Past Exhibits

The Murder That Wouldn't Die: Leopold & Loeb in Artifact, Fact, and Fiction

March 3 - June 30, 2009

The 1924 murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb is an infamous piece of Chicago—and American—history. Contemporaries called it "the Crime of the Century" and it has continued to fascinate writers, film-makers, legal scholars, and their audiences ever since. 
Featured in this exhibit are many of the most critical primary-source documents related to the case, held in Northwestern University Library collections...click here to view online exhibit

Sound Design: The Rise and Demise of Album Art

July 7-September 10, 2009

New technology gives us music at our fingertips. But has it destroyed a once-rich art form?

The experience of music is often wrapped around a particular time, place or event. Part of the fun of buying recorded music used to be taking the time to study the cover art and read the liner notes--and like the music itself, many of the covers and notes became important in our memory. In the era before the MP3, record companies committed considerable time and expense to developing highly creative and often moving covers for their albums. Sound Design explores the vanishing art of the album cover. Click here for more information.

The Green Revolution: Information for Innovation

September 15 - November 19, 2009

Northwestern University Library joins the conversation on this year's One Book, One Northwestern selection: Hot, Flat, and Crowded:  Why We Need a Green Revolution -- and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman.  The Library welcomes new and returning students with an exhibit highlighting library collections and services related to the book's themes.

Items on display include material from Project Survival --a precursor to Earth Day--which took place at Northwestern in 1970, books on automobiles and the environment and energy development in Africa from the world renowned Transportation and Africana  libraries, and biodiversity materials from Government and Geographic Information and Data Services.

The exhibit shines a spotlight on behind the scenes activities that make paperless research possible as well as activities and tips to "green" the library. Resources for the exploration of the environment and related topics from a myriad of disciplinary viewpoints are also presented.

Other Spaces:

Special Collections and Archives

The Artist's Telescope: Science Fiction and Illustration

Isaac Asimov defined science fiction as the branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advances on human beings. Using narrative and illustration, authors and artists explore the possible consequences of technology for social, political and ecological issues. This exhibit traces changes in the depiction of interplanetary worlds in popular literature. 19th century authors such as Robida and Grandville illustrated their own fantastical visions of future worlds. Authors like Jules Verne were able to base their lunar or Martian landscapes on maps printed from images seen with powerful telescopes. Heroes like Flash Gordon and the possibilities of space travel captured popular attention in comics and pulp magazines before World War II, and the Space Race...more