PACSCLblog

PhillyHistory.org Photos Now Available on Flickr!

2009-06-04T13:42:00.001-04:00

PhillyHistory.org, the Philadelphia Department of Records website featuring digitized historic photographs from the collection of the City Archives, has recently made a select group of images available on a PhillyHistory.org photostream on Flickr.

The PhillyHistory.org photos on Flickr are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/phillyhistory and include some of the oldest and most popular images from PhillyHistory.org. We encourage people to visit the photostream and add their comments, notes, and tags to the photos. Let us know what you think about the images!

Fwd: NY Times Article on Backing Up Google's Library

2008-10-14T09:47:00.000-04:00

>>> lou.ferrero@GMAIL.COM 14-Oct-2008 06:01 >>>

To DVAG:

The New York Times article on backing up the Google Library project will be of interest to many. Follow the link to the article.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/an-elephant-backs-up-googles-library/

Technology

Bits: An Elephant Backs Up Google's Library

By By Miguel Helft

Published: October 13, 2008 in the New York Times

A group of major libraries join to create a backup to Google's book-scanning project.

Take care,

Lou
--
Louis N. Ferrero, PE
Corresponding Secretary, American Catholic Historical Society
610-517-0835 cell
Lou.ferrero@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A posting from the Delaware Valley Archivist Group -- DVAG. To post a message, send e-mail to dvag-l@listserv.temple.edu. Or the URL is: http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/dvag-l.html Problems? Send e-mail to Phil D'Andrea <tendril@temple.edu> *********************************** The Delaware Valley Archivist Group web address is: http://www.dvarchivists.org/

Preview PhillyResearch.net

2008-05-14T15:01:00.002-04:00

In development: PhillyResearch.net, a collection of research resources for, by, about, and located within the greater Philadelphia area. Visit the site, explore the search tools, take the survey, suggest other resources.

New Features Debut on PhillyHistory.org!

2008-02-27T16:39:00.000-05:00

PhillyHistory.org, a website that allows users to search through digitized historic photographs from the City Archives, recently released several new features to help people explore the history of Philadelphia.

The photographs on PhillyHistory.org provide a visual history of the city dating back to the 1860s, but it is now possible to view those scenes from the past right next to the present landscape. Photographs from PhillyHistory.org can be opened in GoogleEarth, a program that uses satellite and aerial images to enable people to virtually navigate through a 3-D landscape.

To view a photo in GoogleEarth, you must first have GoogleEarth downloaded and installed on your computer. Then on PhillyHistory.org, click on the blue link "Open in GoogleEarth." There are now three ways to see photos in GoogleEarth:

- One photo at a time

- The first 100 results of your search

- The entire collection of 52,000 photographs

Once in GoogleEarth, you will notice that the images have been organized by decades in separate folders. With currently more than 52,000 photos in the system, we thought this would create a cleaner presentation.

New photographs are added to the website each week, which keeps our interns very busy! A new Behind-the-Scenes page on PhillyHistory.org provides readers with a virtual tour of the process of preserving and digitizing thousands of photographs.

To check out these new features, visit http://www.phillyhistory.org .

Deborah Sting

Avencia Incorporated

Phone: 215-701-7506

Fax: 215-925-2663

www.avencia.com

True love at the Free Library

2008-02-20T11:37:00.003-05:00

One of the librarians at the Free Library of Philadelphia writes:

In case you weren’t up at 5:57 am on Valentine’s Day, watching channel 6 news (in Philadelphia), here’s a link to a short feature they did on the current Antique Valentines exhibition at Central in the cases outside the Print & Picture Collection. Their original plan was to do a piece on the history of Valentines, but when they found out that we were having an exhibition, they modified their focus. Hang in to the end, the anchor’s comment about maybe you’ll find love in the library is priceless. The exhibition was curated by Christiane Wisehart, one of our volunteers, who has been working on the collection since the summer, cleaning and re-housing the valentines. Many thanks to her!

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news&id=5957043

Presidential Hair

2008-02-14T17:12:00.000-05:00

The Academy of Natural Sciences will show the locks of five American Presidents over the President's Day Weekend, February 15, 16 and 17. These locks, from the Peter Browne Collection of Pile, Archives Collection 756, are part of a 12-volume set of "pile" (hair, wool, and bristles) that includes famous people, various races (Africans, American Indians, Hawaiians, Chinese, etc.), and animals of all kinds.

The five Presidents whose locks will be on view are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Franklin Pierce.

Eileen C. Mathias
Information Services Librarian, Archivist, &
Coordinator, Albert M Greenfield Digital
Imaging Center for Collections
Ewell Sale Stewart Library
The Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-299-1140
215-299-1144 FAX
mathias@ansp.org

Medieval Manuscripts on Exhibit at Bryn Mawr College

2008-02-14T16:39:00.001-05:00

The spring exhibition in Bryn Mawr College's Canaday Library, Intimate Devotion: The Book of Hours in Medieval Religious Practice, features some of Bryn Mawr's most gorgeous medieval manuscripts and printed books and an extraordinary group of novice curators. The exhibition is the work of the students in Professor Martha Easton's undergraduate seminar last fall, "The Book of Hours and the Art of Devotion." It opened on Thursday, January 31, with a panel discussion featuring the student curators, and runs through May 30, 2008. Thirteen Bryn Mawr. Haverford, and Swarthmore students participated in the class. Special Collections Librarian Marianne Hansen helped the class with expertise on the physical production of medieval manuscripts and also served as the exhibition coordinator.

On Tuesday, April 8, Kathryn Ann Smith, of the Department of Art History, New York University, will give a talk: "The Taymouth Hours: Stories and the Construction of the Royal Female Self in Late Medieval England."

The exhibition will be open from January 31 through May 30. The exhibition hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. For additional information, contact the Special Collections Department at 610-526-6576. Bryn Mawr's exhibitions and teh related programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Learn more at http://www.brynmawr.edu/library/exhibitions.shtml.

Intern wanted for consortial survey project

2007-12-27T08:46:00.000-05:00

PACSCL is offering a paid internship for the spring 2008 semester to support its initiative to assess unprocessed and underprocessed manuscript collections in member libraries.

More details here.

National History Day Teacher Workshop, January 16

2007-12-26T11:28:00.000-05:00

Helping Students Create Superior Projects

This workshop explores the elements of National History Day projects and the education strategies and skill building that teachers can use to help students learn and create their best work.

Bring your questions!!

January 16, 2008
4pm–5:30pm
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

RSVP: By January 11, 2008 to Kate Wilson: kwilson@hsp.org

National History Day is a program that teaches middle- and high-school students to engage with history. This year's theme is Conflict and Compromise in History. The Philadelphia regional competitions (NHD/Philly) will be held at the National Constitution Center March 12 (6th to 8th grades) and March 13 (9th to 12th grades). PACSCL and its member institutions support NHD/Philly by welcoming young researchers and by financial support for a team to advance to the state competitions. For additional information, see:

http://www.pacscl.org/nhdphilly/ http://www.nhdphilly.org/

(Volunteer judges are warmly welcomed, too. You need not be a trained historian -- a love of history and an appreciation of the enthusiasms of young learners are all that's required. See the nhdphilly.org website for more details.)

2 lectures and one exhibit at Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in January, 2008

2007-12-20T12:11:00.001-05:00

We invite you to attend the evening lecture

“Gardens of the Jazz Age”

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

6 - 8 pm

PHS auditorium, 5^th floor

Get ready for the 2008 Flower Show, Jazz It Up! Spend an evening enjoying the gardens of an exciting and extravagant era in our history, between the end of the First World War and the 1929 stock market crash, known as the Jazz Age. Garden historian and educator Jenny Rose Carey will focus on gardens from different parts of the country that epitomize the soul of the Jazz Age. Using images from glass slides from the McLean Library collection, Jenny will discuss how the influence of a changing culture, including the musical innovations of Jazz and the changing socio-economic situation in America, influenced gardens. How did gardens differ across the country? What other cultural influences were having an impact on garden design? Did more people have access to gardening? How can we learn about old gardens, especially those of everyday people?

British-born Jenny Rose Carey designed her first garden at age 16 and has since designed many gardens on both sides of the Atlantic. The daughter of a botanist, she has degrees in biology, education, and horticulture and has taught in both England and the United States, including at the Barnes Foundation and Temple University. Jenny is currently director of the Landscape Arboretum at Temple University Ambler.

Fee: $10.00. To register, please call Carol Dutill, 215-988-8869.

New Exhibit in the McLean Library

"Gardens of the Jazz Age"

January 23 - March 31, 2008

Incorporating material from the McLean Library archives, this exhibit is inspired by the 2008 Philadelphia Flower Show theme, Jazz It Up! and is an accompaniment to garden historian Jenny Rose Carey's lecture "Gardens of the Jazz Age" (January 23). The exhibit features images from glass lantern slides and other material related to gardens and gardening in Philadelphia between the first and second World Wars.

Brown Bag Lunch Lecture: History of the Philadelphia Flower Show

Friday, January 25, Noon - 1 pm

PHS Auditorium

Janet Evans, McLean Library manager and library conservator Jude Robison will present a history of the Philadelphia Flower Show from its beginnings in 1829 to the present day. This illustrated lecture draws on material form the extensive archives of the McLean Library of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, including never-seen-before vintage Flower Show photographs and Show-related items.

While this lecture is free, we ask that you register by calling Carol Dutill, 215-988-8869 or programreg@pennhort.org

Please bring a lunch; we will provide beverages and snacks.

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

100 North 20^th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Janet Evans
Library Manager, McLean Library
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
100 N. 20th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: 215-988-8779
Fax: 215-988-8783
email: jevans@pennhort.org
www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org

Independence Seaport Museum Library Completes Processing Project

2007-12-14T14:03:00.001-05:00

The J. Welles Henderson Archives and Library at Independence Seaport Museum is pleased to announce that the John E. Hand & Sons Company Records are ready for research. A finding aid will be available soon on our web site, www.phillyseaport.org/library.

The John E. Hand & Sons Company was a nautical instrument manufacturing firm that operated in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey from 1873 to 1997. The company engineered equipment for all varieties of floating vessels, including pleasure boats, large commercial ships, and those of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. In addition to manufacturing a large selection of standard navigational tools used by mariners, such as compasses and binnacles, the company also developed new instruments, like an underwater wrist compass for the Navy.

The collection boasts a wide breadth of material, which includes financial records, patents, correspondence, contracts, catalogs and other ephemera, photographs, and engineering plans. A majority of the material is technical in nature, and would serve any researcher interested in the design and development of nautical instruments well.

The Seaport Museum acquired the Hand Collection through a private donation from Michael Rivkin in 2002. Processing was made possible by a grant from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation, which will also fund processing the records of the Seamen’s Church Institute, scheduled for completion in June 2008.

Temple University shows the 1960's

2007-12-13T16:13:00.001-05:00

Temple University's Paley Library is currently featuring two
exhibits on the 1960's; Underground Social/Political Papers
of the 1960's from the Contemporary Culture Collection and
Politics and Protest in Philadelphia from the Urban Archives.
The Underground Papers exhibition on the First Floor and
Mezzanine features local papers like The Drummer and the
Philadelphia Free Press, examples of papers from other
cities and related material such as Liberation News Service
packets.
The Protest in Philadelphia exhibition in the Urban Archives
Alcove on the Ground Floor includes images of the anti-
Vietnam War movement in the city, the 1970 Black Panther
Convention at Temple, as well as other important equal
rights movements and political organizations,from the Urban
Archives George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin
Collection.
Both exhibits will be up through the end of December. The
library will be open from 8 AM until 5 PM on December 14,
December 17-21, December 26-28 and December 31. The library
will be closed on the remaining days in December.

Aerial Photos from Hagley and Google

2007-11-07T11:36:00.001-05:00

Visit the Hagley Museum & Library's online exhibition of aerial photos of the Delaware Valley, and explore its linkages to current Google Maps photos of the same locations.

The historical photos were taken by the Victor Dallin Aerial Survey Company, 1924-1941. Subjects in the exhibition include events, industrial sites, towns and cities, and estates. Pictured here: aerial view of Camden NJ with Philadelphia in the background across the Delaware River.

Medieval Manuscripts on Display

2007-10-03T16:33:00.000-04:00

Treasured Pages. Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts from the Free Library of Philadelphia

October 13 - January 6, 2008

Manuscripts from the collections of the Free Library of Philadelphia, on display at the Arthur Ross Gallery in the Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library, University of Pennsylvania. Details on the Arthur Ross gallery here.

Complementing the exhibition, University of Pennsylvania and the Free Library of Philadelphia are collaborating on a one-day symposium, "The Treasured Hunt," Friday, November 2. Details here.

Philadelphia Museum of Art Library Reopens

2007-09-06T11:35:00.000-04:00

The Philadelphia Museum of Art Library reopens Tuesday, September 18, 2007 in its new home in the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building. Details on the library reopening here. Details on the Perelman Building here.

HIDDEN COLLECTIONS: The Hobo Ornithologist, the Searchable Database

2007-08-30T17:13:00.000-04:00

Tales from the PACSCL surveying project: In this case, the papers of an ornithologist who consorted with hoboes in the course of his fieldwork, one of the unprocessed or underprocessed manuscript collections surveyed at the Academy of Natural Sciences as part of the project. Details here.

To find information on additional unprocessed or underprocessed collections, see the new searchable database, available here.

Undaunted: Five American Explorers

2007-08-30T17:04:00.000-04:00

In UNDAUNTED: Five American Explorers, 1760–2007, an exhibition at the American Philosophical Society Museum from 22 June 2007 through 28 December 2008, the tools of exploration will be turned on exploration itself. Visitors will discover five explorers who were or are all members of the Society, and all with a Philadelphia connection: David Rittenhouse, John James Audubon, Titian Ramsay Peale, Elisha Kent Kane, and Ruth Patrick. The displays, including scientific instruments, paintings and drawings, maps, charts, photographs, and ship models, will consider these adventurers’ place in the history of American science and culture, explore their practices in the field, and reveal the various ways they documented and mapped their findings. [more]

Ben Franklin's book buying spree

2007-08-24T10:58:00.001-04:00

State Senator Jeffrey Piccola pays a visit to the State Library to see the new Rare Book Room and rare books, including more than 240 volumes acquired for the Pennsylvania State Assembly in the eighteenth century. View the video (about 30 min) here.

Library Company Open Houses

2007-08-15T11:13:00.000-04:00

Beginning September 5th, the Library Company will host a series of Open Houses, giving the public the opportunity to discover its unique collections, programs, and history. Held on the first Wednesday of each month from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, the Open Houses will allow visitors to wander leisurely through intimate galleries and enjoy refreshments amid the stately portraits and leather bindings of the Library’s Logan Room. The first Open House will be on September 5th. [more]

Haverford Welcomes Digital Collections Librarian

2007-08-10T10:32:00.001-04:00

Haverford College Special Collections welcomes David Conners, our new
Digital Collections Librarian, who started August 1. David is a
graduate of Swarthmore College and received his library degree from
the Pratt Institute. David has worked at Columbia University Butler
Library, Pratt Manhattan Center Library, Oregon State Archives, and
Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY. His duties at Haverford
will include building and maintaining the Library's collection of
Digital Special Collections materials, including both
analog-to-digital and born-digital materials from Special Collections
(Quaker Collection, Rare Books and Manuscripts, College Archives, and
Fine Arts Collection).

New PACSCL members

2007-08-09T15:33:00.000-04:00

PACSCL welcomes three new members this year:

Franklin & Marshall College
The German Society of Pennsylvania
Independence Seaport Museum

Be sure to visit them in person or on the web.

National History Day 2008

2007-08-09T11:58:00.000-04:00

Sooner than you think, National History Day/Philly 2008 will be upon us. Here are the details for next year's Philadelphia-area competition:

NHD Philly Competition

March 12-13, 2008

National Constitution Center

Theme: Conflict and Compromise in History

What is NHD/Philly? It's a comprehensive program to engage young learners (grades 7-12) in thinking about history through research in primary sources and through individual and group presentations in a variety of media. A number of PACSCL member libraries open their doors to young researchers for the project and PACSCL itself sponsors a team of students to advance from the regional to the statewide competitions.

For additional information, see http://www.nhdphilly.org/

Bloggers in the Stacks

2007-08-09T11:47:00.000-04:00

A team of PACSCL surveyors is boring like miners through the unprocessed or underprocessed manuscript collections of 22 member libraries. Tales from their efforts -- some inspiring, some exciting, some hilarious -- are blogged here.

Diane Turner to Blockson Collection

2007-08-09T11:24:00.000-04:00

Announced yesterday. Dr. Diane Turner has been appointed curator of Temple University's Charles L. Blockson Afro American Collection.

Background on the Blockson collection and biographical data on Diane Turner here.

Building the City: Exhibition and online photo archive

2007-08-03T07:57:00.000-04:00

The City of Philadelphia's online photo archive, http://www.phillyhistory.org/ , has been in the news a good bit lately, winning a "Best of Philly" award from Philadelphia Magazine, among other things.

An exhibit of 80 photographs from the archives opens today in the gallery of the Art Institute, 1622 Chestnut Street. The opening has received centerfold attention in today's Inquirer weekend section and is also featured on the home page of http://www.philly.com today. The photos were selected by the curator in partnership with the Records department and matted/framed by students at the Art Institute.

Online coverage at

http://www.philly.com/philly/gallery/20070803_Building_the_city.html