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Class, spring semester, September, 2009,

“Adventures in Book Conservation”

The physical book has flourished for two millennia. It has prospered across great revolutions and has powered transitions in beliefs and sciences. It prospered with the advent of paper, with the advent of printing and now it appears ready to outsmart the digital era.

This exciting seminar will explore the amazing technology of the book. We will learn of its exotic origins, its relations with strange reading and communication behaviors and the secrets of its ingenious structures and technologies. We will also consider the special skills used to preserve books and keep libraries working.

In addition to primary instruction in book conservation methods, students will also develop career skills. The career agendas include those of library preservation and book conservation, artistic expression in book format and academic interest in book studies.

Spring semester, 16 sessions meeting in the evening (Wednesday) 5:30 – 8:30. Class size limit is 15. Instructor, Gary Frost, 319-335-5908, gary-frost@uiowa.edu

Historical Printing: a seminar on letterpress transmission, Fall 2008

This one hour credit seminar course will introduce the experience of letterpress printing in field expereince. Five Saturdays.

This seminar will provide a practical introduction to equipment, methods and intentions of print production in the early 20th century. Students will engage in skilled operations, individual research and class demonstrations. Explorative discussion will consider contexts of print production as pre-cursive to contemporary communications and print production with exploration of communalities such as the keyboard, production logistics, image quality and technological transition. In depth experience will be supported by extensive facilities, instructor specialists and rich library resources.

This seminar will be of interest to students in communications studies, book studies, labor and social history studies and historical industrial technologies. Career relevance is accentuated for those in museum and historical interpretation and education.

Class forum facilitators will include Lanny Haldy, Director of the Amana Heritage Society, Larry Raid, Director of the Working Linotype Museum, Bethany Templeton, Linotype compositor, Joint SLIS/UICB program, Gary Frost, Conservator, University Libraries Preservation department. The seminar is produced within the program of the University of Iowa Center for the Book.

Staying Alive: Books through Print On Demand, Saturday, 10:30, June 28, 2008.

Print on demand in the library environment; monographs, course work reserves, interlibrary loan, scholarly reference, self-publishing and preservation issues. ALCTS program at ALA Annual, Anaheim California.

Linotype University, September 28 to October 5, 2008

Workshops at Linotype University, Denmark, Iowa; contact Larry Raid, <larryjraid@lisco.com> or Linotype University

July, 2009, OldWays Homestead, Santa Idaho Timeless Tech

(stay tuned)

Instructor for the Workshops

Gary Frost is an educator in book art and book conservation. He has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia University in New York and the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently the Conservator for the Libraries at the University of Iowa.