UST Libraries News

The fourth film of the Tournees Festival, an event that presents French films weekly through November 3 on campus, will be Persepolis. This animated film that begins during the Islamic Revolution, tells the poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl. Clever and fearless, Marjane outsmarts local "social guardians." The film will be shown at 7pm in the O'Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium on the university's St. Paul campus. A panel discussion will follow the film.
Read more about this film and also the final film of the series, "Le Voyage du ballon rouge" (Flight of the red balloon), in the October 28 issue of Bulletin Today.

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In undertaking extensive Internet “background checks” on the men and organizations involved in the publications making up this small digitization project, I found myself doggedly adopting a purist “digital” investigation. I am not sure why, except that as I pursued online resource after resource, web page after page, Google digitized book after digitized book, I came to realize how much could actually be done this way. And what could not be done this way was, well, unlikely to get done at all, if you know what I mean.

A popular definition of obsessive behavior is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Yet given the speed of online search – a couple dozen Google searches and skimming six or seven result screens in the same time it might take just to find one likely source in the stacks -- circling back and back again takes on a less crazy sense. Obsessive research might sometimes be validated in Google because, as has often been noted, search results there change from day to day, even hour to hour. Google’s ‘bots are ceaselessly depositing their booty in the server farms in Mountainview. I think though that more often than not our “sensibility” changes -- we ourselves are never the same from day to day. We see new and different and better things all the time, based on who knows what?

How about a concrete instance? Here is a link to a tract from the St. Anne's Temperance Society (India)

I would swear on a stack of our temperance pamphlets that I had checked its author, a P. W. O’Gorman, as thoroughly as possible in Google and circled back and back again doggedly. I certainly found data about the man but no dates. Catalogers really, really love being able to pin down birth and death for their prey, and I had neither.

Then under some odd combination of searching or skimming or the meanderings of the Google ‘bots, a breakthrough…. Eureka! A copy of the British Catholics Who’s Who & Yearbook for 1908 has been digitized by Google. Our Dr. O’Gorman was in born 1860.

When and if I find out when he died -- I know he was still writing articles as late as 1940 but perhaps not long after that -- I will let you know.

Posted by Jan Malcheski at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You are invited to a party! Join us in kicking off a year of celebration as we approach the 50th anniversary of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library next October 29, 2009. Our first event will be an open house on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 from 3:00 – 5:00 pm (brief program begins at 3:15pm). Meet us in the O’Shaughnessy Room, first floor of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center, St. Paul campus. Join us for tours of the library, historic exhibits and refreshments as you share your memories about the library with old and new friends.
Visit the library’s 50th anniversary website for more information throughout the year and to share your memories. Please e-mail Julie Kimlinger or call 651-962-5014 if you have any questions.

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dan Gjelten, director of UST Libraries, recommends reading this paper: Library as Sacred Place: Applying the Psychology of Religion to the Academic Library as Sanctified Space and Implications for Measurement and Evaluation, written by Trudi Bellardo Hahn and Heather Lea Jackson; College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, USA. Your comments are welcome.

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A third entry in the 2008 Tournées Film Festival will be shown on Tuesday evening, October 21, at 7:00 pm in the O'Shaughnessy Educational Center. L'Origine de la tendresse et autres contes is a series of short films including: My Mother, Story of an immigration: The story of the director's mother who left Algeria in 1956 to reunite with her husband in Paris; L'origine de la tendresse : Elise is a quiet, solitary woman who works as a museum attendant. Nothing really happens in her life. And in a life in which nothing happens, no moment is devoid of meaning. The other shorts include: Pen-pusher, One Voice, One Vote, The Last Day, and Kitchen.

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rev Dwight Spencer (1827-1910) wrote the poem that is one of the most interesting of temperance tracts, The House That Rum Built. This booklet is visually unusual and … poetical. Quite rare, the pamphlet clearly stands apart from ordinary temperance “propaganda.” While perhaps not exactly artistic, the poem is certainly energetic, brimming with crusader zeal. Here is a link to this fascinating pamphlet.

This is the man, all tattered and torn,
Who goes to the gin-mill every morn
And owes his fall to taking a horn
And lives in the house that rum built.

The illustrations are by a Canadian-born Methodist minister, Edward Carswell (born 1832) himself a temperance crusader and author (also poet!) and illustrator of similar tracts, including The Temperance Alphabet (1871), John Swig (1871), The Indians and Whisky (1870’s) and a number of broadsides. In the 1870’s the National Temperance Society and Publication House seems to have been a hotbed for this kind of popular pamphleteering. A sample of other Carswell graphics can be viewed at the excellent Brown University Library Center for Digital Initiatives “Alcohol, Temperance and Prohibition” collection. Search his name at http://dl.lib.brown.edu/temperance

The Rev. Spencer is an intriguing man. Although I have not found a published biography, Spencer was from New England and New York, but in 1880 became superintendent of missions for the Rocky Mountain District of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Much of his missionary life seems to have been “out west.” He was very active in Utah, establishing the Ogden Baptist Church and First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City, among others, in the heart of Mormon country. He later returned to the East and was a district secretary of the Baptist Home Missionary Society.

More than in temperance work, Spencer’s prominence in the research I have been able to conduct appears to derive from the “dark side” of a reformer’s zeal: intolerance, prejudice, and xenophobia. In Immigrants, Baptists, and the Protestant Mind in America by Lawrence B. Davis (1973), he is held up as succumbing to the anti-immigrant and indeed anti-Catholic fervor of the time, one that displaced the rosier ambition of many Baptist and other Protestant leaders that foreigners coming to America would be fertile ground for evangelization.

Posted by Jan Malcheski at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) has provided a second printer in the first floor computer area of the O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library. The printer is labeled "Student Sustainability Committee's 'Already-Used Paper' Printer."

This printer will allow students to print on already-used paper and to give back already printed-on paper for other students to use. Recycling will still be available in the library for printed sheets with confidential information.

Used paper is ideal for printing anything that does not need to be formal or turned in for a class.

When printing from one of the computers in the area, select the printer titled "LIB 101-Already Used" on your print screen before clicking print. If you have printed something in error or you do not mind giving the paper back to be used by another student, you can help sustainability efforts by placing used paper in the "Instant Recycling Paper" box near by the printer.

Another box is located near the printer and paper collection box for comments about the printer, recycling or other issues of sustainability at St. Thomas. These comments will be collected by the SSC for consideration.

This trial run will continue for the remainder of the semester and, if successful, will be considered for continuation.

The SSC thanks Lori Christianson and Deanna Kuhns for their help in getting this project started.

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This year, as the we continue to plan for the future, we will focus on assessment. Our major effort in this area will be to conduct the LibQual survey of library service quality. We are asking a random sample of the UST community to provide feedback about our services. This highly regarded survey has been completed over 1,000 times at 500 college and university libraries and our data will be compared to this group of libraries as a benchmark of our quality.

On Monday, October 20, approximately 2,000 students, faculty and staff will be sent the link to the survey. Those who respond will be eligible for a drawing for a $50 UST Bookstore gift certificate.

If you receive the e-mail link to the survey, we ask that you please take the time (15 to 20 minutes) to let us know about your experiences with the UST Libraries. Your responses will influence the direction of the libraries in the near future. Visit the LibQual web site if you wish more information about the survey.

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You are all invited to attend the second French film in a series of five. This Tuesday, October 14, you'll see Le Scaphandre et le papillon (The diving Bell and the butterfly). The story: Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby suffered a stroke at the age of 43 that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently describes the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he only visits in his mind.

This film, subtitled in English, will be shown at 7:00 pm in the O'Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium. For more information on the 2008 Tournées Film Festival you may wish to visit FACE (French American Cultural Exchange).

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Are you interested in learning about environmental scanning? You will find a helpful overview of social, economic, technological, educational and content trends currently affecting information organizations in this report from nelinet.net. Dan Gjelten, director of libraries, welcomes your questions and comments.

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More than 5,000 movies on DVD and video are available for personal viewing from the UST Libraries Media Resources collection in Room 309, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center.

Visit the Media Resources webpage to search the entire collection or just the newest titles. You'll also find schedules for film festivals on campus during fall semester. The "French Film Festival @ UST" is running October through November, and the "Sacred Arts Film Festival @ UST" takes place in November.

Students, faculty and staff can watch movies in the O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center or check them out for home viewing.

Roll 'em!

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 04:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Among the fascinating Native American language tracts owned by the library is the important Jesus Obimadisiwin Oma Aking (1837), a life of Jesus in the Ottawa language by the renowned, and considered saintly, missionary Frederic Baraga (1797-1868). Here is a link to this book by Baraga.

Perhaps best known for a still widely used Ojibwa dictionary (A Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language. Cincinnati, 1853), Fr Baraga left his native Slovenia in 1830 to serve as a missionary in the Great Lakes region, where for the rest of an arduous life he worked tirelessly to evangelize Native Americans, initially with the Ottawa in Michigan. Compiled by Fr Baraga, Otawa Anamie-Misinaigan was the first book written in Ottawa. Jesus Obimadisiwin Oma Aking, over 200 well printed pages, was published in Paris the same year. There is even a folded map, engraved in Paris, of the Holy Land. Apparently he had both titles printed while in Europe raising money for his missionary work.

Several biographies have been written about Fr Baraga. His personal diaries were published in 1992. While Native voices are usually absent from biographies of early missionaries, still, Fr Baraga seems to be reliably portrayed as caring, devoted and generous.

A Select Bibliography of Works by Frederic Baraga

Abinodjiiag Omasinaiganiwan. Detroit: Bagg and Harmon, printers, 1845.

Abrégé De l'Histoire Des Indiens De l'Amérique Septentrionale. Paris: A la Société des bons livres ..., Impr. de E.J. Bailly), 1837.

A Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language, Explained in English : This Language is Spoken by the Chippewa Indians, as also by the Otawas, Potawatamis and Algonquins, with Little Difference ; for the use of Missionaries, and Other Persons Living among the Above Mentioned Indians. Cincinnati: Printed for Jos. A. Hermann, 1853.

Dushna Pasha Za Kristjane : Kteri Shelé v'Duhu in Refnizi Boga Moliti. V' Ljubljani: Natisnil J. Sassenberg, 1830.

Geschicte, Character, Sitten Und Gebr"Auche Der Nord -Amerikanischen Indier. Theils Aus Zuverl"Assigen Quellen, Theils Aus Eigener Erfahrung Gesammelt Und Herausgegeben. Laibach: Joseph Blasnik, 1837.

Gete Dibadjimowin, Gaie Dach Nitam Mekateokwanaieg Ogagikwewiniwan. Laibach, Autriche: Joseph Blasnik ogimasinakisan mandan masinaigan, 1843.

Jesus Obimadisiwin Oma Aking, Waiakossing Anamiewin Ejitwadig, Mi Sa Catholique-Enamiadjig Gewabandangig. Paris: E.J. Bailly ogimisinakisan manda misinaigan, 1837.

Jesus Od Ijitwawin, Katechim. Detroit:, 1846.

Katolik Anamie-Masinaigan. Troisième édition, corrigée et augmentée ed. Detroit, Wawiiatanong: Bagg & Harmon, Ogi Masinakisanawa, mandan masinaigan, before 1846.

Katolik Enamiad o Nanagatawendamowinan : Avec Approbation De Monseigneur l'Evêque Pierre Paul Lefevre. Wawhatanong Detroit: Jabez Fox o gi-masinakisan mandan masinaigan, 1850.

Katolik Gagikwe-Masinaigan. Detroit: M. Geiger, 1846.

Kitchi-Mekatewikwanaie Frederic Baraga, o Masinaigan, Ge-Wabandamowad, Kakina Anishinabeg Enamiadjig. Uniform Title: Pastoral Letter of the Right Reverend Bishop Frederic Baraga. Ojibwa. Cincinnati Ohio: Printed at Catholic Telegraph Book & Job Office, 1853.

Kotolik Anamie-Masinaigan. Quatrième éd., corrigée et augmentée ed. Detroit, Wawhatanong: Munger & Pattison, Ogi-Masinaki-sanawa Mandan Masinaigan, 1849.

Od Pozheshevanja in Posnemanja Matere Boshje. V' Ljubljani: A. Alojs, 1830.

Otchipwe Anamie-Masinaigan, Gwaiakossing Anamie-Vin Ejitwadjig, Mi Sa Catholique-Enamiadjig Gewabandangig. Paris : E. J. Bailly, ogimasinakisan mandan masinaigan, 1837.

Otchipwe Kikinoamadi-Masinaigans. New York: Benziger Brothers, 1853-1891.

Perpomozhik Sveti Roshni Kranz Bogu in Marii Dopadlji. Illyria: Natisnil J. Blasnik, 1837.

Popis Navád in Sadershanja Indijanov Polnozhne Amerike; Spisal v' Nemshkim Jesiku Friderik Baraga .. V' Ljubljani: Natisnil J. Blasnik, 1837.

Sermons De Monseigneur Baraga. Montréal?: ], L. Perrault), 1859.

Slate Jabelka. V' Ljubljani: Joshef Blasnik, 1844.

Statuta Dioecesis Marianopolitanæ in Michigan. Detroiti: Ex typis Joannis Slater .., 1863.

Statuta Dioecesis Sanctae Mariae. Cincinnati: C. Clark, 1856.

A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language, the Language Spoken by the Cippewa Indians; which is also Spoken by the Algonquin, Otawa and Potawatami Indians, with Little Difference. for the use of Missionaries and Other Persons Living among the Indians of the Above Named Tribes. Detroit: J. Fox, printer, 1850.

Posted by Jan Malcheski at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 3

As part of our celebration of Theological Libraries Month, we are boosting our little digital library collection that is (finally) going online. The site has now officially launched.

First, a few selected temperance tracts from our small but interesting batch (most certainly came from John Ireland’s own collecting and/or collection). Here is this little sample. Second, a small number of Native American language religious tracts, in Dakota or Ojibwe, mainly Catholic, of course, but a couple Presbyterian. Here is this sample.

In addition, we will are adding some more material, including both temperance and Native American items. Here is the link to the Konkani temperance tract discussed below.

An interesting tract we are working on is one from India issued around the turn of the century by a Roman Catholic group called St. Anne’s Temperance Society, While not surprising that a staunchly British colony had active temperance crusaders, this curious tract was written in Konkani, an Indian language spoken around Goa (and elsewhere), perhaps evidence that Indians or Anglo-Indians in the Goa region were involved with, or at least evangelized by, the crusaders. Due to its history, of course, Goa was home to a significant Catholic population. Also, some sources indicate Konkani is spoken in Kerala with its own longstanding Catholic communities.

The power of the Internet made it possible, in fact, easy to identify the language of this tract entitled Dusrea Vorsacho Report (published in 1906). We may well be the only library in the States to have this item.

The original cataloging done here at St Thomas understandably noted the language as “undetermined.” Before such innovations as the Google search engine, it was often next to impossible to identify “exotic” languages in Roman alphabets unless someone recognized it on its own. How would one even begin to “look up” such a script?

But Google has made it comparatively easy. Suddenly, in a few minutes with a few selections from the text, an undetermined language becomes Konkani. Here is the first page from our Konkani temperance tract in Roman alphabet.

Simple as that.

Posted by Jan Malcheski at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Out sick yesterday so I missed the kick off of my own blog – oh well.

And back at work, the day of course begins with catching up and sort of spills over from there.

Since I am giving a faculty workshop Oct 8 on “Search" and Theology, my goal to think through the topic, really, no kidding. I plan on using some “wow” and some “oh no this is terrible” examples and cases. Plus, there is Is Google Making Us Stupid article in the Atlantic Monthly on the mind. Is there time for this …. rumination? Is is.

Or will 'catch up' take over.

For example: I figure out why our online access to the Irish Theological Quarterly stops in 2006 but there is full text online at the Sage Journals site. Easy answer dawns – there is only a teaser amount at Sage site and we do not subscribe via Sage; so that's is that, too bad.

For example: I need to set up a seminary alumnus access to the ATLAS alumni version – easy enough but crafting a reply means the 'pastoral' aspect of wouldn't the alumnus want to go through Notre Dame where he is taking a course….

For example: I need to get our new books list posted to our web that Betsy so kindly pulled from the catalog. Surely, I can use it for a TLM promotion. Takes time to go through the list, break into basic categories, clean up the formatting a little bit, post up in dread collage, etc.

For example: Take the take time to send out the message on renewing one of the basic online subscriptions, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy I suppose there is a good reason this has to be done explicitly and in consultation with a committee every year every every year every year.

For example: Field question about the undergraduate theology department's library acquisition budget for the year; the need to correct misinformation on the MAT language proficiency pages at the seminary web site; question about condition of a set of books wanted for interlibrary loan. You get the idea.

And oh actually helping students -- I always like to impress them when they ask for a Reference book by name and I can lead them right to it.

Posted by Jan Malcheski at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)