First Impression: An Interview With Author and Bibliophile Nicholas A. Basbanes

Nicholas A. Basbanes did not publish his first book until he was 52 but, in the ten years since, the former literary editor at the Worcester Sunday Telegram has given bibliophiles and librarians five books about books. The first, A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books (Holt, 1995), was a landmark commentary on book collecting that has sold 100,000 copies. The second, Patience & Fortitude (HarperCollins, 2001), named for the pair of lions that guard the entrance to the New York Public Library, explored the ways librarians and collectors have protected and housed their treasures throughout history, while describing libraries and book culture in general. Next came Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book-Hunter in the 21st Century (Holt, 2002), a spin-off book from the first book. Arriving after that was A Splendor of Letters: The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World (HarperCollins, 2003), an expanded section intended for Patience & Fortitude that looked at how books are preserved for succeeding generations. Borrowing from Ranganathan's third law of library science, Basbanes' recent book, Every Book Its Reader (HarperCollins, 2005), allowed him to draw on numerous taped interviews conducted for A Gentle Madness that were never used. His next work will be a centennial history of Yale University Press. The Lowell, Massachusetts, native spoke at Indiana University as a guest of its Medieval Studies Institute in October 2005, when William F. Meehan III sat down with the author at the Grant Street Inn in Bloomington

Ben Franklin, Printer: Selections From the Indiana University Lilly Library Collection

Ben Franklin’s career as a printer occupies an important part of a life distinguished by remarkable accomplishment. Often overshadowed by his scientific inventions and civic activity, Franklin’s pursuits as a printer reveal an industrious, clever, and resourceful business owner whose sway affected printing throughout colonial America, particularly from Philadelphia to Charleston. His work as official printer for Pennsylvania, beginning in 1730, demonstrates his gift for winning friends and influencing lawmakers, as well as his ability to deliver quality work. Typical of printers in Colonial America, Franklin also sold books, and the title page of his imprints is a clarion call to bibliophiles still today: “Printed and Sold by B. Franklin.” The second printer to set up shop in Philadelphia, Franklin became one of the trade’s leading members, his venture combining roles as type founder, papermaker, binder, and woodcut artist

The Importance of Cosimo de Medici in Library History

Cosimo de Medici, the aristocratic banker and statesman who enlivened philanthropy in Renaissance Florence, might have made his greatest contribution to the arts through his patronage of humanist libraries. Cosimo himself accumulated a superb personal collection, but his three major library initiatives were charitable activities and included Italy’s first public library, which made its way to the magnificent library founded generations later by one of his descendants

Review of Contact and Dynamic Phenomena in Cold Roll Forming

This review reflects the state of the art in study of contact and dynamic phenomena occurring in cold roll forming. The importance of taking these phenomena into account is determined by significant machine time and tooling costs spent on worn out forming rolls replacement and equipment adjustment in cold roll forming. Predictive modelling of the tool wear caused by contact and dynamic phenomena can reduce the production losses in this technological process

Contriibutors to the March Issue/Notes

Notes by Robert J. Callahan, John Kelly, William A. Meehan, Joseph R. Rudd, Arthur M. Diamond, John J. Doyle, Robert E. Sullivan, Roger Gustafson, William F. Martin, Robert A. Macdonell, Robert E. Million, Arthur A. May, and John F. Power

Multiple Quantum Well Retromodulators for Spacecraft-To-Spacecraft Laser Interrogation, Communication, and Navigation

This paper describes a novel concept for laser-based interrogation, communication, and navigation between multiple spacecraft platforms using a gimbaled laser source on a pursuer spacecraft and a target board populated with retromodulators (modulating retroreflectors) integrated on a host spacecraft. The combined laser source and retroreflectors can provide centimeter-level relative positioning between each vehicle, as well as spacecraft-tospacecraft laser communication via semiconductor-based Multiple Quantum Well retromodulators. Additionally, strategies are developed for utilizing the target board retromodulator array to provide relative attitude between each vehicle. In this scenario, each reflector has its own unique modulating code sequence, allowing the returned signals to be discriminated and processed by the pursuer spacecraft to determine the relative orientation. Based on additional attitude sensing capability, three classes of host spacecraft are considered: fully-cooperative, partiallycooperative, and non-cooperative. Numerical simulations using a five-sensor target board demonstrate the potential of the concept, and preliminary test results demonstrate reflector discrimination capability

Sports Holdings in the Southeastern Conference University Libraries: Football as a Case Study

Of the twelve National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision conferences, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has attained prominence. But how do the SEC’s university libraries fare when evaluated for their football holdings? While university libraries develop their collections mainly to support research and teaching functions, according to accepted collection development practice, the extent to which sports of local importance are represented in their collections is a subject given little attention in the professional literature. In order to help close the gap, this study evaluates the football holdings of the 12 SEC university library systems using the checklist method of each library’s Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) system from a remote location. The evaluation is meant to serve as a case study of sports holdings in the SEC libraries by using an authoritative checklist consisting of the best fiction and nonfiction football books. The checklist method, which compares a library’s holdings to an authoritative list, is an effective means of identifying collection strengths and weaknesses

Incidence of severe retinopathy of prematurity before and after a modest reduction in target oxygen saturation levels

Previous studies suggest that reducing target oxygen saturation levels to 85–93% decreases the incidence of severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Our aim was to determine if a more modest reduction in target oxygen saturation levels also reduces ROP incidence