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Who will be teaching special collections in graduate programs to future librarians? Not just for archives and digital preservation or data curation -- but also literary and historical manuscripts and rare printed books, bindings, rare, historical and unique research collections that need to be conserved and made accessible still, much more than the digital versions. --Karen Weaver http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/us/18cncnewberry.html CHICAGO NEWS COOPERATIVE *Library Buys 14th-Century Book by Catholic Rebels* By DIRK JOHNSON Published: April 16, 2010 EXCERPTS : "Denounced by the Vatican as heretical some seven centuries ago, the writings of an influential Franciscan dissident have found their way to the fourth floor of the Newberry Library." This article is part of our expanded Chicago coverage. "Paul Saenger, curator of the Newberry Library in Chicago, perusing a 14th-century codex from southern France with writings by Peter John Olivi, a Roman Catholic dissident." "The handwritten texts of Peter John Olivi, bought last month jointly with the University of Notre Dame, could shed light on theological disputes during the early Inquisition. Scholars have hailed them as a remarkable legacy of the order of Spiritual Franciscans, who dared to criticize the Roman Catholic Church for amassing vast wealth...." ..."As a research library, the Newberry is known for its *accessibility to the general public.*The acquisition of the Olivi texts means, for example, that a local high school or college student or teacher, "with a reason to research the work," can view the material. Visitors to the library will be allowed to spend time with the book in the Newberry reading room, which is monitored by security cameras." "The Newberry, at 60 West Walton Street near North Clark Street, includes a first-edition King James Bible, as well as letters from Napoleon III and Thomas Jefferson, among its collection of 1.5 million books." "*David Spadafora, the president of the Newberry, said that as libraries in the digital age struggle to maintain relevance, works like the Olivi texts are of profound importance."* "*The future of libraries is going to be about these special collections," Mr. Spadafora said. "Until everything in the world is perfectly digitalized, people are going to need" to see and touch such artifacts."...* "A version of this article appeared in print on April 18, 2010, on page A27B of the National edition." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Karen Weaver, MLS, Adjunct Faculty, The iSchool at Drexel University, Philadelphia PA email: [log in to unmask] / Electronic Resources Statistician, Duquesne University, Gumberg Library, Pittsburgh PA email: [log in to unmask] "A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything." --Malcolm X