Tour of UM Special Collections and Map Libraries
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Kathryn Beam, Curator of the Humanities Collection, spoke to the group for over an hour. Highlights from her discussion include displays from their Early Manuscript collection (a papyrus from the Epistles of Paul), the History Collection (a 2" x 3" bill of sale from a Plantation in Jamaica listing the names of slaves included within the sale) and an exhibit showcasing Orson Wells and the Art of Adaptation in Radio, Theatre, & Film. Ms. Beam is celebrating her 30th year anniversary working at UM and had many words of advice for future students interested in a career in special collections, such as: learn a foreign language, develop your people skills to finesse donors, network to meet potential donors, and perhaps pursue a second master's degree.
Tim Utter, Cataloguer & Reference Specialist of the Map Library, spoke to the group for about an hour. Mr. Utter showed off many atlases, globes and maps from across the world. Highlights include City of Detroit Planning Street maps, Ann Arbor city maps from all eras, and even maps of fictional places (Middle Earth anyone?).
Both contained a wealth of information and are open to the public. It would be well worth your time to check out these valuable resources available to Michigan
residents and students. You can learn more about the special collections library here: http://www.lib.umich.edu/spec-coll/
and the map library here: http://www.lib.umich.edu/maplib/
Stacey Reynolds
Co-secretary
SLA@WSU
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