus two of my own. Self described "complete plant geek and a flower floozy" Victoria Mitchell presented me with three different plants, though I do believe she could have gone on…

While collecting all my information I kept being referred to additional staff members who garden. "You really should talk to...." I know I missed some of you and look forward to hearing more suggestions!

Verbena bonariensis

"When I first noticed Verbena bonariensis in gardens around town, I knew I had to have it. I love its architectural contribution, being tall, slender and ethereal, yet sturdy enough to stand without staking. Love to have it weaving in between shorter perennials. Requires full sun, but doesn't mind dry conditions. Re-seeds nicely — but not with total abandon. Personally, I have discovered that I like to selectively cut it back early in the summer, so that you have attractive varying heights, and it doesn't get too tall and rangy." — Cathy Flynn-Purvis. Sunset has a nice photo of this flower.

(story continued)

A Sweet Spring Tea

The Law Library group (Mary Clayton is seated in front)

The Browsing Room was beautifully decorated for the annual LSA May Tea with pastel bouquets of flowers, donated by Victoria Mitchell and Marilyn Mohr, gracing the tables and windows. With the white tablecloths and soft blue and green napkins, it seemed spring had truly come indoors for us.

Mary Ann Hyatt gave a short speech honoring Mary Clayton, who retired in December 2008 after working at the Law Library since the late 1980s, and bemoaned her loss as she was the one who knew how to do everything! She especially lauded Mary's work with the architects when the Jaqua Law Library was being designed.

Stephanie Midkiff and Cathy Flynn

Mary herself shared some wonderful memories with us. She recalled that when she attended library school at the University of Oregon, the Browsing Room was actually where the school was, and the room was divided into rooms for administrative offices, a classroom, and a staff room. How appropriate it was, she said, that her career here had come full circle, beginning and now ending in the same room.

Mary reflects on her time at the UO

The Libraries' Ben Farrell, whose musical skills need no introduction, and Meg Graf, a talented pianist who works in the UO Admissions office, provided lovely background music on the piano for the event, which as usual drew several former faculty and staff, including Dennis Hyatt, who was head of the Law Library for most of Mary's tenure, and Jo-Anne Flanders (formerly of Administrative Services).

Sadly, turnout for the Tea was low, which was unfortunate because it was as usual a very enjoyable event, with excellent food. The chocolate and strawberry torte made by Margaret Bean was especially popular, and Stephanie Midkiff's pecan pie also got raves. The May Tea is our big spring social event, held whether or not we have retirees to honor, and everyone is always invited to attend. You don't need to know the people being honored to be welcome yourself, and it's OK to come even if you didn't contribute to any potluck aspect of the Tea. Those who did come thoroughly enjoyed the chance to add a little sweetness to their afternoon and socialize in the relaxing ambiance.

University Day, May 14, 2009
by Margaret Bean; photos by Glenda Claborne

Hard at work planting the new garden

An intrepid group of gardeners gave a makeover to the garden outside of the Knight Library staff entrance on University Day 2009. Staff members involved were Marilyn Mohr, Judi Byrum, Glenda Claborne, Lisa Sieracki, Raina Smith, Cathy Flynn-Purvis and Margaret Bean. We had lovely gardening weather which alternated between partly cloudy skies, sunshine and light rain. Our projects included planting rhododendrons, hellebores, Echinacea and lilies, weeding the horsetail from the daffodil area, and deadheading the hellebores and daffodils. After the shrubs and annuals were in place a group of students spread a load of bark in the area. The Library Staff Association provided wonderful pastries, coffee, tea and juice. It was amazing how much we were able to accomplish in just two hours. This was my first experience with University Day and I will look forward to next year's project. I enjoyed the camaraderie, learning more about gardening from the experienced gardeners in the group, and of course, the Eugene City Bakery pastries. The next time you use the staff entrance take a moment to enjoy our lovely new garden.

Lisa Sieracki	Raina Smith

Connecting with Goodreads: a Web Resource for Book Lovers
By Jennifer Rowan

About a year and a half ago, I received an email invitation to join Goodreads, a social networking website designed to allow members to post book reviews and share recommendations. It was in my pre-Facebook days, and I joined reluctantly and without enthusiasm. For the next year, I rarely checked back. Despite my inattention, more invitations came in and my "friends" list grew. Periodically, I also received regular email updates from Goodreads that listed these friends and their newly updated reading lists. I was surprised and impressed to find that this group, mostly art history graduate students of a younger generation, were amazingly avid and serious readers of fiction and nonfiction for pleasure and personal interest. I was in a long dry period between books and hadn't read anything new and satisfying since the release of the final Harry Potter book, so I delved into Goodreads and the Eugene Public Library online catalog, and started to cross check titles and place requests through EPL's automated system. Jackpot! It was only a small step from that point to building my "bookshelves" (one of Goodreads' organizing tools) by compiling lists of books I'd already read, books I'm currently reading, and books I want to keep track of to read later. The one-to-five point system makes it easy to apply a generic rating to my reads, but I've also found that I enjoy having the option of writing my own reviews and, of course, reading the reviews of others.

Goodreads was started by a private entrepreneur in December 2006. A year later, Time Magazine named it as one of the top 10 websites of 2007. More acclaim has followed. Amazingly, there is very little visible commercial presence other than a few discreet Google ads or links to Amazon, provided by Goodreads to draw bibliographic data (and, incidentally, to place books orders, although Goodreads actively encourages sharing through its book exchange feature). The website is very user-friendly and has an easy system for adding to your book lists from a seemingly unlimited catalog with edition-level specificity. I've only been unsuccessful in identifying books on Goodreads a handful of times, and these were foreign publications or translations (I was able even to identify the specific hardcover edition of Treasure Island that I bought many years ago for my then-young daughter, the one with the classic illustrations by N.C. Wyeth). Goodreads also uses a helpful device similar to the one used by Amazon Books: when the title of a book is entered, a list is generated of other books viewed by the same people (a people who liked this book, also liked these books feature). Goodreads also provides a list of all other editions of that book, a list of other works by the same author, and a list of reviews by other Goodreads members (which may or may not be useful or enlightening, but which are sometimes very astute and well-articulated). It is also possible to hunt for books by genre: best science fiction, best anthologies, books that were "better than the movie", worst books of all time, books that everyone should read at once, notable books by Pakistani authors, and so forth.

(story continued)

Reflections on a Gray Screen
by Julia Simic

This past Christmas, my sister Laura and I received truly cool gifts: Sony Readers (or more formally, Sony Portable Reader Systems, model PRS-505.) As she ripped the wrapping paper with her usual elegance, Laura's eyes got all twinkly, and she exclaimed "I won't have to take multiple books when I travel!" I had a slightly different reaction. A nanosecond after my brain registered "New Toy!" and a second or two after "How many books will it hold?" came the clear, contrary reaction, "I don't want to give up my books." Believe it or not, I'm not really one to enthusiastically accept any new digital gadgetry. Being me, I weigh the pros and cons before I pay real money. It took four generations of iPods before I bought one (to use as a portable hard drive, with perks), and I still don't walk around wearing earbuds. Ever. The little gray tablet so generously gifted was somehow striking at the heart of my self-identity to boot. I'm a BOOK PERSON. One of the reasons I went into rare books as the area of focus for my MLS was the tactile experiences I had on my first day at the rare books library. Every book has a different feel and smell — an identity — from any other. A future of uniform slick plastic and glass books is, for me, monumentally depressing (and don't think the irony of my current job, producing digital images of uniform size, is lost on me).

That said, I really like my Reader. And for the same reason Laura immediately grasped. Currently, I have 189 books I can travel with. For my last conference trip, I downloaded Little Dorrit by Dickens to reread it. I have the book on my shelf (one of three of Dickens' novels I actually own), but let's face it, Little Dorrit is really long! It's not something I can read straight through. That meant I would have had to take it and two other books with me. Considering that my carry-on was stuffed with clothing, this was not a viable option. The Reader was the perfect solution. And the experience of not having anything else to read forced me to bond with my new friend.

(story continued)

The World Around Us
Diversity and the National Pastime
by Mark Watson

Ted Smith at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

In the fall of 2011, the UO Libraries will serve as host to a traveling exhibit called "Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience." Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Baseball Hall of Fame and the American Library Association, "Pride and Passion" tells the story of black baseball players in the U.S. over the past century and a half. This traveling exhibit is based upon a permanent exhibition of the same name on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY. The 1,000 square foot exhibition will be on campus for six weeks (October 5 to November 18).

Ted Smith and Mark Watson applied to host the exhibit as both an outgrowth of their interest in baseball and desire to educate students (some of whom have taken their course "How to Do Baseball Research") about the diversity of the game that many believe is a powerful vehicle for understanding American history and culture. As noted in the application materials,

Baseball is one of America's central institutions, and it has long reflected the complicated and painful history of race in the United States. The story of African Americans in baseball is a remarkable and fascinating slice of American history, displaying the failures of the greater American society in solving the racial problems resulting from slavery, the Civil War and the confusion of Reconstruction. Through a cultural timeline of American history which will part of the "Pride and Passion" exhibit, visitors will be able to place the African American baseball story into the larger context of American history.

A section of the Pride and Passion exhibit in Cooperstown

Having seen the permanent exhibit, Ted says, "I believe it nicely supports the Diversity Plan's outreach and instruction goals, provides outstanding opportunities to collaborate with various campus units and with sister libraries, and to develop related programming of interest to both the campus and the larger community." If you have ideas and/or suggestions or would like to help out with the planning, preparation or the exhibit once it has arrived, please let Ted or Mark know of your interest. For anyone planning to attend the upcoming ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, there will be a copy of the exhibit on display at McCormick Place during the conference and a related program on Saturday, July 11, 10:30 a.m. to noon at McCormick Place West, W-192B.

Fact File Answers
Bruce Tabb wins latest trivia contest

In our May Fact File, we asked you to identify some words borrowed from Italian or with Italian lineage, and several of you responded prontamente. Our last clue stumped some of our readers. It turns out that a dialectical version of the name "Gianni" is "Zanni," which is also the name of an archetype character in the Commedia dell'arte. The impoverished servant is usually costumed in baggy white clothing, and his unpredictable behavior gave us the word zany.

Four of our readers correctly identified all ten of the words we described, so we needed to select a winner by lot. We're happy to announce that UO's polyglot, flute-playing, master cake-making librarian, Bruce Tabb, of Special Collections and Archives, will be receiving a gift card worth $10.00 toward purchases at the Duck Store. We'll toss some confetti for Andrew Bonamici, Paul Frantz, and Victoria Mitchell, who also sent in submissions that were perfetto.

Larkspur at Mt. Pisgah photo by Jennifer Rowan

You may revisit the clues in last month's Fact File.

The answers:

1. ballot
2. brigade
3. portfolio
4. bankrupt
5. fiasco
6. regatta
7. tarantula
8. jeans (Genoa is the city)
9. umbrella (or parasol)
10. zany

Events of Interest

As well as featuring upcoming LSA events, we'd like to get the word out about events staff are involved in that might be of interest to co-workers. If you'd like the world, or at least your co-workers, to know about something cool coming up, please email Harriett Smith or lsaweb.

LSA EVENTS

Monday, June 22, 2009: As promised, Ron Renchler will be leading a second Bird Walk. He writes "Our bird populations right around Knight Library are well hidden by foliage by this time of year, so I propose a noon-hour walk toward the millrace and Willamette River to look for some ground-feeding birds and larger waterfowl species. Since we'll be heading immediately in the direction of the Science Library anyway, let's designate the meeting point as near the Science Library outside entrance door at Onyx Bridge at noon. This will be easier for participants from the A&AA and Science libraries. Participants should bring binoculars if they own a pair."

There is not currently a limit set on the number of participants, but please email Ron to let him know of your interest.

NON-LSA EVENTS

Everyone was too busy reading and gardening to send word of any other events.

SUMMER FUN AT THE PORTLAND LIBRARY AND LEARNING COMMONS

Wednesday, June 17, 2009: Karen Munro writes to say "we're working on a zine-making workshop for members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) via Continuing Education. We'll have a workshop leader from Portland's Independent Publishing Resource Center leading participants in the finer points of type, copy, photocopy, and stapling in the library's classroom." Your editor longs to learn about the finer points of stapling....

Thursday, July 16, 2009: UO PDX, Academic Affairs, and the UO Cultural Forum are co-sponsoring an evening celebration of free culture and fair use, featuring UO Law School alum Peter Shaver (who works in copyright law and offers workshops to musicians) in conversation with Portland-based artists and musicians Jona Bechtolt and Claire Evans, aka the band YACHT. After a panel discussion led by Matthew Stadler, events coordinator for UO PDX, YACHT will give a performance. The event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009: UO PDX is co-sponsoring the second in an ongoing series of White Stag Block Talks, with panelists working in the design and communication professions. We'll have the editor of both Portland Monthly and Spaces, Randy Gragg, talking with creative developer and architect Kevin Cavenaugh and artist and organizer Linda K. Johnson. This too is free and open to the public, and will be recorded. Karen writes "We'd love to see Eugene-based folks drop by if they're in town and available" for both the July events.

Do You Collect Anything?

Do you have a personal collection.... minature tea sets, Star Wars stuff, sackbuts, Bob Dylan LPs, or anything else interesting? We've had a few people tell us about their collections, but we need a few more. Tell us what you collect, or send us a picture we can use in an upcoming issue of the LSA News. Send to lsaweb@lists.uoregon.edu.

People in the Library

Good-bye:

Congratulations :