Author Archives: al3655

Call for Proposals Issued for Third Annual Performing the Library! Series

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It is with great pleasure that we offer Performing the Library! for 2018 – 2019. Now in its third year, this program engages collaboration between the Libraries and Columbia students with a focus on exhibitions and events that celebrate the library as a collection, a space, and a resource. Performing the Library! is an opportunity to bring to life the books and objects that make up our collections and to reflect on the stories, ideas, lives, and creative works that are carefully preserved by the Libraries.

Central to this year’s event is the Mural Project, a “takeover” of the bulletin board spaces in Butler Library. The bulletin boards in Butler offer large and small spaces for exhibitions of student work that reflects on the theme of the library.

For more information about the series and past participants, read this article or visit student-produced exhibits, on display in 300 Butler Library through December 2018.

A student participant in the 2016 – 2017 “Performing the Library!” event reads an original written work.

We are now accepting ideas for 2018 – 2019 exhibits and encourage any student who may be interested to become a part of Performing the Library: a Series of Happenings!

Students can submit individual project ideas on a small-scale or collaborate with peers for a larger group project. We would like to represent as many student projects as possible. The exhibits offer the opportunity to create murals, graffiti works, cutouts, compose original texts, or exhibit photographic works.

Bulletin Boards/Project Spaces
(Measurements are listed as width x height.)

The Mural
Location: 208 Butler Library
Two bulletin board panels each measuring 4’ 10” x 3’.
A proposal for these large bulletin boards should focus on a mural exhibit. The proposal can call for one or both boards. This is a central location with long-range views.

Forgotten Space Project
Location: 211 Butler Library
Four panels each measuring 2’ 7.5” x 4’ 8”.
A proposal for these large bulletin boards should focus on an art exhibit. The proposal can call for one or all four boards.

Foursquare Project
Location: 310 Butler Library
Four bulletin boards each measuring 2’ 9.75” x 2’ 9.75”.
The proposal can provide a theme for all four boards or a single board.

Graduate Reading Rooms – Themed Exhibits
Locations:
Comparative Literature & Society (615 Butler Library): Two bulletin boards each measuring 1’4” x 3’10”.
Early Modern/Modern Europe and Moral & Political Theory (504 Butler Library): Two boards, one measuring 1’ 4” x 3’ 11” and one measuring 1’ 2.5” x 3’ 11”.
Islamic Studies (602 Butler Library): Two boards, one measuring 1’ 2” x 3’ 7.5” and 1’ 1.5” x 3’ 7.5”.
Latin American Studies (503 Butler Library): Two boards, one measuring 1’ 2.5” x 3’ 11” and 1’ 4” x 3’ 11”.
South Asian Studies (601 Butler Library): One board measuring 2’ 5.25” x 3’ 7.5”.
The exhibits for the reading rooms listed above should focus on the associated theme or geographic location.

Proposals should include the following:

  • Student(s) or group name
  • School/department
  • Identify the preferred location and number of boards
  • Project description detailing the theme or topic and the type of creative work (mural, art, photography, text, etc.)
  • Identify materials to be used for the exhibit (should easily adhere to bulletin board or background)

Proposals should be submitted by November 5, 2018. Proposals will be reviewed by November 19, 2018. Installations will run from December 2018 – January 2019.

To submit your proposal, please send to Nancy Friedland, Librarian for Film Studies and Performing Arts, via email (nef4@columbia.edu) and using the subject line Performing the Library – Proposal.

 

Meet Polyxeni Georgiadi, Bibliographic Assistant at Butler Library

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“I am Polyxeni Georgiadi and I work for the Collections Acquisition & Description department in Butler Library cataloging books on fine arts and belles lettres in various languages, particularly in Greek. My expertise includes creating records and classifying books according to their subjects. I am a very detail-oriented person, so editing and correcting records is satisfying and rewarding to me. My goal is to make every title easily searchable for our users.”

Polyxeni Georgiadi

Meet Carolyn Bratnober, Public Services Librarian at The Burke Library

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“I’m Carolyn Bratnober and I work in the Burke Library, helping students and faculty with research, looking at rare books and archives, planning events and exhibits, and coordinating the library’s social media accounts. My interests include LGBTQ studies, disability studies, mass media studies, religious studies and theology, and teaching library technology skills. My favorite part of my job in the Libraries is helping students to make their studies easier (and less expensive!) by using quick and easy library resources.”

Carolyn Bratnober

Meet John Tofanelli, Librarian for British & American History & Literature

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“I’m John Tofanelli and I build the Libraries’ print and online collections in many areas, including British and American history and literature, and African-American studies. One of my special interests is in periodicals and newspapers from earlier historical periods, since these can provide us with valuable insights into the times during which they were produced. My favorite part of my job in the Libraries is engaging in dialogue with student researchers. I love hearing about their projects and helping them to identify relevant resources in our incredibly rich collections.”

John Tofanelli

Meet Alex Gil, Digital Scholarship Librarian

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“I’m Alex Gil and I collaborate with faculty, students and colleagues on scholarly and archival projects involving advanced use of technology. My expertise includes the work of the humanities writ-large, experimental computing, Caribbean surrealist poetry and global flows of knowledge. My favorite part of my job in the Libraries is coming up with elegant and imaginative solutions to stubborn problems and mentoring future scholar-librarians.”

Alex Gil

Meet Morgan Adams, Mellon Conservator for Special Collections

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“I’m Morgan Adams and I treat the Libraries’ rare books, manuscripts, and works of art on paper to make them available for research and teaching, exhibition and digitization, and to ensure their preservation for generations to come. My expertise includes book-binding history, the history of artists’ materials, and the technical analysis of paper-and parchment-based objects. My favorite part of my job is working with students and faculty to make discoveries about our collections, to better understand their materials, manufacture, and their history of use and change over time.”

Morgan Adams

Columbia Libraries Launches New Version of Academic Commons

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Columbia University Libraries has launched a new version of Academic Commons, the digital research repository for Columbia University and its affiliate institutions. With an updated design and an improved experience on mobile devices, Academic Commons now enables users to access impact information at a glance with a dashboard that features download statistics for each of the user’s shared works. Users also have the option to assign a Creative Commons license to enable other researchers to reuse and remix their research (with attribution, of course).

Columbia-affiliated researchers and scholars can use Academic Commons to provide (or meet funder requirements for) access to all of the digital formats of their scholarship and research, including datasets, conference papers, and music, to anyone with an Internet connection. Works shared through Academic Commons are openly accessible online and discoverable in search engines. Further, digital research materials uploaded to Academic Commons are preserved as part of the Libraries’ long-term digital storage system and assigned a DOI to encourage citation.

Academic Commons provides access to over 25,000 works of Columbia research and scholarship, including the full text of all doctoral theses written at Columbia and Teachers College since 2011, the archives of numerous Columbia-based journals, and the work produced by six University centers. Built on open-source software, it is Columbia’s truly free and open solution for access to, and use of, new knowledge and information connected with Columbia.

Departments, centers, programs, and individual scholars at Columbia and its affiliate institutions are welcome to e-mail ac@columbia.edu to learn more about the Academic Commons program and about how the Columbia University Libraries staff can help you to participate. Academic Commons integrates with a number of web sites and applications as well: Ask us about our API!

Meet Sol Rosario, Library Assistant at Diamond Law Library

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“I’m Solangel Rosario, but my colleagues call me Sol. I maintain the physical collection of books and law materials at the library. My expertise includes working knowledge of nearly five languages including French, which is the language I specialize in. My favorite part of my job in the Libraries is interacting with the global community of staff and students that gathers at the law school. We all have such different backgrounds and expertise that it truly mirrors the melting pot that is New York.”

Sol Rosario

2018 Recipients of the Libraries’ Outstanding Student Employee Award

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Several individuals from a student workforce of more than 300 were recognized with the 2018 Outstanding Student Employee Award. These students have demonstrated exceptional commitment to their work and are recognized for their numerous contributions to our Libraries.

Molly Boord (General Studies), Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Kate Burt (School of Engineering and Applied Science), Digital Scholarship

Daniel Casanova (Teachers College), Science, Engineering, and Social Science Library

Anna Duong (Columbia College), Arthur W. Diamond Law Library

Brandon Harrington (Union Theological Seminary), Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Crystal Herrera Pereira (General Studies), Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Rebecca Potts (Union Theological Seminary), Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Kelly Powers (Columbia College), Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Sabina Espinal Soloranzo (Columbia College), Thomas J. Watson Library of Business and Economics

Congratulations to the award winners and a heartfelt thanks to all of our student employees, without whom our work in the Libraries would be incomplete.

Columbia Magazine Comic about Curator for Comics & Cartoons Karen Green Nominated for an Eisner Award

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Our favorite comic is up for an Eisner Award! “A Life in Comics,” published in the Summer 2017 issue of Columbia Magazine, was created by cartoonist and Teachers College alum Nick Sousanis and traces the unconventional path taken by librarian Karen Green which led to an unconventional career as Columbia Libraries’ first-ever Curator for Comics & Cartoons. The illustrated feature is nominated in the “Best Short Story” category of the Eisner Awards, an annual prize given for creative excellence in American comics. The winners are decided by professionals in the comic industry and will be announced at the 2018 Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA, in mid-July.

For more on Karen’s work in the Libraries as both Curator and Librarian for Ancient & Medieval History, check out our own profile of her day-to-day in Butler Library and her offbeat collections.

Congrats to Columbia Magazine, Nick, and Karen on their well-deserved recognition!