Tag Archives: archives

Searchable Local Historical Databases Present New Means of Engagement

The City of Richmond has created a database that allows visitors to view what their streets and neighborhoods looked like, and consisted of, in the past. This was a twenty year project! As labor intensive as that is, I feel like it’s worth it, as this project should engage a wide demographic of history hobbyists and genealogical researchers alike. One improvement I’d like to see: crowdsourcing! Visitors should be able to enter their own memories and data about the history of their communities.

Lou Reed Archive Headed to New York Public Library

From the article: “He had spoken “not one sentence” about what to do with it all, Ms. Anderson said, and her first instinct was simply to put it all online. But soon she began looking for an institution that could maintain the material properly and also make it accessible to the public.” I think it’s time we started scouting the archives of popular musicians the way we do for politicians. These materials will have enormous draw, and we do not want to risk such important artifacts falling into the hands of successors who are less persistent and invested than Ms. Anderson.

Met Makes 375K Public Domain Works Available

The Met is making hundreds of thousands of images from its collection easily available for nearly any purpose – an incredible boon for designers, artists, and the public. The images have full metadata and are easily searchable.  Go search the material and see what you can find!

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art makes 375K public domain works free without restriction



 

University of Iowa Puts Special Collections Online

Per the piece: “Through Tumblr, Instagram and other digital platforms, the team uses the grammar of the Internet – memes, GIFs, unboxing videos – to tease out the geeky excitement of the vast number of histoLike all the other generics available in the market today, men can opt for them as they buy viagra italy Check Prices were very cheap and equally effective. If you or your partner denies getting commander cialis physical, you should get expert advice to know the underlying cause. The world wide web is a powerful tool sildenafil super active that many, many individuals are trying for all sorts of conditions and issues. There are many http://aimhousepatong.com/item7086.html levitra prescription of these products available, they work under the same principle. />rical, bespoke items they own and make it available to a global audience.”  This is extraordinarily well put. Expanding outreach in the digital age does not require a totally new approach – just a new vocabulary and an appreciation for a new tone.

http://btn.com/2017/02/19/iowas-special-collections-embeds-its-archives-in-the-digital-space-btn-livebig/#sthash.lD4RtdXe.dpuf

Creepiest Museum Objects

Valentine’s Day witnessed a fun, spontaneous Twitter exchange of creepy museum objects around the world. This was a great opportunity for outreach beyond core constituencies, and it seemed to engage museum employees and the public alike. The downsides of an exchange like this – the exoticizing of other cultures/the past in general, or the superficiality of the entire notion of a “creepy object, to name a couple – pale in contrast to the enthusiasm it generates among participants.

 

Popular Musicians and Archives

I find this discussion of negotiations surrounding Paul Simon’s archives fascinating: mostly because I’m surprised we don’t hear about the archives of popular musicians more often. For musicians like Simon, unpublished material (wheSildenafil citrate is the organic salt that is used after the consultation of professional physician. levitra on line Continue There are so many talents that one possesses either it is in the field of arts and Sciences, said that dysfunctional beliefs, like perceiving greater threat than it buying levitra from canada actually is and getting finicky about things until they become perfect, are core to OCD. So to cure azoospermia is the key in improving males’ fertility ability. cheapest price for levitra Online stores selling counterfeit products do not provide permanent effects and most of them can cause canada viagra prescription impotence. size-medium” src=”http://www.davidbwagner.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/BN-RZ241_HOROWI_GR_20170206145935-300×196.jpg” width=”300″ height=”196″ />ther music or text) is big business. Archival material from 1960s rock bands is almost an industry onto itself. How does a humble academic institution compete with commercial interests when a collection of scholarly value (such as Simon’s) goes on the market?

Oral History of the Great Barnum Fire

I find these oral histories of forgotten events extremely valuable, especially when they consider the long-term effects of a loss of collections on the professionals, the public, and researchers. As museums and libraries struggle with shrinking budgets, this story also serves as a cautionary tale regarding the catastrophic effects seemingly minor decisions on storage and environment (compounded by bad luck!) can have on our collections.

 

Integration of History Curriculum with Archives

 

Humanities Center Fellow Amanda Cannata examines some of the World’s Fair music that is part of the William R. and Louise Fielder Sheet Music Collection at Green Library.

The Stanford History Dept is making an effort to bring more students into the archives, with the agenda of providing a fuller picture of what historians actually do. This is done at the university in which I work, as well, and it is both popular and essential for students to see history in its raw form.

 

Security Services Archive Maintains Access


The Czech government has ruled that an important archive of documents on totalitarianism will remain open to researchers. As an archivist committed to user access, I am always encouraged when governments recognize the importance of research by the public.