Jeff Smith: Before Bone
May 1-September 5
Cartoon Research Library’s Reading Room Gallery
27 West 17th Ave. Mall
Monday-Friday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
To celebrate the opening of this exhibit and its companion exhibition Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond at the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Cartoon Research Library will be open Saturday, May 10, from 1-5 p.m. This is the only Saturday the exhibit will be open.
Jeff Smith brought a much more polished feature to the campus newspaper than most student cartoonists. From its inception, Thorn, the title of Smith’s Lantern strip which was named after its female protagonist, exhibited an unusual level of sophistication. The strip demonstrated very capable manipulation of layout and design coupled with time-honored comic strip narrative techniques. It is interesting to note that by his early twenties, Smith clearly grasped the power of epic narrative, even though the storyline of Thorn, while sophisticated and entertaining, was not linear.
The vantage point of a quarter century and the phenomenal international success of Bone make us see Jeff Smith’s college cartoons in a different perspective than we did when they first ran in The Lantern. At Ohio State University, the student newspaper describes itself as a “laboratory newspaper,” and it served that purpose very successfully for Smith. He used Thorn both to hone his artistic skills and to experiment with several types of storytelling. From a sketchbook page to finished comic strips, this exhibition celebrates the education of a young man.
A signed and numbered catalogue limited to 500 copies is available. It reprints all of the Thorn comic strips in this exhibit and has an introduction by Jeff Smith, a foreword by his colleague Jim Kammerud and an essay by Lucy Shelton Caswell. The volume is available from the library for $25 per copy. All proceeds from the sale of this catalogue will benefit the Cartoon Research Library.
May 5th, 2008
Use the library without leaving your car…try out the drive-thru window service at the Ackerman Library, 600 Ackerman Road. You can drop off materials you need to return, or pick up materials that you reserved, without having to park.
Window hours:
*Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.
*Saturdays & Sundays, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
You’ll need either a valid (non-blocked) BUCK ID card or another picture ID, such as your driver’s license.
You can also use the book drop, located near the drive-through window, when the Library or the window is closed. Of course, we’re still happy to see you at the Circulation Desk–whichever option is most convenient for you.
So drive up and ring the bell!
April 30th, 2008
Frederic Tuten
Selected Readings
OSU Faculty Club, 181 S. Oval Dr.
Tuesday, May 6, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Frederic Tuten is the author of the novels The Adventures of Mao on the Long March, Tallien: A Brief Romance, Tintin in the New World, Van Gogh’s Bad Cafe and The Green Door, in addition to many stories and essays. Tuten is a professor in the graduate fiction-writing program at the City College of New York and guest lecturer at The New School. Tuten is also executive editor of Smyles & Fish. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Writing and was given the Award for Distinguished Writing from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Mr. Tuten’s literary archives are part of the Contemporary American Literary Manuscripts of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library.
The reading will begin at 7 p.m. in the Faculty Club Alphabet Rooms. For more information, call (614) 292-5938.
April 28th, 2008
Metacognition and Monitoring
Web Seminar offered by OSU Libraries and TELR
Monday, May 5
1-2 p.m.
Sullivant Library, Room 244A.
Hear more from Marsha Lovett, who gave the keynote address at the Spring OSU Academy of Teaching Mini Conference.
Lovett, Associate Research Professor and Associate Director Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, Carnegie Mellon University, is featured speaker for this Educause Learning Initiative (ELI) web seminar: Metacognition and Monitoring: Understanding and Improving Students’ Skills for Learning.
As educators, Lovett says, we tend to focus on teaching students “content,” but we also want to help students develop as learners. Metacognition–thinking about one’s own thinking and reflecting on one’s own learning–is essential to achieving learning outcomes and to help students gain metacognitive skills.
An opportunity to discuss ways to integrate practices and strategies to improve student learning follows. The seminar is free. Read more at http://www.educause.edu/eliweb085
April 23rd, 2008
Jay Kennedy, the former Editor in Chief at King Features Syndicate who died in 2007, bequeathed his collection of underground comic books to The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library. The collection of more than 9,500 items is one of the most extensive in the world. Kennedy, who authored the seminal reference work The Official Underground and Newave Comix Price Guide: Listing Alternative Comix in the U.S. & Canada from 1962 to the Present (Boatner Norton Press: 1982), was an authority on underground comics. A comics scholar, a gentleman, a lover of the 60s, and an artist himself, Kennedy held underground comics as not just an art movement, but also a social, political and cultural movement.
“We are honored that Jay bequeathed his collection to us,” says Lucy Shelton Caswell, professor and curator of the library. “It is a very substantial resource that will interest scholars in several areas.”
The Jay Kennedy Collection will be housed in the library’s secure, climate-controlled stacks so that the materials will be convenient for users in its reading room. According to Caswell, work has begun to catalog these materials to make them available to researchers as soon as possible.
Brendan Burford, Kennedy’s associate at King Features Syndicate, stated, “During the time I knew Jay Kennedy, I was fortunate to have him share many things with me, among them, his comic book collection. I got to know his collection very well as we worked together for several years cataloging its contents. It’s a tremendous collection — one that is unparalleled. I can’t think of a better home for Jay’s comic books than the OSU Cartoon Research Library. The collection will live on admirably.”
April 21st, 2008
A new service from the OSU Libraries gives students and researchers the ability to search multiple databases at the same time.
The service, available from the Libraries’ web site, library.osu.edu, lets customers select subject areas they want to include when conducting a database search. The feature then searches multiple databases that apply to the subject areas selected.
Multi-search selections cover 18 subject areas, such as “business and economics,” “health sciences,” “mathematics and physical sciences” and “news and current events.”
The service is available from either the “Quicklinks” column or the “Find Articles and More” in the search box.
April 21st, 2008
April 15 is fast approaching. If you’re in need of tax forms, supplies of some popular forms are available at the Sullivant Library, 1813 N. High St. Access to additional forms and assistance is available from these government resources:
Federal Tax Forms
Internal Revenue Service
1-800-TAX-FORM (829-3676)
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
For help in answering Federal income tax questions:
1-800-TAX-1040 (829-1040) (24 hr.)
State of Ohio Tax Forms
Ohio Department of Taxation
Taxpayer Service/Central Registration Division Location:
Taxpayer Services Response Section
P.O. Box 530
Columbus, OH 43216-0530
1-800-282-1782
IRS Columbus Office
200 N. High St.
Columbus, OH 43215
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
(614) 280-8691
April 1st, 2008
University Libraries is accepting proposals for the 2008 Course Enhancement Grant program. Grants of $2,000 will be given to instructors for the enhancement of courses by substantially integrating library resources and/or incorporating information literacy instruction. The deadline for proposals is Monday, April 21 for courses to be taught during Summer or Autumn quarters 2008. For details, see http://library.osu.edu/sites/learn/cegrfp.php or contact Nancy O’Hanlon, 688-5707 or ohanlon.1@osu.edu
April 1st, 2008
Peter Brantley
Executive Director, Digital Library Federation
Wednesday, April 2, 3:30 p.m.
Refreshments begin at 3:15 p.m.
Faculty Club, 181 S. Oval Dr.
Peter Brantley is currently director of strategic technology for academic information systems in the University of California’s Office of the President. He has 20 years’ experience in systems development and management, including academic computing services at UC Berkeley and academic information systems management and digital library development at UC San Francisco and New York University. He also served as director of technology for the California Digital Library. He has been active in the Digital Library Federation, participating in the Digital Library Federation Services Framework initiative and co-managing the Digital Library Federation Developers’ Forum.
The series is sponsored by the OSU Libraries and the Office of Technology Enhanced Learning and Research (TELR), with support from the Friends of the OSU Libraries. For information call 614-292-2503 or 614-292-5875.
March 28th, 2008
“The Black Dress,” with author Valerie Steel
Monday April 28
Campbell Hall, 1787 Neil Ave.
5:30 p.m., refreshments, Columbia Gas Lounge
6 p.m., lecture, Campbell 200
7 p.m., book signing
The black dress has been the foundation of a woman’s wardrobe for centuries. The allure of the black dress has captured the imagination of generations of couturiers and artists and served as the signature of society’s most enviably dressed women. With an essay and images selected by Dr. Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, this book features page after uniquely designed page of some of the most compelling dresses in the history of fashion. The presentation is in conjunction with the current exhibit, “The Little Black Dress: Fashion Icon.”
March 28th, 2008
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