Lo Barck

Lo Barck

Librarian
Visiting address: Annerovägen 12, 16970 Solna
Postal address: GVS Gemensamt verksamhetsstöd, GVS MHK Hagströmerbiblioteket, 171 77 Stockholm

About me

  • I am a Rare Book Librarian at Hagströmer Medico-Historical Library. Contact
    me if you wish to conduct research on KI’s collections of older books and
    manuscripts, if you want to book a guided tour of the library, or use the
    premises in other ways.

Research

  • As a scholar, I have specialized in Classical studies and the History of the
    book. I received my PhD in Classical Greek in 2009, and have since been
    involved in several research projects focused on older book collections –
    medieval and early modern manuscripts, as well as bookbindings and printed
    books from the hand-press era. At Uppsala University Library I was the leader
    of a digitization and cataloging project of Greek manuscripts in Swedish
    library collections (financed by The Swedish Foundation for Humanities and
    Social Sciences). My area of expertise is codicology, i.e., the study of the
    codex/book as a physical object and text carrier.
    In 2016–2019 I participated in a research- and infrastructural project
    concerning the medieval manuscripts in Old Swedish at the Royal Library,
    Stockholm, and Uppsala University Library. Currently, my focus is on our own
    library collections, notably the manuscripts and books with a connection to
    Carl Linneaus, his students and colleagues.
    Karolinska Institutet holds unique collections of handwritten and printed
    texts documenting the history of the Institute, as well as the history of
    medicine in Sweden in general. These are now kept at Hagströmer
    Medico-Historical Library. As a book historian I am fascinated by not only
    the contents of the book but also the material object as such. The historical
    artefacts tell us yet another story, of their provenance, use, and
    significance for the readers. They may, for example, provide evidence of
    professional networks and personal relations. Handwritten comments and
    additions in a printed book can inform us about the actual practice of
    medicine and pharmacy at a certain time. The Hagströmer Library collections
    are well worth exploring from these and other perspectives.

Employments

  • Librarian, Central Administration, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-
  • Librarian, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, 2023-2026
  • Librarian, Central Administration, Karolinska Institutet, 2016-2024

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