news – Page 9 – RBSC at ND

Upcoming Events: December and January

Rare Books and Special Collections will be closed for Christmas and New Year’s Break (December 24, 2015, through January 5, 2016). We remain open for our regular hours during Reading Days and Exams, and welcome those looking for a quiet place to study.

In January, RBSC will be host to the exhibit First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, on tour from the Folger Shakespeare Library. Notre Dame marks the official first stop of the First Folio national tour and exhibit. Shakespeare at Notre Dame, along with faculty from the College of Arts and Letters, and members of the distinguished Shakespeare residency company Actors from the London Stage will also host the “Folio Fridays” Lecture Series, performances, workshops, and special displays throughout the month of January to complement this momentous occasion.

The exhibit will open on Wednesday, January 6 with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Special Collections is testing new hours during Fall 2015

From September 1st through December 10th, Special Collections will be open until 7:00 p.m. on Thursdays, instead of 5:00 p.m. Please submit your paging requests on Thursdays by 5:30 p.m. — in person, by phone (631-0290) or online.

A decision about our Spring 2016 hours will be made in the fall based on the feedback we receive from our patrons.

RBMS 2015

by Julie Tanaka, Curator, Special Collections, Western European History Librarian.

Natasha Lyandres and Julie Tanaka attended the 56th Annual Rare Books and Manuscript Section (RBMS) Conference on June 21-24, 2015 in Oakland and Berkeley, CA. This year’s conference, “Preserve the Humanities! Special Collections as Liberal Arts Laboratory,” was devoted to the roles special collections libraries have undertaken to shape teaching and research in the liberal arts. Natasha and Julie spent three-and-a-half days attending workshops, paper panels, and seminars as well as networking with rare book vendors, conservators, faculty, archivists, curators, librarians, and other rare book and special collections professionals. Here are some of the topics they learned about:

digital infrastructure and curating digital exhibits for special collections libraries
engaged collection development
special collections as the liberal arts laboratory
digital humanities and special collections: tools, challenges, and opportunities
creating new partnerships with faculty, campus offices, and outside organizations
leveraging technology to create virtual research environments

RBMS is a section of the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).