News, Events, Publications, and Awards

Abstract

Previous article FreeSociety InformationNews, Events, Publications, and AwardsPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreNewsThe Equity Action PlanThe text that follows was approved by the Council at the October 2020 meeting.IntroductionMaterial texts created by/for and studied by under-represented groups deserve better representation within all forms of bibliographical scholarship. Bibliographers who identify as (in alphabetical order) BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color), LGBTQ+, non-Christian, women, and others (hereafter referred to as “under-represented groups) deserve a professional community that values their work and provides meaningful, equitable opportunities for advancement in various ways.The Equity Action plan is intended to address some long-term issues of inequality within our Society and other learned societies in the United States and internationally, and also issues of diversity and inclusion within the practice of bibliography. Issues of inequality have resulted in members of under-represented groups having had fewer opportunities for advancement and support. The scholarship they produce and bibliographical studies of their textual cultures have been overlooked, unpublished or actively discouraged.The BSA conducts its business on the traditional and ancestral lands and waters of the Lenape People in Lenapehoking, known by settlers as New York City. The Society gathers people together at events across the North and South American continents on the traditional and ancestral lands and waters of Indigenous peoples who were forcibly removed from their lands. The BSA acknowledges the exclusion and erasures of Indigenous peoples in the places where we work and gather.This plan is intended to provide transparent documentation of actions that the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) will take to rectify harm done and to achieve defined goals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Society and its sphere of influence.Principles of Equity and Inclusion in BibliographyThe Bibliographical Society of America recognizes that:– Textual artifacts, their production, and their study are global and intercultural. Texts take various forms beyond ink on paper or parchment.– Various analytical methods and theoretical frameworks can come to bear on the study of the production and circulation of material texts in any society.– Collections of primary materials that form the basis of bibliographical research have often been developed according to practices that are no longer considered ethical and, in some instances, no longer legal; and many have been broken up and dispersed. Ethical and respectful practices in acquiring primary materials from creators, display and handling of artifacts, and striving to keep collections together, are essential to the integrity of scholarship based on them.– Ethical practices by individual collectors, curators, dealers, and auction houses are vital to scholarship, which depends on the fullest possible knowledge of the provenance and historical context of the material texts they study.– Bibliographers come from a broad range of cultural, racial/ethnic, gender-based, religious, professional, socio-economic, and other backgrounds and bring a broad range of experiential knowledge to their work. At the same time, personal identities do not necessarily overlap with or relate to professional research interests.– The Society recognizes that interlocking and interdependent knowledge producers and distinct forms of knowledge production enrich the bibliographical community. We welcome all who are interested in varied forms of bibliography, including, but not limited to academics (including administrators, tenured, un-tenured, and adjunct faculty), archivists, book artists and artisans of the book, booksellers, collectors, conservators, curators, independent scholars, institutional administrators, librarians, museum professionals, paraprofessionals, and students. The products of their bibliographical inquiries take a variety of forms. These include (but are not limited to; listed in alphabetical order): archival finding aids; artworks; bookseller and auction catalogs; catalog records; curricula and syllabi; digital and analog tools; digital humanities projects; lectures, presentations, and other forms of orally transmitted knowledge; and published books and articles.The Society’s GoalsThe BSA aspires to contribute to the development of equitable models of scholarly production in bibliography that set a broader and more inclusive course for the future of the field. New models of scholarly production and actions taken to realize them will:– Center the richness of material texts in their globally and historically diverse forms;– Recognize and honor the historic bibliographical contributions by members of under-represented groups;– Support and empower individuals from under-represented groups to use the Society’s resources to achieve outcomes that advance their careers, and/or center marginalized textual cultures and material texts;– Support and empower individuals from under-represented groups in making contributions, when they choose to do so, toward the Society’s efforts in building equity within the field. This includes welcoming them into the Society in leadership roles on the Council, Committees, Working Groups and among the Officers.Action PointsThe Society shall take the following actions toward achieving the goals stated above.The Society will empower under-represented group members to broaden the content coverage of The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (PBSA) by encouraging and supporting members of under-represented groups to contribute scholarship and reviews and to secure significant representation on the Advisory Board. With the guidance of the Executive Committee, the Editor of PBSA, BSA Executive Director, and the Publication Committee will develop, document, implement, and monitor an action plan to broaden the content of the journal and increase contributions from individuals of under-represented groups, incorporating the points listed below. This action plan shall be made publicly accessible as an appendix to this one and developed with specific goals for measuring and determining success. Action Point 1: The development and adoption of policies and procedures aimed at regularizing and supporting the participation of self-identified members of under-represented groups on the PBSA Advisory Board. The Editor of PBSA and the Publication Committee shall establish and document procedures by which vacant positions on the board are filled, the qualifications for appointments to the PBSA Advisory Board, and length of the term served. The procedure should state that if two candidates with comparable professional qualifications are simultaneously under consideration for an appointment to the Advisory Board, a candidate’s potential to offer different perspectives to those already serving will be considered and valued. On the whole, the Advisory Board should offer a plurality of voices, perspectives, and experiences. Members from any one gender or race/ethnicity, or any one institutional/vocational affliation should not comprise more than 50% + 1 of the members of the PBSA Advisory Board. Action point 2: Broadening the coverage of books reviewed to include works that represent a wider array of textual artifacts from diverse authors in English and in other languages. Action point 3: Explore possibilities for expanding the journal to include content in languages other than English and/or material in translation.The Society will work for a sustained increase in the diversity of BSA Council, Committees, and Working Groups. Action Point 1: The President and the Executive Director will develop guiding values for diversity, equity, and inclusion for the Nominating Committee with respect to the Council nomination process, and these values will be made publicly available. Action Point 2: Improve communications to members regarding the role that they play in electing diverse members to the Council. Communications should cover the BSA’s “Work, Wisdom, & Wealth” requirements for Council participation and indicate that the Society appreciates varying individual resources, and values all three contributions from Council members. Action Point 3: The Policy and Procedures Manual Working Group will lead efforts to devise equitable and transparent procedures by which appointments to all BSA Committees and Working Groups will be made. Procedure documentation should include the criteria and/or qualifications for participation on each Committee, information about the volunteer requirements for each Committee (time commitment required, descriptions of the types of work done by Committee members), and information about term length and renewal opportunities. While Committee or Working Group Chairs may from time to time appoint specific individuals to Committees, the Society will also issue calls for volunteers to members on a bi-annual basis. These procedures, when completed, will be posted to the Society’s website.The Council will draft a land acknowledgment for the BSA website and determine the best placement(s) for it thereon.The Society will leverage the Prizes it awards to encourage submissions of high-quality scholarship from diverse authors working in a variety of fields related to bibliographical research.The Society will leverage its Fellowship Program to bring more diversity to bibliographical scholarship and support the participation of individuals from under-represented groups. Action Point 1: Continue to strengthen its Fellowship Program by adding new fellowships designed to encourage the study of under-represented bibliographical topics and by under-represented bibliographers. Action Point 2: Prioritize awards for competitive proposals to individuals from under-represented groups. Action Point 3: The Fellowship Committee will assist in establishing professional, working relationships between fellows and the relevant staff at institutions that they plan to visit during their fellowship period. This includes making efforts to connect BSA Fellows with resources available to research fellows at the institution(s) they will be visiting. Action Point 4: The Fellowship Committee will devise language to include in the Fellowship award letter to indicate that the Society’s consultant ombudsperson (per the Professional Conduct policy) will be available to fellows for confidential discussion of harassment, discrimination, or other matters of concern experienced within libraries during their fellowship period. While the Society cannot play a role in mediating or resolving complaints, the consultant ombudsperson should be made available as an impartial, neutral listener. Action Point 5: The Fellowship Committee will improve outreach with Fellows during their Fellowship period to improve their engagement with the Society and connect them with the bibliographical community around the BSA.The Society will continue to expand BSA events in terms of representation, coverage, and access. In-person and virtual events should cover a wide range of subjects, feature presenters from under-represented groups, and take place in geographically dispersed, physically accessible locations or with virtual equivalents (closed-captioning, etc.). Priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate a commitment to these values. Action Point 1: Maintain a list of outlets for sharing calls for proposals to ensure that opportunities are publicized to a wide range of relevant organizations and interested individuals. Action Point 2: Events Committee should solicit or otherwise encourage proposals from specific individuals to encourage engagement with a broad range of institutions. Specifically, the Society should seek to organize and sponsor events centering collections from institutions spread across geographic regions, and in North and South America in particular. In addition to geographic heterogeneity in BSA events, the Society should seek to center institutions with a range of collecting strengths and use its programs to build awareness of collections without longstanding reputations and established recognition in the field. The Society should also seek to better recognize traditional and indigenous textual materials held within creators’ communities, and any special circumstances working with those materials. Action Point 3: Evaluate and expand BSA’s ability to improve physical access to in-person and virtual events by encouraging co-sponsoring organizations to offer and communicate about accommodations for individuals with a variety of requirements for access. Action Point 4: Proposals for events support will be required to document their event’s commitment to diversity in selecting presenters.The Society will maintain and evaluate a list of places where calls for applications/proposals/submissions, program announcements, and other communications are shared to ensure wide coverage to varied audiences.The Society will continue to develop collaborative partnerships with cognate organizations that represent any and all time periods, geographic regions, and methodologies in the study of material texts. Establishing partnerships must also include plans to sustain and build upon those relationships and for adapting existing programs within the Society for meaningful inclusion of new partners.The Council shall reconsider and publicly acknowledge the Society’s role in advocating for a more equitable working world for all bibliographers. This reconsideration must address the role that the Society currently plays in modeling or promoting equity within the field, and propose future models that would better leverage its power within it for the benefit of members.The Society recognizes that this initiative must be undertaken with focused efforts toward meaningful change. Creating equity within the Society will only be achieved through committed attention to the needs and ongoing work of marginalized constituencies both within the Society and in parallel institutional and non-institutional spaces.The Materiality of This Text: Its Production, Revision, & UseThe Equity Acton Plan is published on the Society’s website, and will be updated there as needed. Major revisions to the plan will also be published in these pages. A text published on a website is not static, and as such this webpage expresses the evolving nature of the text of this Action Plan. BSA members—especially those who identify with the under-represented groups defined above—are encouraged to submit comments offering nuanced perspectives on their needs and past experiences, suggest more meaningful and effective actions toward the goals stated above, and identify areas of inequity that the Society should address. All members may submit comments about this document via the link to a Google Form after logging into memberplanet.com/bsa. All submissions will be anonymous. Anyone wishing to receive a response to their submission must provide their name and email address.All comments will be recorded and subsequently considered by the Executive Committee. Minor revisions may be approved by the Executive Committee; major revisions may be implemented following a discussion and vote by the Council after a preliminary review by the Executive Committee.All approved revisions to this document will be published on the Society’s website, and previous versions will be preserved as PDF files in the Society’s archives.The Society will annually revisit, review, revise, and expand this document and evaluate its progress to ensure that the Society’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is meaningful and sustained. As we work toward realizing these individual points with community participation, this living document and ancillary feedback mechanisms will model mutual support and an iterative process that reflects the Society’s goals for itself, its membership, and its broader academic context.The Executive Director, Officers, and the Council of the BSA and Committee and Working Group chairs will be required to review and summarize their progress toward achieving each of these action points in their written reports to Council at each Council meeting, and also verbally or in writing at the request of the BSA President or Executive Director between meetings. The BSA will also add action items to this list, with the approval of the Council, as needed, in response to member feedback or otherwise.This document was primarily written by (in alphabetical order) Jose Guerrero, Erin McGuirl, and Kyle Triplett as an ad hoc team of volunteers within the Membership Working Group during the summer of 2020. Officers and the Membership Working Group Chair shared their comments throughout the drafting process. After a final review by the Executive Committee in September 2020, the document was reviewed by five external readers, both members and non-members, from under-represented groups. Their suggested revisions were reviewed and incorporated by Guerrero, McGuirl, and Triplett and the final document was submitted to Council for approval at the October 31, 2020 Council meeting.Timeline, Public Reporting, and Progress EvaluationThe Society will immediately set to work on all of the action points set forth above, and aims to address them all by 2026. The five-year timeline, while slower than we would prefer, is designed to be realistic and achievable in light of BSA’s limited full-time staff and reliance on volunteers who have other personal and professional priorities and obligations.The Executive Committee will appoint a small monitoring task force to track the Society’s progress on the Action Points listed above. It will be their responsibility to follow up with the Executive Committee and Council as needed and coordinate progress reporting with the President (to Council) and Executive Director (to the membership and general public).The Society will update the membership and public regularly on our progress toward achieving these goals in the following ways:1. The Society will update the membership and our public by means of our electronic newsletter (published monthly) when we have made significant progress on or completed any one or multiple action plan points.2. The Society Info pages in PBSA will contain quarterly summaries of our progress on these initiatives in print and PDF formats.3. The Society’s annual report, available digitally and in print, will devote a section that reports on Equity Action Plan progress and accomplishments.4. The annual report, referenced above, will be published in PBSA, either in complete or abbreviated form, depending upon space constraints.❧ProgramsNew Scholars ProgramThe Bibliographical Society of America each year invites three scholars in the early stages of their careers to present twenty-minute papers on their current, unpublished research in the field of bibliography as members of a panel at the annual meeting of the Society, which normally takes place in New York City in late January. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 meeting was held virtually, which included New Scholars’ presentations. The New Scholars Program seeks to promote the work of scholars who are new to the field of bibliography, broadly defined to include any research that deals with the creation, production, publication, distribution, reception, transmission, and subsequent history of textual artifacts (manuscript, print, or digital). Papers presented by the BSA New Scholars are submitted to the editor of the Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (PBSA) for publication, subject to peer review, and are published in the December issue as part of the proceedings of the annual meeting. The 2021 BSA New Scholars are Mathieu D. S. Bouchard (Pantzer New Scholar), Dr. Sophia Brown (Malkin New Scholar), and Ryan Low (BSA New Scholar). Applications to the 2022 New Scholars Program will open in late summer of 2021. Please visit the New Scholars page on the BSA website for further information (https://bibsocamer.org/awards/new-scholars-program/).❧FellowshipsAnnual FellowshipsEvery year the Society offers a variety of fellowship in support of bibliographical inquiry and research in the history of the book trades and in publishing history: The Katharine Pantzer Senior Fellowshipin Bibliography and the British Book Trades ($6,000) supports research in topics relating to book production and distribution in Britain during the hand-press period as well as studies of authorship, reading, and collecting based on the examination of British books published in that period, with a special emphasis on descriptive bibliography. 2021 Winner: Sandro Jung, “Eighteenth-Century British Regional Book Illustrations of Literature: Models, Production, and Commercial Use in the North of England.” The BSA-ASECS Fellowship for Bibliographical Studies in the Eighteenth Century ($3,000). Recipients must be a member of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies at the time of the award. 2021 Winner: Julie Park, “Writing’s Maker: Inscribing the Self in the Eighteenth Century.” The BSA-Harry Ransom Center Pforzheimer Fellowship in Bibliography (two awards at $3,000 each) supports the bibliographical study of early modern books and manuscripts, 1455–1700, held in the Ransom Center’s Pforzheimer Library and in related collections of early printed books and manuscripts, including the Pforzheimer Gutenberg Bible. 2021: No winners. The BSA-Mercantile Library Fellowship in North American Bibliography ($3,000) supports scholarship in North American bibliography, including studies in the North American book trade, production and distribution of North American books, North American book illustration and design, North American collecting and connoisseurship, and North American bibliographical history in general. 2021 Winner: Mark Mattes, “Archival Apocrypha: Indigenous Writing and the Figure of Logan in Colonial and Native American History.” The BSA Peck-Stacpoole Fellowship for Early Career Collections Professionals ($3,000) supports bibliographical research by conservators, curators, librarians, and others who are responsible for institutional collections of textual artifacts, at early stages of their careers. 2021 Winners: Ostap Kin, “Poet’s Choice: Bohdan Boychuk’s Lost Anthology of Ukrainian Modernist Poetry”; and Lucy Mookerjee, “The Itinerary of a Cookbook: Mapping the Cultural Routes of Morgan MS B.36 (An edition and analysis).” The BSA-Pine Tree Foundation Fellowship in Culinary Bibliography ($3,000) supports the bibliographical study of printed and manuscript cookbooks (once commonly known as receipt books), medical recipe books that also contain culinary recipes, other types of books, manuscript, and printed material that include a substantial body of culinary recipes, treatises on and studies of gastronomy, or memoirs, diary accounts, or descriptions of food and cooking. Projects may cover any period or country. 2010 Winner: Ellen Barth, “Women as Producers of American Community Cookbooks, 1950s to 1990s: Motivations and Materials.” The BSA-Pine Tree Foundation Fellowship in Hispanic Bibliography ($3,000) supports the bibliographical study of printed and manuscript items: 1) in the Spanish language produced during any period and in any country; 2) in any language provided they were produced in Spain or in its overseas dominions during the time of Spanish sovereignty; 3) the bibliographical study of book and manuscript collections in Spain or in its overseas dominions during the time of Spanish sovereignty; 4) the bibliographical study of Spanish-language book and manuscript collections during any period and in any country. 2021 Winner: Carlos Diego Arenas Pacheco, “Indigenous Latinists: 16th-century Books from Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco at the Sutro Library, San Francisco.” The Caxton Club Fellowship for Midwestern Bibliographers ($2,500 and one-year memberships in both the Caxton Club and the BSA) supports bibliographical research that focuses on the physical aspects of books or manuscripts as historical evidence. Books and manuscripts in any field and of any period are eligible for consideration. Projects may include studying the history of book or manuscript production, publication, distribution, collecting, or reading. Projects to establish a text are also eligible. Studies of enumerative bibliographies and enumerative bibliographies are also eligible as long as they meet the requirements described above. Applicants must live in one of the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, or Wisconsin. 2021 Winner: William Little, “The Latin Poetry of Nallio Rainaldi of Tagliacozzo.” The Charles J. Tanenbaum Fellowship in Cartographical Bibliography ($3000) supports projects dealing with all aspects of the history, presentation, printing, design, distribution, and reception of cartographical documents from Renaissance times to the present, with a special emphasis on eighteenth-century cartography. Funded by the Pine Tree Foundation of New York. 2021 Winner: Anne Garner, “Recovering Feminine Cartographies: Women Wayfinders and ‘Vanishing Monuments’ in the Canadian Territories, 1795–1990.” The Dorothy Porter Wesley Fellowship ($3,000) supports bibliographical study conducted by an individual who identifies as Black. Building on the Society’s commitment to expanding representation of scholars of all backgrounds and identities, this short-term fellowship may be used to pursue bibliographical research in any field and of any period. Projects may include studying the history of book or manuscript production, publication, distribution, collecting, or reading. Projects to establish a text are also eligible. The fellowship honors the life and work of Dorothy Porter Wesley (1905–1995), an accomplished Black bibliographer and librarian, an active member of the Society, and author of the influential 1945 PBSA article “Early American Negro Writings.” Funded by Bruce and Mary Crawford and Barbara A. Shailor in memory of Dorothy Porter Wesley. 2021 Winner: Jacinta Saffold, “Independent Hip Hop Production as Freedom Dreaming.” The Katharine Pantzer Junior Fellowship in the British Book Trades ($3,000) supports bibliographical inquiry as well as research in the history of the book trades and publishing history in Britain. 2021 Winner: Yelda Nasifoglu, “Mathematics in Circulation in Late Seventeenth-Century London: Evidence from Hammer Copies of Auction Catalogues.” The Reese Fellowship for American Bibliography and the History of the Book in the Americas ($3,000). The fellowship may be awarded to any scholar, whether academic or independent, whose project explores the history of print culture in the Western Hemisphere. 2021 Winner: Fabián Vega, “Books from the Guaraní Missions. Jesuit Libraries and Circulation of Knowledge in the South American Borderlands (18th Century).” The BSA-Rare Book School Fellowship. 2020 Winner: Tielke Uvin (Ghent University) BSA Short-term Fellowships ($3,000). The Society also offers a number of unnamed, short-term fellowships supporting bibliographical research as described above. 2021 Winners: James P. Ascher, “Seventeenth-Century Printer’s Copy and Records at the Royal Society”; Amanda Arceneaux, “To Know an Herbe: Vernacular Herbal Manuscripts, 1570–1750”; Paulina Banas, “Visualizing Egypt: European Travel, Book Illustration, and the Marketing of the East in the 19th Century”; Patricia Andrea Dosio, “Sketching Connections: Reconstruction of the Rioplatense Cultural Scene through the Editions of Aquilino Fernández (1880–1930)”; Cecilia Sideri, “Reconstructing the Library and Reading Habits of the Renaissance Manuscript Collector and Calligraphist Marco Antonio Altieri (1450–1532)”; Jessica Terekhov, “The Life Cycle of the Part-Issued Victorian Novel”; and Laura Viaut, “Production and Circulation of Educational Manuscripts of Roman-Barbarian Law in the Early Middle Ages.”Details of the program are located at http://bibsocamer.org/awards/fellowships/, or can be had by contacting Hope Mayo, Chair of the Fellowship Committee, [email protected]. The application for the 2022 cycle of Fellowships will open in summer 2021.❧The Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy SocietyOrganized in 1904 and incorporated in 1927, the Bibliographical Society of America is the oldest scholarly society in North America dedicated to the study of books and manuscripts as physical objects. Member gifts have played an important role in advancing BSA’s scholarly mission over the past century. Contributions and legacy gifts from BSA members have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote the study of books and manuscripts as textual artifacts and have furnished important financial support to early-career bibliographers and scholars.The Bibliographical Society of America has established a Legacy Society named after distinguished bibliographer Margaret Bingham Stillwell (1887–1984). BSA’s intent in founding the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society was to recognize the long tradition of giving at BSA and to ensure a vibrant future for tomorrow’s bibliographical scholars.The Society welcomes new members to the Stillwell Legacy Society, and invites you to join this growing cohort of bibliophiles. Please let us know by letter or email that you have remembered the Bibliographical Society of America in your estate plan, and we will be honored to recognize you as a member of the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society. Your membership can be acknowledged in your name. You can also join the Stillwell Legacy Society in honor of—or in memory of—someone close to you. Should you wish, you may