From the Dean

Dean Betsy Wilson

Each autumn, with the arrival of new students and faculty, I prepare to reflect on the past year and how the Libraries has supported research and knowledge at the University of Washington.

Tradition, teamwork, and transformation are themes that come to mind.

We cannot do what we do in a vacuum. We are an integral part of the fabric of the students, faculty and staff, and what we do as a University can transform lives – from the undergraduate living on campus to the researcher in a city halfway around the world.

As a research library, we have a responsibility to our collective history. We cannot predict which resources we preserve today will be used by tomorrow's scholars for discovery and new knowledge.

In this issue of Libraries E-news, we highlight the slides and photographs of the Gairola Collection of Indian Art and Architecture, which offer a visual tour of an important time in world history. We also look at how the digital archives of a Chicago neighborhood newspaper shed new light on the forgotten history of a big band singer to a curious KUOW reporter. Finally, read how a UW undergraduate mined the Libraries resources to research a topic and transform the information into new knowledge.

We don't take our role of keepers of the past lightly. It's an honor and a responsibility. We can't predict when and how the documents and artifacts, both print and digital, of our collective history will give life to new knowledge about the world around us.

Best,

Lizabeth (Betsy) Wilson,
Dean of Libraries

* Photo by Cass Redstone