The Miniature Book Society’s Traveling Exhibit presents a wide variety of miniature books along with photographs of collectors, designers and publishers. It also features books entered into last season’s Annual MBS Competition, “Distinguished Books” from previous competitions and other outstanding examples of contemporary miniature book publishing. This exhibit has been brought to Ellis Library in an effort to introduce contemporary miniature books to Mid-Missouri.

In addition, a collection of miniature books from Ellis Library’s Special Collections department has been assembled to display in accompaniment with the Miniature Book Society’s Traveling Exhibit. Books on display are children’s books, reference materials, art books, classic literature, and religious materials. While miniature books have been published as small as ¼” x ¼”, our smallest text on display is Holy Bible: contains a portion of the New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which measures 1.13″ x 1.5″. Books measure from this size to just over the Library of Congress limit for miniature books, at 4″, with Robert Burns’ Tam o’Shanter measuring 4.3″ x 3.5″. Also noteworthy is Special Collections’ oldest volume in this exhibit, written by Emperor Justinian I in 1667, Imperatoris Ivstiniani Institvtionvm Libri IV. Publication dates range 337 years, from Emperor Justinian’s work to contemporary art works, published as recently as 2004.

For more information about miniature books, or a list of Special Collections titles on display, please visit: http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/specialcollections/exhibits/mini_index.htm, or call the Special Collections Reading Room at (573) 882-0076.

Electronic access to journals is cost-effective and convenient, but as library collections become more electronic, the question of long-term future access to this material has arisen. MU Libraries has taken an important step to ensure that its users will always have access to its electronic journals by entering into an agreement with Portico, a not-for-profit service launched in 2005 that offers a permanent archive of electronic scholarly journals.

“Our relationship with Portico means that MU Libraries can continue to expand electronic access to information, which is increasingly the preferred format of our users, while also maintaining our traditional preservation function, which is vital to many researchers,” stated Jim Cogswell, Director of Libraries. “The libraries have dramatically increased online journal access for our users in the past year, and we now have subscriptions for over 8,000 Internet journals from the top science, medical, and social science publishers. The journals made available through Science Direct, Wiley InterScience, SpringerLink, and Sage will all be protected through the Portico service.”

Portico provides all libraries supporting the archive with campus-wide access to archived content when a publisher stops operation, ceases to publish a title, no longer offers back issues, or for some other reason the content is no longer available from the publisher or other source. To date, over 5,300 journals have been promised to the Portico archive, and over 175 libraries are participating in the archive. Portico is actively receiving content from publishers and is engaged in carefully converting this content to an archival format and depositing it into the Portico archive.

The MU Libraries serve a student body of 28,000 plus a faculty of 1,800, and have a collection of 3.2 million print volumes, 35,000 journal titles (in print or online) and 7.4 million microforms. With an annual budget of $12.5 million, the Libraries support the instruction, research, service, and economic development missions of the University of Missouri-Columbia. By acquiring scholarly resources, developing innovative services, and applying new information technologies, the MU Libraries fulfill their primary purpose: to serve users. MU Libraries Web site is at the following address:

http://mulibraries.missouri.edu.

The University of Missouri-Columbia Libraries is proud to be one of 63 libraries nationwide selected by the American Library Association to host Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation.

Forever Free is a traveling panel exhibit that reexamines President Lincoln’s efforts toward the abolition of slavery during the Civil War. Organized by The Huntington’s John Rhodehamel, Norris Foundation Curator of American Historical Manuscripts, the exhibit consists of reproductions of rare historical documents from The Huntington’s collections and those of the Gilder Lehrman Institute, and draws on the latest scholarship in the field.

Please visit http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/about/events/foreverfree/ for more information.

COLUMBIA, MO – The University of Missouri – Columbia Libraries house many old, rare, and unique books. Because of their age and rarity, these materials require special care. The William T. Kemper Foundation of Kansas City, MO has awarded a grant of $200,000 to help the MU Libraries establish a program to provide this special care.

“We are profoundly grateful to the Kemper Foundation for awarding this grant,” stated Jim Cogswell, Director of Libraries. “With this award, the MU Libraries will, for the first time, be able to provide proper care for our rare books and other artifacts.”

The grant, payable in equal installments over three years, will be used to fund necessary staffing and operational support for the initial phase of a new conservation program in the Libraries. Ultimately, the MU Libraries plan to create a comprehensive program that will provide for the preservation of endangered artifacts and the restoration of deteriorated materials to ensure continued access to these collections by future generations of scholars.

The Libraries plan to engage a consultant to oversee a needs assessment in the Rare Books and Special Collections department and to identify priority requirements within the department. In addition to paying for a consultant, the grant funds will be used to purchase equipment and supplies deemed necessary to protect and preserve the collections.

Grant funds will also be used to augment the recently-announced Friends of the Libraries Adopt-a-Book program. This program will allow individual donors to support the restoration or conservation of specific books in the MU Libraries collections. Funds from the Kemper Foundation grant will match donations made to the Adopt-a-Book program over the next three years. In this way, private donors will be encouraged to support the long-term conservation efforts of the Libraries.

For more information about rare books and special collections at the MU Libraries, visit
http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/specialcollections/. For further information about the Friends’ Adopt-A-Book Program, contact Gena Scott at scottgl@missouri.edu or (573) 882-4701.

The MU Libraries serve a student body of 28,000 plus a faculty of 1,800, with collections of 3.2 million print volumes, 35,000 journal titles (both in print and online), and 7.4 million microforms. With an annual budget of $12.5 million, the Libraries support the instruction, research, service and economic development missions of the University of Missouri-Columbia. By acquiring scholarly resources, developing innovative services, and applying new information technologies, the MU Libraries fulfill their primary purpose: to serve the information needs of users. MU Libraries’ website is at the following address: http://mulibraries.missouri.edu.

The William T. Kemper Foundation — Commerce Bank, Trustee was established in 1989, following Mr. Kemper’s death. The Foundation is dedicated to continuing Mr. Kemper’s lifelong interest in improving the human condition and quality of life. Its philanthropic areas of focus include education, health and human services, civic improvements and the arts.