Blue Electrode Lite

We are excited to announce the launch of our new Digital Library...

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:44:24 -0500

We are excited to announce the launch of our new Digital Library public interface!

We welcome any comments about or problems with the new interface — please direct them to digitallibrary@villanova.edu. We hope you enjoy the new features!

laphamsquarterly: Way to spoil the party, National Archives....

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 11:57:57 -0500

laphamsquarterly:

Way to spoil the party, National Archives. Looks like Presidents’ Day was developed by advertisers, just like every other holiday we hold near and dear. ALL HAIL THREE-DAY WEEKEND SALES.

usnatarchives:

There is no such thing as Presidents Day. Or President’s Day.

There is such a thing as Washington’s Birthday, and the National Archives Research Rooms in DC (but not the museum side) will be closed on Monday, February 19, in observance of this holiday.

“Before 1971, Washington’s Birthday was one of nine federal holidays celebrated on specific dates, which fell on different days of the week (the exception being Labor Day—the original Monday holiday). Then came the tinkering of the Ninetieth Congress in 1968. Determined to create a uniform system of federal Monday holidays, Congress voted to shift three existing holidays to Mondays and expanded the number further by creating one new Monday holiday.

Washington’s Birthday was uprooted from its fixed February 22 date and transplanted to the third Monday in February, followed by Memorial Day being relocated from the last day in May to the last Monday in May.

When a new federal law was implemented in 1971, only two days separated Abraham Lincoln’s Friday birthday of February 12 from the Washington’s Birthday holiday that fell on February 15—the third Monday in February.

For advertisers, the Monday holiday change was the goose that laid the golden “promotional” egg. Using Labor Day marketing as a guide, three-day weekend sales were expanded to include the new Monday holidays. Once the “Uniform Monday Holiday Law” was implemented, it took just under a decade to build a head of national promotional sales steam.

Local advertisers morphed both “Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday” and “George Washington’s Birthday” into the sales sound bite “President’s Day,” expanding the traditional three-day sales to begin before Lincoln’s birth date and end after Washington’s February 22 birth. In some instances, advertisers promoted the sales campaign through the entire month of February. To the unsuspecting public, the term linking both presidential birthdays seemed to explain the repositioning of the holiday between two high-profile presidential birthdays.”

For the full story, go to http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/winter/gw-birthday-1.html

Image: S. 623, A bill to make the 22nd day of February George Washington’s Birthday, RG 46, Records of the United States Senate. Text via the Center for Legislative Archives.

Help Solve A Special Collections Musical Mystery The first thing...

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:59:49 -0400

Help Solve A Special Collections Musical Mystery

The first thing that struck me about the papers that were being pulled out of a pile from the special collections department was the artwork. Shapes with gold and silver metallic color, green leaves, and an orange face all decorated the first pages of each of the three thin booklets…. [Read the full article.]

Laughter & Lepracauns — check out these recent blog...

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:34:27 -0400

Laughter & Lepracauns — check out these recent blog posts on our main Blue Electrode blog!

Atchoo! available for proofreading

Summer Project: Bishops and Lepracauns

Check out our new online exhibit, “Joseph McGarrity: Man...

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:07:40 -0400

Check out our new online exhibit, “Joseph McGarrity: Man of Action, Man of Letters”!

The exhibit was curated by Brian J. McDonald, PhD, one of our 2012 Digital Library Interns. Joseph McGarrity was a notable figure in late 19th- & early 20th-century Irish history. For more on the background of the exhibit, read Brian’s post on the Blue Electrode blog.

The United States International Exhibition (or Centennial...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 10:12:33 -0400

Ticket for Benjamin Thackara

Invitation for Gen. W.T. Sherman & staff

United States International Exhibition

The United States International Exhibition (or Centennial International Exhibition) was the first official World’s Fair to be held in the United States. It took place in Philadelphia from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

This photo set shows some exhibition ephemera from the Sherman and Thackara families. Click the links below to see full scans for each item.

Ticket for Benjamin Thackara.

Invitation for General W. T. Sherman and Staff to attend the exhibition.

Exhibition certificate for General W. T. Sherman.

Happy Independence Day!

Transit of Venus, 1882. Click to see the full set of photos (and...

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 10:16:00 -0400

Transit of Venus, 1882.

Click to see the full set of photos (and a neat etching of a 1639 observation) at the Public Domain Review.

Check out this website from NASA for lots of info about today’s Transit of Venus. Remember to use safe viewing options if you’re planning on watching. You can watch a live webcast from Mauna Kea, Hawaii if you can’t make it to any live parties or if you’re not in the viewing path. The webcast will begin at 9:45pm UTC (11:45am local Hawaiian time or 5:45pm EST).

museumsandstuff: What a Physics Student Can Teach us About How...

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:36:42 -0400

museumsandstuff:

What a Physics Student Can Teach us About How Visitors Walk Around an Exhibition

From the Smithsonian blog which highlights some of the limitations of how we assess the successes and failures of exhibition layout and route design and suggests ways to improve/expand how we evaluate.

This is a fascinating look at how people move through museum exhibits and their different ways of looking at/interacting with the exhibit. (I am really tempted to do some tracking doodles myself, even though our tiny exhibit space (within a library) doesn’t really warrant it. But we’re getting new cases in a new location, so maybe I’ll just sit for a few minutes on random days and do some people-watching and doodling…)

It’s a rainy day here, so here’s a child’s...

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:58:05 -0400

It’s a rainy day here, so here’s a child’s rhyme about rain. Transcription below:

A DRop of Rain (child rhyme)

I knew a little drop of rain
It broke its nose on a window pane
And all the other little drops
They stood around like City Cops
And Tried to fix the rain drop’s nose
And dress it up in its Sunday clothes

From the Joseph McGarrity Papers.

Handbook for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:51:22 -0400

Handbook for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps:

todaysdocument:

WAAC Recruitment Brochure

On May 14, 1942, Congress approved the creation of a Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) for women to serve in noncombatant military positions. This 1942 recruitment brochure encouraged women to join. Only the cover of the brochure is shown.

Our Digital Library contains a Handbook for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. This booklet describes what women should expect after joining the WAAC, including how to deal with “feminine” problems, as seen in the pages highlighted below.

This booklet is an autographed presentation copy of Captain Rita A. Ficchi dated January 6, 1943 and includes a photograph of Captain Ficchi. Click here to see the whole handbook.

Letter, To: “My gentle unknown friend” From: Henry...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:01:20 -0400

Letter, To: “My gentle unknown friend” From: Henry O. Nightingale, April 30, 1865.

In this letter to an unnamed friend, Henry O. Nightingale, a soldier in the Union Army, reflects on the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in April 1865.

We know not the virtues of a friend, or do not prize them as we should until that friend is gone. I agree with you entirely. I had learned to love him, for he was eminently the Soldiers friend. So just, forgiving, unsuspecting. When the sad news of his Assassination reached us, we had all retired. It seemed like an the sudden opening of a musket battery, we could not believe it. But morning came, bells sounded forth the solemn toll for his departed spirit, + sadness, grief, frenzy, seized us all. Men who had stood before the enemy, their comrads falling around them without shedding a tear wept. Great tears coursed down the cheeks of all. Then for the first time did I understand my comrads. Then I knew who were true. Then I discovered the great affection for “good Old Abe” concealed in the hearts of my fellow Soldiers.

Nightingale was actually one of the last people to see President Lincoln alive. He obtained Lincoln’s autograph on the afternoon of April 14:

I, the afternoon of the fatal day, had the pleasure of seeing the departed one, my object in going to see him was to get his Autograph in my Album. He, the President took it and wrote with his own hand several lines. I looked in admiration upon the man whose energy, had preserved us, little thinking that before morning he would be a bleeding corpse. One week ago Thursday last I looked upon all that remained of him, as he lay in State in the Capitol. I will not attempt to describe my feelings. You can imagine what they were. I felt as though my best friend had gone, and turned away to weep.

Click through to view the full letter. For easier reading, you can access a transcription of the letter under the “Docs” tab to the left of the images.

ARL Policy Notes: Library Associations File Brief in Defense of Fair Use

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:29:00 -0400

ARL Policy Notes: Library Associations File Brief in Defense of Fair Use:

arlpolicynotes:

Last Friday, the Association of Research Libraries, the American Library Association, and the Association of College and Research Libraries filed a friend of the court brief to defend the fair use rights of libraries. The brief responds to the Authors Guild’s extraordinary arguments in a lawsuit against the Hathi Trust and several member libraries. The brief demonstrates that if the Authors Guild were to win the day, libraries would be severely curtailed in their ordinary activities, including lending books and providing Internet access to the public.

The Authors Guild has brought a suit against the Hathi Trust and several of its member institutions claiming that these groups violate copyright by accepting, archiving, and making accessible thousands of digitized volumes created by Google in connection with the Google Books project. The libraries have responded that the project is protected by both the fair use doctrine and parts of the specific exception for libraries in Section 108 of the Copyright Act.

congressarchives: The April 18, 1906 San Francisco Earthquake,...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:41:02 -0400

congressarchives:

The April 18, 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, estimated at 7.9 magnitude, was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, claiming more than 3,000 lives. Congress responded to the disaster in several ways. The House and the Senate Appropriations Committees enacted emergency appropriations. Other congressional action included the House Claims Committee handling claims from owners seeking reimbursement for destroyed property. The Senate also passed a resolution asking the Secretary of War to furnish the Senate with a copy of a report on the earthquake and fire. The report on the relief efforts and accompanying captioned photographs, prepared by the U.S. Army, are now housed with the records of the Senate Committee on Printing and include the above photos.

Visit our featured document article for more information on this tragic event and the congressional response.

Photograph of Union Street Car Line After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Records of the U.S. Senate (ARC 2127302)

Photograph of the Effect of Earthquake on Houses Built on Loose or Made Ground After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Records of the U.S. Senate (ARC 2127357)

Photograph of Souvenir Hunters After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Records of the U.S. Senate (ARC 2127316)

Photograph of St. Francis Hotel Showing the Clean Sweep of Fire in the Business Section of All Except Class A Steel Frame Buildings After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Records of the U.S. Senate (ARC 2127289)

Photograph of a Military Camp on the Fourth Day After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Records of the U.S. Senate (ARC 2127305)

Photograph of a Typical Bread Line in the Early Stages of Relief Distribution After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Records of the U.S. Senate (ARC 306190)

Recent articles from Blue Electrode

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:38:54 -0400

I have been remiss in sharing our blog posts lately, so here are links to the articles from the past couple of weeks. We’ve got some exciting projects underway!

March 19 - Digital Library Expands Into Audio With Philadelphia Ceili Group Collection

We’ve gone beyond paper collections and are now digitizing audiovisual collections. We’re super-excited to have our first audio items in the Digital Library — and it’s really great music, too! You can stream the music online or download the mp3s.

March 28 - Proofreading the Digital Library

Another exciting new venture is putting some of our stuff into Project Gutenberg’s proofreading project to improve the text OCR and create an ebook version of some of our materials. Let us know if there are any items you would particularly like to see get the Gutenberg treatment!

April 2 - Villanova history comes alive in the pages of The Villanovan

We recently celebrated our digitization of The Villanovan, the student newspaper at Villanova University. Read about the event and the process. This collection showcases not only the history of Villanova, but also how global events affected the campus and changes in advertising over time. There’s some really interesting stuff, even if you’re not affiliated with Villanova!

This image is an example of a crossed letter. A crossed letter...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:10:57 -0400

This image is an example of a crossed letter. A crossed letter is one in which the writer first writes across the page in one direction, then rotates the page (usually 90 degrees) to continue the letter. This was done to save on postage and conserve paper, both of which were relatively expensive back in the day.

We haven’t transcribed this document yet — we’ve been saving these more difficult items for later!

—-
Letter, To: “Mama” (Ellen Ewing Sherman) From: Ellie, March 14, 1878.

Letter, To: [Philadelphia], From: Eamon De Valera, March 9,...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:22:00 -0500

Letter, To: [Philadelphia], From: Eamon De Valera, March 9, 1920.

“May Philadelphia ever remain worthy of its title as the Cradle of Liberty and the Home of Brotherly Love.”

preservearchives: A Valentine’s Day Challenge for...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:49:40 -0500

preservearchives:

A Valentine’s Day Challenge for Conservators:

How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?

Airplane linen and PVA for Crash and Burn Victims

Stainless Steel Staples for Those Who Fall In and Out of Love Frequently

Carefully Toned Japanese Paper to Fill the Void from Loss of Love

Heat-set Tissue to Melt Your Cold, Cold Heart (with apologies to Hank Williams)

Deacidification to counteract an Acidic Paper Heart

By Steven Loew with contributions from Anne Witty and anonymous source

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:37:11 -0500

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. Read about our small Dickensian collection and some of the celebrations around the web at our Blue Electrode blog: Celebrating Charles Dickens.

Decorative illustration in an Irish manuscript of Ossianic verse...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:03:27 -0500

Decorative illustration in an Irish manuscript of Ossianic verse (1836). [Page 77.]

"YES WE SCAN"

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:59:00 -0500

"YES WE SCAN":

ellenbee:

“Locked in our federal vaults is a tremendous storehouse of information that if digitized would form a core for our digital public libraries in America with huge benefit for our country: cutting costs in the Federal government, creating jobs throughout America, and revolutionizing how we educate our citizens, how we practice the law, and how we create news, art, and scholarly works.

Imagine if the riches contained in the National Archives, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, Government Printing Office, National Library of Medicine, National Agricultural Library, National Technical Information Service, and scores of other federal organizations were made available, becoming the core of a national effort to make access to knowledge a right for all Americans. The dream is a big one, but if we do not begin the questions of what it would take to get there, we will never start down that road.”

HEY EVERYBODY! read this and sign the petition, please

i care about this a lot NOT JUST because of my job (even though i REALLY LIKE being a government documents librarian) but because i am a human person with ideals about how government affects everyone’s lives daily and think this is a really big deal. also i am delighted by puns and the title of this is the best

also also also john podesta is a fellow alum of knox college and i love him

Digital is the future and it’s also important to preserving our past. Definitely something that needs to be considered at the federal level!