The Fall 2008 Student Art in the Library Juried Exhibition is now on view in the Hodges Library reference room. The contest was open to all undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The Student Art in the Library Committee made its selections from over 70 submissions.

Congratulations to our exhibiting artists and thank you to everyone who participated!

Come by and see it when you have a chance or view the exhibited works online.

Students walking through the first floor of the John C. Hodges Library at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville may be surprised to see the skeleton of a “centaur” on display. The hoax is intended to draw attention to the mythological and poetic dimensions of science and history, and to remind students not to believe everything they see or read. “The Centaur Excavations at Volos” is staged like an authentic exhibition, depicting a “centaur” burial and a group of related ceramics.

This work of archaeological fiction went on permanent display in the Jack E. Reese Galleria of the Hodges Library in May 1994. The centaur was originally constructed in 1980 by Dr. William Willers, a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. After several showings at museums and galleries in the Midwest, the exhibit was put in storage. In 1993, after a fund-raising campaign organized by professors Beauvais Lyons from the UT Department of Art and Neil Greenberg from the UT Department of Zoology, the display was acquired by the University of Tennessee.

Before installing the exhibit on campus, Professor Lyons chaired an installation committee consisting of faculty from the departments of art, psychology, classics, archaeology, zoology, theatre, geology and the library. The committee decided on the design of the showcase and drafted the text which accompanies the display. The showcase also includes a simulated marble base and faux wood panels which were painted by Professor Bob Cothran, Professor and Scene Designer from the UT Theatre Department.

The project was funded by the UT Cultural Affairs Board, the Office of Student Affairs, University Studies, the Student Exhibit Committee, the Hokes Archives and private donations.

For more information, visit the “Centaur of Volos” page on the University Studies website or contact Beauvais Lyons in the UT Department of Art.

“Scribes, Scholars and Students,” a new Special Collections exhibit, opens on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007, at 3:00 pm in the Special Collections lobby located on the second floor of the historic James D. Hoskins Library. Light refreshments will be served.

As part of the university’s Medieval and Renaissance Semester, the “Scribes, Scholars, and Students” exhibit explores the interconnected themes of “Early Print Culture and the Written Word at the University of Tennessee,” “The Preservation of Knowledge and the University Libraries,” “The Contributions of Professor James Douglas Bruce,” and “Medieval and Renaissance Resources in Special Collections.” The exhibit is free and open to the public from October 2007 to May 2008, Monday-Friday 9:00 am – 5:30 pm.

Contact info: Aaron Purcell, apurcel2@utk.edu.

The Life of the Mind reading selection In the Wake of the Plague: the Black Death and the World it Made is the center of the University Libraries fall 2007 Culture Corner exhibit

The University Libraries joins the university’s celebration of the Medieval semester with the In the Wake of the Plague Culture Corner exhibit. The exhibit includes books available for check-out, databases and Web sites, documentaries, reference books and music. The Pendergrass Ag-VetMed Library created a list of books and selected articles about the subject, and the Medieval and Renaissance Studies subject guide is also available.

These resources provide further insight into the life and customs of Europe during the Middle Ages. Some materials also focus on the impact of widespread epidemics or pandemics, both historical and contemporary.

Government Documents Highlight Recreation and Preservation

The current installment of the Government Documents series “Documents to the People: 100 Years of Keeping You in the Know” consists of two displays covering recreation and historic preservation in the United States.

The Get Out and Play display, located in the Hodges Library galleria, gives information about the founding of government sponsored recreational facilities with focus given to the creation of National Parks. The display also includes the “how-to’s” of fishing, boating, hiking, camping, backpacking, and even horse-back riding. Brochures and guides to some popular attractions, such as the Appalachian Trail and the Daniel Boone National Forest are also present in the exhibit.

In the Reference room, the focus of the Hot Topics, Cool Books display is about the preservation of national historic sites. The display highlights key national landmarks and monuments, especially those in Washington, D.C., including an architectural reference to the White House. The exhibit also includes information about the preservation of lesser-known “landmarks at risk,” such as abandoned gold rush towns and historic homes.

The UT Libraries is celebrating several important dates as a Federal Depository Library, marking the various stages of its role in providing government information to the public. It has been a depository library for 110 years (since 1897), a land-grand depository library for 100 years (since 1907), and a Tennessee state depository library for 90 years (since 1917).

Some of the items in the displays are available for use in the Reference Library and others are available for regular library loan. Visit www.lib.utk.edu/refs/govdocs100 for more information, or contact Janette Prescod in Government Documents at jprescod@utk.edu .

Government Documents Trace Exploration From Lewis and Clark to NASA

The latest theme of the UT Libraries government documents exhibit series is about the history of exploration in the United States. Covering everything from the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1805-1806 and the Wright Brothers’ first flight in 1903 to recent NASA undertakings, it promises to inspire library goers of all walks and ages.

The summer 2007 “Documents to the People: 100 Years of Keeping You in the Know” The exploration segment consists of three exhibits located on the first floor of Hodges Library. Some of the documents on display include exploration on land, sea, air, and outer space. Topics include exploration in the American West, first traversed by Lewis and Clark to be later followed by settlers; the history of space exploration and technology; NASA’s mission of exploration and its contributions; as well as smaller projects like SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). The exhibits feature books (some dating back to the 1800s), brochures, maps, and 3-D displays of the earth and space technology.

Space exploration is a large component of the three exhibits, as 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s first satellite launch. Sputnik’s blast-off marked the beginning of the “space race” era of the Cold War. NASA was founded one year later, in 1958.

The UT Libraries is celebrating several important dates as a Federal Depository Library, marking the various stages of its role in providing government information to the public. It has been a depository library for 110 years (since 1897), a land-grand depository library for 100 years (since 1907), and a Tennessee state depository library for 90 years (since 1917).

Some of the items currently on display are available in Microform or in Special Collections, and others are available for regular library loan. Visit www.lib.utk.edu/refs/govdocs100 for more information, or contact Janette Prescod in Government Documents at jprescod@utk.edu, or Greg March in the Map Library at gmarch@utk.edu .

The Summer 2007 Culture Corner features a wide variety of literature covering topics related to persons with disabilities. The selections included are intended to broaden the reader’s knowledge of one of the largest minorities in the world, who have often been overlooked and even shunned. The literature includes such broad themes as life as a disabled person, covering issues of identity, employment, gender, and education; types of disabilities and profiles of individuals who have them, including blindness, deafness, and less obvious ones such as autism and psychological disabilities (termed in the display as “Hidden Disabilities”); and how those with disabilities interact with society and vice-versa, including personal and global perspectives. The history of disability is examined, as well as more recent topics such as Disability Law and the Disability Rights Movement, which aim at establishing a more typical lifestyle for individuals with disabilities.

In addition to the sources available at the Culture Corner itself, lists of resources available in other locations are provided and include the Media Center, the Reference Collection, and the Music Library. Visit the Culture Corner online at www.lib.utk.edu/diversity/culturecorner/

The Culture Corner is located in the first floor of Hodges Library and feature a variety of topics, which change each semester. For more information, or to suggest a theme, contact Laura Purcell at lpurcell@utk.edu or 974-4725.