An addendum for those who remember Dan Seldin: Dan at the banquet of the Monon Railroad Historical‐Technical Society in Monticello, Indiana, in 2003. Three Indiana University Geography and Map Library pictures from about 2005-2007. --Heiko Heiko Mühr Map Metadata and Curatorial Specialist Earth Sciences & Map Library 50 McCone Hall University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 [log in to unmask] he/his/him On Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 4:21 PM Heiko Muhr <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Thanks Ronda! Thanks Paige! > > Dan Seldin hired me in the fall of 1990 to work in the map collection of > Indiana University’s Geography and Map Library when I was a graduate > student in Bloomington, Indiana. He administered a geography test to all > job applicants and this drew the ire of the Human Resources Department of > the IU Libraries. The administrative brass wanted Dan to employ only work > study students or MLS interns. But Dan persisted in his hiring practices > and that opened the door for a number of international students who were > looking for a second job to supplement the income from positions as graders > or associate instructors. It was an interesting place to work.I learned a > lot working there. > > Dan was a bit of a micro manager until he was convinced that the students > understood the classification schemes used in the map collection, both the > G-schedule of the Library of Congress classification system and an > alphanumeric system, a variation of the AGS system, originally created by > staff working in the library of the American Geographical Society. But > once Dan trusted the students then they would have a library key, the run > of the place, flexible work hours, and work on their own projects. Dan was > a great boss. His father had been a National Labor Relations Board > negotiator. And Dan followed in his footsteps, he was an unrepentant New > Deal Democrat. > > Every Friday morning Dan would close his office door and he would be on > the phone with his friend Paul Stout, map librarian at Ball State > University in Muncie, Indiana. Those who knocked on that door during the > phone call did so at their own peril. They took their lives in their hands. > > In 1991 Dan supervised the move of the Geography and Map Library into the > Student Building, into a space that had originally been designed as the > Lady’s Bathhouse. My spouse Chrystyna still had a swimming class there in > 1989. And she was amazed when she saw the space after its conversion into > the map library. It had a huge Palladian window and when I worked the > circulation desk I would feel the warmth of the sun gradually rising on my > back. It was a beautiful library. > > Dan was a great collector and used seven summers working at the Library of > Congress to add depth to IU’s collection which had started out as a > departmental library. In 1997 he transitioned into a map cataloger > position. He would still visit the library occasionally when I started > there as branch coordinator in 2002. > > In 2009 the IU Libraries decided to shut down the Geography and Map > Library and move the collections into the Big House. The maps are today > housed on the second floor of the Wells Library together with the > Government Publications reference collection, which works well. Lou > Malcomb, Dan’s successor as Geography Librarian, was also the head of the > Government Publications Department. She took good care of the maps, held > everything together when the collections were moved. Dan retired at that > time and I transitioned into his job as map cataloger. Dan’s advice was to > start by reading and working through Paige Andrew’s “How to Catalog Sheet > Maps: The Basics.” And that was sound advice. > > Dan would still stop by occasionally. When he decided to stop driving we > bought Frida, his green 1994 Honda, named after Frida Kahlo, which served > us well. Dan loved railroads and always related stories about his most > recent railroad trips. He had an interest in transportation geography and > was a railroad history buff. I remember a trip to Monticello, Indiana > where the Monon Railroad Historical‐Technical Society had its annual > meeting. I walked his baggage into the hotel and there was a crowd of > people there who were glad to see him. Dan was a walking encyclopedia of > Indiana railroad history. We drove up to Chicago for the weekend and picked > him up on our way back. Dan grew up in Shaker Heights, one of Cleveland’s > streetcar suburbs. Chrystyna, my spouse, grew up in Cleveland, so the two > of them chatted non-stop about Cleveland landmarks and Cleveland history. > > --Heiko > > Heiko Mühr > > Map Metadata and Curatorial Specialist > > Earth Sciences & Map Library > 50 McCone Hall > University of California > Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 > > [log in to unmask] > > he/his/him > > > > > On Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 1:33 PM Andrew, Paige G. <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> I have already shared the sad news with MAGIRT members but wanted those >> of you who knew Dan Seldin, long time map librarian and map cataloger at >> Indiana University, to also learn of Dan's passing recently. I received >> this information from the current (and new) maps cataloger at Indiana, >> Ronda Sewald initially and waited to find out if a biography written about >> Dan at the time of his retirement could be shared publicly. You will see by >> Ronda's note below that it is and so I am sharing it with anyone >> interested. Also, an obituary notice is in the local Bloomington newspaper >> but everything but a brief summary is behind a paywall. The notice reads: >> >> Newspaper June 23, 2020 | Herald-Times (Bloomington, IN) >> Author: Staff Writer | Section: Obituaries >> 23 Words >> >> <https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapp-eu-readspeaker-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Frsent%3Fcustomerid%3D10859%26voice%3DJames%26lang%3Den_us%26readclass%3Dread&data=02%7C01%7Cpga2%40psu.edu%7Cd186fab76ffa40f5a12e08d81d00e84c%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C637291237015515722&sdata=V8mvgjFOxQ8MSTjUE2eEcqhhU7yRPN71ImiGM6aXkPo%3D&reserved=0> >> >> >> Daniel Thomas Seldin, 75 >> >> BLOOMINGTON — Daniel Thomas Seldin, 75, of Bloomington, died Saturday. >> Arrangements are pending at Allen Funeral Home. >> >> Apparently a full obituary will be forthcoming. >> >> I hope I do not have to share news such as this about colleagues for a >> long time to come, but it makes me realize just how long I have been in the >> map librarianship field. Just like a family, you welcome new members into >> the fold, you watch your colleagues grow and change, and then sadly we see >> them leave us too. Here is Dan's biography (written in 2009): >> >> Hi everyone, >> >> >> I just wanted to follow up that Dan's biography is openly available >> online through IU's Emeriti House as part of its 2009 Retired Faculty >> Biographies: >> >> https://institutionalmemory.iu.edu/aim/handle/10333/6339 >> <https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Finstitutionalmemory.iu.edu%2Faim%2Fhandle%2F10333%2F6339&data=02%7C01%7Cpga2%40psu.edu%7C9da2f40771054f82282b08d81d0cac7e%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C637291287553353675&sdata=PQydjiVAwiPGhsZ3GgBoFxnw6yhTtNDd9DGaV70NNnA%3D&reserved=0> >> . >> >> >> I've also realized my mental calendar was off and that the date of Dan's >> passing would have been Saturday, June 20th. >> >> >> My thanks to you all for your warm welcome to MAGIRT. I look forward to >> participating in the future and am sorry to start things off on such a sad >> note. My deepest condolences to those of you who knew Dan. >> >> >> Best, >> >> Ronda >> >>