Faculty Colloquium: Xijuan Zhou

Please join us on Thursday, November 12, at 4:10 p.m. at this URL:

https://willametteuniversity.zoom.us/j/99528980805

for our fifth Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Title: Rituals and Beliefs Reflected in Pre-Historic Burials in Xinjiang
Presenter: Xijuan Zhou, Associate Professor of Religious Studies

Xijuan Zhou

Abstract:  In recent years, archeologists in Xinjiang, China, excavated a prehistoric burial site Xiaohe. Rich relics, including well-preserved mummies were found from this site. The present project tries to examine both cultural and textual information from this region and tries to interpret some of the burial practices from this site from the perspectives of early shamanic beliefs and practices.

Come join the discussion!

Bill Kelm and Kathryn Nyman
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators


COVID: Experience, Thoughts and Feelings

By Susan Irwin, University Archivist smirwin@willamette.edu

We are living in an unprecedented moment in history. While we are experiencing the pandemic together, each of us is experiencing this pandemic in our own unique way. In line with our charge to collect, preserve and make available records of enduring value relating to Willamette University, the Archives and Special Collections invites you — Willamette students, staff and faculty — to submit original created works that capture your current experiences, thoughts, challenges and feelings.

Hatfield Library’s archivists and librarians will curate these submissions into a digital exhibition, “COVID: Experiences, Thoughts and Feelings.” This project is by and for our community. Eventually, the collection’s accessibility will broaden, so that decades from now, it can be used for exploration and scholarship into the impact of the pandemic on our lives.

Express yourself in a medium that best encapsulates your unique lived experience including sketches, audio recordings of music, videos of dance performances, photographs, poems, stories and essays. Full guidelines and the submission forms are available online.

If you’re not ready for your submission to be shared today, you may add it to a historical collection that won’t be released until 2025. Do not submit works you want to remain private. You retain the right to ask us to remove your submissions in the future.

If you’d like to make an anonymous submission, donate a physical item (e.g. written diary, sketch, etc.), or have other questions, please contact University Archivist Susan Irwin.

Thank you for helping us preserve this moment in history.


Faculty Colloquium: Sexual Citizenship and New Conceptions of Sex Ed at Willamette and Beyond

Please join us on Thursday, November 5, at 4:10 p.m. at this URL:

https://willametteuniversity.zoom.us/j/99851761064

for our fourth Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Title: Sexual Citizenship and New Conceptions of Sex Ed at Willamette and Beyond
Faculty Presenters: Joyce Millen (Anthropology and Public Health), Omari Weekes (English, African American Studies, and Queer Studies)
Omari WeekesJoyce Millen

Student Presenters: Sophie Bunch (English and PPLE), Lily Clancy (Biochemistry), Claire Johnson (Public Health and Biology), Rose Linville (Environmental Science), Surya Lee (Environmental Science and Public Health), Mo Stein (Archeology)

Abstract:  This special faculty colloquium will be presented by the eight members of the 2020 Liberal Arts Research Collaborative (LARC) devoted to exploring new conceptions of sexual citizenship and collegiate level sex education.

The LARC team worked throughout summer and into fall to explore how Willamette and other colleges and universities in the United States are responding to the needs and demands of their students and the ever changing requirements mandated by federal statute. The presentation will highlight key findings from the research collaboration along with nine recommendations for concrete ways Willamette can improve efforts to prevent sexual assault, enhance interpersonal relations, and promote sexual health.

Come join the discussion!

Bill Kelm and Kathryn Nyman
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators


Faculty Colloquium: Katherine Skovira

Please join us on Thursday, October 29, at 4:10 p.m. at this URL:

https://willametteuniversity.zoom.us/j/99828523083

for our third Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Title: Social Justice, Mindset and Design: Arts and Advocacy
Presenter: Katherine Skovira, Zeller Chair in Opera Studies, Director of Voice Studies, Director of Dramatic Vocal Arts

Katherine Skovira

Abstract:  This event looks at ways we may begin to address current social issues and challenges that lie ahead in the classical contemporary music industry, and looks forward toward advocacy in the upcoming 11/5 Hub New Music performance and a Spring 2021 campus appearance by artist-activist Nicole Paris. Katherine Skovira will detail recent and upcoming projects and key developments in the contemporary classical music industry.

Bill Kelm and Kathryn Nyman
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators


Faculty Colloquium: Melissa Marks

Please join us on Thursday, October 8, at 4:10 p.m. at this URL:

https://willametteuniversity.zoom.us/j/93049348010

for our second Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Title: Functional Annotation of TonB Dependent Receptors Involved in Stress Resistance – Results and Reflections from a Cross-Institutional Collaboration

Presenter: Melissa Marks, Associate Professor of Biology

Melissa Marks

Abstract:  Vitamins and minerals are critical for proper functioning of all living organisms. Maintaining the proper balance of minerals, or metal ions, is critical for resistance to stress caused by normal metabolic processes. In Gram negative bacteria, metal transport across the outer membrane is often facilitated by members of a diverse and poorly understood family of surface proteins known as TonB-Dependent Receptors/Transporters (TBDRs). In the aquatic bacterium Caulobacter crescentus, multiple lines of evidence suggest that several predicted, but uncharacterized, TBDRs are important for metal ion homeostasis. In collaboration Lisa Bowers, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Biology, St. Olaf College) and our students, we are in the process of functionally annotating this group of TBDRs by characterizing their substrates, physiological roles, and genetic regulation. In this presentation, I will provide a big picture overview of our scientific endeavors. I’ll also share my reflections on establishing a new cross-institution collaboration and some of the unexpected benefits of doing collaborative science in an undergraduate research environment.

Bill Kelm and Kathryn Nyman
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators


Faculty Colloquium: Rosa León Zayas

Please join us on Thursday, October 1, at 4:10 p.m. at this URL:

https://willametteuniversity.zoom.us/j/95698064708

for our first Faculty Colloquium of this semester.

Title: Going Deeper: Microbial Diversity and Metabolic Potential in the Marine Deep Biosphere

Presenter: Rosa León Zayas, Assistant Professor of Biology

Rosa Zayas

Abstract:  Exploration of the deep ocean has expanded our understanding of oceanic ecosystems, including continental margins and mid-ocean ridges, and yet still little is known about these deep sites on Earth. Some of the most poorly understood ecosystems are subsurface environments, particularly as it pertains to the distribution of archaea and their associated metabolic abilities. In this presentation, I will share an overview of some of the work I conducted during my junior research leave, which includes the discussion of a recently published analysis of the archaeal community structure and their potential ecological roles, and preliminary results on our most recently NSF funded work on PET Plastic degrading bacteria. Overall, this research seeks to reveal the metabolic potential of novel archaeal lineages, which significantly contributes to our overall understanding of the ecosystem function of subsurface sedimentary environments.Additionally, by studying the metabolic capacity of microorganisms that degrade PET Plastic, we can better understand their mechanisms for degrading one of the largest sources of pollutants, single use plastics, with the ultimate goal of building upon that potential to generate a more efficient degradation process in order to eventually assist with the reduction of this man made environmental pollutant.

Bill Kelm and Kathryn Nyman
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators


Fall Update

Welcome to the Mark O. Hatfield Library (MOHL). We are thrilled to welcome all Bearcats, new and returning, as well as students and colleagues from CST. For some of you this update will reflect some changes to the way you are used to us doing things and for others it will be an introduction to us. For comprehensive information about the building, services, collections and policies please visit our website at http://library@willamette.edu.

Building:

The maximum occupancy of the MOHL is 100 people until further notice. Access to the building is restricted to current students, staff and faculty of Willamette University and Claremont School of Theology. Bring your ID card as a card swipe is required for access. Given campus rules and occupancy restrictions we can not welcome guests, children, spouses, etc. Circulation Desk

Fall hours reflect our attempts to balance student academic needs against employee and student health concerns. Hours may be adjusted as the campus and community health situation change.

August 17th to August 21st, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Regular hours (including the Fishbowl) starting on August 24th:

Monday to Thursday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Archives hours are by appointment only.

• Group and individual study rooms will be closed until further notice.

• Masks are required and seating has been arranged and marked so as to encourage social distancing of at least 6 feet.

• Closed container beverages are permitted but eating is prohibited until further notice. Water fountains have been shut off until further notice.

Circulation:

• Desk hours are the same as for the library.

• Please note that for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis, physical reserves have been suspended.

• Summit and ILL are active, but many higher education institutions are not yet participating.

• All items removed from the shelves, returned, or ordered vial ILL or Summit will be quarantined for 72 hours before being available. Please take account of this delay and plan accordingly.

• Contactless check out will remain available for those that request it in the front vestibule. You may access the vestibule with your valid ID 24 hours/day.

Reference and Instruction:

The majority of reference and instruction interactions will be virtual in the fall. We will use chat and Zoom for most of these interactions. Don’t worry if you don’t have a device with Zoom with you, we have workstations set up in the library you can use.

More details can be found on the library’s website. https://library.willamette.edu/

Collection Update:

Just a reminder that over the summer the majority of the bound periodicals moved to offsite storage. You can request articles using our ILL infrastructure.

The collection of monographs and thesis we received from CST arrived over the summer, are shelved as their own collection on the first floor of the library, and are available for browsing and borrowing. They may be found via our online catalog.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us at library@willamette.edu or 503-370-6018 with any questions.


Digital Collections for Remote Research

By Stepanie Milne-Lane, Processing Archivist and Records Manager smilnelane@willamette.edu

Since the ongoing public health crisis forced the Hatfield Library to transition its services in March, the Willamette University (WU) Archives & Special Collections has missed the students, staff, faculty, and community members that frequently walked through our door.

We know that remote research comes with challenges — Not everything is digitized and there is something satisfying about opening a box and systematically going through archival folders. Over the years, the WU Archives & Special Collections has made steady progress in creating digital collections. Each of our four collecting areas boasts digital collections that are ripe for research.

Parsons Sketch

Eunice Parsons, “Sketchbook 1, Image 5,” Willamette University Archives

The WU University Archives & Records has numerous digitized collections that are keyword searchable and hold the key to WU’s history. Popular digitized collections include The Wallulah, 1903-2006 (student yearbook), The Collegian, 1875-2020 (student newspaper), WU Student Handbooks, 1892-2020, and Catalogs and Bulletins, 1860-2007. Also available are materials relating to Freshman Glee, one of Willamette’s longest running – and most beloved – traditions.

A collaborative project of the WU Archives & Special Collections and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, the Pacific Northwest Artists Archive (PNAA) is a collection of materials related to the careers of artists who are or were active in Oregon and Washington. Digitized PNAA collections include an Eunice Parsons online exhibit that explores and considers the development of Parsons’ more popular style through the lens of her personal sketchbooks.

People exercising in an empty Sparks Pool.

Exercise Class in Sparks Pool, Undated, Campus Photograph Collection.

WU’s extensive Political Papers contain photographs, memorabilia and audiovisual materials of elected individuals representing Oregon at the state and national level. The digitized Norma Paulus Scrapbooks offers a glimpse into Paulus’s campaigns and legislative work.

Rounding our holdings are the Personal Papers, which include manuscript collections, diaries, and the correspondence with a focus on individuals involved in regional missionary work, settling Salem, and developing Willamette University. The digitized Suffrage Era Scrapbook is worth exploring, as it contains poetry, comedic articles and satire, cartoons, articles about women’s suffrage — which celebrates its 100th anniversary in August — and news bulletins about the 1918 Influenza pandemic.

Hatfield Library in 1986

Hatfield Library in 1986

Although our door hasn’t opened and closed as frequently over the past four months, the Archives is anything but quiet. Susan Irwin joined the Hatfield Library team and is spearheading the processing of Senator Mark O. Hatfield’s papers. Staff also completed processing associated with the NHPRC and LSTA grants. We can’t wait to see you, but in the meantime, we hope that our digital collections might come in useful. We are always here to assist with any and all questions you might have. We look forward to having you walk through our door again in the future!


Summer Service Update

Based on COVID-19 related restrictions and staffing limitations the Hatfield Library’s services for the summer are significantly different than in past years:

The Building is closed to visitors until further notice
Services are currently restricted to Willamette Faculty, Staff, & Students


Access to library resources:

 

    • Requests for monographs and other physical materials held by the Willamette University Libraries may be emailed to library@willamette.edu. Please provide a full citation for any items. We will retrieve the item and email instructions on how to pick it up.

 

    • Requests for articles held in our physical periodical collections or for articles to be requested from other institutions may be submitted via our Interlibrary Loan  form, but fulfillment may be delayed.

 

    • Summit (currently closed) and other ILL services for physical items are suspended until further notice.

 


Reference Services:

  • We will be suspending the liaison model and will be sharing reference duties amongst the librarians working this summer. We ask that requests for reference help be emailed to library@willamette.edu or that you use our consultation form. We hope to be able to help everyone, but given an inevitable temporary loss of capacity and expertise, we will be using the following priorities:
    • Requests from students in active classes (for the summer this is AGSM).
    • All other requests.


Collection Development:

  • Willamette faculty please use our online “suggest a title” form. Given budget constraints, most orders will not be processed until August.  If you need an item earlier, please explain why in the “other” field at the bottom of the form.


University Archives:


Course Integrated Instruction:

  • Willamette faculty may request an instruction session for the fall. Please email Joni Roberts at jroberts@willamette.edu and she will make sure the class gets on our calendars. Your liaison librarian will contact you in August for further details about the session.

 

Please check back at this website library.willamette.edu for updates or email us at library@willamettte.edu with any questions or concerns.


Illuminating Details: Digitizing Rare Books from the Vault

By Doreen Simonsen, Humanities & Fine Arts Librarian dsimonse@willamette.edu

Last year a collection of rare books from the vault of the Hatfield Library was the subject of a course called Digital Humanities Workshop: Voyages of Discovery in the Vault. These books were first or early editions of 18th and 19th-century books about the discovery and exploration of the Pacific Northwest. The exploits of Vitus Bering, Captain James Cook, George Vancouver, Lewis & Clark, and others were described in these books, often by the explorers themselves. Many of these books have also been digitized in various online collections, such as the Internet Archive, Google Books, HathiTrust Digital Library, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and more sites.

As the class worked with these digital versions, they soon learned the differing qualities of digitization in the various collections. Students used digital collections, as well as their own photographs of the actual rare books from the vault, to create online exhibits based on these works. Most digitized sources were fine for this purpose, but some of the digitized works were created from poorly photographed microfilm. Here is an example that shows the worst features of digitized microfilm, uneven page layout, etc. This map at the end of the book is unreadable and broken up over several pages.

Fédix, P A.

Fédix, P A. L’orégon, Et Les Côtes De L’océan Pacifique Du Nord: Aperçu Géographique, Statistique Et Politique : Avec Une Carte Du Pays D’après Les Documens Les Plus Récens. Paris: Amyot, 1846. Internet resource.

Luckily the Hatfield Library owned the print copies of these books, and we were able to create superior digital scans of some of them. The maps included in many of these books were central to the focus of the course, so we were able to request that the library’s digital production lab create high-resolution scans of our original print copy of this book from 1846.

L'orégon Et Les Côtes De L'océan Pacifique Du Nord

Fédix, P A. L’orégon Et Les Côtes De L’océan Pacifique Du Nord: Aperçu Géographique, Statistique Et Politique, Avec Une Carte Du Pays D’après Les Documens Les Plus Récens. Paris: Librairie de Amyot, 1846. Print.

L'orégon Et Les Côtes De L'océan Pacifique Du Nord Now the entire map can be viewed at a glance. A wonderful bonus to this new scan is the ability to capture details of each half of the map by right-clicking with your mouse to “View Image”. Doing this will open the high-resolution tiff (Tagged Image File Format) file of that page. Here is a small detail from the left page of the map showing the author’s vision of the Mouth of the Columbia River being a focal point for all international commerce coming to the Oregon Territory in the 1850’s.

 

 

Heures De Simon Vostre a L'usage De Langres

Pigouchet, Philippe. [Heures De Simon Vostre a L’usage De Langres]. Paris: Printed by Philippe Pigouchet for Simon Vostre, 1502.

Book of Hours printed by Philippe Pigouchet for Simon Vostre

Sample page from Heures De Simon Vostre a L’usage De Langres. 1502.

Another treasure from our vault that was recently scanned in high resolution was a printed book of hours from 1502. Only the Bibliothèque national de France (the National Library of France) and Willamette University own copies of this edition of a Book of Hours printed by Philippe Pigouchet for Simon Vostre, a Parisian publisher.
Books of Hours are prayer books developed for the use of the laity in their private devotions.  They were the bestsellers of the Middle Ages, often adorned with hand-painted illustrations, called illuminations, and printed on vellum, like our own manuscript copy entitled Praecis Piae (Pious Prayers).  Printed Books of Hours included numerous woodblock illustrations in order to compete with illuminated manuscript versions.  Our printed book of hours is resplendent with various kinds of images – on each page!  On this page, showing and describing the suffering of St. Sebastian, the text is surrounded by woodcuts of symbolic animals and grotesques.

A recent graduate in Art History, Kendall Matthews, wrote her senior thesis about the woodblock prints of grotesques that she found in our printed book of hours. Entitled “Grotesques Outside the Margins: A Study of the Cultural Influences of Marginalia and Grotesques Through Heures de Simone Vostre a l’usage de Langres,” her thesis explored the deeper symbolic meanings of a selection of grotesque images from this book, as she demonstrated in this image from her thesis presentation video. (Used with permission of the author).

Morality and Violence

Thanks to the work of the Library’s Digital Production Lab, rare books from the vault are getting a new life in digital form, providing students and scholars from around the world with amazing access to the finer details of these works.