High Places

The Blog Has Moved!

2008-10-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

Please visit us at http://aaclibrary.wordpress.com

We've added audio and video and made some other changes. Come check it out!

Clinch Library Update

2008-10-11T08:26:00.001-07:00

Construction of the Clinch Library will be finished in about two weeks. Mike (pictured above) spent several days painting the 40'x24' room. Mike was a huge help when we were moving everything out of the space to prepare for construction. There would have been some broken backs if it weren't for him.

Earlier this week, Brad from Advanced Systems installed the rails on which the seven 32' carriages will be placed. You can see him checking to be sure each rail is perfectly level and exactly the same height as the other rails.

The plywood deck was installed yesterday. Its purpose is to provide a floor surface that is flush with the rails. The entire floor will be tiled over by the end of next week. The mobile carriages will go in immediately thereafter.

It will be a long time before the whole library is relocated to Golden from California, but the first books are scheduled to arrive on October 24 - one day after the final shelf goes in.

Upcoming Event

2008-10-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

Where and When:

Thursday, October 23 at 7:00PM

Foss Auditorium

American Mountaineering Center

710 Tenth Street

Golden, CO 80401

Please join us to celebrate the release of the new edition of The San Juan Mountaineers' Climbers Guide to Southwestern Colorado. Originally published in 1933 by Dwight Lavender, Carleton Long, and Art Griffiths, this book is considered to be one of the first modern climbing guidebooks. The Colorado Mountain Club Press spent two years scrupulously recreating the detailed maps and notes from the first edition - of which only two known copies still exist.

Bob Rosebrough, author of Climbing Colorado's San Juan Mountains, will be our featured speaker that evening. Rosebrough will pay tribute to the early San Juan Mountaineers and how they influenced the making of his own guidebook. CMC Press Manager Alan Stark and CMC Press Advisory Board member John Lacher will discuss their inspiration for the new edition. Hear how the CMC Press, American Alpine Club Library, University of Colorado, and a book conservator all worked together to make this project come to life. This is an event that will appeal to history buffs, bibliophiles, climbers, and lovers of the San Juan mountains alike. Copies of the new edition will be available for purchase.

About the book:

Originally published in 1933 by CMC members Dwight Lavender, Carleton Long, and Mel Griffiths, The San Juan Mountaineers' Climber's Guide was the first Colorado climber's guidebook. The book is also considered to be one of the first "modern" climbing guidebooks-one that provides specific route information and accompanying photographs. Most previous climbing guidebooks were what we would today consider to be general travel narratives. The Climber's Guide was unique in its approach in how it informed climbers about what to expect when they ventured into the wilderness.

Most of the book's content came from Lavender's, Long's, and Griffiths's own documentation of the climbs they performed during the 1920s and 30s. In addition to imparting specific route information, The Climber's Guide was also cautionary. As Art Griffiths explains in the new edition's preface, "The well-documented routes to the summits of these mountains helped others avoid the mishaps and difficult route finding that too often occurs in the San Juans." It was the sense of community and affinity for their fellow climbers that compelled Lavender, Long, and Griffiths to write the book.

Details:

Admission is free to Friends of the Library and CMC 21st Century Circle Members. Others are encouraged to make a $10.00 donation to benefit the library. All donations from the event will be contributed toward the National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant the Library is applying for. You can also make an additional donation to the library online (please indicate that your gift be applied toward the grant).

Light refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP to Gary Landeck at 303-951-4564 or glandeck@americanalpineclub.org.

Uncovering The AAC Paintings Collection

2008-09-07T08:43:00.001-07:00

Gabriel Loppe, Glacier of the Gorner and the Matterhorn at Sunset
Originally uploaded by American Alpine Club Library

Part of the renovation project has involved creating new inventories of the AAC Collections. This week, we unpacked about 20 paintings that haven't been seen since they were moved from New York in 1993. Come in and visit with us while we have them in the library over the next few weeks, or contact us if you have any information about these inspiring paintings of mountains.

We are in the process of evaluating their condition, researching provenance, and consulting with appraisers. If you have expertise in art history and are looking for a volunteer project - this is the project for you!

You can see images of some of the artwork on our Flickr page.

Clinch Library Construction - Day 13

2008-08-29T12:01:00.000-07:00

That blank wall looks a lot better with a door and chair rail on it. Paint will soon follow.

Most of the electrical work is complete in the room's interior. Some of the more extensive HVAC work will begin next week. Advanced Systems was out here on Wednesday to get final measurements for the shelving.

The project completion date will be around October 15 with the first books arriving by the end of October.

Mt. Logan Photos Now Online

2008-08-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Twenty-five images from the collection of Allen Carpé have been posted to Flickr. See this for more info.

Movie Night, September 16th, 7pm -AMC Foss Auditorium

2008-08-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Featuring "Committed", by the fine folks who brought you E11.

Once again, it's FREE! Sponsored by the American Alpine Club and the Colorado Mountain Club.

Here's a trailer:

Upcoming Library Closures

2008-08-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Library will be closed the next two Saturdays:

August 23 - due to a construction project
August 30 - for the Labor Day weekend

All other hours of operation will remain the same.

Clinch Library Construction - Day 3

2008-08-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

The last walls are down and we can now see how big the new space will be. Actually, that's not much debris, considering what was going on in here the last few days:

You can see the new walls on the right-hand side of the next photo. That used to open up into the library's front desk area:

The placement of the new wall was a little tricky. We needed to maximize the space needed for the seven 32' mobile shelving carriages, but without compromising the architectural features in the library's front entrance area. It looks a little funny right now, but the new wall will be blended into its surroundings. The lighting will be adjusted and the new wall will work great for book displays and new artwork:

The new space will be climate controlled due to the nature of the incoming collection. The gents from Majestic Air are here today to begin working on that.

Clinch Library Construction - Day 2

2008-08-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

Houston, we have a room! It didn't take long for Tim and his crew to demo old walls and throw up a new one. Even our Preservation Librarian, Beth Heller, had an opportunity to take a spin with the SawzAll:

Fortunately, we had the help of Bill (pictured below in the red shirt) and Mike to help us move everything out of the four rooms that the Clinch Library will soon occupy. It took us four long, exhausting days, but we got it done. We also took the opportunity to completely reorganize the library's entire collection of archives and artwork. The library's storage areas have never looked so good in the fifteen years the library has been in Colorado.

This last pic was taken just before the final walls came down:

More tomorrow...

And So It Begins...

2008-08-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

We're about a week away from demolishing walls and beginning construction on the long-awaited Nicholas Clinch Central Asia Library. Our crew (me, Beth, and Bill) will be busy the next several days clearing out all of the spaces (pictured below) before the first walls come down.

The first photo below will be the Library's main area. The wall where the door is and the wall to the right of the door will be demolished to make a bigger room. Seven compact shelving carriages that are each 32' long will fill this area and the rooms behind it:

The next shot shows the room that's just behind the door in the first picture:

The next photo shows the room directly behind the main area. The main area and the two storerooms will become one big room after the buildout is complete:

The room in the last photo will become climate-controlled storage for artwork. In its past life when the building was Golden High School (1923-1985), this room was the girls' shower:

We'll post more photos as construction begins, so check back!

Library Wins Bookshelf

2008-08-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

Not just any bookshelf, either. We won the "Connecting to Collections Bookshelf", offered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The IMLS was overwhelmed with applications and only 776 institutions nationwide received this first-rate collection of print and online resources designed to improve the care and access to library and museum collections. You can learn more about the bookshelf and the award here.

Thanks to our Preservation Librarian, Beth Heller, for writing the proposal that won this excellent resource for the Library!

Becoming a Film Friendly Archivist Workshop

2008-07-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 22, 2008

9am to 4pm

$50 per person (lunch on your own in Golden)

RSVP: Beth Heller, Preservation Librarian, 303.384.0110 x13

bheller @ americanalpineclub.org

This workshop furnishes the practicing archivist with skills to identify, assess, and preserve history caught on film.

Upon completion of this workshop participants will be able to:

Perform basic identification of film materials and evaluate their condition and contents;
Set preservation priorities for film materials and get accurate estimates for preservation work;
Identify sources of preservation funding and discuss methods for integrating motion picture materials into access, exhibition, and outreach efforts;
Begin thinking about film as an essential and approachable part of your collection, as well as the historical and cultural record archivists work to preserve;
Regard future acquisitions of film with confidence and a positive attitude.

Who should attend? Anyone who wants introductory experience with and knowledge of film materials.

Snowden Becker is a co-founder of the Center for Home Movies and the international Home Movie Day event. Along with her colleague Katie Trainor, she leads the "Becoming a Film-Friendly Archivist" workshop for the Society of American Archivists. Her doctoral studies at UT's School of Information are generously supported by fellowships from IMLS and the Donald and Sibyl Harrington Foundation.

Ms. Becker will be in Colorado to assess and preserve the 16mm film collection at the American Alpine Club. This project has been generously supported by AAC Board Member Travis Spitzer, and by Robert David of Cinema Lab.

Friends of the Library Event

2008-07-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

World-class alpinist, journalist and Friend of the Library member, Pete Takeda, unearths the terrifying legacy of the Cold War's most daring CIA operation in his award-winning book, An Eye at the Top of the World.

Pete's book is a true story involving Cold War intrigue in the remotest part of the Himalayas and a deadly poison that could potentially be unleashed upon millions of people. This is an event that will appeal to history buffs, mountain climbers, and James Bond fans alike.

When and Where:
Thursday, July 24
7:00PM
The American Alpine Club Library
710 Tenth Street, Suite 15
Golden, CO 80401

About the Book:
In the mid-1960s, with the goal of gathering intelligence on China, the CIA undertook secret climbing expeditions to Uttarakhand, India to put a nuclear-powered spy device on top of Nanda Devi -- one of the most remote and forbidden peaks in the Himalaya.

The plutonium-powered spy device was abandoned high on the mountain as an oncoming storm approached. The device was lost in an avalanche and never recovered. Now, nearly four pounds of plutonium are locked in the glacier beneath the Nanda Devi and is threatening to poison the Ganges, one of the largest rivers in the world, which flows into the heavily populated region of Northern India.

Pete will retrace the account of his 2005 expedition to climb 22,000 foot Nanda Kot - a journey in which he attempted to retrace the footsteps of the failed 1965 CIA expedition described in his book. It is a fascinating story and Pete used the AAC Library extensively to research his book.

Event Details:
Admission is free to Friends of the Library members and $10.00 for regular AAC and CMC members, as well as the general public. Proceeds from the event will be contributed toward the National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant the Library is applying for. You can also make an additional donation to the library online (please indicate that your gift be applied toward the grant).

Please RSVP to Gary Landeck at glandeck@AmericanAlpineClub.org or (303) 951-4564 by July 22.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The NEH Challenge Grant (Revisited)

2008-07-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

Many AAC, CMC, and Friends members have asked about special projects we're working on in the Library. If you look at the blog sidebar called "Adopt a Preservation Project," you will see we are preserving film, building an intern program, and applying for grants, just to name a few.

In May, we submitted our application for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Challenge Grant. NEH challenge grants help institutions and organizations secure long-term improvements and support for their humanities programs.

Winning the grant means the Library's entire collection would grow significantly, we would preserve rare and fragile materials, digitize and automate library services, improve programming and outreach, increase fundraising capabilities, be eligible for other grants, and establish a general library endowment of nearly $600,000 over the next five years.

The NEH Challenge Grant requires matching of actual and in-kind donations to the Library before federal funding is released. We have already raised $130,000 of the $1.3 Million we must obtain over the next five years to meet the grant requirements. Please consider helping the Library meet this challenge. You can sponsor one (or more!) of the above projects by clicking here.

The timing is perfect for the NEH Challenge grant. We are in the process of sending out our annual Friends of the Library appeal letter. This is our big annual fundraiser that helps to offset the Library's annual operating expenses. Be sure to keep an eye out for it as all of these donations can be used toward the NEH Challenge Grant. Make sure to indicate that your donation is to be pledged toward the grant.

We would love for you to be a part of this effort. Contact Gary Landeck (glandeck@AmericanAlpineClub.org) or Beth Heller (bheller@AmericanAlpineClub.org) if you would like to know more about the grant and make a contribution.

Free! Movie Night July 15th, 7pm, Hard Grit

2008-07-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

The American Alpine Club and The Colorado Mountain Club present the second in their monthly series of free movie nights at the American Mountaineering Center, Golden, CO. This month's movie is Hard Grit, SlackJaw Film's award-winning look at British gritstone climbing.

Here is the Official Trailer from SlackJaw

The movie starts at 7pm, Tuesday, July 15th, in Foss Auditorium. Stop by the Library before-hand and say hello, and put in your choice for next month's movie!

Here are a couple of YouTubes:
A Johnny Cash "I Hurt Myself"/Hard Grit Mashup:

Another One:

Book Review: The Horizontal Everest: Extreme Journeys on Ellesmere Island

2008-06-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

Adam McFarren is one of our newest volunteers here at the library. We hope you are inspired by his review, both to read the book and to write a review yourself!

Jerry Kobalenko's The Horizontal Everest: Extreme Journeys on Ellesmere Island will not appeal to all mountaineers. His pace is
slow, the dangers few and there are no impossible summits to attempt.
But some mountaineers have been attracted to the polar regions (Hillary and Messner to use famous examples) and those who have found enjoyment in a long slog through the hills or are fans of arctic history will likely enjoy Kobalenko's extreme journeys.

The Horizontal Everest starts as expected, with an explanation of how Kobalenko first came to Ellesmere Island, his early mistakes, his equipment, conditions endured (-58F) and his mode of travel (manhauling). He declares "[s]ledding is a lovely occupation, if you like walking." Hauling 200+ pound sleds suddenly sounds like fun after reading Jerry's lyrical descriptions of meditative walking all day through a stark, but beautiful landscape.

Still, his early journeys were all about using "hard travel" to tame a physical restlessness. Endlessly pacing for most of the year, Kobalenko only feels physically at peace immediately after his hard Ellesmere trips. This bolsters his justification for adventure in modern society: "we discover that the happiest state lies near the edge of our capabilities, and extreme journeys take us to that edge."

Early on the expected narrative arc of more adventurous journeys and developing expertise begins to morph into Jerry's later obsession with the people and stories of Ellesmere Island. His trips become less about distance done and more about exploring the land and history of Ellesmere. Meeting an older arctic traveler, he's fascinated by how the man's "Ellesmere was alive with human texture, laced with good
jokes, and well anchored in time with unforgettable characters."
Kobalenko describes his own Ellesmere as having "ghosts, scientific curiosities, and some interesting people, but it was mainly a wild and timeless land." Before the end of the book, we suspect Kobalenko's arctic island has deepened with layers of human texture.

The human stories are not simply retellings of straight laced Victorian-era explorers. Kobalenko's Ellesmere includes morphine addicts, plane crashes, suicides, murders, and adultery - going well beyond the normal polar accidents and starvation. More prominent are the infamous explorers Peary and Cook. Jerry seems amused by their dueling for the North Pole, believing both lied and neither made it, but still tries to understand and like each man. Cook and Peary's personalities are fleshed out as much as their arctic journeys, indeed Kobalenko has a gift for bringing historical figures to life. His final description of the pair reads "I am left with an image of Peary forging doggedly ahead, teeth grit, cursing everything and everyone in his way, and Cook la-de-dahing along, whistling a happy tune, lost in his imagination."

The Everest in the title serves as a too-frequent allusion that seems out of place the more it occurs. Early in the book, gear "used on Everest" and an attempt to answer the "Why?" question about North Pole journeys, invoking Mount Everest make sense. Strained phrases occur later ("Everest Base Camp of North Pole Expeditions" and "Tenzing Norgay of the High Arctic") and distract from the portrait Kobalenko paints of Ellesmere Island. This landscape can stand on its own, without the repeated Everest comparisons.

Kobalenko's book leaves out the geologic history of Ellesmere and crams most of its biology into a one-chapter digression that may have
made sense if the rest of his tale was told chronologically.
Unfortunately, the weaving of Ellesmere's history with his own journeys is done so well throughout the rest of the book that chapter six serves primarily as a break in the flow.

Horizontal Everest succeeds because Jerry doesn't let his own journeys steal from the human history of Ellesmere, but rather uses those travels as an excuse to explore the footsteps a handful of hardy people have made across the high arctic. His own evident fascination for their personalities and his joy at discovering their old cairns makes Ellesmere Island seem anything but a barren land.

Mountain Gifts Exhibit

2008-06-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

The Library and BWAMM have just opened a joint exhibit called "Mountain Gifts." This exhibit features 18 pieces of artwork that have been hidden in the Library's Rare Books Room for over 50 years.

Preservation Librarian Beth Heller and BWAMM's Creative Director Chris Case spent several days in the Rare Books Room searching for interesting lithographs and engravings for the exhibit. Beth performed some conservation work on each piece before Chris coordinated the framing with the Metropolitan Frame Company, a vendor who has worked with the Denver Art Museum. All of the artwork will be separately cataloged with the corresponding historical information Chris found during his research of each piece.

This exhibit would not have been possible without the generous support of an anonymous donor.

Pictured above is the oldest artifact in the exhibit—a 1642 copper engraving of the Pyrenees in the southern part of France.

Stop by to see "Mountain Gifts" and the other exhibits now on display at the American Mountaineering Center!

-Gary Landeck

New CMC Press Book

2008-06-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

Scroll down this article in the Ouray County News to the piece called "On the Shelf." This is a description of a project that CMCF board member John Lacher and CMC Press Publisher Alan Stark have been working on for about two years.

The book described in the article, San Juan Mountaineers' Climber's Guide to Southwestern Colorado, is an unpublished 1932 manuscript by Dwight Lavender and Carleton Long. Only two original copies of this manuscript exist: one at Stanford University and the other in the Colorado Mountain Club Collection at our own library.

Working with Karen Jones, a book conservator with a national reputation, John and Alan have painstakingly reproduced the CMC Collection's original manuscript to create a beautiful hardback book with a slipcase that will be limited to 200 copies. The library will receive copy #1, which will be cataloged and added to the CMC's rare book collection. The book's release date is scheduled for July.

Our plans are to have a special event here at the library sometime in the fall to celebrate the book's release. Check back here for more details on the book and the event.

-Gary Landeck

Access: the OCLC and Google way (Part I)

2008-05-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

OCLC just signed an agreement with Google that will allow the two organizations to exchange data with one another. The result is that OCLC's WorldCat will now provide links to the digitized books in Google Books. In return, Google Books will provide a "find this book in a library" link, which takes researchers to a corresponding match in WorldCat.

In the past, WorldCat was mostly used by librarians and scholars. WorldCat has become a little more popular over the years with the general public, but this new relationship with Google will surely drive unprecedented traffic to WorldCat.

The relationship between OCLC and Google has one very important ramification for the AAC Library, which is that a near-direct link will be established between Google Books and the Library.

Beginning June 2, each newly cataloged book in the Library's catalog will have a link to its respective match in Google Books. More on that later.

-Gary Landeck

Challenges, Challenges...

2008-05-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

We've just applied for the National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant. If we're successful in winning the grant, the Library will receive nearly $350,000, which would be spread over a five-year period.

Outcomes would include highly developed collection management, preservation of fragile materials, digitization and automation of library services, improved programming and outreach, increased fundraising capabilities, eligibility for other grants, and the establishment of a general library endowment of nearly $600,000 by the fifth year. It is the kind of progress and growth cultural institutions relative to ours dream of.

We've already raised $130K of the $1.3M we need to raise over the next five years to meet the grant challenge. These are exciting times for the Library and we want you to be a part of it. You can help us meet the NEH challenge by going to the link we've created on the blog sidebar, or go directly to the AAC's donation page. Please indicate that your donation be applied toward the Library NEH Challenge Grant.

-Gary Landeck

Oral History Project

2008-05-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, we launched a project to record the oral histories of prominent AAC members. With the help of Cyns Nelson, owner of Voices Preserved, we were able to record eight oral histories during the Annual Dinner in February. Among the recordings we collected were those of Jed Williamson, Gail Bates, Jim McCarthy, Bob Craig, and Ted Vaill.

Nelson helped us develop the processes for securing written consent, recording, transcription, and archiving. The next step is to catalog and make the recordings available on the web.

James Mills of Specialty News was also present during the making of those first eight recordings. Mills edited Dee Molenaar's recollections of the near disaster on K2 in 1953, which resulted in what is arguably the most important event in mountaineering history: The Belay. You can find that podcast here.

As we're building the Library's own collection of oral histories, we find important recordings on the web. One example is AAC Honorary Member George Lowe recounting his formative climbing years and ascents in Alaska (notably on Mount Foraker's Infinite Spur). We've added a sidebar on this blog to collect applicable recordings as we find them. In the coming months, OCLC will help us catalog the Library's own collection oral histories and those on the blog sidebar.

-Gary Landeck

American Institute for Conservators (AIC) Angels Project

2008-05-03T13:20:00.001-07:00

AIC group photo
Originally uploaded by American Alpine Club Library

On April 25th, the AAC was visited by 15 conservators from the American Institute for Conservators (AIC). Every year, the AIC sponsors an Angels Project, and this year volunteers came from across the country to help us care for our collections.

You can see more photographs of this event on our Flickr page.

The BWAMM Blog also has an excellent group of photographs!

These highly-skilled and enthusiastic folks got us started on 4 very important projects:

Book Cradle Construction Team:
Katherine Kelly, Collections Care Conservator at Iowa State University, Susan Lunas, a book conservator in Eugene, Oregon, and Andrea Knowlton, Assistant Conservator for Special Collections, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

These three women constructed a variety of book cradles for use in our display cases and in the rare books reading room, so that books can be protected while being viewed.

Frame Unfitting Team:
Alicia Bjornson, Resource Interpretive Specialist for The Hancock House in NJ State Parks, Jamye Jamison, Book and Paper Conservator, Zukor Conservation, San Francisco, CA, Elizabeth Williams, Preservation Specialist, The Hollinger Corporation, Nora Lockshin, Paper Conservator, Smithsonian Center for Archives Conservation, Washington, DC, Jenn Cruikshank, Conservator, Maryland State Archives, and Helen Alten, Northern States Conservation Center

This team removed artwork from damaging or inappropriate frames, examined their condition, and made recommendations about care. They removed two items from damaging backing materials.

Colorado Peak Register Team:
Vicki Lee, Senior Conservator, Maryland State Archives, Karen Jones, Collections Conservator, Jefferson County Public Libraries, CO, Greg Bailey, Conservation Technician, University of Connecticut Libraries, Laura Bedford, Conservation Student, University of Texas Kilgarlin Center, and Bev Perkins, Objects Conservator, CA and WY.

This team uncrumpled several hundred peak registers and placed them in archival-quality housings, making them much more accessible.

Assessment of Objects/Artifacts Collections Team:
Bev Perkins, Helen Alten and MJ Davis, Conservator, WASHI, Vermont

This team examined and made recommendations about the best way to store and exhibit materials such as tents, ice axes and snowboots.

All of our work was generously supported by the following vendors, who donated supplies above and beyond what was requested:

Archival Products
The Hollinger Corporation
Metal Edge, Inc.
Talas
University Products

And I can't forget to thank Gary Landeck, Library Director, Chris Case, BWAMM Creative Coordinator, Carla Preston, CMC Events Manager, and the AAC and CMC staff members who contributed food to our potluck lunch - it was delicious!

We got an enormous amount done, and we've still got quite a lot to do! Volunteers are still needed to continue the peak register project. If you would like to volunteer, please contact us at library@americanalpineclub.org!

Friends of the Library Event

2008-04-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

Please join us Thursday, May 15 at 6:00PM for a special event:

19th-Century Publishers' Bindings: One Hundred Years of Mountaineering

Beth Heller, Preservation Librarian, will take examples of interesting bindings from the Library's Rare Books Room and trace the movement of book production, from an early 1800s example of a hand-bound volume created for a wealthy owner, to a decade-by-decade look at the transformation of book design through innovations in mechanization, mass production, and public readership up to 1900.

The AAC’s collection of Publisher’s Bindings is unique because it gathers a group of truly beautiful gilt and stamped designs portraying mountains and mountaineering. This event is free to FOL members, and $10 to AAC and CMC members and the general public.

Event will be hosted in the Library at:
The American Mountaineering Center
710 Tenth Street
Golden, Colorado 80401
303/384-0112
library@AmericanAlpineClub.org

On Relationships

2008-04-21T11:22:00.001-07:00

Most libraries are under tremendous pressure to fulfill the expectations of a 21st-century audience. These pressures generally manifest themselves in the form of implementing new technologies. It's all about digitization and automation these days.

These are exciting times to be a librarian, information professional, or whatever one wants to refer him/herself to. To take a special collections library like this one and find ways to make it available to anyone anywhere in the world is a fantastic dream.

However, getting there is a story we've all heard countless times. Most institutions don't really have the resources to automate and digitize everything (or even some of the things) we'd like. I'm grateful for what this library has--a LOT of institutional support. Yet it is still difficult to drive even some basic projects to a point were they begin to make a difference for our audience. Thanks to my colleagues at the University of Denver, I found new hope.

I attended a community partners luncheon at DU on Friday. I met with Denise Anthony and Steve Fisher, two LIS faculty members whom I've known for a while. I outlined the challenges that have surfaced at the AAC Library in just the last year and a half: how to raise funds, research and complete an RFP for a new automation system, renovate part of the library, digitize photos, and manage our oral history program all while maintaining our regular services and daily operations.

In my experience, the main problem with traditional LIS practicums is that a student simply comes in, completes a project, and leaves without ever understanding the context in which that project took place. What's worse is that the library staff and university professors rarely interact with one another except for one short meeting at the end of a student's practicum.

Denise, Steve, and I agreed to make a change. We're going to implement a program in which our own library staff and university faculty meet on a regular basis, whether we have a DU practicum student working on site or not. The point is to build a relationship between the two institutions so that we gain a deeper understanding of what our respective needs are. Most of our projects extend far beyond what a single student can do in a hundred contact hours. Ours would be a program in which new students would refine and build upon the work accomplished by their predecessors. It would keep long-term projects moving along.

What we want to work toward is giving the university faculty and students a more meaningful and holistic picture of what it's like to run this kind of library. In return, they'll help us get some stuff done.

-Gary Landeck

For the Conservation Minded

2008-04-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

Both the CMC and AAC actively promote conservation in mountain environments. Our colleagues at the National Snow and Ice Data Center have been working with a few scientists to take current photos of glaciers that appear in the NSIDC's collection of historic images (the NSIDC allowed us to use some of their images in the Climbatology event we had in February). The following is from the NSIDC's blog:

We have updated the Glacier Photograph Collection. There is now a special collection page for the DAHLI IGY Glacier Photographs. This new page directs users to a special search page to locate glacier photographs taken during the International Geophysical Year (1957-58). Thanks to the work of Michael Russell, we will be adding more photographs soon. Michael has been diligently checking the quality of the digital files and ensuring the accuracy of the associated metadata. There are currently 917 images in the database. Another 1131 images are in the queue.
In addition to the IGY photographs, we have recently added a collection of images taken in Peru by Fred D. Ayres and updated the National Park Service Glacier Survey Reports (another special collection).

As our own library outsources our cataloging processes to OCLC in the coming weeks, we'll catalog some of the NSIDC's digital collections so library users can find and cross-reference them with the AAC/CMC Library's collections. This will be our first significant online resource-sharing effort with another institution.

-Gary Landeck

New Beginnings

2008-04-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

Libraries should be fun. They should have interesting resources, a helpful and knowledgeable staff, programming to showcase their treasures, and lots of ways to access the information contained within them. A library should spark something in the imagination of everyone it touches.

There's a lot going on at the AAC Library this year. With the addition of new staff member Beth Heller, we've begun working on a timeline for the construction of Nick Clinch Central Asian Library. This is a unique collection of 30,000 books that has concentration on all aspects of Central Asia, but also has excellent coverage of all of the world's mountainous regions.

AAC Development Director Cheryle Wise has been instrumental in helping us implement a quarterly library programming series. We'll begin on May 15 with a presentation called "The Art of the Book: Publisher Bookbinding", conducted by our Preservation Librarian, Beth Heller. Beth will draw from her background as a paper and book conservator and to give us a short history of bookbinding and show us some of the interesting bindings we have in our own collection. Admission is free for Friends of the Library and $10.00 for non-members.

The library is going digital! Library volunteer Alex Bittenbinder has been working for several months on procedures to digitize the thousands of historic photographs in the Library's collection. Alex has been working specifically on the Lt. Nawang Kapadia Himalaya Collection, a collection of about 1,300 35mm slides taken and donated by the prominent Indian mountaineer, Harish Kapadia. Once the images are scanned and made available on the web, the collection will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in exploring the Himalaya.

We were thrilled to be a part of the grand opening for the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum (BWAMM) in February. We are working with the BWAMM staff to integrate the museum's collections with those of the library. Our hope is to raise enough money to purchase a new online catalog that will allow us to incorporate the museum's three-dimensional artifacts with the library's books, DVDs, and archives into a single system.

And all of this is in addition to all of the services the Library has always offered. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us and we need your help. Please consider becoming a Friend of the Library or check our website for more details.

-Gary Landeck

New Staff Member

2008-03-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

Beth Heller will start next week as our new Preservation Librarian. Beth and her colleague, Laura Staneff, have been working with the AAC and CMC for about a year on a long-range collections care strategy that encompasses the Library, Bradford Washburn Mountaineering Museum, and plans for the Nick Clinch Central Asia Library.

Beth is an art and paper conservator by profession and she has presented and taught courses at the University of Texas, University of Houston, and the Texas Association of Museums. Her primary responsibilities will be to run most of the Library’s daily operations, but she will also play strategic roles in grant writing, care of collections, and making the museum and library an integrated knowledge resource that will increasingly become available online.

Welcome, Beth!

-Gary Landeck

Holiday Closure

2007-12-14T14:04:00.000-08:00

The Library will be closed from Saturday, December 22 through Tuesday, January 1. We will resume normal hours beginning Wednesday, January 2. If you have any book, DVD, or reference requests, be sure to get them in soon.

Happy Holidays!

Free Public WiFi

2007-12-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a grant from the Golden Civic Foundation, the Library now has free public WiFi. Whether you're working on a research project or just need to check your email, please stop by and take advantage of our new service.

We Like Donations!

2007-09-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

We get some great donations at the library. One of our patrons was cleaning out her attic a few weeks ago and found some early issues of Up Rope, a discontinued publication of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. The donation included several issues we were missing in our reference collection, including the first ten that were published! The first issues, dating from 1944 and '45, were in wonderful condition and would have otherwise been impossible to find. We're having them custom-bound into one nice volume.

Please consider the AAC Library if you're giving away your old mountaineering and climbing books and journals. Give us a call at 303/384-0112. Thank you!

New Resources

2007-09-11T14:42:00.001-07:00

We've added a sidebar to this blog called "Books by AAC Members." Because the staff at the American Alpine Journal cannot review all of the books that authors and publishers send them (they receive dozens during the course of a year), we want to be sure authors who are AAC members get special mention.

Take a look at a new resource called Teton Climbing History: The Summit Register Archive. This site contains a collection of digital images of the Grand Teton National Park Summit Register Archive. The summit registers were maintained from about the late-1920s into the 1980s and they form a unique repository of Teton climbing history. We've added the archive to the "Climbing Resources" sidebar on this blog and the AAC's Online Climbing Resources webpage.

NEW DVD

2007-08-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Dosage IV

New Blog Feature!

2007-08-21T17:21:00.000-07:00

You can now find newly cataloged books on the library blog. You can either visit the “New Books” section on this blog or subscribe to the RSS feed. Thanks to our colleagues at LibraryThing for making this new feature possible.

We'll make a blog post at the end of each month to annouce new DVD titles. If you subscribe to both the New Books and blog feeds, you’ll know right away when we’ve received new stuff. There will be an announcement in this month’s AAC E-News as well.

Using a feed reader is the best way to keep up with what’s going on in the library. Feed readers pull information from websites, blogs, and other web-based mediums into one place so you don’t have to bookmark and manually visit sites. If you're an AAC or CMC member who doesn't already use a reader but would like to learn how, we would be happy to show you. Just shoot us a line at library@americanalpineclub.org.

In the coming months, you’ll begin to see changes in the library’s catalog that will allow for tag-based browsing, book recommendations, ratings, and reviews. Stay tuned!

The Questions We Get

2007-07-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

The library has only a few resources for mountaineering statistics. We're fortunate to have Accidents in North American Mountaineering and the Himalayan Database at our disposal, but these aren't enough. As mountaineering and climbing accidents become increasingly popular news (such as last winter's Mount Hood and Fowler/Boskoff incidences), we're getting more requests for statistical information.

Year to date, the library staff has answered 50% more reference questions than at this point last year. Inquiries related to mountaineering statistics account for much of that increase. Here are a few examples:

How many people summitted Everest in 2001?
How many deaths were reported on Everest in 1986?
Who is the oldest North American to summit Everest?
Where can I find a list of the world's highest peaks that are still unclimbed?

Please email us at library@americanalpineclub.org or comment to this post if you're aware of resources for statistical information related to mountaineering. We appreciate your help!

Construction Update

2007-07-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to show how construction of the Bradford Washburn Mountaineering Museum is impacting the library. As you may already know, the museum is being built right next door to the library. It is a partnership between the American Alpine Club, Colorado Mountain Club, and National Geographic Society.

This temporary wall was built to minimize dust and noise in the library as the original wall behind it comes down. Over the next few months, a set of doors will be installed that will replace the original wall. The doors will open into a brand-new reading room that the library and museum will use as a shared resource. The reading room will allow access into the museum.

In the meantime, the museum is really shaping up! It is scheduled to open in late winter 2008 and will be one of the world's leading resources for mountains, mountaineering, and mountain cultures. Check out their blog.

Historic Ascent In India

2007-07-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

Our colleagues from the Calcutta section of The Himalayan Club do a wonderful job keeping us informed of mountaineering news in their part of the world. We've received a press release from the HC announcing that the first Indian civilian ascent of Mt. Nilkanth (6595m) has been achieved. Another highlight of this expedition is that the climb was achieved in a single stretch of 57 hours!

Located in the state of Uttaranchal in India, there have only been four successful ascents of this difficult mountain. A full report will be published soon, but you can learn more here.

This news follows less than a year after the HC's ascent of Mt. Kamet (7756m), which was organized to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first successful ascent of that mountain.

The Himalayan Club is a major contributor to the AAC library's archive of historic expedition reports. The HC is also largely responsible for our complete set of The Himalayan Journal, the HC's annual publication. The Journal has been published since 1929 and ours may be the only complete set in the United States.

Above are two photos from the expedition that were taken near the summit of Nilkanth (courtesy of The Himalayan Club). Congratulations to all the team members!

UPDATED: The full report has arrived at the library. Please contact Gary at glandeck@americanalpineclub.org if you would like to have a copy

Women Breaking Barriers in Pakistan

2007-07-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

An article in today's Aspen Daily News discusses the Pakistani Women's Climbing Camp, a joint project of the American Alpine Club and Alpine Club of Pakistan. Eight American women are leading an effort to cultivate a tradition of mountaineering among Pakistani women. Local response to the project was overwhelming and there will be about 100 participants on this expedition.

Such efforts are groundbreaking in a country where cultural norms impede women from participating in sports. Follow the PWCC's progress on their blog and support their effort.

GTCR Featured in Jackson Hole Magazine

2007-07-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

An interesting article about the Grand Teton Climber Ranch appears in the summer/fall issue of Jackson Hole Magazine, a publication by Jackson Hole News. The article does not appear online, but copies of the magazine can be obtained from the publisher. You can also stop by the library to see our copy. The Ranch hosts a "work week" for volunteers to keep the place running.

The GTCR has been owned and operated by the AAC since 1970. The Ranch, located at the base of the Grand Teton, is open from mid-June to early September. AAC members can stay for just $8.00 per night! Another great reason to join the AAC.

Brittany Griffith in Siberia

2007-07-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

Check out this YouTube video featuring the AAC's Events Coordinator, Brittany Griffith. In this video, she and her colleague JT discuss the history and culture of rock climbing in Siberia. These folks don't seem to have any reservations about free-soloing 5.9 slabs!

Brittany is a sponsored athlete and is currently on a climbing world-tour. You can follow her on her blog, BAG-gage: The Adventures of Brittany Griffith. She called a few days ago looking for beta on the Pyrenees and Oman. Oman was tough, but we're trying to get a copy of this book for her.

AAC, CMC, and Friends members take note: If we don't have it, we'll get it for you!

Atkinson Featured in AMC Outdoors

2007-07-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

The library just received its copy of the July/August AMC Outdoors, the publication of the Appalachian Mountain Club. Guess who's on the front cover? If you guessed Bill Atkinson, chair of the AAC's New England Section, you're correct.

The feature article is a tribute to Bill and his 50+ year climbing career. Recounting Bill's climbs in the Alps, Tetons, Red Rocks, and the White Mountains, the article also examines Bill's remarkable ability to instill in others a love for the mountains and for climbing. The AAC library has guidebooks that cover all the places Bill has explored. AAC members can borrow these and the thousands of other books available in our catalog.

The AAC is "America's leading organization for all climbers" because it has so many leaders like Bill. Join the AAC today!

John Gill on Bouldering

2007-06-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

John Gill is one of the many climber/scholars who visits the AAC Library. John, a longtime Colorado resident, has been a specialist in the art of bouldering since 1955. One of his important essays, "The Art of Bouldering", appears in the 1969 American Alpine Journal.

John has been writing an exhaustive history of bouldering on his website. You'll see that he found much of his information and several historic photos at the AAC Library. Recently, we helped John him track down a few artistic sketches that were published in the 1898 edition of the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal.

We are grateful to John for writing the 2005 Friends of the Library appeal letter, the annual fundraising campaign the AAC holds each year to support the library. Please help us preserve this wonderful resource and become a Friend today!

You can read John Gill's biography, Master of Rock, written by his colleague Pat Ament. Where can you find it? You guessed it - the AAC Library!

Photo: John Gill working a problem in Little Owl Canyon near Pueblo, Colorado in 2002. Photo courtesy of John Gill.

Books and Flicks

2007-06-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

See what's new for June! AAC, CMC, and Friend members can call or email us to borrow these new titles. Be sure to visit our catalog for a complete listing. Remember, borrowing and shipping are free!

Books
Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain that Killed My Father / John Harlin
Khangchendzonga: Sacred Summit / Pema Wangchuk
Together on Top of the World / Phil Ershler
Legs on Everest / Mark Inglis
Antarctic Journal of a Sailor on Operation Windmill 1947-48 / Edward Koenig

DVDs
Alpine Mountaineering on Mount Rainier
Madagascar: A Woman's First Ascent and Great Trango Tower: A Granite Mile High (double feature)
Everest: The Mountain at the Millenium
Shishapangma: A Celebration of Life and Himalaya: Descending India (double feature)
Sport Climbing 101 with Chris Lindner

Who Says Good Help Is Hard To Find?

2007-06-19T16:43:00.000-07:00

We lucked out with intern Mike Wejchert. Mike will be working as the Library Assistant this summer. Mike is a climber, English student at Colorado College, and has proven to be an all-around big help at the library.

In his first week, Mike has already processed an enormous book donation (shown above), an equally enormous serials collection, answered a number of difficult reference questions (including one about iceberg climbing - he tracked down ice climber Will Gadd to get his input), and is writing an article for the Friends of the Library Newsletter.

Mike has a great attitude, tackles anything I throw at him, and his knowledge of climbing and mountaineering literature is nothing short of, well...amazing. AAC and CMC members can contact him at mwejchert@AmericanAlpineClub.org for beta on practically anything. Catch him before he's gone. Welcome aboard, Mike!

Ellingwood and Molenaar Visit Library

2007-06-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

May was a big month for notable visitors. Robert Ellingwood, Colorado Mountain Club President from 1956-57, visited with library and museum staff to discuss a donation of tremendous historical significance.

Ellingwood's father, Albert Ellingwood, was a prominent CMC member from 1915 until his death in 1934. The elder Ellingwood made many first ascents considered impossible in his day, including Colorado fourteeners Crestone Peak, Crestone Needle, and Kit Carson. After his father's death, the junior Ellingwood collected his father's nine handwritten journals as well as his moutaineering gear. "It has been a dream of mine since 1940 that my father's manuscripts and artifacts find a permanent home in institutions like the American Alpine Club Library and Bradford Washburn Mountaineering Museum", said Ellingwood. Albert Ellingwood died when Robert was just 16. His obituary appears in the June 1934 issue of Trail and Timberline.

Dee Molenaar, American Alpine Club member since 1943 and member of the Third American Karakoram Expedition to K2 in 1953 (an expedition documented in K2: The Savage Mountain), stopped by with his friend (and library volunteer), Bob Ader. Molenaar still supports the AAC in a number of ways; he is an artist and donated two of his paintings for the silent auction at the AAC's 105th Annual Meeting in Bend, Oregon last March.

Photo #1 (left to right, taken by Wendy Hall, Boulder Public Library): CMC Executive Director Kristy Judd, Robert Ellingwood, Museum Director Niña Johnson, Library Director Gary Landeck

Photo #2 (left to right, taken by Gary Landeck): Dee Molenaar, library volunteer Bob Ader