Duke University Libraries Magazine

Moving Duke Forward: How the Libraries Will Help Shape Duke’s Future

Aaron Welborn — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:16:02 +0000

On September 29, 2012, Duke University launched the most significant fundraising and alumni engagement campaign in its history. The comprehensive $3.25 billion campaign, “Duke Forward: Partnering for the Future,” will support strategic priorities across the university, with a goal of raising $45 million for the Duke University Libraries.

This undertaking [...]

Vote for the Library!

Aaron Welborn — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:55:39 +0000

Earlier this fall, we got into the election spirit here in the Libraries and decided to host a little competition.

We challenged Duke students to “be our Super PAC” and make a mock election video explaining why the Duke University Libraries get their vote.

Was Perkins their ideal [...]

A Cut Above: Duke’s Longest-Serving Barber Gets a Place in the Library

Aaron Welborn — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:49:48 +0000

The plaque next to the door reads: “In honor of David W. Fowler, Jr., the Duke of Barbers for Over 50 Years.”

You could easily miss it if you didn’t know it was there, tucked away in a corner on the lower level of Perkins Library—a coveted nook of peace and quiet in an otherwise bustling [...]

Postcard from Johannesburg: How One Student Got the Most Out of Her Library

Aaron Welborn — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:43:58 +0000

By Aaron Welborn

It isn’t often that librarians find out what happens to the people we help. Most interactions follow a familiar pattern—another question answered, another obscure reference tracked down, another student sent off feeling smarter and more confident. But what then? What comes of all that knowledge and discovery? Most of the time, we [...]

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Aaron Welborn — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:17:10 +0000

Angelo Rocca (1545–1620) is best known as the founder of the Angelica Library, the first public library in Rome. He was also head of the Vatican printing office and a prolific author and philologist in his own right, with more than sixty works to his name. One of those was On November 6, 2011, the Duke University Libraries lost a longtime friend and cherished colleague. Myrna Ruth Kanner Jackson, 76, worked in fundraising for many years at Duke and served as the Libraries’ Director of Development from 1991 to 1999. During that time, she helped usher in a period of tremendous organizational growth and [...]

Foreign Exchange: Program Strengthens Ties Between Duke and Chilean Libraries

Aaron Welborn — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:47:07 +0000

It has been two years since a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake devastated central Chile. According to official sources, it was the sixth largest quake ever recorded. Over 500 people lost their lives, and nearly one in ten Chileans lost their homes.

The financial aftershocks were also severe. The United Nations estimates that the earthquake cost Chile’s economy [...]

What Does Your Doctor Know?

Aaron Welborn — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:45:32 +0000

A new exhibit explores physician education from ancient Greece to Duke Medicine

Throughout history, certain people have taken responsibility for healing the sick, the wounded, and the suffering. Medical knowledge that was once passed down verbally gradually became more codified in writing and professionalized through apprenticeships and university education. Over the course of centuries, the [...]