News and Events
To submit items for the News column, please post to SHARP-L or contact the SHARP Webmaster. Consult our Calendar of Events, at right, to see a complete list of upcoming conferences. Calls for Papers includes conference presentations as well as journals. Job postings and funding opportunities are also listed on that page.
Call for Volunteers: SHARP Translation Committee
In a bid to further post-national and transnational approaches to book history, SHARP is looking to put together a committee to oversee the translation of key texts from and to English. Tackling the perennial problem of English-language hegemony head on, SHARP has decided to allocate funds for such translation work. A short and as-yet incomplete list of prospective articles and titles has already been drawn up by country representatives, and further submissions are welcome.
The project would function on two levels:
- Translation into English of non-English texts that deserve to be brought to the attention of English-language readers
- Translation from English of texts that are important due to their comment on book historic topics
The intention is for SHARP to set up a fund to provide grants that would cover the costs of translation, in full or in part. Texts in target-English would be available for submission to the journal Book History, or elsewhere. Texts in target non-English might be made available via SHARPweb or another suitable resource. Promotion of the entire project would be made through SHARP's usual channels.
To this end, SHARP is looking to set up a committee of around eight to ten volunteers, who must be current SHARP members, to oversee the work of
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- project management
- selecting a final short list
- locating suitable translators
- logistics and finance
- arranging for suitable quality control of translations
We encourage declarations of interest from all SHARP members with competence in two or more languages, particularly those spoken outside Western Europe. Some familiarity with the translation process would also be an advantage.
Please contact the committee co-ordinator, Susan Pickford, for further details: susan.pickford [at] gmail.com
Monaghan Book Award Winner Announced
The History of Reading Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association is delighted to announce the winner of the triennial E. Jennifer Monaghan Book Award. The award is presented to an author for an outstanding work on the history of literacy, broadly defined. The winner of the 2012 award is Christine Pawley for her Reading Places: Literacy, Democracy, and the Public Library in Cold War America. Her book was published in 2010 in Amherst and Boston by the University of Massachusetts Press.
SHARP News Goes Digital
Our jam-packed Summer issue of SHARP News is currently at the printer and should arrive in about six to eight weeks. Before you receive your hardcopy, however, we have decided to give members a sneak preview by making an electronic version available through the SHARP members page. This password-protected e-access in .pdf format is the first stage of a transition from print to a fully online version of SHARP News. As the executive committee discussed in Dublin, the newsletter eventually will be made interactive and delivered electronically. While the online format will allow us to take advantage of the new opportunities afforded by technology, the same quality of peer reviews, engaging position pieces, and evocative critiques will characterise the SHARP News of the future. We’ll keep you posted as we move to the new format.
In the meantime, go to the members only link http://sharp.press.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/home.cgi to access your password-protected e-copy of SHARP News. If you have not already created a log-in to the JHUP site, you’ll need your membership number and a password. The SHARP membership number appears on various pieces of correspondence:
- Above your name on the mailing label of your SHARP Newsletter
- Above your name and address on your annual renewal notice
- On your membership/subscription acknowledgement letter (for new members)
If you can’t find your membership number, you can request it online. If you need additional assistance, please contact the
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.
DeLong Prize Winner Announced
I’m delighted to inform those of you not able to attend SHARP 2012 in Dublin (and to repeat the information for those of you who were) that this year’s winner of the DeLong Book History Book Prize is Barbara Hochman (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israell) for her work “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and the Reading Revolution: Race, Literacy, Childhood, and Fiction, 1851-1922, published by the University of Massachusetts Press (http://www.umass.edu/umpress/title/uncle-toms-cabin-and-reading-revolution).
The announcement at the SHARP AGM was met with very warm applause and a standing ovation. Barbara reciprocated by thanking successive SHARP conferences for the opportunity to present early versions of her work.
In turn, I’d like to thank the very hard – though very rewarding – work of our three jurors this year, Amadio Arboleda, Francis Galloway, and Daniel Traister, and also my intern who helped with the administration of the prize, Helen Lewis-McPhee.
I will announce arrangements for next year’s prize in the Autumn. Please watch this space!
Claire Squires
SHARP Director of Publications and Awards
Launch of New Website
The Library and Information History Group (a special interest group of CILIP) has launched a new website at www.lihg.org. It provides a communications hub for all those interested in the history of libraries, books, and information and we extend a cordial invitation to SHARP members to join in. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE LIHG TO REGISTER ON THE SITE. Registered users can contribute to discussion boards in the forum area, post queries, and share ideas, knowledge and information. The aim is to enable the library and information history community to network more effectively, discuss current concerns and ongoing research, and for those with queries to tap into the vast pool of knowledge which exists within our sector. It will also allow those unable to attend events in person to engage more fully in the group's activities online. Registered users can opt to receive automatic email notification when new issues of the group's newsletter are available.
News and features are posted on the blog, an up to date calendar gives details of all group visits, talks, and meetings, plus other events likely to be of interest to library and information historians, while the website provides information on all the group's activities, publications, awards and projects. Further resources will be added as the site develops.
We encourage all those with an interest in any aspect of the history of libraries and information to visit www.lihg.org, register, and get involved.
Kerlan Award Winner 2012
Karen Nelson Hoyle, the recently retired University of Minnesota Children's Literature Collection Curator, has been named the 2012 Kerlan Award winner. For more than forty years of dedicated service, Hoyle has been an outstanding scholar, teacher and mentor to countless people who are interested in and passionate about children's literature and the people who create books for children. She has devoted her life to continuing the vision of the Kerlan Library and making it a reality.
The Kerlan Award is given in recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children's literature and in appreciation of the generous donation of unique resources to the Kerlan Collection, housed at the University of Minnesota. The award ceremony will be held on May 5th, 2012. Please refer to the Children’s Literature Research Collections at the University for more information: http://special.lib.umn.edu/clrc/ .
Registration information about the 2012 Kerlan Award Event can be found here:
https://events.umn.edu/Kerlan-Award-Luncheon-and-Ceremony-018230.htm
SHARPweb Expands!
As SHARP grows as a scholarly organization, we are establishing important links to other societies and to researchers all around the world. The recent member survey suggested that while SHARP-L is the most important contact with the group, many members were eager for still more means of communication, taking advantage of the latest technology. The human touch is important, too. Our liaisons represent us at conferences, make contacts and share information face-to-face and sometimes through the new social media. In order to keep abreast of this important activity, we have added a new section to our website. Under the "Discussion" menu item, we have created a new page, "Networking." Visitors to our site will be able to quickly locate our list of liaisons, note the kinds of discussion on book history topics available on blogs, and check the latest news and links from our liaisons. Both AHA and MLA have major conventions coming up in January 2012 and SHARP's liaisons have been busy preparing. Their links and news notes are found on the Networking page. More are sure to follow. Check the page for the latest information whenever you visit the site--it's sure to evolve to better meet our members' needs.
Lee McLaird
Director of Electronic Resources
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