Library News

Comics go to college? What are graphic novels and why have they appeared on this university campus?

Join us on Wednesday, Nov. 11, as an award-winning comics writer, a college professor who teaches graphic novels, a writer-illustrator, and a grad student / comic book writer talk about the world of graphic novels. For those interested in browsing, comics and graphic novels will be on display.

The thought-provoking panel discussion will take place from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Falvey’s first floor lounge. Panelists include Jonathan Maberry, a multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author and Marvel Comics writer; Mary Beth Simmons, M.F.A, director, Villanova Writing Center and ACS faculty member; Matt Phelan, writer and illustrator; and Brian A. Lynch, graduate student, communication department, and amateur comic book writer.

As English professor Karyn Hollis describes her current English course on the graphic novel, “From Superheroes to Manga Plus,” “The graphic novel, an original American art form like jazz, has returned to the literary limelight. From movies, to showcase events and international conferences, the genre is KA-POPPING up all over!” (more…)

Falvey recently acquired the digital edition of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson from the University of Virginia Press. The Jefferson papers are part of the American Founding Era Collection, which includes the papers of other major figures of the early Republic, such as John Adams and George Washington. The digital collection encompasses volumes 1-33 (1760-1801) of the projected 60-volume print edition published by Princeton University Press. The Library has volumes 1-35 of the print edition. Volume 36 is forthcoming in February 2010. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition includes the copious correspondence written and received by Jefferson, as well as his private notes and documents of historical significance, in a fully searchable online environment.

For more information, see Jutta Seibert’s History and Sociology blog entry.

On October 27, Falvey Memorial Library will host the inaugural lecture in the “Alfred F. Mannella and Rose T. Lauria-Mannella Distinguished Speakers Series.” Richard Juliani, Ph.D., sociology department, will describe his four decades of research on the Italian experience in Philadelphia, highlighting both challenges and future opportunities. His talk will begin at 7 p.m.

Alfred S. Mannella

In 1996, Falvey Memorial Library’s friend and supporter Alfred S. Mannella, ‘58 VSB, established two endowed library funds to support the purchase of books and other research materials as memorials to family members.

Now one of those funds will also support a lecture series.

The Speakers series honors Mr. Mannella’s parents, Alfred F. and Rose T. Lauria-Mannella. His father, the son of immigrants, was born in Philadelphia in 1904 and established himself as a tailor. An avid sports fan, he developed an interest in Villanova football starting in the 1930s when Maurice J. “Clipper” Smith was the coach.

His mother was the grandchild of immigrants and grew up in south Philadelphia. (more…)

Two glass cases of botanical prints, next to the first floor elevator, provide a tempting introduction to this visually rich exhibit. Go to the second floor to see the full display of large colorful botanical prints from Flora de Filipinas. Written by Rev. Manuel Blanco, O.S.A., “the premier botanist of the Philippines,” Flora de Filipinas is the culmination of his study of the 1200 plants he collected during his forty years in that country.

The bulk of the exhibit - twelve cases - is on the second floor in front of Special Collections. Here you will find numerous large color prints featuring plants identified by their botanical names; in some, there are also small line drawings of details.

Flora de Filipinas was first published in 1837 and, because of its popularity, a second edition was published in 1845, followed by a third, deluxe seven volume posthumous edition, published between 1877 and 1883. (more…)

Falvey Memorial Library’s Special Collections and Digital Library proudly present the fully digitized autobiographical manuscript of 19th century American Samuel Alanson Lane. Leather-bound and handwritten in ink, this one-of-a-kind manuscript has become a historical gem among the many treasures digitally donated to the Digital Library. But perhaps what is the most priceless feature of this manuscript is the unique insight this autobiography offers historians and history lovers: a depiction of 19th century American life by an average man.

Born on the 15th of June in 1815, Samuel Alanson Lane would become yet another witness to the scientific and technological progress and revolutionary social change that occurred in the 19th century.

Curated by Johanna Hibbs (Father Thomas Middleton Digital Library Intern 2008), with graphic design by Christopher Barr, this fascinating online exhibit includes Lane’s complete digitized manuscript, a transcription of his memoir, the exhibit bibliography, Lane’s biography and a timeline of Lane’s life.

Johanna Hibbs’ commentary, “Oh, the Humanity! Time travel and the search for the “human” in the “history” within the pages of S. A. Lane’s autobiography,” also offers her unique and thoroughly readable perspective as an intern curator.

The Owl, a student magazine published by Phi Kappa Pi, the Engineering honor society, highlighted student life and activities in the engineering community at Villanova College from 1925 to 1933. Recently added to the Digital Library, the volumes can be read online.  

For more information, please visit the Digital Library’s “Blue Electrode” blog entry by Michael Foight.

Who is Elbert Hubbard? Who or what are the Roycrofters? Don’t Google — Visit the new Special Collections exhibit, The Roycrofters: A Little Journey to the Home of Elbert Hubbard for the answers to these questions.

The exhibit begins with the display cases on Falvey’s first floor and continues on the second floor, displaying materials from the Hubbard Collection donated to Special Collections in 1972. This collection consists of over four hundred pieces relating to Elbert G. Hubbard, originally collected by Ray D. Packard and donated to Falvey by his daughter, Shirley A. Stine. There are books, serials and motto cards printed at the Roycrofter press and/or authored by Hubbard and a box of manuscripts and memorabilia.

Much of the Hubbard Collection’s visual beauty can also be enjoyed on the Digital Library site.

The exhibit title derives from the phrase, “A Little Journey …,” which is part of the title of a number of books printed by the Roycroft press, but the exhibit includes far more than its title suggests. In addition to books and pamphlets, the exhibit features periodicals, The Fra and The Philistine, some motto cards, invitations to events at the Roycroft Library (an early example of library outreach programming?), a June - August 1904 guestbook for the Roycroft Inn, and a photograph of the Roycroft Chapel.

This comprehensive and visually appealing exhibit, curated by Bente Polites, Special Collections librarian, and Teri Ann Pirone, Special Collections curatorial assistant, includes, in addition to the objects themselves, well researched information about a man and his colony that are probably not known to most viewers. The exhibit will be on display until May 17.

A special guest article about Falvey’s collection weeding project by Dr. Holly Sanders, history department

The directive of the weeding project boils down to this: keep the essentials in one’s field and rid Falvey of obsolete titles. With mixed feelings I opted to participate.

Perhaps historians, by trade and disposition, balk at purging old books from a library.  The notion that any title could become permanently obsolete borders on heresy in our field.  For example, a book written in the 1980s about the coming economic and military conflict with Japan has little value as a harbinger of the future, but as a primary source– the raw material of history–that book has substantial value because it conveys the fears about Japanese economic power in the 1980s.  This kind of thinking makes historians notorious pack rats when it comes to books.

Despite my misgivings I committed myself to culling the Japanese history collection.  What better way to have a say in what stays and what goes?   And volunteering came with a bonus: we faculty may keep titles we elect to purge from the Falvey collection! (more…)

Driscoll Hall, the new home of the College of Nursing, is also home to the Nursing Historical Book Collection. Attractively displayed behind sliding glass doors, these books and pamphlets collectively tell the story of the nursing profession. Over 200 of the approximately 600 items were donated by Dr. M. Louise Fitzpatrick, Dean of the College, and nearly 400 were transferred from Falvey Memorial Library’s main and special collections.

Taras Ortynsky, Descriptive Services Librarian, supervised the cataloging and processing of the collection, ensuring its availability by October 6, the day of Driscoll Hall’s dedication. Users searching Falvey’s online catalog will be able to identify the books and pamphlets by their location indicator: College of Nursing SPEC-Rm 205-Driscoll Hall. The items are limited to room use only.

One of Falvey’s goals is to catalog collections located throughout the University that have value and could be more effectively discovered through library search tools. Previously cataloged collections that also appear in the Falvey online catalog are the Augustinian Historical Institute, the Nursing Learning Resource Center, the Health Promotion Resource Center and the School of Business information center materials.

In addition to Taras, project coordinator, other Falvey Memorial Library staff members participated: Kathleen O’Connor, co-leader, Technology team and Systems Librarian, as well as Anne Ford and Frances DiLenge, both Academic Integration technical specialists. Barbara Quintiliano, liaison to the College of Nursing, also provided assistance at various stages of the project.

Dr. Fitzpatrick expressed her gratitude for the Library’s continuing support of the College of Nursing and especially for its assistance in making the Nursing Historical Book Collection a reality.

Also contributing to this article: Taras Ortynsky, Natalie Tomasco and Chris Barr

Libraries have always been expensive to operate. Acquiring, managing and storing large collections of print books and bound journals, done on any significant scale, have substantial associated costs. But one of the fuzzier aspects of cost analysis for a library has involved determining the ongoing, annual expense of keeping items in the “warehouse.”

Physical storage is not free. Shelf space has a measurable value, as do the associated support functions of climate control, lighting and inventory tracking. But those indirect costs have always been “below the line” for library operating and acquisitions budgets. Furthermore, physical collections have significant inertia in that they persist in place unless concerted action is taken to remove materials on a regular basis. The upper bound on any given physical collection is determined by square footage and linear feet of shelving in a library building and its associated auxiliary storage facilities.

In the digital world, libraries face an entirely different situation. Each year we license enormous amounts of digital information for academic purposes, much of it at great expense. (more…)