NEWS FROM

FONDREN Volume 28, No. 2 • Spring 2019 New Library Management and Discovery Systems Bring Changes to Fondren In August, will join more than 1,000 search options from the simple to the advanced, includ- academic libraries around the world who have imple- ing the ability to browse via author, title or subject. Primo mented Alma as their library services platform. “Library will also provide access to all of the library’s electronic systems have greatly changed in recent years,” said Denis journal holdings in a single interface. Galvin, director of information technology at the library. “Alma was built from the ground up to make the best use A team of staff members has been working for of contemporary system architecture design.” Alma is thus months to customize the design of Primo. Staff and designed for enhanced interoperability across computer students in the user experience office have been conduct- systems, enabling easier connections to university systems ing intensive testing among the university’s user groups like Banner and Canvas, as well as to other external and have adopted recommendations from many peer systems used for the library’s daily operations. institutions. Still, Primo will be a big change for Fondren’s users, and many activities will require adjustment from For Fondren’s users, the most noticeable change will current practices (see sidebar on p. 6). According to be the implementation of Primo, a companion system Sandi Edwards, assistant university librarian for research to Alma. Primo will serve as a one-stop resource for services, the library will be offering a number of training finding material, replacing the library’s current catalog opportunities to familiarize users with Primo. “We want to and discovery system. Many students and researchers ensure that all of our users are comfortable with the new will have encountered Primo — which has been in use system and can make the best use of it for their needs.” among the worldwide library community for more than Users who wish to learn more about upcoming training a decade — at other institutions. Fondren’s users will opportunities related to Primo may contact FondrenLearn- benefit from a host of new features when using the new [email protected]. system, including the ability to save search queries and to filter materials, making it easier to find items in a specific David M. Bynog format, including e-books, streaming videos and manu- Assistant Head of Acquisitions script collections. The system will also offer a variety of Co-chair, Alma/Primo Implementation Team CHECK IT OUT!

Pg. 3 Rice Hosts Symposium on Convict Leasing

Pg. 8 Edwards Takes on Broader Role

Pg. 10 Exhibit Illuminates WWI Experience Through Archives

Fondren Library COLLABORATION

Daniel Koh ‘20, teaching fellow for the Civic Switchboard Field Award. Grant-Funded Data Literacy Workshops Pair Fondren and Kinder Institute Fondren Library is partnering with Community A second data literacy workshop is currently being Data Connections of the Kinder Institute for Urban planned to take place at a local library. The third work- Research to develop and offer data literacy workshops shop will use the information gathered from the two prior for community and nonprofit organizations in the Hous- workshops to train individuals at local nonprofit organiza- ton area. The two organizations received a small Civic tions how to teach data literacy. Switchboard Field Project Award to fund their partner- ship. Civic Switchboard: Connecting Libraries and Com- These workshops feed into Fondren Library’s efforts munity Information Networks is an Institute of Museum to build data literacy on campus and in the local com- and Library Services-supported effort that aims to develop munity. The workshops also support Fondren Library’s the capacity of academic and public libraries in civic data strategic goals to work closely with research centers ecosystems. and institutes, engage with the Houston community and enhance Fondren’s data services. The first data literacy workshop took place March 27, 2019 in association with the Urban Enrichment Institute More information about Civic Switchboard can be found in the Fifth Ward, a youth leadership and development at https://civic-switchboard.github.io. program for at-risk males. This workshop will continue to be offered to young men between the ages of 12 and Julia Kress 19. The workshop focuses on identifying what data is as Senior Electronic Resources Assistant well as how to use charts and mapping and how to find stories in data.

2 library.rice.edu COLLABORATION

Symposium on Convict Leasing

On April 12, 2019, scholars gathered at for Speakers at the Rice University symposium included a daylong event organized by Caleb McDaniel, associate Alex Lichtenstein, professor of history at Indiana Uni- professor of history and historian of slavery, abolitionism, versity and the editor-in-chief of the American Historical transatlantic reform and the 19th century United States. Review; Talitha LeFlouria, associate professor in African Entitled “Capitalism and Convict Leasing in the American and African American studies at the University of Virginia; South: A Symposium,” the symposium was free and open Robert Perkinson, professor of American studies at the to the public and was co-sponsored by the Department of University of Hawaii, Manoa; and Megan Ming Francis, History, the Humanities Research Center and the Glass- associate professor of political science at the University cock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University. of Washington and director of the Washington Institute According to McDaniel, the symposium aimed to shed for the Study of Inequality and Race. The day began with greater light on the convict leasing system and how it in- opening remarks by Reginald Moore, founder of the Con- fluenced key elements of post-Civil War American history. vict Leasing and Labor Project (CLLP) and concluded with a panel discussion featuring members of the CLLP and After the Civil War, Southern plantation owners moderated by Lora Wildenthal, associate dean of humani- and businessmen lost the low-cost labor force of slaves ties. The panel discussed the memorialization of convict around which they had built an economy. The convict leasing and focused specifically on the Sugar Land 95. leasing system grew out of this environment. African Americans were arrested for minor crimes such as va- Moore’s archival collection in the Woodson Research grancy or walking alongside railroad tracks, but were Center, which reflects his community advocacy on these given felony-level sentences. The prisoners could then topics, has drawn many researchers in the past several be leased to businesses to provide access to the low-cost, years, as we strive to understand the convict leasing unregulated labor market once provided by slavery. Sugar system and frame modern-day discourse about it. Land was the main location of this practice in . Amanda Focke In 2018, construction workers for Fort Bend ISD Assistant Head of Special Collections uncovered 95 unmarked graves, which forensic scientists determined dated from the convict leasing era, were African American and showed evidence of hard labor. These remains are understood to be the victims of convict leasing and are now known as the Sugar Land 95. This discovery continues to attract local, state and national me- dia attention, including articles in The New York Times and The Washington Post. The University of Houston also hosted panel discussions on the subject in March 2019.

NEWS from FONDREN • Spring 2019 3 OUTREACH

Got Feedback? Visit the Library Outreach Table Fondren Library’s user experience Current UX office student work- (UX) office held a series of pop-up ers Cory Fosmire ’21 and Rodrigo tables at the Rice University Student Trujillo ’20 helped staff the tables Center starting in March and extend- with Amanda Thomas, user experi- ing into early May. This outreach ence/public services librarian, and effort provided an opportunity for me. students, faculty and other users to ask questions about the library as Fosmire, currently a Rice sopho- well as for UX staff to highlight new more engineering division major, services, e-books and upcoming finds usability testing fascinating library classes. Visitors to the table because “it provides an opportunity also completed quick usability tasks. to discover and discuss our assump- tions about how things ought to be.” Fondren’s UX office examines the He also enjoys the practicality of ways our users experience libraries usability testing, as it directly molds and how we can improve that experi- services and webpages to more ably ence. A major change to the library meet students’ needs. search system will be occurring in August 2019 and the outreach tables Additional outreach tables will were useful in gathering user feed- be held in the early part of the fall back about prototypes of the new semester to answer questions about interface and search functionality, in the new system and get additional order to recommend improvements feedback from the community. to the implementation team before the rollout. Debra Kolah Head of User Experience Fondren Supports Voter Registration

For someone who has never voted The library staff includes several before, navigating the laws around Volunteer Deputy Voter Registrars voting in the state of Texas can be (VDVRs) and several more are being confusing, or downright maddening, certified this year, qualifying them as I learned helping students register to register voters through the end of to vote at our Constitution Day event 2020. We will be working with others in 2018. The number of questions on campus to develop a centralized received while registering voters directory of campus VDVRs, to better that day inspired me to hold several coordinate events that involve voter more voter registration and education registration and outreach. And we are events before the deadline Oct. 8. more excited than ever to be a part Business was brisk and we registered of the campuswide effort to ensure our last voter at 11:15 p.m. After the that the Rice community continues to deadline, the nonpartisan student increase its civic engagement. organization Rice Civic Duty held several voter education events in Amanda Thomas the library. The library’s geographic User Experience/Public Services Librarian location and its role as a gathering place on campus was a great fit for these events.

4 library.rice.edu OUTREACH

DMC Supporting Virtual Reality Work at Rice

The Digital Media Center (DMC) editing and processing that data, and a guide for transferring the resulting at Fondren is adding support for finally presenting it in an interactive file to a game engine. DMC support innovative technology that supports format. DMC staff are already familiar specialist Jonathan Rivera designs the creating virtual reality environments. with many of these processes and, digital environment to depict realistic A new anthropology course, ANTH with help from Fondren information landscapes while keeping the game 426/626 Underground Spatialities, technology staff, are able to offer optimized and running smoothly. has enlisted my help in instructing the Rice community options for Fondren information technology staff students on the proper use of pho- photogrammetry. This process has have played an important role in tography equipment, virtual reality, applications in a number of areas, selecting and deploying equipment audio recorders, photogrammetry such as art and design, archaeology and managing logistics for this new software and interactive multime- and cultural heritage work. offering. In the near future, a dedi- dia software. Photogrammetry is a cated station at the DMC will allow process by which many photos of In addition to helping with the students to reserve time to experi- a subject are taken from different Underground Spatialities course, ment with virtual reality and get help angles then processed with software the DMC is also assisting ARCH 650 from DMC staff on their creative and to make a 3D point cloud. This point students to view their architectural academic projects. cloud may then be viewed or trian- designs in virtual reality environ- gulated into a 3D surface. Students ments. Allowing students to immerse Mario Norton visit three underground locations: themselves in realistic portrayals DMC Supervisor the Rice underground tunnel system, of their designs has proven to be a the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern and useful application of virtual reality the natural bridge caverns near San technology. I work with the students Antonio. Students gain practical skills to ensure their model is prepared for in managing their acquired data, virtual reality software and provide

NEWS from FONDREN • Spring 2019 5 TECHNOLOGY

continued from p. 1

How Primo Will Fondren Enhances PDFs Affect Some Popular User for Accessibility Activities Starting this year, Fondren Library mend “optimiz[ing] access to tools staff are working to enhance PDFs in and assistive technologies.” Likewise, • Permalinks (URLs) referencing the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive Rice’s Strategic Plan for Accessibil- items from Fondren’s current to make them accessible for people ity recommends that web content Classic Catalog will change with disabilities. “should have a functional level of (Example: https://rice.kanopy. accessibility and work with the com- com/video/company-town); Accessible PDFs are augmented monly available assistive technology users may need to update by software that recognizes static in use on the campus.” bookmarks or materials that have images of text as searchable con- incorporated such links. tent, which then can be relayed Rice is one of many organizations via screen-readers, or software that pushing to make its web documents • EndNote and Zotero citation identifies and interprets what is being and content accessible to all. Last software will require tweaking displayed on the screen through year, the World Wide Web Con- preference settings to find PDFs assistive technology, such as text-to- sortium (W3C) — the international from Fondren’s current holdings. speech applications or electrome- organization tasked with develop- chanical devices that display braille. ing technology standards for the • Off-campus access will require internet — published a revision of a login to view and access Fondren’s accessible PDFs are its Web Content Accessibility Guide- search results that include Rice- built with structural tags that define a lines, a recommendation addressing only subscriptions. document’s proper reading order and the accessibility of web content on provide alternative text for non-text desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile • Users will be able to reserve elements, like images or embedded devices. These recommendations can equipment from the Digital Media video. A PDF file does not intuitively be viewed at https://www.w3.org/ Commons directly through know the correct order of its text, TR/WCAG21/. Primo. and many assistive technologies re- quire such structured tags to interpret Promoting access for all is a core • Users will use the new Primo a document’s contents. Restructuring value in librarianship, and Fondren interface to renew, request and and validating these PDFs also makes encourages its community of authors recall Fondren library material. them more compatible for users who to upload accessible files to the Rice rely on mobile devices. Digital Scholarship Archive. To learn • Users will continue to use more about creating accessible PDFs ILLiad on Fondren’s website to These efforts support Rice and for information on accessibility request interlibrary loan material. University’s 2015 Strategic Plan for resources, please visit our library Accessibility, which recommended guide at https://libguides.rice.edu/ • More information about the that all Rice educational activities and accessiblePDF. For assistance with upcoming changes can be found programs adhere to the best practices depositing accessible PDFs, contact on the library’s website at: prescribed by Universal Design for us at [email protected]. https://library.rice.edu/onesearch Learning (UDL), a framework for improving teaching and learning Monica Rivero environments. UDL guidelines recom- Digital Curation Coordinator

6 library.rice.edu TECHNOLOGY/PUBLISHING New QR Codes at Student Journals at Fondren Library Fondren Currently, Fondren Library has multiple QR codes located At least seven student journals are published at Rice, but on the first floor for patron use. These QR codes may be until recently there was not a central distribution point for scanned for a tour of the library, to suggest new book them. Now, through a collaboration between Fondren Li- purchases and to provide feedback about Fondren. brary and Rice’s Inquiry-Based Learning, people can pick up copies of journals such as Catalyst and Rice Historical The QR codes located at the east entrance desk and Review (RHR) from a rack currently at the east entrance at the circulation desk may be scanned for an art and to Fondren Library. As student journals are published cultural objects tour of the library inside and out. The tour (typically at the end of the spring semester), many will be is available in English, Mandarin and Spanish, via audio available from the rack. or text, and is narrated by Molly Crownover, wife of Jim Crownover ’65, former chairman of the board of trustees The distribution point is part of a larger effort to sup- at Rice. The tour was set up and is maintained by Sheila port student journal publishing at Rice. In February 2019, Mayfield ’18. Inquiry-Based Learning and Fondren launched a group for student journal editors to talk about common challenges Another QR code is located in the leisure reading such as marketing. At an early meeting, Susann Glenn, area in the south reading room. This code requires a director of communications for administration; Adam login and may be scanned to suggest a leisure reading Cardenas, communications intern for Rice housing and purchase. Fondren Library is looking for suggestions for dining; and Katharine Shilcutt, media relations specialist, recent popular fiction, nonfiction, humor, graphic novels discussed identifying target audiences, reaching them and other light reading. Friends of Fondren and other through social media and direct outreach, and setting the users can email librarian Joe Goetz at [email protected] with appropriate tone. suggested purchases. In addition to assisting with the group, the library To make it easy for Fondren users to provide feed- archives student journals and offers guidance on copy- back about their experiences, a QR code is available in right and other scholarly communications questions. An the display case near the south reading room, next to stair article in News From Fondren’s Spring 2018 issue (p. 4-5) D. This code links to a customer satisfaction survey. Users describes the library support provided for RHR and the may also email the user experience office with feedback skills students can develop through editing a journal. at [email protected]. As Caroline Quenemoen, associate dean of students To scan the QR codes with an iPhone, simply take a and director of Inquiry-Based Learning, notes, “Under- picture of the code to be taken immediately to the linked graduate journals highlight the quality and variety of webpage. With an Android phone, you can take a picture inquiry pursued at Rice and provide an important forum of the code if your device has Google Now On Tap. If for editors and contributors to learn about the publication not, you will need to download a free QR code reader process and effective communication to a broader audi- application before scanning the code with your phone. ence.” Fondren is pleased to play a role in distributing student journals at Rice. Julia Kress Senior Electronic Resources Assistant Lisa Spiro Executive Director, Digital Scholarship Services

Fondren Audio Art Tour QR Code

NEWS from FONDREN • Spring 2019 7 PEOPLE

Sandi Edwards Assumes Broader Role at Fondren Our information literacy and instruction efforts have expanded over the last several years, including collaboration with the Center for Academic and Professional Commu- nication, First-year Writing Intensive Seminars, one-time visits to class- rooms and Fondren 101. The LSC has expanded on its 15 years of excellent delivery service by adding article scanning to its duties. Collection development activities have built on our excellent collections to support new areas, strengthen communica- tion with departments and otherwise respond to user needs. Cross-training of staff has ensured quick answers to basic reference questions as well as the in-depth help our users expect.

4. Could you say something about any new directions you see for the services you manage and for the library? I interviewed Sandi Edwards Feb. 18, 2. Your portfolio includes the A new module for the LSC should 2019, about her new role as assis- reference department, access services ease crowding and allow us to make tant university librarian for research (including Interlibrary loan or ILL) space for new functions in Fondren. services. and the Library Service Center (LSC). Fondren is not alone in navigating Could you share a bit about how you complex pricing models with vendors 1. How has your experience see those areas working together to of streaming video. Open access prepared you for your new role? serve the Rice community? publishing options offer new oppor- tunities for Fondren to support Rice My previous position evolved It all comes down to providing scholarship. quite a bit under the previous access to what people need. Col- incumbent in this position, Kerry lection development and managing 5. What are the library’s primary Keck. I had an intermediary role with the LSC are ongoing. Access services sources of information about what some collections and supervised the maintains the collection and collabo- the Rice community needs, and reference work of many of the same rates with LSC staff and ILL provides how do you go about using that staff. I developed a good working what we do not have. We also information? knowledge of the collections and the analyze ILL borrowing for possible librarians, managed larger funds, and purchases. A number of my previous Our best sources are users: coordinated cancellation and assess- duties are passing to a new reference faculty, graduate students and under- ment projects. Management of the coordinator, Mary Dumont Brower, graduates. We welcome complaints, whole collections budget is a growth including both scheduling visits and suggestions and all expressions of area. Many of the technical imple- tours and managing the reference need. Our liaison roles with academic mentation aspects have moved to collection and its funds. She also departments have been expanded the acquisitions department — they continues as music librarian. to include centers and nonacademic do even more of the “how” while departments. As physical circulation the “what” of collections-building 3. What do you see as the rates decline nationwide, we may remains in research services. strengths of the services you are now review certain restrictions on access managing? and circulation. Our new library

8 library.rice.edu PEOPLE

New Senior Metadata Assistant system, due Aug. 1, is prompting a full review of our circulation policies.

6. You have been involved over the years in the library’s outreach to the non-Rice community, for example, in coordinating high school tours and study events. How do you see the balance as Fondren serves both Rice and the Greater Houston community?

We are always balancing physical resources and staff time as we fulfill Rice’s outreach aspirations. Both the Rice charter and the V2C2, as well as our status as a federal depository library, support a strong role in the broader community. We love seeing young students visit Rice and find armloads of books for their high school research. At the same time, we know that professors need our attention, whether one time or over the course of a semester, whether Thumy Webb is not a new face in cataloging and metadata services, but planned or on short notice. We are she is in a new position. She originally came to the department in March constantly juggling these priorities 2018 in a temporary position working on the WEST project, through which and continue to find Fondren’s mean- Rice collaborates with a consortium of libraries to store print copies of ing and purpose in them. scholarly journals. In the fall, she accepted a regular position as senior Melinda Reagor Flannery metadata assistant. Her job involves cataloging primarily foreign language Assistant University Librarian for Technical items, and she is currently also working on a project involving electronic Services resources. Another duty is cataloging gift materials for the .

As a former resident of Hawaii, Webb received her undergraduate degree in mathematics and later her master’s degree in library science from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. She came to Houston with her husband, Tim, and their dog Peanut in August 2017, just in time to experi- ence Hurricane Harvey. She is impressed by the people here — how nice they all were and their ability to come together in a time of crisis. She has come to love the city, its food and its many cultures.

Never having been a baseball fan, Webb developed a huge crush on the Astros and followed their national championship race. She has invited other staff fans to visit her and share Astros fan stories.

Debra Cosby Administrative Assistant, Technical Services

NEWS from FONDREN • Spring 2019 9 EVENTS

A Rice Institute Doughboy and a French Poilu: Remembering World War I From Feb. 1 to March 31, 2019, scrapbook with Gueneau’s photo- Gueneau’s granddaughter, Fondren Library displayed the exhibit graphs, we get a unique perspective Pulcherie Gueneau de Novoa, who “100: The Great War Seen through on World War I, 100 years later. lives in Houston, wanted to share the Eyes of Two Soldiers” curated photographs from her family archive by the French association Le Cercle Waters, a native of Galveston, and reached out to G. Daniel Cohen, de Valmont in collaboration with served from June 1918 to June 1919 a Rice professor of history, who the Woodson Research Center. The in the Corps of Engineers with the connected her with the Woodson exhibit featured previously unpub- 360th Regiment, lished artifacts, a scrapbook detailing 90th Division. an American soldier’s experience He was the and black-and-white photographs commander documenting a French soldier’s time of a combat during the Great War. platoon in the St. Mihiel and James “Jimmie” S. Waters, Jr. Meuse-Argonne attended Rice Institute, receiving a campaigns, B.S. in electrical engineering, but resulting in his skipped his 1918 graduation in order promotion to to enlist in the war. Waters’ wife, the rank of first Pauline Lackner Waters, put together lieutenant. Wa- the scrapbook, which was donated ters also served to the Woodson Research Center in occupied after Waters taught engineering at Germany after © Family Gueneau Rice for 45 years. The scrapbook can the armistice. be downloaded at https://scholar- Research Center. Ultimately, de ship.rice.edu/handle/1911/95189. Gueneau, who was from the Novoa arranged an exhibit in Pont The World War I photographs in region of Nevers, France, served from St. Esprit, France the week of Nov. the exhibit were taken by a French Dec. 1914 until Sept. 4, 1918 with the 11, 2018 featuring reproductions soldier, Paul Gueneau. The two sol- 56th Infantry Regiment. He was part from Waters’ scrapbook and the later diers were almost the same age but of the infamous Battle of Verdun. He exhibit at Fondren Library, with help served at different times during the was injured by mustard gas during from sponsors Société Générale and war. However, by combining Waters’ battle and was unable to return to Hexagroup. She also applied for and combat only months before the received the official recognition of armistice. the French Mission Centenaire and the U.S. World War I Centennial When Gueneau left for the front Commission for both exhibits. The at age 19, he brought with him the Rice exhibit also briefly covered first commercialized pocket camera, minority, immigrant and other Rice the Kodak Vest Pocket. Gueneau’s participants in the war effort. For 19 photographs displayed in the more information, please contact de exhibit are rare as they capture the Novoa at [email protected] infantrymen (poilus) not only in the eton.edu. trenches, but also relaxing and even playing. The French government (Additional exhibit coverage highly restricted the publication of can be found at https://www.chron. war photographs and specifically com/local/bayou-city-history/article/ censored those showing the sol- Lives-of-two-WWI-soldiers-featured- diers relaxing. Two photographs in in-exhibit-at-13677290.php.) the exhibit reflect daily life for the soldiers — a shot of two soldiers Julia Kress holding kittens in front of a food Senior Electronic Resources Assistant pantry and one capturing the soldiers © Family Gueneau in a snowball fight.

10 library.rice.edu EVENTS

Cherry Reading Series Brings Author Kiese Laymon and Others to Rice Since its establishment in 1991, and a bold intersectional feminism, aspiring writers at the beginning of Fondren Library’s Robert Foster ‘Heavy’ is a triumph.” After Johnson’s their path, the visiting authors “offer Cherry ‘30 Endowment has funded introduction, Laymon, currently the models for how to make that passion the Cherry Reading Series to bring Ottilie Schillig Professor of English work as a career and as a voca- esteemed authors to Rice for public and Creative Writing at the University tion.” Not only Rice students but the readings and discussions with stu- of Mississippi, read the chapter “Be” broader community benefits from the dents. This year is shaping up to be a from “Heavy” then answered ques- series, as members of the public see banner year for the series, beginning tions from a large, highly engaged “the work we honor and value here with a visit from author Kiese Lay- audience. (For an account of this on campus,” while we on campus mon Feb. 5. event, see the Feb. 12, 2019, Thresher benefit in turn from greater commu- article at www.ricethresher.org.) nity engagement. Laymon’s latest book, “Heavy,” was awarded the 2019 Carnegie In addition to his reading, Lay- Poets Jennifer Chang and Michael Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction mon visited Rice creative nonfiction Collier and fiction writer Karen and was included on many news students in class, where he answered Thompson Walker also visited Rice sources’ lists for best books of the questions about the writerly life, this spring. In addition to the reading year, including The New York Times including writing a memoir and the series, the Cherry Endowment funds and The Washington Post. Rice’s As- public exposure that can come with the library’s collection of contempo- sistant Professor of Creative Writing writing a personal history. Johnson rary literature, enabling the purchase Lacy M. Johnson has written that reports that, far from the aloof of many new books of nonfiction, “Heavy” asks, “how to survive in a famous writer some had expected, fiction and poetry every year. Inside body despite the many violences that Laymon struck students with his each book cover is a plate acknowl- are inflicted upon it: the violence of candor and generosity. edging the endowment’s ongoing racism, of misogyny, of history — benefits to our community. the violence of a culture that treats According to Johnson, the Cherry the bodies of black men with fear Reading Series enables students to Joe Goetz and suspicion more often than with “connect the work they’re doing here Reference/Collection Development Librarian tenderness and attentive care … on campus with writers practicing Permeated with humility, bravery, and working in the wider world.” For

NEWS from FONDREN • Spring 2019 11 COLLECTIONS

Cataloging Fondren’s Tibetan Looseleaf Books

Visiting Abbot Khenpo Nyima Rinpoche (L) with Geshe Denma Gyaltsen (R)

Fondren Library has embarked on a project to catalog a The books are often wrapped in cloth as a gesture of trove of rare looseleaf books (pechas) belonging to the respect as well as for protection — a function that, in Bön tradition, the indigenous religion of Tibet that pre- modern libraries, is fulfilled by preservation boxes. In the dates the spread of Buddhism there. According to Bön’s past, they were printed from wooden blocks, but now founding texts, it originated in the mythical land of Olmo pecha layouts are often created digitally. Lungring and flourished in the kingdom of Zhang Zhung in Western Tibet. During the millennium following the ar- The Bön printing tradition is distinguished by a wide rival of Buddhism, the Bön tradition significantly changed use of cursive scripts, unorthodox spellings, and copious and evolved, but scholars are still working to determine abbreviations and ligatures. These features, combined the extent and exact nature of the interaction. with the fact that the Bön canon is relatively little stud- ied, present additional challenges to cataloging these During the destruction wrought by the Chinese materials. Cultural Revolution, many rare and precious manuscripts belonging to all religious traditions of Tibet were lost or Fortunately, the ideal person to provide expert help dispersed. Efforts to collect, organize and publish the lives here in Houston. Geshe Denma Gyaltsen, resident works of the Bön canon have accelerated in the past two lama at Ligmincha Texas (a Bön monastery), is working decades, but much work remains to be done. with Fondren library staff to create original cataloging On a research trip to Nepal several years ago, Anne records. As a holder of the Geshe degree, the Tibetan Klein, professor of Tibetan religions at Rice, visited the equivalent of a Ph.D. in theology, he is exceptionally Triten Norbutse monastery in Kathmandu. This is the resi- well-versed in the texts of the Bön tradition. “As soon as dence of lineage master Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, I saw this collection,” Geshe Denma said, “I realized that who later arranged for approximately 70 pechas to be these books were waiting for me.” donated to Fondren Library. These books were printed in India, Nepal and Tibet and belong to several genres, The processing of the pechas is expected to be com- including biographies of important teachers (namthar), pleted this fall, with the books available for researchers revealed works (gter ma) and commentaries. in winter 2019. They will be housed in the Library Service Center and searchable as the “Triten Norbutse Bön book A traditional Tibetan book consists of stacked oblong collection.” sheets of paper placed between wooden or cardboard covers and tied up with strings. Their shape is an homage Anna Shparberg to Indian manuscripts that were written on palm leaves. Reference/Collection Development Librarian

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The Saga of Schomburg’s ‘Black Manhattan’

Relying on the library’s copy for a class assignment, effectively the operating officer of the NAACP, the first English graduate student Brenna Ram checked out James African American in that position, from 1920 to 1930. Weldon Johnson’s “Black Manhattan.” At a later meeting with her professor, Nicole Waligora-Davis, they discov- So how did this book and its letter end up at Rice? To ered a letter pasted onto the last page. The letter ad- answer this question, we asked Melissa Kean, centennial dressed to Schomburg, thanks him for his recent review historian, for her sleuthing help. Looking through records of “Black Manhattan” and promises a future meeting in of the Rice Institute Library under the stewardship of New York. The signature at the end is simply Johnson. Alice Dean, Kean found that book requests, arrivals and specific location codes were meticulously tracked. Later, Waligora-Davis quickly surmised that Arturo Alfonso then-volunteer Dean recorded only the arrival date of Schomburg pasted the letter from James Weldon Johnson “Black Manhattan” somewhere between March 12 and into the book. Not only does the letter provide a signa- March 20 of 1953. The rapid expansion of Fondren’s ture of Johnson, but it is written on stationary containing collections or, possibly, Dean’s access to information as a the address of his writing retreat. This book came from volunteer could explain the drop in detail. Schomburg’s personal library. Thus, this little mystery remains one. Why Schom- Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (1874–1938) was a book burg’s personal copy ended up far away from home and art collector. His collection focused on the African remains unclear. The answer could be found in the American and Afro Latin American experience. In 1926, character of the man. According to Allison Hughes, an ar- Schomburg donated his book and art collection to the chivist at the Schomburg Center, Schomburg was famous New York Public Library’s Division of Negro Literature, for lending his books. His generosity caused this pearl History and Prints. He later became the curator of the to appear in our general stacks. For long-term protec- collection from 1932–1938. The division was renamed the tion, Schomburg’s copy is now housed in the Woodson Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The let- Research Center. ter writer, James Weldon Johnson, was a prolific literary author and a member of the famed Harlem Renaissance. Norie Guthrie In addition, Johnson served as the executive secretary, Archivist/Special Collections Librarian

NEWS from FONDREN • Spring 2019 13 FRIENDS OF FONDREN

Friends of Fondren Library Gala

L to R: Co-chairs Amy and Robert Taylor with Honorees Bobby and Phoebe Tudor

The 2019 Friends of Fondren Library 2013, he has served as chairman of This year’s gala supported the Gala was held March 22 at River the Rice University Board of Trust- new Friends of Fondren University Oaks Country Club. Amy and Rob- ees, and he and Susie Glasscock ’62 Librarian’s Endowment, generously ert Taylor ’74 chaired the elegant chaired the extraordinary $1 billion- founded in 2018 by Pat and Ira Gru- evening, bringing together library plus Centennial Campaign. Bobby ber, the Harris Masterson Jr. Professor supporters to celebrate the organiza- and his wife, Phoebe, have served Emeritus of History, the proceeds of tion’s achievements and the library’s on the boards of many of Houston’s which will be directed as needed by future. cultural and civic organizations the university librarian. The “Paddles since moving to Houston in 1991. In Up” portion of the auction will In his welcome to guests, Presi- addition to his work for Rice, Bobby underwrite Kanopy film streaming dent David Leebron called for the has been or is on the boards of the services for academic and research university to build into the future so Houston Symphony, MD Anderson, purposes across campus. that Fondren Library remains the very United Way and Society for the heart of campus as an intellectual and Performing Arts. Phoebe is on the We offer our appreciation to collaborative community. Bess Ware- boards of the Houston Ballet, Mu- everyone who supported this year’s ing ’82, Friends of Fondren Library seum of Fine Arts Houston, Hermann gala. We hope you will join us in president, introduced the evening’s Park Conservancy, Houston Parks 2020 for the 40th annual event. honorees, Phoebe and Bobby Tudor and the Astrodome Conservancy. She ’82, noting the numerous ways they is involved with several Rice groups, Mary Lowery support Rice University and Fondren including the Rice Design Alliance, Executive Director, Friends of Fondren Library with exemplary kindness, Governing Library humility and grace. Council, the William Ward Watkins Council for the RSA and the Moody Bobby Tudor graduated from Center Advisory Board. We appreci- Rice in 1982 and began a successful ate all the Tudors do for Rice and for career in investment banking. Since Houston.

14 library.rice.edu FRIENDS OF FONDREN

Honoring Rice’s Authors, Editors, Composers and Artists

L to R: Kristin Necessary Brookhart, John H. Zammito, Lina Dib, Peter (Carl) Caldwell, Joshua Eyler

On Jan. 30, Friends of Fondren research on German philosophy and Lina Dib, research fellow at the Library hosted a panel discussion and philosophical traditions. Already in Center for Energy and Environmental reception to honor Rice’s authors, the 18th century, the clear distinc- Research in the Human Sciences and editors, composers and artists for tion between man and nature was lecturer in the Program in Writing the 2018 calendar year. Friends of breaking down, he showed, as was and Communication, described her Fondren Library board members the notion that nature itself was static recent public art installations “Like Peter (Carl) Caldwell, the Samuel and unchanging. As Zammito noted There is No Tomorrow” and “Thresh- G. McCann Professor of History, at the event, the project of “humaniz- old.” Just as the other two panelists and Kristin Necessary Brookhart ’01 ing nature and naturalizing man” was blurred any clear boundary between hosted this year’s event in the Ley connected to contemporaneous ideas humans and nature, Dib stressed Student Center’s Farnsworth Pavilion. of dynamic learning. Humans, in how human actions are taking place the great philosopher Herder’s view, within nature, altering nature and Caldwell moderated a fascinat- were animals oriented toward learn- thereby affecting human nature. In ing discussion titled “Humanity and ing and adaptation, with a historically one work, for example, walking in Biological Change: Conceptualizing fixed rather than a God-given, static front of a video projection of coral the Natural World, The Biology of nature. reefs in the Gulf of Mexico whitened Learning, Altering the Living World.” the reefs, a real process that involved The three panelists addressed in dif- Joshua Eyler, the director of killing organisms that make up a ferent ways the relationship between the Center for Teaching Excellence sensitive natural ecosystem. humans, our living environment and and adjunct associate professor of learning, one through a history of the humanities, elucidated the dynamic Following the presentations by philosophy and theory of biology a process of learning as he described these three experts and scholars, dis- century before Darwin, one through his new book, “How Humans Learn: cussion was lively and wide-ranging. an analysis of the social and bio- The Science and Stories Behind Hu- logical aspects of learning, and one man Learning” (Morgantown, 2018). To nominate honorees for the through conceptual art that poses the Not unlike Herder, anthropologists 2019 event, please email their contact problem of human/nature interac- and scientists today stress the way information and publication names to tions in the present day. observing and questioning, exploring [email protected]. and experimenting are part of hu- John H. Zammito, the Baker man nature already in small children, Mary Lowery College chair for history of science, which Professor Eyler has observed Executive Director, Friends of Fondren technology and innovation, discussed both in the classroom and with his Library his new work, “The Gestation of own child. The task for educators is German Biology” (Chicago, 2017), to stimulate this enthusiasm rather the culmination of his decades of than try to suppress it.

NEWS from FONDREN • Spring 2019 15 Nonprofit Fondren Library Organization U.S. Postage PAID Rice University Fondren Library–MS 44 | P.O. Box 1892 | Houston, TX 77251-1892 Permit #7549 Houston, Texas

NEWS from FONDREN Vol. 28, No. 2 • Spring 2019 Editor Melinda Reagor Flannery

Newsletter Committee Scott Carlson Debra Cosby Debra Kolah Julia Kress Mary Lowery

Photographers Jenny Antill Jeff Fitlow Paul Gueneau Julia Kress Mary Lowery Mario Norton Callum Parks Amanda Thomas Katie Floyd Wang Jane Zhao

Proofing Joe Hatfield

For information, contact Melinda Reagor Flannery Rice University Fondren Library–MS 44 P.O. Box 1892 Houston, TX 77251-1892 Portrait of First Rice Librarian, Alice Dean, Arrives at Fondren Library 713-348-3773 [email protected] The portrait circa 1925 was executed in oil by John Clark Tidden, instructor in Fondren Library architectural drawing and painting at Rice from 1914 to 1925. It was restored and website: library.rice.edu gifted to Fondren Library in 2018 by Dean’s great-nephew, Edward L. Summers twitter: @fondrenlibrary ’59.