Book Retrieval Systems
December 17th, 2010 by Larry T. Nix No comments »Great European Libraries at The Morgan
December 16th, 2010 by Larry T. Nix No comments »
From December 10, 2010 through January 9, 2011 one of America's great libraries, the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, will host an exhibit of photographs of Europe's great libraries. The Morgan commissioned Massimo Listri, a photographer from Florence, Italy, to take the photographs. The large format photographs which are almost five feet in width and four feet in height include among others: the magnificent Long Room of Trinity College Library at the University of Dublin (shown above with permission from The Morgan); the Malatestiana Library in Cesena, Italy; the St. Gall Monastery Library in Switzerland; the Laurentian Library in Florence, which was designed by Michelangelo; and the Vatican Library. A visit to The Morgan is a wonderful experience in itself, this exhibit makes it even more so.
Locke Morrisey
December 15th, 2010 by Randy Souther No comments »
Locke Morrisey at Library of Congress
Locke was Head of Collections, Reference & Research here at Gleeson Library, and his impact has been widely felt, both professionally and personally. The character and service of the Library’s Reference Department as it exists today is largely due to Locke’s thoughtful guidance, and the tireless example he set as a teacher, researcher, and mentor.
Outside of the Library, the USF community who surely most felt Locke’s presence—and consequently will most feel his absence—are the Nursing faculty and thousands of nursing students, past and present, to whom Locke was a devoted teacher.
Locke’s activities were prodigious. He mentored a generation of SJSU library school students with internships at Gleeson; was deeply committed to the library profession, holding positions at the local and national levels; published articles like “Ethical Issues in Collection Development”; responded to email reference questions at all hours of the night. The list goes on.
“Tireless” is a term frequently used to describe Locke, but I think it was instead his devotion that was tireless. Towards the end he was certainly feeling tired and weak; nonetheless, seeing a last teaching opportunity, he held a home session at his bedside for a group of medical students and their teacher to discuss doctor-patient relationships and bedside manner.That is a characteristic example of Locke’s tireless devotion to others.
We invite you to share your thoughts about and experiences with Locke in the comments section below.
Introducing the Chicago Public Library
December 14th, 2010 by Larry T. Nix No comments »
Melvil Dewey’s Library Postal Card
December 10th, 2010 by Larry T. Nix No comments »
Since today (Dec. 10) is the birthday (159th) of Melvil Dewey, I thought it would be an appropriate occasion for a post about the postal card which the United Stated Post Office Department (USPOD) issued in 1898 as a result of lobbying by Dewey. The pre-stamped postal card which Dewey lobbied for is the same size as a library catalog card and is commonly referred to in philatelic circles as a "library card". Dewey was largely responsible for standardizing the size of the catalog card at 12.5 cm x 7.5 cm and he felt that postal cards should also be standardized at a similar size. Interestingly, it was the early government issued postal cards (the first one was issued in 1873) that influenced the size of the catalog card, specifically its height. The "p" in "p-slip" stands for postal. Dewey took credit for getting the USPOD to issue a library sized postal card in an 1898 Library Journal article. Dewey himself made heavy use of the new library size postal cards. The unused postal card above documents Dewey's move from Albany to Lake Placid after his resignation as New York State Librarian in 1905. Postal cards could be purchased in a single sheet of fifty to facilitate pre-printed addresses and/or messages. The New York Library Club utilized library size postal cards to send out announcements of its meetings.
