Footnotes FALL 2015 VOLUME 40 NUMBER 3 FALL
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES footnotes FALL 2015 VOLUME 40 NUMBER 3 FALL 98613.indd 1 11/19/15 8:47 PM footnotes FALL 2015, VOLUME 40, NUMBER 3 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES BOARD OF GOVERNORS 1 From the dean of libraries Stephen M. Strachan, chair Robert D. Avery 2 Making faces Suzanne S. Bettman How cartoonists convey complex ideas with just a few lines Paul A. Bodine Frederick L. Brown 4 A tale of two acquisitions John S. Burcher Jane A. Burke The divergent worlds served by the modern academic library Jennifer D. Cain Anne T. Coughlan 6 Hidden treasures Gerald E. Egan Harve A. Ferrill 8 News and events Byron L. Gregory Kenneth R. Herlin Peter Hong 10 Honor roll of donors Daniel S. Jones James A. Kaduk Victoria Mitchell Kohn Stephen C. Mack Judith Paine McBrien Footnotes is published three times a year Director of Development: Nancy McCormick by Northwestern University Libraries. Jennifer Mullman ’99 Howard M. McCue III www.library.northwestern.edu [email protected] Deirdre McKechnie Peter B. McKee Director of Marketing and Dean of Libraries and M. Julie McKinley Communication: Charles Deering McCormick Rosemary Powell McLean University Librarian: Clare Roccaforte William C. Mitchell* Sarah M. Pritchard [email protected] Yelda Basar Moers [email protected] Editor and Writer: Sandi L. Riggs Drew Scott Marcia A. Ryles [email protected] Gordon I. Segal Alan H. Silberman Eric B. Sloan On the cover: Irv Breger ’31 was art editor and then editor of Northwestern’s first John H. Stassen* student humor magazine, Purple Parrot. This cartoon appeared in the October 1930 Jane Urban Taylor* issue of the Parrot. After graduation Breger cartooned for magazines, including the John C. Ver Steeg Saturday Evening Post and Yank, the Army Weekly, as Dave Breger. He was honored with Northwestern’s Alumni Merit Award in 1946. Sarah M. Pritchard, ex officio Carlos D. Terrazas, ex officio An exhibit on cartooning and cartoonists is on display at Deering Library until December 30. To learn more, please turn to page 2. *emeritus Northwestern University is committed to providing a safe environment free from discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, and retaliation. To view Northwestern’s complete nondiscrimination statement, see northwestern.edu/hr/equlopp-access/equal-employment-opportunity/index.html, and for crime and safety data, see northwestern.edu/up/safety/annual-report/. © 2015 Northwestern University. Produced by University Relations. 11-15/13.1M/NL-GD/1965-1 b footnotes FALL 2015 98613.indd 2 11/19/15 8:47 PM from the dean of libraries A library is not static. Even over the summer, the work of scholars and students never ceases, and library buildings and computers remain in heavy use. Along with the nonstop drumbeat of research requests from the campus community, our librarians and staff pursue a variety of proj- Andrew Campbell Andrew ects as they prepare for another autumn surge and academic year with new resources, workshops, and special events. The summer of 2015 marked the culmination of a set of excit- ing changes, any one of which would have been big on its own. Taken together, they ensure it will be a summer to remember. The most important in terms of impact on our users was a major, once-in-a-generation digital systems migration. The new system, known as Alma, forms the backbone of our entire catalog and search software, so the change has ramifications for the whole library system. Alma, which patrons don’t see, joins NUsearch, the part of the catalog you do see. NUsearch debuted last fall as the tool for online browsing. On top of an updated bibliographic database, our search capabilities are now more robust than ever. And Alma modernizes our operations—for at least another 20 years. Of course, a technical revamp of this scope can only be accomplished with excellent teamwork and coordination. Even though detailed planning began more than two years ago, I braced for a certain number of hitches, as with any major undertaking. Yet few occurred; I’m proud to say that the Alma implementation came about so smoothly, a casual observer could almost wonder what the big fuss was about. It’s rare to make a transition of this size, and rarer still to accomplish it so seamlessly! In addition, our staff completed an ambitious internal restructuring of our entire organization. Our leadership team and their respective groups have rethought all roles, processes, and clustering of their work, from top to bottom, to ensure we stay responsive in an era of change for higher education everywhere. I am humbled and impressed by the diversity of skills and the energy of so many people in our organization as well as by the leadership at all levels. It’s our hope that while the staffing shifts are invisible to the outside, they also result in the delivery of better, more effective service that is aligned with the strategic priorities of the3 University. Lastly, you may have noticed a subtle change on the cover of this issue: Our official name has changed from singular to plural. We’ve long felt that “Northwestern University Libraries” more accurately expresses our multifocal nature. University Library is the 1970s structure in the center of the Evanston campus, while Northwestern Libraries encompasses the system of buildings, branches, services, and resources available every- where there is a Northwestern. Though these large changes have come to fruition, we can never say we’re at rest. We are an organiza- tion positioning itself for the future, and new horizons stretch before us. Sarah M. Pritchard Dean of Libraries and Charles Deering McCormick University Librarian FALL 2015 footnotes 1 98613.indd 1 11/19/15 8:47 PM <Nancy, for the captions, because some were titled with the comic strip name (which would be in italics, I think) and some with the single cartoon, I removed the lead-ins in bold and incorporated the titles into the caption.> MAKING FACES 98613.indd 2 11/23/15 5:58 PM Exhibit illustrates how cartoonists convey ideas with a few deft strokes ibrarian Gene Kannenberg has a “As we studied our collections, we saw he based several of Dick Tracy’s villains on his quick response to anyone won- again and again how a cartoon can convey Northwestern professors, Kannenberg said. Ldering why the distinctive collec- a whole story with just a few lines,” Nargis A more recent alumnus, Robert tions of Northwestern Libraries said. “Those stories could be about every- Leighton ’82, loaned original artwork to include so many doodles, scribbles, and thing from college life to serious social and the Libraries for this exhibit, including cartoon drawings. political issues. Our collection proves that examples of his legendary strip Banderooge. “Cartooning communicates directly, cartoonists are subtle and complex satirists, Shortly after arriving on campus, Leighton viscerally,” he said. “Its power is its immedi- and they are amazingly efficient at their jobs.” began drawing the comic strip about a ate potential to educate and entertain. And Alumni cartoonists, a strength of sarcastic cat at college, lampooning real-life sometimes to disturb.” Archives’ holdings, turned a particularly characters, conversations, and current events Kannenberg and his cocurator, librarian whimsical eye on campus living through the of the time. The Daily Northwestern ran the Jason Nargis, discovered many illustrations generations. While the collection includes popular strip until Leighton’s graduation that accomplish those diverse goals— comic strips from the Syllabus yearbook dat- four years later. Leighton went on to cre- sometimes all at once—while curating the ing to the 1880s, this exhibit calls attention ate cartoons for the New Yorker and Games exhibit Making Faces: Cartoons and Cartoonists to 1920s cartoons from the student humor magazines, and he founded Puzzability, an from Northwestern Library Collections. Culled magazine Purple Parrot. Published from 1921 innovative puzzle-writing company. from the holdings of University Archives to 1950, with a brief revival in the 1970s, The exhibit also includes the work and the Charles Deering McCormick the Parrot featured the work of many car- of such luminaries as John McCutcheon, Library of Special Collections, the exhibit toonists, including two who would go on to the Pulitzer Prize–winning editorial car- opened in September and runs through national acclaim: Irv Breger ’31, who coined toonist for the Chicago Tribune, and James December 30. It features the work of the term “G.I. Joe” for his later cartoons in Gillray, the 18th-century printmaker who alumni cartoonists as well as prints and Yank, the Army Weekly, and Chester Gould satirized King George III and Napoleon engravings the Libraries keep for their his- ’23, best known for creating Dick Tracy. A and is known as “the father of political toric and research value. later Parrot biography of Gould claims that cartooning.” Q (Top left) Robert Leighton ’82, who satirized early 1980s Northwestern (Top right) Former Daily Northwestern cartoonist John Musker ’75 sup- life through the eyes of an acerbic talking cat in his Banderooge comic plied Archives with digital prints of some of his caricatures, such as this strip, contributed this recent sketch to the exhibit. Done on the let- one of Maggie Smith as Downton Abbey’s dowager countess. Musker terhead of the New Yorker magazine, where many of Leighton’s cartoons has enjoyed an award-winning animation career at Disney Studios, where have appeared, it lampoons Archives’ outreach for this exhibit. he has codirected such films as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. (Bottom left) Several caricatures by syndicated sports columnist and car- (Bottom right) This sketch by 18th-century British caricaturist George toonist Murray Olderman ’47 MSJ hang prominently in the Pro Football Murgatroyd Woodward is sixth in a series of panels known as Hall of Fame.