The exhibit will be open through September 14. Visitors should come to the welcome desk of the History of Science Collections on the 5th floor of Bizzell Memorial Library. Admission is free. Individuals need no appointment; instructors and group leaders may contact Carilyn Livesey, Outreach Coordinator, to reserve the Exhibit Hall for exhibit-based instruction and group tours. See our Visit Us page for contact information and directions. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and noon to 4 on Saturdays (except for gamedays, when the exhibit will be open until an hour before kickoff).

Visitors will be supplied with iPads containing an interactive guidebook to the exhibit, including photographs of additional pages of the works on display. If you have an iPad, the guidebook may be downloaded for free from either of two places:

• Living Library interactive iBook at the iBookstore.
• Living Library at iTunes U (includes the iBook in a course context)

See the Exhibit Hall page for a suggested activity using the iPads for class instruction.

Galleries in this exhibit include:

• Ancient astronomy, including the first published edition of Ptolemy’s Almagest.
• Egypt, including a star map from the ancient temple of Dendera.
• China, including the memoirs of Matteo Ricci and the first map of China published in Europe.
• Medicine and the life sciences, including a 16th-century study of body ornamentation and an 18th-century guide to midwifery and family medicine.
• Charles Darwin, including an autographed letter.
• Technology, including a photograph of Thomas Edison in the scrapbook of his daughter’s wedding.
• Bonus: several display cases have been recently added, featuring treasures from the history of Geology.

This exhibit features a remarkable variety of subject areas and chronological time periods. Authors represented include Hildegard of Bingen, Galileo, Johann Kepler, Maria Merian, Buffon, William Smith, Tycho Brahe, Francesco Hernandez, Maria Cunitz, Anna Comstock and many more.

More than half of the volumes in the History of Science Collections were acquired after 1976, when a catalog of holdings was published. None of the more than 100 beautiful works on display were included in that catalog. The History of Science Collections of the University of Oklahoma Libraries is a living library, and that means exciting prospects lie ahead.

Get more out of the Living Library exhibit with the multimedia iPad exhibit guide! With this guide you may read a brief description of each item on display and swipe through a gallery of images showing additional pages in any book that catches your eye.

The exhibit guide requires an iPad (3rd or 4th generation with Retina display, or iPad mini) running the iBooks app. Several iPads are available in the History of Science Collections with the exhibit guide preloaded for your convenience. To download the exhibit guide, follow these steps on your iPad:

• Make sure you have iBooks and iTunes U installed on your iPad.
• Request enrollment in the Living Library iTunes U course, and enter user code J29-F9F-672.
• Download the exhibit guide within the iTunes U course.

Ask the front desk attendant to demonstrate the guide for you. Request help at any time. Read below for further instructions.

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Navigating the Exhibit Guide

(From the Living Library exhibit guide)

Turn on the iPad, then tap the iBooks application to open iBooks.

In iBooks, tap the “Living Library” book to open the exhibit guide.

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Below is the first “Chapter” page, a Welcome page:

Notice that the Chapter page contains a row of thumbnails along the bottom edge representing each page within that chapter.

The first page of any chapter contains large photos relevant to that chapter. For example, the thumbnail in the lower left corner of this Welcome page contains a portrait of Everette Lee DeGolyer (left) and of Duane H.D. Roller and Marcia Goodman (right). Many other chapters begin with a photograph of the display case to help you find your way around the exhibit.

On any Chapter page:

• Swipe left or right in the thumbnail row down below to see each item page within a chapter. Tap any thumbnail to go to that item page.
• Swipe in the area above the thumbnail row left or right to go to the next or previous chapter.
• Section pages have a blue bar along the top. Chapters with sections have table of contents links on the title page to jump directly to those sections.

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On any item page:

• Swipe left or right to go to the next or previous item page within that chapter.
• To return to a Chapter page: Pinch to miniaturize any page in the bottom thumbnail row and return to the Chapter page for that chapter.

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Figures and slideshows:

• Reverse-pinch to expand figures and slideshows to full screen.
• When thumbnails appear below any figure, the figure is a gallery rather than a single image. To view additional images, tap any thumbnail or just swipe the image.
• Pinch any full screen image or video to miniaturize and return to a page view.

Play video demo | download

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Hold the iPad vertically to skim
(skimming omits images that are not numbered)

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Gold for old, blue for new
Nearly all of the works described in the Living Library guide were acquired since 1976, but occasionally they are compared with “golden oldies” acquired before that time. In that case, a gold color accent (perhaps as background to an image) emphasizes that an item is old (acquired before 1976). If two works are shown together on the same page, one old and one new (as pictured, below), then the “golden oldie” is indicated by gold and the new item (acquired after 1976) is marked by blue. When there are no color accents, then everything on that page is new.

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Students: Thinking about creating an iPad exhibit guide for your own virtual exhibit? Working either individually or in small groups, making your own iPad exhibit guide might be an appealing semester project.

You will need the following:

• iPad (2nd or 3rd generation) with iBooks app installed.
• Mac with the free iBooks Author software installed.
• Download our exhibit guide template to get you started – open this template in iBooks Author, and you will be able to export an iBooks guide that works on an iPad in both horizontal and vertical orientations.
• For images to add to your virtual exhibit, browse our Online Galleries These Galleries contain 85,000 high resolution images which you may use in your virtual exhibits (if you don’t see what you want, ask us about digitizing it yourself and adding it to the Galleries). The “medium” jpg format generally works best in iBooks Author.
• For iBooks Author help, watch the Apple Education Special Event keynote from January 19, 2012. And here’s the iBooks Author support page at apple.com. Two other helpful references are Nellie McKesson and Adam Witwer, Publishing with iBooks Author (O’Reilly) and Michael Cohen, Take Control of iBooks Author (Tidbits).

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Sharing and Presenting virtual exhibits in the classroom

• Use Apple TV and Airplay for wireless screen sharing to a flat panel or data projector from iPads and Macs.
• Notes for presentation (pdf): “iPads in the Classroom: Using iBooks Author to create interactive, multimedia semester projects,” by Kerry Magruder and Hunter Heyck, OU Teaching Scholars Initiative, October 19, 2012.

Many changes have occurred in the History of Science Collections over the summer. One transformation is readily apparent when you first enter the Collections lobby: the arrival of 11 new museum-quality display cases, handcrafted by Ron Mitchell. These cases change everything for public outreach.

One of the new wall cases in Ron Mitchell’s shop, awaiting delivery.

The cases arriving…

Installation of three wall cases

All eleven cases are now installed and filled with the books of the Living Library exhibit. When you come to the Collections to view the Living Library exhibit, take time to appreciate these exquisite cases.

Going forward, beginning with the Living Library exhibit, we now have the capability to display a larger number of books, sufficient to support exhibit-based tours. In the past, we have not been able to meet the demand for personal tours and customized book presentations. Long waits and schedule conflicts have been all too common. With these new cases and the exhibits they make possible, however, no one will ever need be turned away from viewing the treasures of the Collections. iPads loaded with a multimedia exhibit guide will facilitate self-guided tours for walk-ins. Trained docents will be able to offer exhibit-based tours to an increasing number of groups.

We are compiling a list of area educators, retired faculty and graduate students who would be interested in receiving training to serve as prospective docents. To schedule a tour or to inquire about the docent program, contact the new Outreach Coordinator, Carilyn Livesey ([email protected]).

The cases are beautiful works of art and craftsmanship in their own right, but they also signal an exciting transformation in public service and outreach by the History of Science Collections.

A Living Library: The Growth of the History of Science Collections after “Roller-Goodman,” 1976-2012

1949, 1976 and 2012 are milestone years for the History of Science Collections. A new exhibit displays 100 interesting items acquired since 1976.

1949: Everette Lee DeGolyer founded the DeGolyer Collection with a donation of 129 volumes.

Everette Lee DeGolyer

1976: Curator Duane H.D. Roller and librarian Marcia Goodman published the “Roller-Goodman” catalog of the renamed History of Science Collections, containing records for 40,000 items.

Duane H.D. Roller, Curator, 1954-1990; and Marcia Goodman, Librarian, 1973-1994; with the Roller-Goodman catalog (1976)

2012: Rick Luce arrives as the new Dean of the University of Oklahoma Libraries. The History of Science Collections now holds 95,000 volumes.

Rick Luce, Dean, University of Oklahoma Libraries, Peggy V. Helmerich Chair, and Associate Vice President for Research, 2012-present

The items displayed in this Living Library exhibit reveal how the History of Science Collections is a living library, growing constantly to serve a dynamic community of scholars.

As you view the books in this exhibit, look for the interweaving of two stories: the history of science, and the history of the Collections. Look for additional exhibit-related posts to appear on this blog over the next several weeks.

No appointment is necessary to view the exhibit. It will be available through the end of the semester. The exhibit is open during the regular hours of the History of Science Collections, which is located on the 5th floor of Bizzell Library. For accommodations on the basis of disability, call 405/325-2741.

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