Abstract:

Exhibit programs can highlight library collections and campus scholarship, illustrating the library’s support of research and encouraging fruitful partnerships with other cultural centers. If done collaboratively, exhibit programs can further assert the library as the physically and intellectual commons of campus. Multimedia exhibitions in libraries and archives have the potential of engaging hundreds of faculty and students and tying together the work of museums, faculty researchers, student projects and community and statewide initiatives. There is also the added benefit of bringing new friends and benefactors into the library, supporting key advancement and development efforts.

Panelists will share ideas and best practices that can help participants:

• Create an effective exhibition plan with university-wide support
• Highlight library collections and bring visibility to existing campus initiatives
• Engage faculty and students by highlighting their research and focusing on topics that integrate into current coursework
• Develop online exhibition sites to promote collections

Session Info:

• Type: Full Panel
• Keywords: libraries, archives, exhibitions
• Relevance:  Exhibition creation can be a labor intensive task and many libraries and archives struggle with the desire/ability to host exhibitions because of this. This session will offer ways to create successful exhibitions.

Panelists:

Cathy Henderson, Associate Director for Exhibitions and Education and Fleur Cowles Executive Curator, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin

Allan Lanham, Dean of Library Services, Eastern Illinois University

Sarah Goodwin Thiel, Digital Imaging Librarian, University of Kansas Libraries (Chair)

Speaker bios:

Cathy Henderson

Cathy Henderson received a B.A. in English from Allegheny College and a Master’s degree in library and information science from The University of Texas at Austin. She has held a number of positions at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, including Research Librarian and Associate Librarian for manuscripts public service. She is now the Associate Director for Exhibitions and Education and Fleur Cowles Executive Curator. She is a past chair of the American Library Association’s Rare Book and Manuscripts Section; co-developer of the WATCH file, a database of contact information for Writers, Artists, and their Copyright Holders; and co-author of the Dictionary of Literary Biography documentary history of the Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. publishing firm.

Allan Lanham

Allen Lanham is Dean of Library Services at Eastern Illinois University and leads the Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries project, an LSTA initiative.  He is the president-elect of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois, a past president of the Illinois Library Association, and writes a column for the ILA Reporter.  He is a board member for the Consortia of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois, the Lincoln Trail Libraries System, and the Charleston Carnegie Public Library.  He was named the 2008 Illinois Academic Librarian of the Year and has been a consultant for libraries in Costa Rica, Peru, Ghana, and the U.S.

Sarah Goodwin Thiel

Sarah Goodwin Thiel is the Digital Imaging Librarian at the University of Kansas where she serves as the imaging specialist for a wide spectrum of digital projects. Prior to her current appointment, she served as the Digital Projects Librarian at the Spencer Research Library, the university’s rare books and manuscripts library. Sarah specializes in the digitization of special collections materials. She heads the KU Libraries Exhibits Program.