"Nothing Contributes so Much to Tranquilize the Mind"

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

"Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose."

Mary Shelley 

Rare Book Collection After resolving the issues of the database last week, this week I spent my time correctly uploading images as their own records. As of today, I have uploaded 1,980 images representing 100 books. Not quite halfway, but close. I also decided to add author portraits so that users can put a face to a name. 

A coworker is currently compiling a bibliography of the entire collection, so when she is finished I’ll be able to simply paste the author biographies into the database. She is also writing summaries on the importance of the book itself which can then be added to the database as well. 

Airtable’s layout is not conducive to fields with long text. Long titles, author biographies, and summaries are shown in part and include an ellipsis to indicate to the user that not all the information is visible. However, Airtable does allow for expanded records. When a user clicks on a tile, the expanded view will show all the information contained within the fields. Because of this feature, I am considering creating cover images that include the complete book title so users can quickly find books of interest. 

For the public gallery, the fields that will be visible to users are: Book Title, Author, Author Portrait, Birth-Death Date, Author Biography, Year Published, Publisher, Book Importance, Subject, Language, and Book Images. 

Rare Book Exhibit Last week, my boss told me and a coworker that we would have a meeting later in September to discuss ideas on creating a virtual exhibit. During normal (non-COVID) times, the library partners with a staff member to create an exhibit highlighting the importance of the rare book collection. The presentation usually focuses on a few books important in their field and that have had an impact on staff’s research and projects. Because many staff are still working-from-home, we are brainstorming ideas to bring a virtual experience to those not on campus.

I did a quick Google search of virtual exhibits and found that they run the gamut. Museums and exhibits in Google Arts & Culture are very well done. These are usually very well-known institutions. Then, there are other exhibits that are created with website platforms such as Squarespace and WordPress. Still others are a simple text-and-image webpage, no fancy scripts included. With everyone having to think creatively, there are many inspirations to draw from. 

One that particularly caught my attention was a YouTube video tutorial on how to get your students to create an interactive presentation using Google Slides. It was so cool! I played around with PowerPoint and found that the same idea could be applied. I have created a demo presentation for our meeting. Though the interactive PDF might not be selected for the final presentation, I’m thrilled to have learned a new tool for creating more interesting presentations.