Reels and Reels of Film: Assessing the AV Holdings in SCA

The following blog post was written by Lukas Foerster, FSU Special Collections & Archives Fall 2021 Intern. As an intern at FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives department, I took part in a number of preservation and cataloging projects during the fall term, most of them centered around audiovisual material. A wide variety of moving

Training the Next SCA Generation

We’re back back back back back again! SCA has a new cohort of part-time staff members, graduate assistants, and interns that have started in the past few weeks, and they have all been diligently completing training and learning about Special Collections & Archives. With over a million items in the collection, three storage spaces, different

Everything but paper: what else does SCA collect?

A lot has been written about our rare books and manuscripts collections on this blog, but did you know SCA also collects all kinds of objects, art, and recording formats? Take a look to learn more about our non-paper collections.

Pocket books: small volumes in the Shaw Collection

Today we are celebrating John MacKay Shaw on the anniversary of his death in 1984. Shaw (1897-1984) was a Scottish-born American businessman and philanthropist who collected works of British and American poetry related to the theme of childhood.  When talking about the Shaw collection, we often highlight the 5,000 first and rare editions of major

At Home with the Collections Management Team

On March 23rd, our student employees returned to work from Spring Break, but not to the library. Due to the campus shut down because of COVID-19, our staff started working from home. Remote work is an interesting conundrum to figure out when 90% of your work exists in the physical realm. Our collections management team

Happy Preservation Week!

From April 26th-May 2nd, the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services is celebrating Preservation Week. This initiative includes events from all over the country, which includes free webinars, a Twitter conference, and more. At FSU, we’d like to celebrate Preservation Week by showing off some of the preservation rehousing work we’ve done in the

A Century of Mystery and Intrigue

The following blog post was written by Joseph, Special Collections & Archives Scholar-in-Residence and Guest Curator of our latest exhibit A Century of Mystery and Intrigue. I really enjoyed putting together the exhibit last summer on pirates, so I started thinking about a possible new exhibit topic. The original idea I came up with was

Ruffians, Scoundrels, and Buccaneers: Pirates Throughout the Ages

The following blog post was written by Joseph, Special Collections & Archives Scholar in Residence and Guest Curator of our latest exhibit Ruffians, Scoundrels, and Buccaneers: Pirates Throughout the Ages. My name is Joseph and I am 11 years old. I started coming to Special Collections with my mom when I was between 5 and 6

A Special Collections Travel Diary

In January, Associate Dean Katie McCormick and I kicked off the new semester by traveling to Berkeley Springs, WV, to acquire a new collection of books related to the French Revolution and Empire. Nestled in the panhandle of West Virginia, Berkeley Springs is within shouting distance of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. It’s also known as

The History of Paper Engineering

The following blog post was written by Special Collections & Archives staff member April Martin. Literature with functional qualities such as pull tabs or pop-ups are often considered children’s entertainment. However, paper products with mechanical elements were originally created as tools used by adults. Religious calendars, calculation tools, and navigational aids were found in the