Lo Barck
Librarian
E-mail: lo.barck@ki.se
Telephone: +46852485289
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