Kinsey and the Wasps: Mapping a Journey
Part Twelve, in Which We Look to the Horizon
This project has been a fascinating adventure. Looking ahead to what remains to be done, I feel a lot of excitement, particularly about some of the sleuthing activities that may present themselves. In particular, I want to determine where the original maps and charts are stored for Kinsey’s The Gall Wasp Genus Cynips book. Whether they are at IU or another repository, or held by the Kinsey family, it would be good to be able to point researchers to their location and determine what the level of access may be. I am also looking forward to the next time I am searching the physical maps and am surprised by a Kinsey signature, as happens now and then.
As for wrap-up tasks, there is still metadata to be entered and, when possible, more maps to be scanned and added to the online collection. There is a web page about the GIMMS Department’s Kinsey map holdings that was well done but has not been updated since 2004, so that is another task to put on the list. During the coming academic year, I expect we should be able to host an exhibit, an event, a pop-up library, or some combination of those to highlight the collection. All exciting prospects! The blog posts for the internship will end, but the work will continue. Thanks for reading!
Heather Sloan is an ILS Master’s student with a specialization in Digital Humanities. She is a full-time staff member in the Media Services and Government Information, Maps & Microform Services (GIMMS) departments of Herman B Wells Library. She has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Percussion Performance from SUNY Stony Brook, and her interests include Caribbean folkloric music, Latin music, record collecting, and design in popular culture. Her Digital Humanities work focuses on intersections between digital and humanitarian mapping, the environment, and arts advocacy. She is a 2019-2020 HASTAC Scholar.
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