Summer 2001 - George A. Smathers Libraries - University of Florida

For Friends of the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida Summer 2001
UF Libraries rescue Cuban National Archives
he University of Florida is launching
an effort to preserve and make
accessible a veritable gold mine of
T
rare historic documents in Cuba’s
National Archives that chronicle
three
centuries of Spain’s colonization of
the New World.
Known as the Notary Protocols,
these ten million handwritten pages,
encompassing 6,658 hardcover vol -
umes, track the comings and goings
of many ships that sailed and nearly
every person who traveled between
Spain and the New World from the
16th through 19th centuries. For
more than 300 years, notaries in
Havana, Cuba recorded detailed
information, dutifully registering
travelers’ wills, births and deaths,
marriages, property and slave
ownership, and the ships’ cargos.
In those centuries just about
everyone went through Havana
“We are about to embark on a
unique opportunity that will
benefit present and future generations
of scholars, students,
and the interested public.”
John
Ingram
Director for Collections
and
principle
project
researcher
Inside
3 Three new digital collections
available
online
4 Music Library gives sound
support
5 UF reference chat service
draws praise from UF
faculty
user
6 Libraries receive Chinese
treasury of classical writings;
In memory of Stanley West;
In memoriam: Fleming
Bennett
7
Desiderata
John Ingram, left, Director for Collections, and archivist Bruce Chappell review
manuscripts similar to the Notary Protocols found in Havana.
8 Message from the director

UF Libraries rescue Cuban National Archives (Continued from page 1)
when traveling from Spain to
America and back again. The
volumes hold valuable clues to life in
colonial Spain. From 1578 to 1900
there were less than 20 notary families
in Havana. The job was passed
down from father to son. They started
a new volume every year, keeping
the old ones in the family. In 1900,
the Cuban government collected the
volumes for safe storage.
“Beyond the preservation of the
information contained in this
global heritage, this project aims
to link three centuries from the
past with our present and
future, and thereby help us
better understand ourselves and
our place in the rapidly changing
world.”
The result, says John Ingram,
Director of Collections and principal
administrator for the project, is a
priceless archive of materials that
many specialists regard as the single
most important source of informa -
tion on the New World’s Colonial
history. This information is especial -
ly relevant to Florida where notary
archives were destroyed during the
United States invasion of Spanish
Florida in 1812.
After two decades of interest, the
university and the Cuban National
Archives reached an agreement in
March which will permit the documents
to be microfilmed in Havana,
and then scanned into digital format
in Florida. Library staff will travel to
Havana with a $50,000 camera and
Page 2
Chapter One
John
Ingram
train Cuban archival staff during a
12- to 18-month pilot program for
the lengthy and painstaking process
of transferring the entire collection
to microfilm and digital formats.
Cuban archives employees will
assist in the pilot project, which
is expected to cost more than
$250,000. The university seeks to
raise funds from private donors and
foundations. No state or federal
money will be used for the project.
Ingram said he is confident that private
foundations will fund the pilot
project early next year. Plans call for
indexing the records and making
them available on the Internet to
assist historians and genealogists to
locate specific records.
With the completion of a
successful pilot program, and to
make the larger effort possible, the
UF Libraries seek to team up with
U.S. and Spanish libraries and insti -
tutions, in enlisting funding support
for the entire project.
Ingram and archivist Bruce
Chappell have made several trips to
Havana to negotiate the agreement.
Ingram said, “I’ve seen some of the
tomos (volumes), and some of them
are in a condition I would liken to a
very well-tatted piece of lace. There
are many holes, and some paper is
very fragile and could soon be lost
entirely. There has also been insect
damage and some water damage.”
“I am convinced the Notary
Protocols in Cuba’s archives will
assume their rightful place of global
importance for New World history
and culture. For my colleagues in
Latin American studies, these
records will truly open a window in
time,” Ingram further said. The
information will be a significant
addition to Smathers Libraries’ P.K.
Yonge Florida History Collection.
For more information about
the project or to make funding
inquiries, contact Dr. John Ingram,
(352) 392-0342; email:
jeingr@mail.uflib.ufl.edu.
Dr. Berarda Salabarria, center, Director of Archivo Nacional de Cuba,
signs the agreement to partner with the University of Florida. At left
is Dr. Luis Frades, Vice Director; at right is Bruce Chappell, Smathers
Libraries archivist.

ONLINE
Three new digital collections available
The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections and the Digital
Library Center announce three new online digital collections from the
University Archives. All three collections are on the Web at
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/archome/Gallery.htm.
• The Ralph Gower Photograph Collection, c. 1925
Photographs taken by Ralph Gower, a University of Florida student, in the
mid 1920s. Gift of Anne Stone, Ralph Gower’s daughter.
• The Campus Plan, 1905-1966
Planning maps for the University of Florida.
• The Jackson Henson McDonald Scrapbook, 1917-1925
The scrapbook contains 238 black and white photographs mostly depicting
people and events at the University of Florida, the Florida State College for
Women (known today as Florida State University), and several cities in south
Florida including Stuart, Palm Beach, and Fort Myers. Gift of Jack McDonald,
Jackson Henson McDonald's son. Above: “We won! Stetson vs. Florida.
Sold pants to see game” from the
Jackson Henson McDonald
Scrapbook from the page entitled
“a page of pranks,” 1919.
Above: “Initiation”: probably the Scabbard and Blade, from the Ralph Gower
Photograph Collection, 1925.
Right: Partial map from the Campus Plan, 1948.
Chapter One Page 3

Music Library gives sound support
Robena Eng Cornwell
Head, Music Library
O
ver the last half-century, the
Music Library has grown
from a “backroom” listening
and score facility within the
Department of Music to its current
collection of over 27,000 mono -
graphs and periodicals, 12,500
scores, and 17,000 recordings (laser
and compact discs, 33 1/3rpm
records, cassettes, videos, and
DVDs). The Music Library is a
branch library within the
Humanities and Social Sciences
Services Department. It supports the
educational and research needs of
the faculty, students, and staff of the
School of Music, as well as those in
related areas such as musical theatre,
the humanities, anthropology,
English, speech, and journalism. The
library is housed on the second floor
of the School of Music building.
The School of Music offers
degrees at the undergraduate, master’s,
and doctoral levels, and during
academic year 2000-2001, there were
161 undergraduate music majors,
80 graduate music majors, and 42
teaching faculty. Programs offered
by the school include music educa -
tion, music history/musicology, eth -
nomusicology, theory, composition,
performance, conducting, and
church music. Working in close
harmony with members of the
Music faculty, the Library strives to
support each of these programs as
well as scholarship at the research
level. Although every effort is made
to anticipate users needs, due to
limited funding and severe space
restraints, it is not possible to
purchase and house every source
dealing with music within the Music
Library. Fortunately, the Music
Library is able to utilize shelving
areas in other parts of the library
system. For example, there is an
excellent storage and retrieval
program in place, and most items
are available for patron use within
24 hours of their request. UF patrons
also make use of the Interlibrary
Loan Services provided through
Library West, the Health Sciences
Center Library, and the Legal
Information Center Library to
acquire material not owned by
the
Library.
Above: Senior library technical assistant
Michele Wilbanks-Fox checks the
stacks in the Music Library.
Left: A student listens to compact discs.
Page 4
Chapter One

The Music Library is funded
primarily by the George A. Smathers
Libraries; however, special funds
and gifts are acquired through the
School of Music lab fees and
through generous donors. Most of
our donor gifts are one-time collections,
e.g., books, journal runs,
scores, recordings, videos, and most
recently DVDs. There are currently
two ongoing and self-sustaining
endowment funds. The first is the
A. Didier Graeffe fund established
by his late widow, Lotte, which is
used to purchase contemporary
music sources. The other fund was
established by Professor Emeritus
of Art Eugene E. Grissom for the
purchase of trombone music and
recordings. It is administered
through the School of Music’s professor
of trombone in consultation
with the music librarian.
The head of the Music Library is
Robena Eng Cornwell, the senior
Library Technical Assistant is
Professor Art Jennings, left, with donor, Professor Emeritus of Art, Eugene
E. Grissom.
Michele Wilbanks-Fox, and the
evening and weekend Library
Technical Assistant is Heather
Conlin. For more information
regarding the Music Library,
collections, or gift giving, please
contact any of these staff members
at (352) 392-6678 or email:
robcorn@mail.uflib.ufl.edu
Faculty feedback
New reference chat service draws praise from UF faculty user
Dear Jana [Ronan, reference
librarian],
I wanted to tell you how pleased
I was to use RefeXpress [online real
time reference] recently. I had a
very sudden request for a video
tape that I needed to use to prepare
for a performance project I’m working
on. In working with a dialect
coach on a Friday afternoon, he
recommended switching dialects
and a particular speaker to use as a
model. Neither of us could find a
video or audio listing of that speaker
in the online catalog.
I tried RefeXpress. And within a
few minutes, Sarah (I believe that’s
the person I was working with) had
done a thorough search, e-chatted
with me about further ideas, put
me in touch with a reference specialist
in political science, who
found the video of the speech I
wanted at USF. I contacted the
Interlibrary Loan Department,
filled out an online request and by
Thursday of the next week, had the
video I needed.
I just came to the University of
Florida after a few years at a private
university in Washington, where I
was used to a great deal of personalized
service. Although I was excited
to have access again to a much
larger collection here (I spent sever -
al years at the university of
Missouri-Columbia before going to
the private school), I assumed that I
would have to forego the personalized
help in researching available
materials. Not so. My experience
with RefeXpress and the other
departments at the library proved
excellent and surpassed all my
expectations. It’s a most valuable
service and I shall be singing your
praises!
Barbara
Korner
Professor and Associate Dean,
Fine Arts, University of Florida
Chapter One Page 5

Libraries receive Chinese
treasury of classical writings
The Smathers Libraries have
received a gift of a 611-volume set of
a famous Chinese “treasury of classi -
cal writings,” the Sibu Beiyao, from
the family of the late Dr. John Knoblock,
head of the Dept. of Philosophy
and Religion at the University of
Miami for many years. The collection
is a much-needed addition to round
out the “collectanea” sets on pre-modern
Chinese history and literature.
Along with the Sibu Beiyao are other
valuable additions to the collections,
including out of print Harvard-
Yenching Sinological indexes. Dr.
Knoblock published The Annals of
Master Lu, a translation for Stanford
University Press. He also wrote a
translation and study of the complete
works of the ancient Chinese philoso -
pher Xunzi, published by Stanford in
1988. Dr. Knoblock’s brother, Phillip
Knoblock of Ocala, made the generous
contribution to our collections.
In memoriam:
Fleming Bennett
Fleming Bennett, the UF
Libraries Assistant Director for
Readers’ Services from 1969 to 1976,
died May 3, 2001. He was 90 years
old. He came to UF in 1964 as the
Agriculture Librarian for Hume
Library. Hume was a separate library
that served the needs of IFAS’
programs. In becoming the head of
Readers’ Services, he assumed
responsibility for Circulation,
Reference and the branch libraries,
which at the time included chemistry,
engineering, and physics as well as
the branches in existence today.
Those who knew him remem -
bered him as a gracious man, whose
hobbies were fine book binding and
book
restoration.
Page 6
Chapter One
In memory of Stanley West
Stanley West, Director of the
University of Florida Libraries from
1946-1966, a time of tremendous
growth and change both at UF and
in higher education nationally, died
April 5, 2001. He was 89 years old.
Sam Proctor, Distinguished Service
Professor Emeritus and official
historian of the University of
Florida, once said that “Stanley West
took direction of the libraries at a
watershed period in the history of
the University of Florida. Much
credit must go to him for helping in
a major way the University and the
library reach their goals.”
West was director during the
years that UF joined the Association
of Research Libraries and he focused
on strengthening the research collections.
He played an instrumental
role in establishing and building
some of the university’s most distinguished
special and area studies
collections. When research libraries
divided up responsibility for purchase
of scholarly material from
foreign countries, West accepted the
Caribbean for the University of
Florida and the libraries have
continued to build those collections
for more than 50 years. UF is now
recognized as having the best
Caribbean collection in the world.
Much that is strongest and most
scholarly about the libraries today
can be directly traced to West’s energy
and foresight. He himself cited
the institution of both the Latin
American and the Irish Literature
collections and the acquisition of the
Robbins papers (Margaret Drier
Robbins is remembered for her
leadership of the Women’s Trade
Union League) as the most satisfying
of his contributions.
Well-known and widely respect -
ed on campus, West served in many
campus-wide efforts. Perhaps his
most visible legacy to UF is Century
Tower. He developed the concept of
building the tower while involved in
the planning of the university’s
centennial celebration. After leaving
UF’s libraries, West went to the
University of Hawaii where he both
taught in the library school and
served as director of the library.
After ten years, he returned to
Gainesville, where he earned a law
degree and practiced law. West
maintained his ties with the library,
becoming a donor and offering his
expertise in helping to build the
Irish Literature collection.
In 1989 West established a
charitable gift annuity for the
“benefit and improvement of the
University of Florida Libraries.”
Dale Canelas, Director of UF
Libraries, has used his gift, along
with other funds, to establish the
Stanley L. West Irish Celtic endowment
fund.

Desiderata
Students, faculty and librarians are always looking for the perfect resource
to complement their research. While we do our best to be responsive to
special needs, there are always a few titles or equipment needs that lie
beyond our grasp. If you are interested in helping the Smathers Libraries
acquire any of the following, please contact Marcia O. Pearce, Director of
Development, at (352) 392-0342 or marpear@mail.uflib.ufl.edu.
The Papers of Sir Joseph Banks, a 51 reel microfilm set covering the papers
and correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), naturalist, botanist
and patron of exploration. Includes writings related to several voyages of
discovery, including that of James Cook and William Bligh $6,500
Mathematics videos from the American Mathematical Society for Marston
Science Library $3,000
Giving to UF is now
just a click away
UFgiving.uff.ufl.edu
Visit our new online giving
Web site and find out how
simple it is to support
the Smathers Libraries
203 microfilm reels of the famous Calcutta newspaper, the Statesman,
1915-1941, for the modern Indian history collection $18,512
50,000 microfiche from China National Publications Import & Export
(Group) Corporation (CNPIEC) on publishing industry/trade union activity,
1895-1959, in Shanghai for modern Chinese history collection $5,000
Agriculture and Farming, 1610-1900, for Marston Science Library; Part 1,
127 microfiche $1,150; Part 2, 134 microfiche $1,200
The Papers of Charles Babbage, 1791-1871 [History of Science and
Technology Series Three] Part 1, 22 microfilm reels $2,800
Friends
of the Libraries
Name
Address
City State Zip
Home Phone Business Phone
Yes. I/we wish to support the George A. Smathers Libraries with a gift of $ . Make
c h e c k s p a y a b l e t o t h e University of Florida Foundation, Inc. and mail to Marcia O. Pearce,
George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, P.O. Box 117001, Gainesville, FL 32611-7001.
To pay by credit credit card fill out the following: MasterCard Visa
Credit Card No. Exp. Date
Cardholder’s Name
Cardholder’s Signature
Y o u r g i f t m a y b e e l i g i b l e f o r a c h a r i t a b l e c o n t r i b u t i o n d e d u c t i o n .
Please use my gift for the following:
Smathers Libraries Purchase Fund
Special & Area Studies Collections
Latin American Collection
Price Library of Judaica
P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History
B a l d w i n L i b r a r y o f H i s t o r i c a l
Children’s
Literature
Belknap Performing Arts Collection
Africana
Collection
R a r e
B o o k s
M a n u s c r i p t s
Architecture & Fine Arts Library
Education
Library
Map and Imagery Library
Music
Library
Marston Science Library
Digital Library Center
Other
Please send information about
making a planned gift/bequest.
Chapter One Page 7

GEORGE A. SMATHERS LIBRARIES
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Dale B. Canelas
Director of University Libraries
Martha Hruska
Director for Technical Services
John Ingram
Director for Collections
Stephen Shorb
Director for Support Services
Carol Turner
Director for Public Services
Marcia O. Pearce
Director of Development
Chapter One is published quarterly and
distributed to friends of the Libraries
and selected institutions. Questions
and comments should be addressed to
the editor, Barbara Hood, Public
Information Officer, George A. Smathers
Libraries, University of Florida, P.O. Box
117001, Gainesville, FL 32611-7001,
(352) 392-0342. Email: bhood@ufl.edu
Smathers Libraries Web address:
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu
Chapter One
University of Florida
George A. Smathers Libraries
PO Box 117001
Gainesville FL 32611-7001
NON-PROF. ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. 94
GAINESVILLE FL
A message from the director
This has been an exciting year
for us. As you can see from the
contents of this issue of Chapter
One, we have received quite a number
of gifts of collections and a new
collection endowment from Stanley
West. That brings up the question of
just where this steady stream of
books, papers, letters and other
information resources are going to
be housed. The good news is that
funding has been allocated for a new
100,000 square foot addition to
Library West and we will begin work
with an architect this summer.
A committee of library staff
including representatives from every
department to be housed in the new
building worked together last year to
create a building program which
described the kinds of spaces we
need to serve students and faculty
well. This will serve as the basis of
our work with an architect to design
the space that will actually be built.
There is a great deal of emphasis on
improved research and study space
for students and, of course, an equal
emphasis on the integration of information
storage and retrieval technologies.
We want this to be a state of
the art building for coming generations
of students. To do this it will
have to be a flexible building, able to
change as new technologies require
different kinds of equipment and dif -
ferent ways of approaching research.
The addition of this space gives
us the opportunity to bring together
all of the humanities and social
science collections of the university.
It also allows us to bring together all
of the area studies collections —
The Price Library of Judaica, the
Latin American Collection, and the
Africana and Asian collections will
share a floor in the new building,
making it easy to make joint use of
materials in all these areas and in
the general collections. For Price,
currently
housed in the
Education
Library,
the
move
brings
the library back into proximity with
its primary users.
For students, the clear victory
will be the addition of many more,
and better designed, study spaces.
We have asked to include group
study rooms, quiet study areas,
wired and wireless study areas for
use of laptop computers, graduate
student and faculty studies, multimedia
carrels, film viewing rooms,
and many other specialized spaces
for use of technology and media.
Library staff is looking forward to
having these new facilities to help
them take better care of our collec -
tions and provide better services to
our
users.
Dale B. Canelas
Director of University Libraries