Welcome to the Kenneth Spencer Research Library blog! As the special collections and archives library at the University of Kansas, Spencer is home to remarkable and diverse collections of rare and unique items. Explore the blog to learn about the work we do and the materials we collect.
Trying to decide what you would like to do over the winter holidays? Why not get a head start on your research? Here is a list of the newest finding aids and additions to finding aids available at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library. Please scroll down for images from three of these collections.
Top: “Free the KU Twelve” buttons. Gail J. Hamilton Collection. Call Number: PP 497: Box 1, Folder 26; Left: Letter from Jennie Johnson to Will Johnson, January 26, 1886. Jennie Johnson Collection. Call Number: RH MS P909: Folder 1; Right: Letter from Ernest Boyd to Kenneth Reddin, October, 14, 1936. Kenneth Reddin Collection. Call Number: MS 14: Box 3, Item C1. Click images to enlarge.
Here at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, we take for granted that when you say “Sandy,” people know who you mean. Alexandra (Sandy) Mason (1931-2011) was a distinguished librarian who served the University of Kansas from 1957 until her retirement in 1998. She built special collections of extraordinary research value, guided generations of scholars and librarians, was a leader in the Rare Books and Manuscript Section of the American Library Association, and received numerous awards for her lifetime of accomplishments. More information about her is available here.
In May, 1999, many of her colleagues and friends gathered in Lawrence to mark Sandy’s retirement with a series of tributes appropriately titled Vivat Liber (“Long live the book!”). Upon Sandy’s death, the idea of publishing these tributes again came to mind as a way to honor her memory. It is with great joy and pride that I announce the publication of Vivat Liber: Reflections Marking the Occasion of Alexandra Mason’s Retirement from the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, which was made possible with the assistance of Stuart Roberts, Courtney Foat, Marianne Reed, and Brian Rosenblum.
Left: Vivat Liber: Reflections Marking the Occasion of Alexandra Mason’s Retirement from the Kenneth Spencer Research Library. Editor: Beth Whittaker. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Libraries, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1808/10486. Right: Sandy Mason. 8/14/1998. University Archives. Call Number: RG 41/0: Mason, Alexandra.
Click here to read Vivat Liber through KU Scholarworks.
Have you ever wondered what steps are involved in mounting an exhibit? We recently completed installation of “100 Years of Jayhawks: 1912-2012,” curated by University Archivist Becky Schulte, with assistance from Letha Johnson and Sherry Williams. The exhibit celebrates the evolution of the Jayhawk, the mascot of the University of Kansas, from the first, long-legged version drawn by Hank Maloy to the present design. This is the first exhibit to be mounted in a newly renovated space in Spencer, in the former location of the Special Collections reception area.
Becky Schulte retrieved many items from the stacks and determined the theme of each of the five cases. Assistant Conservator Roberta Woodrick and I covered the exhibit case bases with the cloth Becky had selected. Once the cases were ready, Becky laid out objects in the cases in rough configurations, determining the best location for each item while considering the flow of the exhibition “story.”
Initial layout of materials in the case. Click image to enlarge.
After items were placed in the cases, we constructed mounts for materials in order to elevate, highlight, and soundly support them during the course of the exhibit. For this exhibition we selected archival matboard and Volara polyethylene foam as mount materials, both of which are inert and will not chemically or physically damage objects on display.
University Archivist Becky Schulte positioning an item on matboard within the case.
Click image to enlarge.
Once the labels and mounts were finished, the Jayhawks were placed in the cases. We measured and determined safe lighting levels for the exhibition space to limit light exposure to objects on display.
Finished Product! The final version of one of the exhibition’s five display cases.
Click image to enlarge.
The exhibit will be on open through March and may be viewed during regular Kenneth Spencer Research Library Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm, and (when regular classes are in session) Saturday 12:00pm-4:00pm . Please visit and let us know what you think!
For images from the exhibition’s opening celebration on Wednesday, December 5, please click on the thumbnails below.
Late August marks the one year anniversary of the launch of Aeon at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library. Aeon is an online researcher account system that replaces the library’s old paper registration cards and call slips. All researchers who want to view materials in Spencer’s reading room should create an Aeon researcher account and use it to submit item requests.
Getting started is easier than ever. The library now has two new video tutorials that will help you navigate creating your Aeon account and submitting paging requests.
Video Tutorial on Creating Your Aeon Account:
Video Tutorial on Requesting Items through Aeon:
You may also access these tutorials through the “Library Use and Policies” section of the Kenneth Spencer Research Library website at http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/using-the-library/library-use-and-policies (click on the tab for “Creating an Account and Registering through Aeon”).
Aeon offers several advantages to you as a researcher:
Aeon enables you to have a lasting record of all items you view in our reading room (click on the “All requests” link on the main page of your Aeon Account). This is particularly handy when you want to look at a book or manuscript collection that you’ve examined in the past, but whose precise title or call number you can no longer remember. Gone are the days of “I remember that it was a big blue book with gold ornaments…” Now you can simply login to your account and review what you requested the last time you were here.
Aeon allows you to submit paging requests from the comfort of your own home. In fact, you can even “auto-populate” requests through KU’s online catalog. Simply click on the “Get at Spencer Link” next to the location field in the online catalog record (see image below), and you will be prompted to login to your Aeon account. Once you do, Aeon will automatically transfer information, such as the title and call number, from the catalog record to an item request. All you have to do then is scroll down and click “submit.” Once you arrive on site in our Reading Room and show a photo ID, we will page your request.
Your Aeon account is not tied to your KU online ID, which means that researchers not affiliated with KU can create accounts and that KU faculty and students are able to retain their accounts (and continue to access them!) after they leave KU.
Above: Online catalog record with the “Get at Spencer” link circled in yellow
The system is a great example of how new technology can help facilitate the delightfully hands-on work of conducting research with archives, rare books, and manuscripts. Happy first anniversary, Aeon!
On a hot July morning two Mondays ago, a bus pulled up in front of the Kenneth Spencer Research Library and out stepped seventeen scholars. The erudite visitors were participants in Jane Austen and Her Contemporaries, a five-week NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers held at the University of Missouri and led by Dr. Devoney Looser. After some much-needed tea and victuals in Spencer’s North Gallery (the bus had left Columbia, MO at 5:45 am, after all), the scholars settled in for a day of workshops and research. No time for pianoforte or leisurely games of cards for these visitors! The morning’s activities included sessions with Spencer Library staff addressing genres of documents prevalent during Austen’s time, 18th- and 19th- century handwriting, and reference resources for working with rare books and manuscripts.
Say “Northanger Abbey!”: Participants in the NEH Summer Seminar “Jane Austen and Her Contemporaries”
with Spencer Library staff.
In the afternoon, the scholars retired to the reading room where they threw themselves into conducting research with some of Spencer’s late 18th- and early 19th-century manuscript collections. Read the rest of this entry »
