An opening reception for the new National Library of Medicine traveling exhibit “Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine” will take place Wednesday, March 21, 2012 from 4:30 to 6 PM at the Wayne State University‘s Shiffman Medical Library.  The exhibit can be viewed until April 28, 2012 as part of the Spring 2012 Arts in the Atrium program sponsored by Shiffman Medical Library and the WSU School of Medicine.  

“Many histories have been written about medical care during the American Civil War, but the participation and contributions of African Americans as nurses, surgeons and hospital workers have often been overlooked.  Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine looks at the men and women who served as surgeons and nurses and how their work as medical providers challenged the prescribed notions of race and gender.”    -from the program flyer

A Community Educational Program will take place Saturday April 14, 2012 at the Margherio Family Conference Center.   Topics on the agenda include, among others, African Americans & the Civil War, Medicine in Detroit in the 1860′s, and The Civil War and Nursing.  The special guest speaker will be Jeff O’Den, historical documentary filmmaker.

Find out a lot more about this subject and this exhibit at http://lib.wayne.edu/bw.

In observance of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic in the early morning of  April 15, 1912, DALNET has made a new eLibrary collection available.  The free new resource is called TITANIC: 100 Years, 1912-2012 and is online at titanic.dalnet.org.  The website contains 1912 newspaper articles detailing the days leading up to and the days and months following the disaster.  Also included on the website are other resources including links to useful sites and related resources, such as newspaper articles about the 1985 discovery of the Titanic on the ocean floor and obituaries of survivors.  

Also, the Henry Ford Museum will be presenting “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” beginning March 31, 2012 and continuing thr0ugh September 30, 2012.  Details are available here: http://www.thehenryford.org/events/titanic.aspx.

Serials Solutions has announced their planned Integrated Library System (ILS) replacement, Intota:
http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=16501

Big news if they are getting into the library system market; really the post-ILS Market.  Marshall Breeding, of LibraryTechnology.org, and knower of all things ILS, has branded new systems of this type ”Library Services Platforms.”  There will likely be lots of more information on these next-gen systems in the following months since they are up-and-coming.

So, lots of news on new Library System Platforms at ALA Midwinter, for Alma (from Ex Libris), Intota (Serials Solutions), Sierra (Innovative Interfaces, Inc.), and WorldShare (OCLC).  The future of library systems; ILS replacements!  The all new inclusive systems that rework library work-flows and combine management of all library materials, print and digital.  These platforms promise to provide an integrated system environment to include Acquisitions, Cataloging, Circulation, Electronic Resource Management (ERM), Serials, Reporting, Link Resolver, Discover Platform (the next-gen catalogs), and any other software that may be part of delivering library services.  Alma and WorldShare are in general release, with others to follow.  These new systems should take hold as open platforms that can take delivery of library Web services into the future.

Alma:
http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/category/AlmaOverview

Intota:
http://www.serialssolutions.com/management/intota/
  
Sierra:
http://sierra.iii.com/

WorldShare:
http://www.oclc.org/us/en/worldshare-platform/default.htm
WS Announcement from December 2011: http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/2011/201170.htm

Related article at:
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/01/future-of-libraries/ala-midwinter-2012-from-consumer-electronics-through-post-ils-top-tech-trends-run-the-gamut

Polish Mission hosts Detroit Vintage Jazz Concert Fundraiser

“Autumn RHAPSODY”
Friday November 18^th, 2011
5:30pm
Orchard Lake Schools Art Gallery

ORCHARD LAKE, MI –The Polish Mission will hold a gala autumn fundraiser with singer Kira Frabotta and Pianist Mike Jellick.  Both are Detroit-raised young musicians with a unique repertoire of jazz from the early 20^th c.  that will set the tone as Orchard Lake’s Art Gallery transforms into a 1930s jazz club for the evening.  Kira’s clean soprano top is balanced by a smooth mezzo/alto sweetness, along with her natural ability to scat like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.  Her sultry swing jazz style was influenced by the greats: Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, Billy Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Doris Day, Jo Stafford, and Anita O’Day.  Born in New Delhi, India, and raised in Livonia, MI, Mike Jellick is one of the most sought-after pianists in the midwest.  He has private studios teaching both jazz and classical theory and performance in both the Detroit area and Kalamazoo.  Mike has been awarded commissions by groups ranging from small private schools to larger corporations, groups, and non-profits: Most notably, Lincoln Center.  

Josh James and the St. Mary’s Jazz Orchestra will open the show with a special performance at 7:00pm, then Frabotta and Jellick will perform selections in Polish and English to celebrate the opening of the largest exhibit in America dedicated to Polish master painter Zofia Stryjeńska.  Stryjeńska is known as the “Princess of Polish Painting,” and her avant garde style consumed her art and her life during the period between the two World Wars.  Stryjeńska’s signature “old meets new” style combined Polish country themes with modern art deco graphic design and vibrant colors.  Her dynamic delivery of that concept made her works some of the most recognizable and influential pieces in the panorama of Polish masters.  Six pieces will be on display.

Detroit’s own Cadieux Café will entice guests with Belgian and Polish cuisine, and fall and choice wine selections at the open wine bar from Leelanau Cellars will set the mood for a truly Detroit-themed jazz gala.  Individual tickets $50; a pair is $80.  Tickets can be purchased by visiting http://www.autumnrhapsody.eventbrite.com/, or by calling (248)-682-1885.

“Join the statewide discussion about an incredible moment in Michigan history”

Read the book by Kevin Boyle Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age and join the entire state in a book club from the Michigan Humanities Council.   There are many events happening between now and June 2012.  Tons of details can be found here: http://www.michiganhumanities.org/newsletter/Oct2011/GMR_revs_up.html. 

An author tour will kick off October 22, 2011 at the Alpena County Library.  To see the full author tour schedule, click here: http://michiganhumanities.org/programs/tgmr/?p=528.

Some events in the Detroit area include:  “Lost Detroit: Stories Behind the Motor City’s Majestic Ruins,” October 20, 2011, 7 PM, Orion Township Public Library,  “Detroit in the Roaring Twenties,” October 25, 2011, 7 PM, Plymouth District Library, and “Arc of Justice Dramatization and Panel Discussion,” January 14, 2012, 1 PM, Charles H. Wright Museum for African American History.

In addition, “We Don’t Want Them,” a traveling exhibit produced in partnership with Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion will stop at the Greater Flint Arts Council / Flint Transit Authority (downtown Flint transfer station), Three Rivers Public Library (Three Rivers), Davenport University (Grand Rapids), Peter White Public Library (Marquette), Detroit Science Center (Detroit), Interlochen / Traverse Area District Library / Dennos Museum Center (Traverse City), Castle Museum of Saginaw History / Saginaw News (Saginaw), Old Mill Museum (Dundee), and Artworks (Big Rapids).

DALNET Systems Librarian Cathy Wolford will be speaking at Internet Librarian 2011 as part of the conference’s popular Cybertours.  The theme of the 15th annual conference is “Revolutionizing the Net with Content, Connections & Conversations.”  This year’s conference takes place October 17th – 19th. 

Cathy’s discussion is titled “Using YouTube Playlists for Collection Development.”  The description is as follows: “Delivering library services in new formats is becoming the norm. This cybertour looks at using YouTube, the world’s largest and best-known online video brand, which has a convenient way to organize user-created videos into collections.  Learn how to create and customize your YouTube channel and playlists, excel at video selection analysis, and understand the various types of YouTube accounts and their benefits. Filled with lots of tips on how to integrate YouTube playlists into other library while dealing with the use of third-party content.”

Cathy has presented or had poster sessions at many conferences including national ones like Computers in Libraries and Special Libraries Association, as well as local ones like the Michigan Library Association annual conference and Academic Libraries.  This is a great way get DALNET’s name recognized on a local, regional and national level.

           The Detroit Area Library Network (DALNET) has recently announced plans to begin work on a DALNET Digital Archive Repository, where several unique collections will be available for free online access to DALNET institutions, researchers and the public.

          Hosted by the University of Detroit Mercy, the repository will be built using DSpace, an open-source software product that preserves and enables easy and open access to all types of digital content including text, images, moving images, mpegs and data sets. “I am pleased that DALNET will be developing this resource and that long standing members, the University of Detroit Mercy, are playing an integral part in making this happen,” said DALNET Executive Director, Steven Bowers. “The Board has wanted to pursue such a project for several years.”


          To begin the project, the DALNET Board of Directors awarded a major grant to four of its member institutions: Adam Cardinal Maida Alumni Library, Detroit Medical Center, Marygrove College and Oakland Community College.  After initial implementation, the service will be available to all DALNET members that wish to participate. 


          DALNET is a community of libraries working together to provide access to information for research, cultural enrichment, and lifelong learning opportunities.  Hosted at Wayne State University since 1985, DALNET enables libraries to maximize their investments through shared resources. Over the past two decades, the consortium has grown to 20 member libraries that serve the information needs of their users through innovative, collaborative networking among various types of libraries and their personnel in southeast Michigan.