Bearing the Fruits of Thought 2008 Food for Thought a Message from the University Librarian
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Bearing the Fruits of Thought 2008 Food for Thought A Message from the University Librarian Some say there is no longer a need for faculty and students, to promote for a research library in a time when high-end collaborative computing everything is online and easily avail- and cross-disciplinary research, or to able. But they don’t know Cornell acquire special collections ranging University Library and the immense from clay tablets to Abraham Lin- treasures that are located only here, coln’s Gettysburg Address and from which draw the best and brightest to the No. 1 online repository in the the university on the hill. They don’t world, arXiv.org, to the hip hop col- know that the faculty rank the Li- lection that gained the Library “real brary as a leading indicator of work- street cred” with the student body. life satisfaction. They don’t know the many young scholars who cred- Some say that librarians wear sen- it the Library’s holdings with creative sible shoes, stamp books all day, breakthroughs in research, and they and have perfected the “shush.” don’t know the sacred trust that the But they don’t know Cornell and Library maintains in connecting the they don’t know its librarians, such past to the present to envision the as John Dean, who has devoted the future. last several decades to preserving cultural heritage treasures in war- Some say nobody goes to libraries torn countries, or Camille Andrews anymore. But they don’t know Cor- and Thomas Mills, who made infor- nell University Library and the stu- mation fluency a hallmark of the Li- dents, faculty, and other folks who brary’s work, or Mary Ochs, who has pass through its doors close to four spearheaded the “Library in a Box” million times a year. They don’t initiative to provide researchers in 50 know that graduating seniors con- of the world’s poorest countries ac- sistently rank the Library as the No. 1 cess to top agriculture journals. service on campus. They don’t know Heather Levy, ILR ‘10, who calls the Research universities are in the busi- Library her “second mom,” or the ness of provoking ideas, creativity, McErnery daughters, who frequent and scholarly expression in order to all of the libraries on campus and are address the world’s major challeng- on a first-name basis with many li- es. As long as the academy thrives brarians. They don’t know the many on the world of the mind, thought students who credit the Library with happens. It happens better and saving their GPAs or keeping their more effectively when nourished by dissertations on track. the Library’s resources, services, and facilities. This annual report serves as Some say the Library is just a ware- testimony that Cornell University Li- house for books, but they don’t brary is alive and well and stands at know Cornell University Library and the very center of intellectual life on its cutting-edge work to set stan- campus. Read on—there’s plenty of dards for digitization, to protect fair food for thought here. use and intellectual property rights Anne R. Kenney Carl A. Kroch University Librarian Bearing the Fruits of Thought Cornell University Library 2008 “One of the things that is most impor- tant to me is the superb library that we have. I'm not sure we recognize just Table of Contents how good it is. I have been to all of our competitors’ libraries, and certainly in Keeping Thought Alive 4 the kinds of things that I am interested Collections, Events, and Exhibitions in, ours is right up there. It is a great facility for those of us who are on the Information at the Point of Thought 20 faculty in the Arts College and who use Scholarship, Access, and Research it a lot, and of course for our students Making Room for Thought 30 as well. It has been a wonderful intel- Library as Place lectual experience for this humanist to make abundant use of this fine facility.“ Thought Leaders 36 Fredrik Logevall People and Ideas Professor and Director of Graduate Studies History Department Food for Thought 50 Outreach and Impact Big Red in the Big Apple A Meeting of the Minds: A Conversation with Cornell’s Celebrated Faculty Sowing the Seeds of Thought 60 Statistics, Grants, and Donors Seven distinguished Cornell faculty members discussed the intersection of culture, science, politics, and international relations at a forum in New York City. The session was moderated by Provost Biddy Martin. Nearly 1,000 people attended. “As a new faculty member, this [hip hop] conference has served as one of the defining events of my first months on the job…. When the intellectual experience can go from two to three dimensions and a subject is brought to life, then the learning process be- comes even more visceral. This is what I love and value promoting as a teacher and artist myself. I think that this conference illustrates what is special about education at an institu- tion like Cornell. No one should ever take these amazing opportunities for teaching and learning for granted.” Riché Richardson Associate Professor Africana Studies and Research Center Keeping Thought Alive Collections, Events, and Exhibitions 6 5 “Cornell staked a claim in hip hop history “By paying tribute to those who laid the foun- this weekend, and Kroch library just gained dation, we tell our own history. Preserving some serious street cred.” hip hop’s early years will help future gen- erations understand the places they come Cornell Daily Sun, “Editorial: Grandmaster Ezra,” Nov. 3, 2008 from.” Performer Afrika Bambaataa Collections Come to Life Some of the hip hop industry’s and panels to round out the ac- “I enjoyed being at Cornell and sharing my most notable pioneers descend- ademic side, and hundreds of life with the people that came. My wish is ed upon Cornell University last educators, students, and per- fall. They were part of a confer- formers from all over the coun- that we could do event[s] all over the world ence celebrating the acquisition try made the pilgrimage to Itha- just so people can see for themselves what of “Born in the Bronx: The Leg- ca, N.Y. to celebrate the origins a real Hip Hop Culture event is like. I am Hip acy and Evolution of Hip Hop,” of hip hop. a collection that documents the Hop.” early days of hip hop with re- The materials, donated by collec- Performer Tony Crush, a.k.a. DJ Tony Tone cordings, photographs, posters, tor and historian Johan Kugel- and more. berg, have found a permanent home at the Division of Rare and Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Manuscript Collections. As one Caz, Grandwizzard Theodore, of the foremost collections of its Roxanne Shanté, Tony Tone, and kind, it will be used by depart- others gave presentations and ments across the university for performances during the two- research and teaching and es- day event hosted by the Library. tablishes Cornell as a leader in Prominent scholars led lectures the field of hip hop studies. rmc.library.cornell.edu/hiphop “Incredibly inspiring, informational, intel- lectual, funky/real, well planned AND spon- taneous, creative, fun, and entertaining…. You could hear and see important history, not just on display, but in action—truly living history!” Comment from an attendee 6 7 Belly Up Blues legend Lead Belly—whose real name was Huddie William Ledbetter—found a home in the Library. The family of Sean Killeen, a passionate collector of Lead Belly-ana, donated his ma- terials to the Sidney Cox Library of LaFayetteMusic and Dance, Turns and now 250 theCornell Division University of Rare Libraryand Man celebrated- the 250th anniversary of the uscriptMarquis Collections de LaFayette’s is combing birth with an exhibition drawn from its ex- throughtensive his LaFayette archives. Collection, The com the- largest of its kind outside of France. merciallyThe Library published hosted books multiple and events, including a piano concert and recordingsa lecture, are to alreadycommemorate available the event and showcase the Arthur H. in theand Music Mary MardenLibrary. Dean LaFayette Collection. AlthoughWith over all 11,000the materials original aremanuscripts, documents, and letters, the Wason Turns 90 copiescollection (the isoriginals essential areto anythe serious biographical work on General The Imperial Jade Book. A rare, Scholars and librarians from across propertyLaFayette of theand Leadconstitutes Belly Soan- important resource for the study of ancient Chinese encyclopedia. the United States and China came ciety,late which 18th- Killeenand early headed 19th-century for France. Historical photographs depicting to Ithaca for the three-day event. many years), they form an ex- early life in Korea. A bold Japa- Concurrent with the conference, tensive research collection un- rmc.library.cornell.edu/lafayette nese scholar’s treasured personal an exhibition featuring the histo- like any other in the world. Mil- collection. Thousands of manu- ry of the Wason Collection and lions of papers, from fan letters scripts, pamphlets, drawings, and its rare materials was displayed to Lead Belly’s FBI file, will be maps. throughout the Library. madeKeeping available to scholars.the Commitment to the These treasures and more were Wason, a Cornell alumnus and “ThisBook fits into an enhanced col- fêted when Cornell University Li- East Asia enthusiast, donated the lecting focus on 20th-century A new $30,000 endowment from the Class of 1956 establishes a brary hosted a 90th anniversa- seed of the collection in 1918. fund to boost Cornell University’s humanities print collection, al- ry celebration of the Charles W. Those original materials estab- lowing the Library to purchase additional English-language mono- Wason Collection on East Asia lished China as a focal point for graphs and a range of materials in foreign languages.