Chicago Library Research Articles

Genome Assembly of the Dogface Butterfly Zerene cesonia.

Comparisons of high-quality, reference butterfly, and moth genomes have been instrumental to advancing our understanding of how hybridization, and natural selection drive genomic change during the origin of new species and novel traits. Here, we present a genome assembly of the Southern Dogface butterfly, Zerene cesonia (Pieridae) whose brilliant wing colorations have been implicated in developmental plasticity, hybridization, sexual selection, and speciation. We assembled 266,407,278 bp of the Z. cesonia genome, which accounts for 98.3% of the estimated 271 Mb genome size. Using a hybrid approach involving Chicago libraries with Hi-Rise assembly and a diploid Meraculous assembly, the final haploid genome was assembled. In the final assembly, nearly all autosomes and the Z chromosome were assembled into single scaffolds. The largest 29 scaffolds accounted for 91.4% of the genome assembly, with the remaining ∼8% distributed among another 247 scaffolds and overall N50 of 9.2 Mb. Tissue-specific RNA-seq informed annotations identified 16,442 protein-coding genes, which included 93.2% of the arthropod Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO). The Z. cesonia genome assembly had ∼9% identified as repetitive elements, with a transposable element landscape rich in helitrons. Similar to other Lepidoptera genomes, Z. cesonia showed a high conservation of chromosomal synteny. The Z. cesonia assembly provides a high-quality reference for studies of chromosomal arrangements in the Pierid family, as well as for population, phylo, and functional genomic studies of adaptation and speciation.

An integrated chromosome-scale genome assembly of the Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi).

BackgroundThe Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) is the largest-bodied giraffe and the world's tallest terrestrial animal. With its extreme size and height, the giraffe's unique anatomical and physiological adaptations have long been of interest to diverse research fields. Giraffes are also critical to ecosystems of sub-Saharan Africa, with their long neck serving as a conduit to food sources not shared by other herbivores. Although the genome of a Masai giraffe has been sequenced, the assembly was highly fragmented and suboptimal for genome analysis. Herein we report an improved giraffe genome assembly to facilitate evolutionary analysis of the giraffe and other ruminant genomes.FindingsUsing SOAPdenovo2 and 170 Gbp of Illumina paired-end and mate-pair reads, we generated a 2.6-Gbp male Masai giraffe genome assembly, with a scaffold N50 of 3 Mbp. The incorporation of 114.6 Gbp of Chicago library sequencing data resulted in a HiRise SOAPdenovo + Chicago assembly with an N50 of 48 Mbp and containing 95% of expected genes according to BUSCO analysis. Using the Reference-Assisted Chromosome Assembly tool, we were able to order and orient scaffolds into 42 predicted chromosome fragments (PCFs). Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, we placed 153 cattle bacterial artificial chromosomes onto giraffe metaphase spreads to assess and assign the PCFs on 14 giraffe autosomes and the X chromosome resulting in the final assembly with an N50 of 177.94 Mbp. In this assembly, 21,621 protein-coding genes were identified using both de novo and homology-based predictions.ConclusionsWe have produced the first chromosome-scale genome assembly for a Giraffidae species. This assembly provides a valuable resource for the study of artiodactyl evolution and for understanding the molecular basis of the unique adaptive traits of giraffes. In addition, the assembly will provide a powerful resource to assist conservation efforts of Masai giraffe, whose population size has declined by 52% in recent years.

The Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) Genome.

Rangifer tarandus, known as caribou or reindeer, is a widespread circumpolar species which presents significant variability in their morphology, ecology, and genetics. A genome was sequenced from a male boreal caribou (R. t. caribou) from Manitoba, Canada. Both paired end and Chicago libraries were constructed and sequenced on Illumina platforms. The final assembly consists of approximately 2.205 Gb, and has a scaffold N50 of 11.765 Mb. BUSCO (Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs) reconstructed 3820 (93.1%) complete mammalian genes, and genome annotation identified the locations of 33,177 protein-coding genes. An alignment to the bovine genome was carried out, indicating sequence coverage on all bovine chromosomes. A high-quality reference genome will be invaluable for evolutionary research and for conservation efforts for the species. Further information about the genome, including a FASTA file of the assembly and the annotation files, is available on our caribou genome website. Raw sequence data is available at the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), under the BioProject accession number PRJNA549927.

Improving Illumina assemblies with Hi-C and long reads: An example with the North African dromedary.

Researchers have assembled thousands of eukaryotic genomes using Illumina reads, but traditional mate‐pair libraries cannot span all repetitive elements, resulting in highly fragmented assemblies. However, both chromosome conformation capture techniques, such as Hi‐C and Dovetail Genomics Chicago libraries and long‐read sequencing, such as Pacific Biosciences and Oxford Nanopore, help span and resolve repetitive regions and therefore improve genome assemblies. One important livestock species of arid regions that does not have a high‐quality contiguous reference genome is the dromedary (Camelus dromedarius). Draft genomes exist but are highly fragmented, and a high‐quality reference genome is needed to understand adaptation to desert environments and artificial selection during domestication. Dromedaries are among the last livestock species to have been domesticated, and together with wild and domestic Bactrian camels, they are the only representatives of the Camelini tribe, which highlights their evolutionary significance. Here we describe our efforts to improve the North African dromedary genome. We used Chicago and Hi‐C sequencing libraries from Dovetail Genomics to resolve the order of previously assembled contigs, producing almost chromosome‐level scaffolds. Remaining gaps were filled with Pacific Biosciences long reads, and then scaffolds were comparatively mapped to chromosomes. Long reads added 99.32 Mbp to the total length of the new assembly. Dovetail Chicago and Hi‐C libraries increased the longest scaffold over 12‐fold, from 9.71 Mbp to 124.99 Mbp and the scaffold N50 over 50‐fold, from 1.48 Mbp to 75.02 Mbp. We demonstrate that Illumina de novo assemblies can be substantially upgraded by combining chromosome conformation capture and long‐read sequencing.

Embedded Clinical Librarianship: Bringing Medical Reference Services Bedside

This article was written by Patti Gibbons and Debra A. Werner. Patti is the Head of Collection Management at the University of Chicago Library’s Special Collections Research Center and holds a MLIS from the University of Illinois and a MA from the University of Washington. Debra is the Librarian for Science Instruction & Outreach and Biomedical Reference Librarian at the University of Chicago Library and the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine’s Director of Library Research in Medical Education and she holds a MLIS from Dominican University. This article covers an experimental project at the University of Chicago where the library’s medical librarian teamed up with the hospital’s clinical team during patient rounds to provide real-time reference services. The project’s effectiveness was studied by a medical student who found that the embedded librarian’s services improved the clinical team’s evidence-based medical decision-making abilities without increasing the length of bedside rounds.

Indiana Limestone: America's building stone

Abstract Indiana Limestone is one of the most used and versatile building stones in the USA. It is a uniform, carbonate grainstone formed during the Mississippian Subperiod of the Carbonifereous. The stone has excellent physical properties, good workability, fire resistance, durability, sustainability, reserves sufficient for hundreds of years, remarkable history, and is available in pleasing colours and textures. Indiana Limestone is used extensively for important buildings, homes, or carved as accents and sculptures, as well as other uses. At one time it was estimated that 60–80% of important US stone buildings were built with Indiana Limestone. This stone has been used for significant, even iconic buildings such as the Empire State Building and the Yankee Stadium, the Pentagon and many other government buildings, even religious structures such as the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, notable houses such as the Biltmore House in North Carolina, many Chicago landmarks, plus libraries, research centres, academic buildings and museums, across the USA. Sculptures throughout the USA and other countries are made of Indiana Limestone. The stone has good sustainability and is incorporated into the very culture of the state of Indiana and America. Indiana Limestone merits designation as a Global Heritage Stone Resource.

An Annotated Genome for Haliotis rufescens (Red Abalone) and Resequenced Green, Pink, Pinto, Black, and White Abalone Species.

Abalone are one of the few marine taxa where aquaculture production dominates the global market as a result of increasing demand and declining natural stocks from overexploitation and disease. To better understand abalone biology, aid in conservation efforts for endangered abalone species, and gain insight into sustainable aquaculture, we created a draft genome of the red abalone (Haliotis rufescens). The approach to this genome draft included initial assembly using raw Illumina and PacBio sequencing data with MaSuRCA, before scaffolding using sequencing data generated from Chicago library preparations with HiRise2. This assembly approach resulted in 8,371 scaffolds and total length of 1.498 Gb; the N50 was 1.895 Mb, and the longest scaffold was 13.2 Mb. Gene models were predicted, using MAKER2, from RNA-Seq data and all related expressed sequence tags and proteins from NCBI; this resulted in 57,785 genes with an average length of 8,255 bp. In addition, single nucleotide polymorphisms were called on Illumina short-sequencing reads from five other eastern Pacific abalone species: the green (H. fulgens), pink (H. corrugata), pinto (H. kamtschatkana), black (H. cracherodii), and white (H. sorenseni) abalone. Phylogenetic relationships largely follow patterns detected by previous studies based on 1,784,991 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms. Among the six abalone species examined, the endangered white abalone appears to harbor the lowest levels of heterozygosity. This draft genome assembly and the sequencing data provide a foundation for genome-enabled aquaculture improvement for red abalone, and for genome-guided conservation efforts for the other five species and, in particular, for the endangered white and black abalone.

A near-chromosome-scale genome assembly of the gemsbok (Oryx gazella): an iconic antelope of the Kalahari desert.

BackgroundThe gemsbok (Oryx gazella) is one of the largest antelopes in Africa. Gemsbok are heterothermic and thus highly adapted to live in the desert, changing their feeding behavior when faced with extreme drought and heat. A high-quality genome sequence of this species will assist efforts to elucidate these and other important traits of gemsbok and facilitate research on conservation efforts.FindingsUsing 180 Gbp of Illumina paired-end and mate-pair reads, a 2.9 Gbp assembly with scaffold N50 of 1.48 Mbp was generated using SOAPdenovo. Scaffolds were extended using Chicago library sequencing, which yielded an additional 114.7 Gbp of DNA sequence. The HiRise assembly using SOAPdenovo + Chicago library sequencing produced a scaffold N50 of 47 Mbp and a final genome size of 2.9 Gbp, representing 90.6% of the estimated genome size and including 93.2% of expected genes according to Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs analysis. The Reference-Assisted Chromosome Assembly tool was used to generate a final set of 47 predicted chromosome fragments with N50 of 86.25 Mbp and containing 93.8% of expected genes. A total of 23,125 protein-coding genes and 1.14 Gbp of repetitive sequences were annotated using de novo and homology-based predictions.ConclusionsOur results provide the first high-quality, chromosome-scale genome sequence assembly for gemsbok, which will be a valuable resource for studying adaptive evolution of this species and other ruminants.

A High-Quality Reference Genome for the Invasive Mosquitofish Gambusia affinis Using a Chicago Library.

The western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, is a freshwater poecilid fish native to the southeastern United States but with a global distribution due to widespread human introduction. Gambusia affinis has been used as a model species for a broad range of evolutionary and ecological studies. We sequenced the genome of a male G. affinis to facilitate genetic studies in diverse fields including invasion biology and comparative genetics. We generated Illumina short read data from paired-end libraries and in vitro proximity-ligation libraries. We obtained 54.9× coverage, N50 contig length of 17.6 kb, and N50 scaffold length of 6.65 Mb. Compared to two other species in the Poeciliidae family, G. affinis has slightly fewer genes that have shorter total, exon, and intron length on average. Using a set of universal single-copy orthologs in fish genomes, we found 95.5% of these genes were complete in the G. affinis assembly. The number of transposable elements in the G. affinis assembly is similar to those of closely related species. The high-quality genome sequence and annotations we report will be valuable resources for scientists to map the genetic architecture of traits of interest in this species.

Whole-genome assembly of the coral reef Pearlscale Pygmy Angelfish (Centropyge vrolikii)

The diversity of DNA sequencing methods and algorithms for genome assemblies presents scientists with a bewildering array of choices. Here, we construct and compare eight candidate assemblies combining overlapping shotgun read data, mate-pair and Chicago libraries and four different genome assemblers to produce a high-quality draft genome of the iconic coral reef Pearlscale Pygmy Angelfish, Centropyge vrolikii (family Pomacanthidae). The best candidate assembly combined all four data types and had a scaffold N50 127.5 times higher than the candidate assembly obtained from shotgun data only. Our best candidate assembly had a scaffold N50 of 8.97 Mb, contig N50 of 189,827, and 97.4% complete for BUSCO v2 (Actinopterygii set) and 95.6% complete for CEGMA matches. These contiguity and accuracy scores are higher than those of any other fish assembly released to date that did not apply linkage map information, including those based on more expensive long-read sequencing data. Our analysis of how different data types improve assembly quality will help others choose the most appropriate de novo genome sequencing strategy based on resources and target applications. Furthermore, the draft genome of the Pearlscale Pygmy angelfish will play an important role in future studies of coral reef fish evolution, diversity and conservation.

Lady Nature in Word and Image in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose

Despite the encyclopedic nature of Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose , there are two topics that have been accorded a central place in the quagmire of debates, discussions, and digressions that make up the second Rose . They are the successful and guaranteed regeneration of the human species and the proper use of one's (sexual) tools. At the center of both these topics is the allegorical figure of Lady Nature. The comparative analysis of iconographic depictions of Lady Nature in two fourteenth-century manuscripts, Chicago, University of Chicago Library, 1380 and Paris, Sainte-Genevieve, 1126, and in the fifteenth-century manuscript, Paris, BnF, fr. 23492 reveal new interpretative textual linkages, such as the rapprochement of Lady Nature's confession with Pygmalion's creation of his female statue.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note

Journal of Islam in Asia (JIA) is devoted right from its first issue in 2004 to publication of quality research papers in both Arabic and English. Research denotes thorough investigation into and deliberation over an issue with a view to developing a totally novel idea or suggesting new interpretation of the currently existing idea. Mere compilation of various views from different quarters, or collection of materials on the issue concerned, or translation of a known or unknown work into another language may not be considered by the academia research.This issue of JIA (December 2015) consists of ten (10) articles, five in Arabic and five in English. They are all of high standard. Authors and co-authors of these papers deserve special appreciation for their genuine efforts in producing extraordinarily valuable works. JIA Editorial Board hopes that researchers will continue their intellectual contributions to the Journal.JIA policy concerning citation of sources in the footnotes continually favored Chicago Library Manual. But keeping in view the contemporary and widely-recognized trend of APA system in researches, books, and articles, the Editorial Board of JIA has decided to honor both trends in citation Chicago Manual and APA. In this issue one English paper is based on APA system and the rest follow Chicago Manual style. We have made efforts; and it is Allah to render it fruitful. All praise is due to Allah alone.

Homer in Print: A Catalogue of the Bibliotheca Homerica Langiana at the University of Chicago Library ed. by Glenn W. Most and Alice Schreyer (review)

Reviewed by: Homer in Print: A Catalogue of the Bibliotheca Homerica Langiana at the University of Chicago Library ed. by Glenn W. Most and Alice Schreyer Fred Schreiber Glenn W. Most and Alice Schreyer (eds.). Homer in Print: A Catalogue of the Bibliotheca Homerica Langiana at the University of Chicago Library. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2014. Pp. viii, 339. $55.00. ISBN 978–0-94305–641–8. As stated in its preface, this elegantly produced volume is the result of collaboration between the worlds of private collecting, philanthropy, research libraries, and scholarship. Its genesis was the Homer library (“Bibliotheca Homerica Langiana” [BHL]) formed by the bibliophile Michael C. Lang who, in 2006, presented his collection to the University of Chicago to stimulate research, discovery, and knowledge not only of Homer, but also of the bibliographic sciences. Far from being a mere list of editions, which the word “catalogue” might lead some to expect, the volume contains considerably more detailed information than names of authors, titles, printers, and dates; each of the 175 entries is accompanied by informative commentaries, or brief essays, whose focus, as the editors state, is “on the transmission of the Homeric text and the printing, publishing, and editorial history and critical reception of the editions included rather than on the individual copies.” Thus, the work traces the transmission [End Page 300] and reception of the Iliad and Odyssey in printed form from the editio princeps of 1488 to the first decade of the twenty-first century. The 175 entries are grouped into five main sections: A: Greek Editions; B: English Translations (by far the largest section, comprising 109 entries, including “Retellings for Children”); C: Translations in Other Languages; D: Scholarly Works; E: Illustrations, Facsimiles, & Manuscripts. In section A, all significant Greek editions are included. This reviewer, however, found it puzzling that among the bibliographical references following the commentaries on the editions, the standard printers’ bibliographies are strangely omitted: for example, A. A. Renouard for the Aldine and Estienne editions (A2, A6, A14, A16) and A. Willems for Elzevier (A17). Section D deals with Homeric scholarship from the publication in 1521 of Didymus’ scholia (D1) and culminates in Milman Parry’s revolutionary 1928 Paris dissertation on traditional Homeric epithets that strengthened belief in the oral nature of the poems (D14). In addition to the main entries there are three longer essays. The first consists of an introductory account by Lang on the genesis and formation of his collection, “The Architecture of Accumulation: A Book Collector’s Apology,” including an enlightening section on English translations of Homer. Lang states that although the Homeric poems have been translated into virtually all Western and several Eastern languages, more have appeared in English than any other: at least 105 complete English translations have appeared since Chapman’s. (As a side note Lang points out that over these last five centuries, “there is as yet no complete translation by a woman of the Iliad or Odyssey in English.”) The other two essays, both dealing with aspects of Homer’s Nachleben, are found in appendix; in the first, titled “A Shaggy-dog Story: The Life, Death, and Afterlives of Odysseus’s Trusty Dog Argus,” the author, Glenn W. Most, has chosen this touching little episode of the Odyssey to illustrate the vaster history of the reception of Homer in the works of editors and translators through the centuries. The second, “Quarreling over Homer in France and England, 1711–1715,” is an account by David Wray of the battle waged in intellectual circles during the second decade of the eighteenth century known as the Querelle d’Homère, a revival of the culture war known as the “Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns.” This volume elegantly fulfills both the editors’ and Lang’s stated objectives by contributing the first in-depth study of “Homer in print.” Fred Schreiber E. K. Schreiber Rare Books Copyright © 2015 The Classical Association of the Atlantic States, Inc.

From the Editor‐in‐Chief

In December 1914 at the AAAS meeting in Washington D.C., 21 men met to begin the organization of the Ecological Society of America. In December 1915, 50 people voted to form the Society. The officers were President Victor E. Shelford, Vice-President William M. Wheeler, and Secretary-Treasurer Forrest Shreve. The cover of this issue shows some of the individuals who played important roles in the formation of the Society and a brief biography of each by Sharon Kingsland. Further, we have reproduced from the Bulletin 1(3):1–8 Victor Shelford's history of how the ESA was formed. On other history topics there is a Special Session report by Bill Reiners, Jeff Lockwood, Steve Prager, and Juliana Mulroy from the 99th meeting of the Society entitled “Ecological concepts: What are they, what is their value, and for whom?” There is also a “History of the Historical Records Committee” by Dennis Knight and “The Fifth Decade: a period of growth” by Kiyoko Miyanishi. In the next issue there is an article by Jean H. Langenheim, President of ESA in 1986, remembering her major professor William Cooper, who was a student of H. C. Cowles, one of the original organizers of ESA. Jean has also written an interesting book entitled The Odyssey of a Woman Field Scientist: a Story of Passion, Persistence and Patience published by Xlibris in 2010. Also, in this historic year, I call your attention to two recent books: Victor M Cassidy's Henry Chandler Cowles: Pioneer Ecologist published by Kedzie Sigel Press in 2007, and Peter G. Ayres' Shaping Ecology: the life of Arthur Tansley published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2013. Frank Egerton will also have a book on the history of ESA coming out, we hope, this year. The Bulletin will alert you to its publication. Throughout this centenary year expect further articles and historic pictures of the society. I cannot help but describe my tenuous connection to one of the founders of ESA. When I was a high school student I lived near the Morton Arboretum outside of Chicago. The naturalist there was May Theilgaard Watts; I visited with her several times and she was the one who first introduced me to ecology. May Watts was an undergraduate student of Henry Cowles during her stay at the University of Chicago. She graduated in 1918. May Theilgaard propelling Henry Chandler Cowles about Big Bay, Madeline Island, Wisconsin. Photograph by George D. Fuller, 1869–1961. Digital collection: American Environmental Photographs Collection, [AEP Image Number WIS45], Department of Special Collections, University of Chicago Library. Inscribed to me by May Watts when I was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin.

ESA Founders Pictured on the Cover

ESA Founders Pictured on the Cover

The Mystery of Totality in Mircea Eliade`s A Spiritual Adventure

four-act play A Spiritual mentioned several times by Mircea Eliade in his autobiographical texts, has recently been offered to all those fascinated by mysterious imaginary world of literature written by Romanian scholar. Professor Mac Linscott Ricketts, devoted to introducing readers around world to Eliade's work, has managed to discover text of this play, written in 1946, in Eliade Special Collection of University of Chicago Library. A Spiritual Adventure was published for first time in January 2012, in English translation, in journal Theory in Action. Professor Ricketts also discusses making of this mythical text. For interpretative endeavour that we propose to undertake in following lines, Ricketts' paper, The Writing of A Spiritual Adventure, is an important starting point.Initially entitled Euridice, this play extends scheme of Hellenic myth, as it is structured by idea of experiencing via unitiva, beyond human will, through divine grace. Folded around mystery of being, story reveals ''the absolute reality of which teaches a human being ''techniques of partcipating in Divine Nature. As Eliade explains in his Soliloquies, ''noncontradiction is acceptable only in one kind of madness: love. Love is beyond fragmentation and contrast because it is autonomous, absolute, sui-generis revelation2.In realm of potentiality, first steps are taken through mirror of a magic space in Danube Delta. Here we witness dialogue conducted between Tudor Manciu, a young playwright who is afraid of spiritual sterility, and Alexiu, his down-to-earth friend. Thus we leam about Tudor's fascination with a genius composer, Mihai Barbura, who decided to withdraw from world and understand otherness in seclusion of Delta. mystery of famous musician is revealed due to Ctefania's presence, to whom artist confesses about his decision to wait for his dead wife's return from other world. This is beginning of a fascinating inner dialogue that gradually extends towards others, showing infinite possibilities of human consciousness as a bridge between heaven and earth. After engagement and marriage to Ctefania, Mihai Barbura's identity reveals contradictory complementarity between mythos and world of fragmentation. Barbura renounces his fame, which places his existence under sign of an external myth, in order to be only Petru Baranda, an ordinary man who wishes to fulfill marriage in heaven and on earth as well. Ctefania does not recognize her husband in simple man who apparently does not know anything about miracle of creation. She loses herself in despair and sin only to remodel her spiritual structure in harmony with rhythms of a cosmos that reveals its splendour. In final act of play, game of potentialities unfolds on a theatre stage. Tudor Manciu critically examines dress-rehearsal of A Spiritual whose message touches actor's hearts within limits of their level of perception. young playwright meets Ctefania again, as if by magic, to receive another invitation to noncontradiction, to madness of love, only one that offers certainty of immortality.Mircea Eliade's play seems to suggest that spiritual adventure of man requires existence of multiple levels of reality, harmonized in that structure of human consciousness through which Eliade defined sacred. Consequently, deciphering meanings of this mythical story entails relating to initiatory experience of search for centre, as it is reflected by religious traditions of mankind, so mysteriously enshrouded in Eliadean writings which are seen, inspired, and which seem to stem from high realms of soul. Professor Ricketts selects from journal excerpts that illustrate state of grace which overwhelmed writer when the mental film of a literary work attempted to make its way into his consciousness so that it could then be transferred, through work of art, into collective memory:For some time now, before falling asleep, I've been tempted again by obsession of a play I first saw one evening in December 1944, walking along deserted terraces of Estoril, when I was staying with Costes. …

Powerful Eurydice: The Female Voice in Eliade’s A Spiritual Adventure

In his novella Nineteen Roses, Mircea Eliade alluded to play about and Eurydice. He did indeed write this play in 1946. Mac L. Ricketts discovered it in the Eliade Special Collection of the University of Chicago library. In his introduction to the English translation (published here for the first time and before the Romanian original), Ricketts discusses the conception and writing of this play as it is described in Eliade's Journal. It seems that Eliade enjoyed the experience of writing it but at the same time was tormented by the inspiration for this serious drama as he calls it. Although Eliade had not found name for the female protagonist, she evidently personifies Eurydice. Eliade wrote of in his diary: Y, the woman, fascinates me. She is just as I saw her (qtd. in Ricketts).In 2005, the ambiguity around the existence of the play A Spiritual Adventure led the neo-fascist critic Claudio Mutti to interpret this then unknown play built as mise-en-abime of Eliade' s novella Nineteen Roses. In chapters from his book Mircea Eliade and the Iron Guard, Claudio Mutti surmises that the play Eliade mentions in Nineteen Roses (which turns out to be A Spiritual Adventure) is a marvellous book on the Captain (Corneliu Zelea Codreanu1). Mutti sees the play as tragedy about the Iron Guard and its leader (43). The author bases his argument on affirmations made by Eliade' s acquaintances and on the fact that 1938 was for Eliade traumatic year, due to his imprisonment in legionnaire camp in Miercurea-Ciuc, where he might have written the play Orpheus and and read it to his prison mates (Mutti 4445). Comparing Eliade' s novels The Forbidden Forest and Nineteen Roses, Mutti discovers change of attitude in the author's rendition of his historical experience:Pour reprendre la terminologie d'Eliade, Foret interdite est le roman de l'amnesie, tandis que Les Dix-neuf roses est le roman de l'anamnese. Avec le premier, l'auteur efface de sa memoire l'experience legionnaire et reporte sur Partenie-Ionesco ce qui lui appartenait lui, Eliade. Dans Les Dix-neuf roses, ecrit par Eliade quelques annees avant sa mort, le recouvrement definitif de la memoire est annonce : fut-ce dans les termes cryptiques d'un roman chiffre, Eliade revendique la periode de sa vie liee l'epopee legionnaire. (Mutti 47)To Mutti, the character Ieronim Thanase, who directs experimental theatre performances, evokes Julius Evola2 (48). Mutti can elaborate on play he has not read because of the ambiguity surrounding it and of Eliade' s long fascination with the Iron Guard movement. This capti vation with the fascist movement in Romania informs Eliade' s recurrent themes of the persecution of memory and of history. In Mircea Eliade: Le Prisonnier de l'histoire (2003), Florin Jurcanu analysed Eliade 's complicity in the fascist movement in Romania in the thirties and its consequences for his career. Eliade' s political affinities had tragic impact on his life - as can be discerned, however obliquely, in this newly discovered play.Nineteen Roses, the novella in which Eliade mentions the play A Spiritual Adventure, was inspired by the and Eurydice myth. A female character from fantastic world, Niculina, plays Eurydice in strange performances directed by an experimental theatre guru. She carries mysterious suitcase in which she hides book among two layers of veils. Anghel D. Pandele, the main protagonist, is writer who is helped by theatre performances to recover his lost memory. A young man, Laurian Serdaru, Niculina's fiance, knows lot about the play and claims to be the son of the actress and of the playwright Pandele. We learn that the actress meant to play Eurydice never managed to perform in front of audiences since the play had been cancelled. Laurian Serdaru and Niculina try to help Pandele recover his memory of events before Christmas night of 1938 through the magic performance of different play, directed by Ieronim Thanase (the name, inspired by Thanatos, bears connotation of death). …

The Writing of A Spiritual Adventure

It been known ever since Eliade published the first volume of his excerpts1 that he had written a play in October-November 1946, called Aventura spirituala2 A Spiritual Adventure), which had never been published. His Romanian biographer, Mircea Handoca, visited him in Paris in September 1985 and, among other inquired concerning the existence of the play. The Professor told him he possessed a copy of it in Chicago and would mail it to him when he returned. Unfortunately, Eliade died a few months later without having sent it. However, in 2008 when the University of Chicago Library issued a Finding Aid for the Eliade papers contained among its Special Collections, was able to locate the play and obtain a copy of the original typescript.3There are about a dozen references to the play in the journal fragments Eliade selected for publication. However, the unabridged journal, also found in the Eliade Special Collection (a manuscript nearly five times the length of the published one),4 contains more than twice the amount of material about the writing of the play. The complete Journal reveals a fascinating account of the trials through which the author passed as he was writing it and his evaluation of it when it was finished.The first entry in which the play is mentioned is dated 3 October 1946, when Eliade had been a refugee in Paris for about a year. Quoted only partially in Fragments, it deserves to be reproduced in full:For some time now, before falling asleep, I've been again by the obsession of a play first saw one evening in December 1944, walking along the deserted terraces of the Estoni, when was staying with the Costes.5 remember announced the play upon returning home, and told them I'd start writing it as soon as moved to rue Suadade 13, at Cascais. It was a way - coded for others - of meeting again with Nina. Act would have taken place on an island with a lighthouse. hoped that the waves breaking on my terrace at out new residence would help me recover the inspiration. But once settled at nr. 13 rua Suadade, was caught up in other things: moods of sadness and melancholy, scientific6 and philosophical interests, etc. Only in the summer of 1945, for a moment, was tempted to begin this Eurydice.1 The move to Paris [in September 1945], however, suspended any literary plan.I see now, however, the first scene. No longer is it an island - but the bank of a canal in the [Danube] Delta. The problem, the characters, the dramatic treatment have remained the same. Sometimes the temptation is so great that sit for more than an hour in the darkness with my eyes open, observing my characters, listening to them, trying to see their faces more clearly. If were to start, believe could write it in a few days. But I've sworn not to do anything else until I've finished the first chapter of Prolegomene? And, as usual, this interdiction from working on anything outside of a text already begun does not gain me any more free time or extra spiritual energy for writing the text. What I'm writing is just as hasty and fragmented as if I'd written Prolegomene concurrently with Eurydice.The next reference is dated 16 October, when, on a book-buying excursion, he finds himself thinking intently about his play. Suddenly he sees the plot changing: an episode flashes before his eyes that he doesn't like. In order to settle things, he goes out for another walk, and when he returns, he has the play written mentally from start to finish. He begins to write on paper the next day, at midnight, and by 1 :30 he three pages written - puzzled by the discoveries he is making.On 18 October, a busy day, he could find only a few afternoon hours free for literary creation. I wrote four pages of the play, he records, interrupting myself frequently to prevent 'inspiration' from leading me down who knows what lost paths. If my interest for the play holds up for at least a week, I'm sure I'll finish it. …

Chicago Libraries May Influence World- How Supreme Court Could Rule in Favor of Presidents from States Based on Place of Birth to Promote Democracy, Chicago Ideas Can Influence World

Chicago Libraries May Influence World- How Supreme Court Could Rule in Favor of Presidents from States Based on Place of Birth to Promote Democracy, Chicago Ideas Can Influence World

From Testing to Implementation: Managing Full-Scale RDA Adoption at the University of Chicago

The University of Chicago Library was a formal participant in the U.S. National Libraries’ Resource Description and Access (RDA), Test from October–December 2010. Immediately following the test period, the Library implemented RDA for original cataloging. This article will reflect on our RDA testing experience, and will address some of the major issues related to managing its adoption, including: staff training; implications on cataloging policies; preparing the integrated library system (ILS) for RDA metadata; managing the integration of RDA with Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2) records; major costs associated with full implementation; and finally, what RDA may mean for the future of our metadata infrastructures.