Smithsonian Libraries

Chocolate Cake Day

Baking Pan catalogue

Maybe these cake pans from the Libraries' trade literature collection will inspire something tasty . . .

—Elizabeth Periale, delicious looking photograph by Ninette Dean

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Sad News

 Jim Haug, 72, a senior librarian at the National Museum of Natural History Library, died October 31 of sudden heart failure in his home.  He lived in Arlington, Va.

Haug began working for the Libraries in 1999. He oversaw training for library users’ and researchers’ needs, made the natural history library collections more available to the public, maintained the physical integrity of the library collections and kept biographic records for local collections. In addition, Haug seamlessly processed outgoing intra-library loan requests and through his efforts contributed to long-standing goals of the Libraries and the Institution.

 Prior to coming to the Smithsonian, Haug was an Assistant Professor in the Academic Library Services Department at East Carolina University (Greenville, NC).

Haug held a doctoral degree in anthropology from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Co. He also earned a master’s of library and information science from North Carolina Central University (Durham, NC), a master’s of science in public health in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC), a master’s of arts in anthropology from the University of Colorado (Boulder, Co.) and a bachelor of arts in anthropology from the University of Colorado (Boulder, Co.).

Haug was a dear colleague and friend to the Smithsonian Libraries and Natural History Museum staff.  He will be greatly missed.—Liz O'Brien

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day!!!

Did you know that Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day is celebrated every year on the last Monday of the month of January?

Here at the Libraries we have many reasons to appreciate bubble wrap, as evidenced by these photos.

Rare-book librarians LOVE bubble-wrap.

In 2003 and 2006 a total of approximately 10,000 volumes were packed and transported from other rare-book locations into the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, the Libraries’ new rare-book room in the National Museum of Natural History. Each and every book, including some very large ones, was wrapped in bubble-wrap and packed with others in a box with yet more bubble-wrap. This protected fragile bindings, gilt-decorated spines, and other physical aspects of the volumes from bumps and abrasions and from sudden changes in environmental conditions during the move.

But now what do we do with all of it ?!?—Leslie Overstreet

America's Gold Mine

Today, in 1848, gold was discovered in California at Sutter's Mill. 

The Libraries has quite a few titles which chronicle the rise and fall of John Augustus Sutter. 

But while perusing the Libraries' fabulous Galaxy of Images, some other gold-related items caught my eye, including this wonderful example from the trade literature collection, Kalamazoo Tank & Silo Co., ca. 1909, America's Gold Mine.

There is also the fabulous 16th century item on metallurgy and mining, from the Dibner Library, Georgii Agricolae De re metallica libri xii, qvibu officia,instrumenta, machinae, ac omnnia deniq[ue] ad metalicam spectantia, non modo lucluentissime describuntur, sed & per effigies, sius locis insertas, aduenctis latinis, germanicisq[ue] appelationibus ita ob oculos ponuntur, et clarius tradi non possint. Evisdem De aaimantibvs svbterraneis liber, ab autore recognitus: cum indicibus deuersis quicqiuid in opere tractatum est pulchré demonstrantibus, Basileae, H. Frobenivm et Nic. Episcopivm, 1561.

Many more images are also available from this publication.

Pure gold.—Elizabeth Periale