Articles posted by Marc Davis

Claudia Frazer, Coordinator of Digital Initiatives at Cowles Library, will be teaching four sessions on Primary Sources for the Study of Civil Rights in Iowa with David McCartney, University of Iowa Archivist, as part of the Leadership & Legacy in History: Iowa’s Role in Freedom Summer workshops sponsored by the State Historical Society of Iowa. This two-day event for 6th through 12th graders and their teachers initiates the 2014-2015 National History Day contest season. Professor Frazer’s talks will focus on using primary source materials in research at both Cowles Library and other archives in Iowa.

Lyrasis, a non-profit organization of libraries, museums and cultural heritage organizations provides information management, collections and technology primarily focused on digital content.

Professor Teri Koch, Collections Development Librarian, has been selected to serve on the newly created Academic Advisory Committee to provide guidance and advice to Lyrasis as it works with potential vendors, gains a deeper understanding of evolving academic library licensing needs and on future directions for the organization. Professor Koch is widely recognized as a leader in the development of electronic resources, innovative patron driven collection development application, and in establishing a cutting-edge shared collection model among five Iowa private and academic libraries.

The ability of the Library to purchase and license electronic resources is enhanced through participation in a variety of library consortia such as Lyrasis. Find out more about Lyrasis.

Cowles Library announces another database trial: Early English Books Online (EEBO) is the definitive online collection of early printed works in English, and works printed in England, making digital copies of over 125,000 titles from before 1700 discoverable through an interface tailored for early modern scholars.

No other resource for early modern scholarship is as comprehensive as Early English Books Online. Users can explore complete, digitized images of all the works listed in these key bibliographic records of English literature: The Short-Title Catalogue (Pollard & Redgrave, 1475-1640); The Short-Title Catalogue II (Wing, 1641-1700); The Thomson Tracts; and the Early English Books Tract Supplements, as well as original almanacs, pamphlets, musical scores, prayer books and other intriguing primary sources.

The trial runs until 10/18/14. Access is available only from on-campus.

Cowles Library is pleased to announce a trial for Adam Matthew’s Apartheid South Africa, 1948-1966 archive collection. Due to terms of the trial, this database can only be accessed from on-campus.

Apartheid South Africa 1948-1980

Apartheid South Africa makes available British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominion and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices spanning the period 1948 to 1980.
The launch of National Party apartheid policies in 1948 heralded 40 years of white dominance over South African business, politics and society. Punitive restrictions placed on travel, education, work and political activism instigated the formation of organisations such as the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), saw support increase for the Communist Party and fuelled the growth of international anti-apartheid organisations.

These previously restricted letters, diplomatic dispatches, reports, trial papers, activist biographies and first-hand accounts give unprecedented access to South Africa’s apartheid regime. Files explore the relationship of the international community with South Africa and chart increasing civil unrest against a backdrop of waning colonialism and mounting world condemnation.

This resource is being released in three sections over the next six months: 1948-1966 (available now), 1967-1975 (coming December 2014), 1976-1980 (coming March 2015).

Rod Henshaw, dean of Cowles Library at Drake University, is now serving as president for the Affinity Academic Libraries Group—a group of 33 private academic libraries representing master’s level institutions from across the United States. Read More

Due to a malfunction of the door controls, After-Hours will not be available until Tuesday, September 2. We regret the inconvenience, but this is out of our control. Sorry. We are open Monday, Sept. 1 from 1 pm – 10 pm.

Due to hardware upgrades connected to the new campus building access system, After-Hours will be unavailable from 5:00 p.m. on Friday, 8/15, until Monday, 8/18. We regret any inconvenience.

InterLibrary Loan services will be down during a scheduled maintenance window on Saturday, July 26, from 9:00 P.M. to 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 27.

UPDATED: (1:20 PM) – Maintenance has been completed and all Interlibrary Loan services are available.
Our vendor is talking our Interlibrary Loan system down for one hour this afternoon, June 16, 2014, beginning at 1:00 p.m. to correct a misconfiguration following a software update. This means you will not be able to request Interlibrary Loans or view electronic deliveries during the shutdown. We regret any inconvenience. Full service will be restored by 2:00 p.m.

15,903 books were stored in the Morehouse Ballroom during the Archives/Special Collections construction project in Summer 2013. It’s been a year and now they are coming back to the Library. Catch some photos in our Facebook album! Here’s a sample:

15,900 books stored on temporary stacks in the Morehouse Ballroom.