Research services librarian Lisa Johnston has been named the first recipient of the annual Academic Innovators Award, given by the Academic and Research Libraries Division (ARLD) of the Minnesota Library Association.

The award recognizes outstanding recent contributions to advance the mission of an academic library in Minnesota through an innovative project, program, or service. Johnston will accept her award, which includes a $300 prize, at the 2011 ARLD Day conference, held April 29 in Chanhassen.

The ARLD chose Johnston from a field of strong candidates. Her project, a campus-wide data management program that grew out of her work with the Minnesota Geological Survey and the Universal Digital Conservancy, has become a model for other universities around the country. The workshops and consulting services developed by Johnston and her colleagues help researchers from a wide range of disciplines meet the National Science Foundation's recent requirement that all grant proposals include a data-management plan.

Posted by Marlo Welshons at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Online all the time from school, home, work, or at your library!

Did you know that any Minnesota resident can get 24/7 online access to thousands of magazines, journals, newspapers, and e-books on a vast array of topics with just their public library card?

The Electronic Library of Minnesota (ELM) is a virtual library administered by Minitex, an information and resource sharing program of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE) and the University of Minnesota Libraries.

ELM is funded by the state legislature through the OHE and the Minnesota Department of Education. The investment is well worth it: the estimated cost for all Minnesota public, K-12, and higher education libraries to individually subscribe to the resources contained in ELM is over $75 million. The cost for Minitex to license ELM resources for statewide access? Just over $2 million.

This makes ELM heavily relied on by many public and academic librarians across the state, who use ELM to provide their patrons with resources most local libraries and schools cannot afford on their own. And use it they do. The 17.7 million ELM searches in fiscal year 2010 was a 61% increase since fiscal year 2006.

A recent effort to solicit feedback on how ELM was used across the state generated a 60-page collection of over 200 stories, including one from a high school librarian who said ELM "is like an Emergency Room of knowledge. Without ELM resources, we would struggle mightily to provide accurate, timely and reliable resources for our students." One middle school student even reported that ELM "saved my school career and kept me from detention about 9000 times."

Learn more about ELM and read more stories like these at elm4you.org.

Posted by Marlo Welshons at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who: Garrison Keillor
What: Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries Annual Dinner
Where: McNamara Alumni Center
When: Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
Contacts: Marlo Welshons, University of Minnesota Libraries, welsh066@umn.edu, (612) 625-9148
Preston Smith, University News Service, smith@umn.edu, (612) 625-0552

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 04/5/2011 ) -- American author, humorist, musician, and radio personality Garrison Keillor will appear at the annual dinner of the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries on Tuesday, May 10 at McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak Street S.E., Minneapolis. The evening begins with a 5:30 reception followed by dinner and a program featuring Keillor. Books will be available for sale and signing courtesy of Keillor's independent bookstore, Common Good Books.

Tickets, which cost $46 for members of the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries and $56 for the general public, should be purchased by May 3 at the Northrop Ticket Office: 612-624-2345 or http://z.umn.edu/keillor.

Garrison Keillor is the recipient of Grammy, ACE, and George Foster Peabody awards, and he has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His many books include "Lake Wobegon Days," "The Book of Guys," "77 Love Sonnets," "Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance," and "Good Poems; American Places," a third volume of poetry selected by Keillor.

For more information about the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries, or to join, visit www.lib.umn.edu/friends.

Posted by Marlo Welshons at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Media Note: Images of each exhibit are available on request

Contacts: Marlo Welshons, University of Minnesota Libraries, welsh066@umn.edu, (612) 625-9148
Preston Smith, University News Service, smith@umn.edu, (612) 625-0552

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 4/5/2011 ) -- The University of Minnesota Libraries announce the following slate of exhibits opening over the coming year in the galleries of Andersen, Wangensteen, and Wilson Libraries. All exhibits are free and open to the public. Dates and times for any opening receptions will be listed as they are scheduled at lib.umn.edu/events/.

Seed Stories: Catalogs of Life and Gardens in America
Now through May 15, 2011: Reedy Gallery and Andersen Horticultural Library, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
August 1 - October 28, 2011: Andersen Atrium Gallery

Seed and nursery catalogs have long used beautiful images to entice customers. Dozens of selections from Andersen Horticultural Library's rich collection of 57,000 catalogs are a testament to their research value as well as their beauty. Stories of local characters, including three Minneapolis seedswomen, regional pioneers, and colonial innovators give a more intimate look at the life and gardens surrounding these publications.

Headwaters of History
April 20 - July 15, 2011: Andersen Gallery

Explore the headwaters of our state's history and witness the ripple effect that people, institutions, and culture have had on the arts, literature, society, and business. From award-winning authors to individuals making a difference; from organizations for social change to multinational corporations, this exhibit documents Minnesota's contributions to the region, the nation, and the world.

Take Two Lyllie Rootes and Call Me in the Morning: Botanicals and Medical Receipt Books in 17th Century Domestic Medical Care
May 15 - September 15, 2011: Wangensteen Library

In pre-industrial times, those ailing often turned to wives of local landowners or wise women who were knowledgeable in the use of plants to create medicines. Recipes were passed down in families, shared with physicians, and recorded in receipt books along with other household information like the care of livestock. This exhibit presents Mary Pewe's books of receipts, complied circa 1630-1690 in England, alongside botanicals that illustrate many of the plants used in the production of her medicines.

Resonance: 21st Century Art Students & the Commerce of the Ancient Mediterranean
May 23 - August 15, 2011: T.R. Anderson Gallery

Oxhide ingots were used in Bronze Age trade--possibly as currency, but certainly as a means of shipping copper for use in the manufacture of bronze. This exhibition pairs images, casts, and molds from a student project to reproduce the processes to make these ingots with materials from the James Ford Bell Library, which is dedicated to documenting the history and impact of international trade before circa 1800.

Minnesota Roots of the Green Revolution: A Legacy of Greatness
July 26 - October 21, 2011: Andersen Gallery

If Norman Borlaug was the father of the Green Revolution, its grandfather was E.C. Stakman of the University of Minnesota's Plant Pathology Department, which was created in 1907 to combat the devastating cycles of crop-destroying wheat stem rust that
periodically threatened the state's economy. Plant Pathology became the premier program of its kind, attracting generations of brilliant young scientists whose work saved millions from starvation worldwide. This exhibit will showcase the rare and unique agriculture records from the University Archives' Green Revolution collections, including the Borlaug and Stakman papers.

Classified! Naturalists on the Voyages of Discovery
August 29 - November 18, 2011: T.R. Anderson Gallery

Swedish Botanist Carl Linnaeus is considered the father of modern taxonomy--the finding, describing, and naming of species. Seventeen of his most promising students became known as his Apostles, and he sent them out into the world to collect and organize new plants, animals, and minerals according to his own classification system. This exhibition features work by Linnaeus himself, as well as that of others intent on drawing European attention to the natural world.

The Literature of Prescription: Charlotte Perkins Gilman and "The Yellow Wall-Paper"
September 18 - October 29, 2011: Wangensteen Library

In the late 19th century, women were challenging traditions that excluded them from political and intellectual life as medical experts drew on notions of female weakness to justify inequality between the sexes. This traveling exhibit from the National Libraries of Medicine features artist and writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who was discouraged from pursuing a career to preserve her health. Her famous short story "The Yellow Wall-Paper" indicts the medical profession and social conventions restricting women's professional and creative opportunities.

Winter Holidays in Children's Literature
November 1, 2011 - January 28, 2012: Andersen Gallery

Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukah, and the New Year's holidays will be explored through picture books, series books, and original art from the Children's Literature Research Collections. Highlights will be Clement Moore's The Night Before Christmas and the many artists who have illustrated Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol, including some who have interpreted the poem through a specific ethnic lens.

The Word Made Flesh
November 28, 2011 - February 24, 2012: T.R. Anderson Gallery

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, this exhibit will feature examples of biblical texts, including medieval manuscripts and facsimiles. Highlights will include two leaves from the 42-line Gutenberg Bible; the original New Testament portion of the King James Bible; other early printings such as the Geneva Bible and the "Breeches" Bible; and related works stemming out of the Reformation such as publications, broadsides, and pamphlets from Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, and others.

Gallery Locations and Directions

Andersen Gallery is located on the first floor of Elmer L. Andersen Library; the Andersen Atrium Gallery on the second and third floors.
222 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
hours and directions: andersen.lib.umn.edu/visitors.html

The T.R. Anderson Gallery is located on the fourth floor of Wilson Library, at the entrance to the James Ford Bell Library.
309 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
hours and directions: wilson.lib.umn.edu | lib.umn.edu/bell

Reedy Gallery and Andersen Horticultural Library
Both are located at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
3675 Arboretum Boulevard
Chaska, MN 55318
hours, fees, and directions: www.arboretum.umn.edu

Wangensteen Library
The Wangensteen Library is located on the fifth floor of Diehl Hall.
505 Essex Street S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55455
hours and directions: hsl.lib.umn.edu/wangensteen/about/location

Posted by Marlo Welshons at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)