On October 5th, the Libraries exciting new exhibit, Gold to Gigabytes: The Past, Present and Future of Money, opened in Langson Library with a fascinating talk by Catherine Eagleton, Curator of Modern Money at The British Museum.
Catherine Eagleton, Curator of Modern Money at The British Museum during her presentation.
Gold to Gigabytes explores the anthropology of money by tracing the evolution of currency from ancient beginnings to its present state and broadly illuminating new trends in the exchange of money and alternative currencies. Topics portrayed in the exhibit include the rise of credit cards and cashless transactions, the development of alternative currencies like Bitcoin, and the creation of new technologies for electronic payment and banking, such as "mobile money."
On display are library materials as well as research materials from UCI's Institute for Money, Technology, and Financial Inclusion (IMTFI) in the School of Social Sciences. The exhibit is curated by staff in the UCI Libraries and IMTFI.
At the opening night event, guest speaker Catherine Eagleton gave a talk titled, "Collecting the past, present and future of money." As the curator of Modern Money at The British Museum in London, Eagleton oversees a collection of more than 150,000 objects, including coins, paper money, tokens, credit cards, and other money-related objects from the last 300 years.
The program included remarks by Bill Maurer, UCI Professor of Anthropology and Law and Director of IMTFI, a clearinghouse for research on mobile money and poverty alleviation worldwide. Maurer is a cultural anthropologist who conducts research on law, property, money and finance.
To view a videotape of the presentation and photos from the event, please go to the Libraries' Supporters and Friends website here.
Gold to Gigabytes is on display through April 2013 in the Langson Library Muriel Ansley Reynolds Gallery during regular library hours.
Early "Point of Sale" machinefrom the exhibit.
The Libraries Exhibits Program shares the scholarly and cultural value of the Libraries' collections with the campus and community. One of our highest priorities is to grow the excellence of the collections to support UCI as it achieves international prominence for its research and learning. For information about the Libraries' Collection Enhancement Fund please contact Julie Sully, Interim Director of Development, at 949.824.4658 or jsully@uci.edu.