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CRRA Update September 2010

CRRA Update
SEPTEMBER 2010

In this update …

  • CRRA Welcomes Three New Members
    • Duquesne University, Laverna Saunders
    • Loyola Marymount University, Kristine Brancolini
    • University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto & Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Jonathan Bengtson
  • Digital Access Committee (DAC) News
  • Member meetings in January and March – Mark your calendars!


CRRA Welcomes Duquesne University, Loyola Marymount University, and University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto & Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies!

We are pleased to announce the addition of three new members.   Following is brief information about our newest members, their collections and leadership.   A warm welcome to all!

[Watch for the welcome to Dominican University and University of San Francisco in October.]

New Member Highlights

Our new members bring a rich array of rare and unique resources to the CRRA.  Collection highlights and introductions to their member library deans/directors follow.  A warm welcome to all, we look forward to getting to working with you!

The Gumberg Library at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA)

  • Spiritan Collection http://digital.library.duq.edu/cdm-spiritan/.
    Many of the primary and secondary writings of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit.
  • Papers of Cardinal John J. Wright and Vatican IIhttp://www.duq.edu/archives/index.cfm
    Includes the Cardinal’s addresses, papers, sermons, writings, and personal library, with substantial material from Vatican Council II.
  • Pittsburgh Catholic Newspaper http://digital.library.duq.edu/cdm-pc/ .
    Duquesne University has continuously microfilmed the Pittsburgh Catholic since its inception in 1844. To convert the Pittsburgh Catholic to digital format, Gumberg Library started with volume 1 issue 1 and will continue to digitize the newspaper from the oldest volumes to the newest volumes. Currently, the first 20 years covering from March 16, 1844 through 1864 are available by browsing or searching the full-text.

Laverna Saunders has served as University Librarian at Duquesne University since 2002 and worked at Salem State College, UNLV, DePauw University, Union College and Drew University over the course of her career.

She is a member of the PALCI Board and currently chairs LLAMA BES.  She has served on various ACRL committees over the years. She is a book reviewer for Technicalities, serves on the editorial board of Technical Services Quarterly, and has written articles and edited three books on the evolution of the virtual library. Her email address is [email protected].


Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles, CA)

Kristine R. Brancolini is Dean of the Library at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles. Prior to her arrival at LMU in July 2006, she had been a librarian at Indiana University in Bloomington for more than twenty years, where she held a number of positions.  From 1998–2006, she was the Director of the Digital Library Program (www.dlib.indiana.edu); during that time she was principal investigator on numerous digitization projects with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the U.S. Department of Education.  In August 2009, LMU opened a new library, the William H. Hannon Library, located on a bluff overlooking Marina del Rey and the Pacific Ocean.  The library has recently launched a number of new initiatives, including a Digital Library Program and a series of nearly 50 public programs in the library and elsewhere on campus.


University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto & Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies

 

  • The Chesterton Collection includes over 3000 volumes connected with the life and work of the English journalist, G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936). It embraces virtually all the works of Chesterton. The collection also includes original sketches, complete microfiche of his personal papers, and the papers of John O'Connor (1870 - 1952), the Catholic priest who became the model for Chesterton's character "Father Brown".
  • Henri J.M. Nouwen Archives and Research Collection documents the life and work of Henri J.M. Nouwen (1932-1996) and includes the vast majority of Nouwen's manuscripts and published works, as well as secondary material in all formats about Nouwen.
  • Archives of the Faith and Sharing Federation / Foi et Partage, a bilingual Catholic organization with a mandate to deepen and foster the experience of Christian community through week long retreats.
  • The Counter-Reformation Collection includes over 3500 volumes of primary source materials showing the Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation up to the time of the French Revolution.
  • The Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies library has one of the largest primary and secondary source collections of medieval documentation in North America.

The library is also a lead partner in the development of the Humanities Knowledge Kiosk . The software has been applied to Newman’s works and is in development for Lonergan, Nouwen and Chesterton.

Jonathan Bengtson is the Director of Library and Archives for the University of St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, and a Fellow of the College and the Institute.  Educated in California, Oxford and London, he has held various senior positions in academic, research, and nonprofit libraries in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom—including Executive Director of the Providence Athenaeum (founded in 1753) in Providence, Rhode Island; Head Librarian of the Queen’s College, Oxford (founded in 1341); and, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources at the University of Toronto. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing and the Multicultural History Society of Ontario. Since 2004, Jonathan has been the coordinator for the University of Toronto’s partnership with the Open Content Alliance and Microsoft Live Books mass digitization projects. He is actively involved, and one of the key collaborators, in a partnership with Crivella West Inc. of Pittsburgh to apply advanced textual linguistic analysis to public domain and in-copyright digital texts.  He is also writing a book for University of Toronto Press on an introduction to medieval manuscripts.


Digital Access Committee News

The Digital Access Committee met on September 2 to discuss topics 3 and (data input and ingestion; search functionality and display from the CRRA Strategic Plan Draft: Goals for 2010/2011.  (Minutes from CRRA meetings are available to all members.  Contact Pat for login and password to CRRA documents.)

Eric Frierson (St. Edward’s) and Wei Zhang (Georgetown) Join the CRRA Digital Access Committee (DAC)

The Digital Access Committee (DAC), under the leadership of Tom Leonhardt, welcomes two new members.  Eric Frierson of St. Edward’s University and Wei Zhang of Georgetown University bring technological expertise that will help us to move forward with development of the Catholic portal. Welcome, Eric and Wei!


Mark your calendars …
We have tentatively set the date for a CRRA reunion and meetings during ALA Midwinter in San Diego and for our Annual All-members Meeting during ACRL in Philadelphia.

Please reserve space on your calendars nowThursday, January 6, 2011 and Tuesday, March 29, 2011. For the March 29, 2011 meeting, plan to join your CRRA colleagues for dinner on Monday evening and dinner on Tuesday as well for all who can.  We will organize the day to include both separate Board and committee retreats and plenary sessions for all.

Further details will be distributed in future Updates, the CRRA Blog, and email.


All CRRA events and events of possible interest to members are posted to the CRRA calendar, available at http://tiny.cc/Calendar798 and also accessible from the Admin area of the CRRA website.

Check our progress and news on the CRRA blog: http://www.catholicresearch.net/blog/.


CRRA Update is an electronic newsletter distributed via email each month to provide members with an update of CRRA activities.  Please contact us at 575.631.1324 or email [email protected] with your questions, comments, or news to share.

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