The cooler, drier weather, though not unwelcome,
always gave Marge fly aways.
Micrographia restaurata, London 1745
Rare Folio QH271 .H8
Resources and Services
Revelations
Original image taken from Album Lokner : artes y letras 1898, Madrid.
Fridays @ the Library Workshop, Business Plan Essentials
Sept. 26 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Room 213, Ellis Library
Learn about resources, data, and services available to use in your business plans. We’ll cover free online sources as well
as those available to people with a current MU ID.
Gwen Gray, Business Librarian
Registration Preferred. http://tinyurl.com/MULibrariesworkshops
New Quiet Study Area on the First Floor of Ellis Library!
A new quiet study area opened on the first floor of Ellis Library. Room 156 – formerly a work room in the West Reference office area for graduate students and library staff – has been converted into public space for quiet study. It is available for quiet study all hours that Ellis library is open. Thanks to funds from the Student Fee Capital Improvement Committee, the room was repainted and now has eight tables and seating for about 26 people. Check out the lovely new study space!
Carroll’s Wonderland Menagerie
"And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!"
With an imagination as great as Lewis Carroll's was, it's no wonder he was able to create such a range of creatures to inhabit the appropriately named Wonderland. In addition to the Jabberwock above, Wonderland is home to a host of bizzare beings. Most famously, perhaps, is the Cheshire Cat, who appears and disappears to give Alice some cryptic advice from time to time.
Other denizens of Wonderland are the toves, mome raths, and borogroves; talking flowers, a mock turtle, and even a caterpillar that smokes a hookah while dispensing even more crytpic advice to poor Alice.
More fabulous beasts from the mind of Lewis Carroll can be found by visiting us at Special Collections! (Perhaps you might stop by on a hunt for the elusive Snark?)
Traveling Exhibition Tells the Story of Abraham Lincoln’s Struggle to Meet the Constitutional Challenges of the Civil War
“Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” a traveling exhibition opening at the MU Law Library on September 18, 2014 examines how President Lincoln used the Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the Civil War—the secession of Southern states, slavery and wartime civil liberties. The MU Libraries and the MU Law Libraries are co-hosting the exposition.
Lincoln is widely acknowledged as one of America’s greatest presidents, but his historical reputation is contested. Was he a calculating politician willing to accommodate slavery, or a principled leader justly celebrated as the Great Emancipator? This exhibition provides no easy answers. Rather, it encourages visitors to form a nuanced view of Lincoln by engaging them with Lincoln’s struggle to reconcile his policy preferences with basic American ideals of liberty and equality. This exhibition develops a more complete understanding of Abraham Lincoln as president and the Civil War as the nation’s gravest constitutional crisis.
Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860, at a time when the nation was on the brink of war. Lincoln struggled to resolve the basic questions that divided Americans at the most perilous moment in the nation’s history: Was the United States truly one nation, or was it a confederacy of sovereign and separate states? How could a country founded on the belief that “all men are created equal” tolerate slavery? In a national crisis, would civil liberties be secure? President Lincoln used the Constitution to confront these three crises of war, ultimately reinventing the Constitution and the promise of American life.
“We are delighted to have been selected as a site for this exhibition,” said Jim Cogswell, Director of Libraries. The Director of MU’s Law Library, Randy Diamond is equally pleased with the opportunity to co-host this exposition. “As a new president, Abraham Lincoln was faced with enormous challenges. This exhibition shows how Lincoln struggled with issues of secession, slavery and civil liberties—all questions our country’s founding charter left unanswered. Each section of the exhibit features information about a different aspect of Lincoln’s presidency. For example, the section about slavery examines the various policy options Lincoln once embraced and how his thoughts about slavery evolved over time. Most importantly, the exhibit helps visitors understand why Lincoln’s struggle with the Constitution still matters today.”
The National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office organized the traveling exhibition, which was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): great ideas brought to life. The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center.
The traveling exhibition is composed of informative panels featuring photographic reproductions of original documents, including a draft of Lincoln’s first inaugural speech, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment.
The libraries are sponsoring free programs and other events for the public in connection with the exhibition. “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War” will be on display at the law library until October 31, 2014.
Lincoln and the Constitution Exhibit and Events
Liberal Education Conversation Event Will Take Place Today, Chancellor Wallace Unable to Particiapte
The following event will gone on as scheduled, but former Chancellor Richard Wallace will be unable to participate for personal reasons.
Is ‘Liberal’ Education Out of Style? – a conversation with former Chancellor Richard Wallace, UM President Emeritus Mel George and Interim Deputy Provost Patricia Okker
Stotler Lounge, Memorial Union
3-4 pm, September 16, 2014
Reception of light refreshments immediately following
This event is sponsored by the MU Libraries on the occasion of the 175th Anniversary Commemorative Week.
The word “liberal” has a nomenclature problem – it carries baggage for some people because of its political connotations. What does a “liberal education” really mean? The origin of the word is the Latin word “liber” (free), and the history of the concept goes back at least as far as ancient Greece. A common misunderstanding is that the concept describes specific subject matter (such as “Great Books”); but a liberal education is less about specific subject matter content than about the goals and emphases of the education. For example, a liberal education carries public benefit, not simply private benefit.
There are many threats and challenges to liberal education today, including financial pressures and vocationalism. In this conversation, two highly regarded MU educators lay out compelling reasons suggesting that a liberal education is even more important today than in the past and promote the idea that its continued vitality and central role in American higher education should be ensured.
Theodore Roosevelt-Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter
This limited edition was signed by Theodore Roosevelt!
Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter by Theodore Roosevelt
Published 1905, New York
Digital preservation: Why is this important to me?
Journalists are dependent upon access to back files for research and context, but those back files may no longer be there. Almost all news content created in the U.S. today is digital, but digital content is even more fragile than print.
Read more at the Reynolds Journalism Institute blog: Digital preservation: Why is this important to me?