The Proper Way to Remove a Staple...

... Involves a spatula.

Seriously, that's what the tool is called. It looks like a miniature spatula, and although it makes the staple-removing process cleaner, it also makes it more arduous.

This, among other things, I learned at a special "crash course" that took place this past Saturday on the conservation and preservation of rare materials and museum artifacts. The two instructors gave very interesting presentations, one of which was on "conservation concerns," meaning things like insect poo, vermin and pest management, disaster plans, the hazards posed by visitors, moving giant ceramic Chinese horses so they can be transported to the next city on their world tour, and safe lighting for artwork. The other focused on rare books and paper conservation. We learned a bit of the history of paper (for example tumors that grow on trees, called "galls," cause discoloration and deterioration of paper) and the proper techniques to use in ordering and organizing archival material. These included removing both metal and plastic paper clips, unfolding folded sheets, and as I mentioned, staple-removal. Then we got to practice these on as-yet unprocessed archival files.

Overall, a very fun and unique way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

King James and Gutenberg are Together at the Fisher Library!

Somehow I never arrive at these things directly. I suppose it's more fun to find out about them indirectly...

Went to the opening of the exhibit on the King James Bible that is currently on display at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, and have seen the amazing variations in form that the Bible has taken over the centuries. In the context of research for another project, I came across this:





On a side note, very proud of my computer skills, since I just figured out which part of the embedding code creates the green color of the play bar on the bottom of the video! Okay, so it was cutting and pasting, but reading coding languages is like reading Greek for me.

Anyway, if you're in Toronto, and you haven't checked it out yet, go see the exhibit at the Fisher - they have the really big Bibles (and a page from the Gutenberg press, ask to see that one) and really really little Bibles, pop-ups, cartoons, ancient languages and more!

If you can't get to Toronto before June 3, listen to PJ Carefoote talk about it here:

An Informal Book Review

I recently started a new book, one which I found at the library where I volunteer. You may remember it from this post. One day, as I was putting books back on the shelves where they belonged, I straightened up some of the books already on the shelves, and came across a title I'd found (serendipitously) on The Great Internet. Which I almost immediately put on my To-Read List. Here it is, in its lovely hardcover jacket.

I haven't finished the book yet (as I should, before I post a review, but does anyone mind?)

This book reminds me of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (a favorite of mine). The narrative travels through time, and follows several individuals who play a role in the rescue of the Sarajevo Haggadah over the past 6 centuries. It opens with the main protagonist, a young Australian book conservator in 1996, who gets asked to recently war-torn, tense Sarajevo to conserve the text. She finds an insect's wings and other anomalies in the book. Her search for the history of the book itself, and how it has survived over the centuries, leads to the other narratives, the first of which takes place in (again) war-torn Sarajevo, this time the Second World War. This second narrative follows a young, poor Jewish girl in Sarajevo, fighting to survive. Her trials lead her to the kustos of the National Museum, a Muslim with a passion for history and diversity and the kindhearted motivation to save a young Jewish girl.


That's as far as I've gotten, but the writing is beautifully evocative, the plot suspenseful and quick-moving, and the stories engaging.

Sugar High

It's more like a Sugar Crash at this point, but I still remember the giddiness of the high! The library just had a special event that was all about cupcakes. Just cupcakes! I had three. I needed to celebrate turning in four essays in the past week. (Rationalization is key to living a guilt-free life... sometimes).

Having turned in those essays, I have a few days to relax. Not everything this past week was about the essays, though. I've been doing a lot of volunteering and projects with the alumni club and the library.

Yesterday I finally got my first look at the rare books in the library! I wrote useful (I hope they're useful) notes about them, such as their condition, the binding, whether or not anybody had written marginalia in them... Fun stuff, really. Nerdy stuff, too, I guess.

Because I have a big mouth (read: I love sharing and talking about the exciting things I'm doing), I also orientated a friend today, who will be helping me out with the rare books project now, and probably doing some reference desk seat-warming, as well. While I was demonstrating website functions and other such important details, we decided to have another look at the rare books, and pick one out that we thought a likely candidate for some special treatment. Found one in a box that said "fragile" or words to that effect, and, opening it, discovered a text from 1854 (I can't remember the subject) with marginalia. Marginalia! My new obsession. Okay, so there weren't a lot of notes, but the front cover and first blank page did contain a note from the editor to the recipient, who happened to be the editor's father-in-law, or some other in-law, as well as a mark of ownership. Thrilling.

Volunteering Update

Today at Hart House was incredibly busy. Unfortunately, not all of the busywork qualifies as truly productive. I spent the first half of my two hours fighting with Zotero, trying to figure out how to share my library with the Library's library. In the end, I won the fight, but it's frustrating to spend time fussing with technology when I could be cataloging books or hiding them away (that might give you the wrong impression: keep reading for a more detailed description of "hiding them away").

The curator, who tried helping me with my Zotero issues, also asked me to put certain books in a cabinet, in preparation for a forthcoming display in front of the library doors. Evidently the collection includes a host of plays and other drama works donated by the family that brought this library into being in the first half of the twentieth century. So I tripped down to the Hub, or the Information center downstairs, to exchange my life, my ID and other details for a "Harry Potter" key. Never underestimate the pleasure of using an antique key, to open whatever. It's so much more fun than using modern keys!

Also had my first ever interaction with a patron at this library. Not that I was really needed, but sometimes I like to feel helpful, as well as useful.

Before I go, I think I'll add one more un-catalogued book to the short list I've been trying diligently to create.

In future, I hope to finally get started on the rare books project (identifying which are rare, which are not) and possibly train a friend to volunteer! Turns out this volunteering thing has been a much more lucrative and rewarding experience than I anticipated, and I've only worked four shifts!

That's all for now.

Notes on Libraries

Recently, I started volunteering at one of the university's public libraries, in Hart House. A little confusing, that description: to clarify, it's a university-affiliated library that is open to the public.

Two hours a week isn't much time, but I have already remembered how soothing re-shelving, straightening, and re-organizing books can be. In addition, the library itself (atmosphere, architecture, temperature) helps refresh my attitude and de-stress. For those who have never been, this is where I volunteer:

I've just realized I never put up an image of where I had class last semester - another beautiful library at U of T. Belatedly, here's an image of the Fisher: 

To get back to this library, it's kind of a hidden spot where many come to nap, study and read. 

I wouldn't want you to think that all library work is re-shelving, organizing and straightening, though. I've been given several projects that are much more interesting, if not as relaxing. I've the opportunity to practice my newly-learned cataloging skills, and to work with rare books (determining whether or not they're rare, and if so, deaccessioning them and sending them to the Fisher above. It's all very exciting. 

I just spent a half an hour reading a section of a book I never would have picked up, had it not been waiting for classification and cataloging, and which I fully intend to investigate further. Enter contentment.