Minutes of the Meeting of the University of Texas Libraries Committee, May 3, 2006
Attending: Katherine Arens, Julia Mickenberg, Ken Ralls, George Sylvie, Michael Winship; Janine Henri, Peggy Mueller, Meghan Sitar; Linda Brown; Fred Heath; Betty Sue Flowers; Jocelyn Duffy (recording)
Professor Ralls convened the final meeting of the committee for 2005-2006 at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum and introduced Dr. Betty Sue Flowers, Director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. Dr. Flowers had the working lunch catered for the committee.
Dr. Flowers introduced herself and gave a brief overview of the history and administration of the LBJ Library and Museum. The library was dedicated on May 22, 1971 and was the first presidential library to be built on a university campus. It is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Along with NARA, Dr. Flowers also reports to the presidential family and the LBJ Foundation. The LBJ Library and Museum hosts one permanent exhibit and puts on one other major exhibit in alternate years. They are currently preparing for Lyndon Johnson's centennial birthday celebration in 2008.
The LBJ Library and Museum is a favorite of researchers. Lyndon Johnson wanted his papers opened and made accessible as quickly as possible. There are over five hundred separate collections within the library; millions of documents, films and tape recordings have been opened and millions more are still classified and waiting to be released. The library also hosts university classes, offers internships to students, and co-sponsors symposia on campus.
The library is currently working with UTOPIA on the Presidential Timeline project involving all eleven Presidential Libraries. Dr. Flowers worked with Paul Resta, Director of the Learning Technology Center at UT Austin, to apply for a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the project. She also put together an interactive demonstration site for the application, available under "Interactive Demo" at http://www.edb.utexas.edu/presidential_timeline/ . The project will highlight events from each president's time in office using original archival materials from the Presidential Libraries' collections and teaching materials for K-12 curriculums are being created for each event. The initial site is scheduled for release in Fall 2006.
Professor Mickenberg asked how events for the timeline will be chosen. Dr. Flowers responded that the archivists at each library will be responsible for selecting the events to highlight. Fred Heath said that selection is one of the biggest challenges in the digital world. There are so many possibilities that choosing which to preserve and carry forward can be difficult.
When Professor Sylvie inquired about the origin of the timeline project, Dr. Flowers told the committee that she had put the idea together. It is an opportunity to bring the Presidential Libraries together, to make their resources accessible and exciting to students and the general public. Accessibility is the goal of the project: opening documents, preserving them and making them available to the public.
Dr. Flowers encouraged the faculty members to bring their students to the library and introduce them to the great resources. Linda Brown, Graduate Student Assembly representative, related her excellent experience using the resources of the LBJ Library and Museum for a research class.
Professor Ralls thanked everyone on the Committee for their participation and wished them a good summer.
---Jocelyn Duffy
