Primary Sourcery

In his first year at the University of Minnesota Libraries, Aiden Bettine has been down in the trenches of the Tretter Collection, surrounded by the ephemera of early LGBTQ life. And it’s exactly where he wants to be. “It's kind of an exciting time to be the new curator of the Tretter Collection, and to be able to establish community partnerships and events,” Bettine said. “I feel incredibly fortunate and lucky to have landed the job and be here. It really is the dream job.”

On April 7, 2023, the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine held its latest pop up exhibit, ’Wangensteen in bloom.‘ In addition to providing student employees an opportunity to do a deep dive into the library’s collection, which consists primarily of rare books, manuscripts, and artifacts, these pop ups also offer new, unexpected entry points into the WHL’s one-of-a-kind collection.

Thanks to a generous donation by Carol Erdahl — one of the former and founding owners of the Red Balloon Bookshop — the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Kerlan Collection of Children's Literature contains one of Brian Selznick’s original pencil sketch illustrations for the book, “The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins.”

Thacher Hurd’s introduction to Margaret Wise Brown was not especially promising. Brown, the renowned author of “Goodnight Moon,” which his father Clement Hurd had illustrated, had no children of her own.

As a writer and researcher, Palmer has long been a member of the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries, so he could have access and borrowing privileges to the University collections. He has used these materials in numerous writing projects, both fiction and non-fiction. “Because I have enriched myself intellectually by what the University [of Minnesota] has provided ... I feel that in the end I owe back the product of that enrichment.”

A small slice — 221 objects — of the Glen S. Miranker collection of some 6,000 items now is on view in Elmer L. Andersen Library, on the University of Minnesota’s west bank. This traveling exhibition was first seen by Timothy Johnson at the Grolier Club in New York City. Johnson is the Curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Vecoli says she was in the right place at the right time when she took the Tretter job the first time in 2012. Although she has no degree in history or library science and no formal training in being an archivist or curator, she brought her passion as an lesbian activist and her understanding of the need to better organize all the amazing materials that Jean-Nickolaus Tretter had collected over the years.

Perhaps you, you and your parents, you and your children, or you and your siblings have read “Millions of Cats,” out loud, to each other, or solo. This classic children’s book was first published in 1928 and, since then, never, ever has gone out of print. vAnd the story of the creator of “Millions of Cats” begins in Minnesota. Many works created by Wanda Gág are held in the Kerlan Collection of Children’s Literature, one of the special collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries.

See student success in action! This multi-part exhibit explores how undergraduate students from a variety of academic disciplines use historical materials from the Wangensteen in their coursework and projects.

The Immigration History Research Center Archives (IHRCA) at the University Libraries announces its 2023 Grant-in-Aid awardees and the Immigration History Research Center’s Michael G....

Entering Darren Terpstra’s office in Andersen Library feels like going backstage — but with Greek columns, a Chinese dragon head, and midcentury lamps, one is not sure which play will be performed.

On Dec. 9, 2022 we lost a giant. Jean-Nickolaus Tretter, avid collector and founder of the Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, died. At 76 years of age, Jean left an indelible mark on LGBTQ history thanks to his persistent collecting of LGBTQ history that began in the 1970s.

As a feminist sociologist, I am fascinated by the notion of work — any format of exertion that sustains society and humanity, lives, and livelihoods.

As winter daylight fades and the cold wind fingers its way through tiny cracks into your abode, a feline companion may be appealing. If so, check out thees 10 cats for your catappreciation from various collections within the Libraries — UMedia, the James Ford Bell Library, and the Minnesota Digital Library.

The University of Minnesota's Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine has been awarded a Minnesota Historical & Cultural Heritage grant in the amount of $103,162. The funding will be used to provide “Access to Historical Healthcare Artifacts” currently in the Wangensteen collections but not yet available via its online catalog.

Until recently, faculty researchers might have asked an undergraduate or graduate student to carry out the grunt work of reviewing tons of content to excavate relevant articles. Now there's a text-mining tool for that work.