Pest Management in an Archive
What is it, and why do we need it? As we begin making bigger and better changes for the archive, one major adjustment currently being worked on is the creation of a standardized Integrated Pest Management (IPM) policy. IPM is a program put in place in order to effectively protect archives from damaging insects. ForContinue reading “Pest Management in an Archive”
American Archives Month 2021
October is American Archives Month and institutions around the United States are gearing up to share their work throughout the month. The goal of the month is to raise public awareness about what archives are, what purpose they serve, and why they are important. Fun Facts about the FSU Archives FSU Special Collections & ArchivesContinue reading “American Archives Month 2021”
Settling into a new Digital Library
In mid-July, we successfully migrated DigiNole, the home of our digital library and research repository (over 30TB of data!) to a new digital platform. While it’s still on the same software, we were able to give the whole site a fresh new look and, hopefully, improve the speed and searchability of the entire site. WeContinue reading “Settling into a new Digital Library”
Catalogs (how do they work?)
Lately I’ve been thinking about search bars. We have them on our computers, our phones, and our websites. Library websites have a lot of search bars. How are these little boxes able to deliver results for materials? So how does a search for library materials work? There’s three main components to a search system: theContinue reading “Catalogs (how do they work?)”
40th Anniversary of the Civic Center
Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center! The Civic Center opened as the Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center on September 14th, 1981 to 3,000 guests with a performance by the Tallahassee Symphony. Planning for the Civic Center began in the early 1970s, with the acquisition of the 40 acres ofContinue reading “40th Anniversary of the Civic Center”
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, differentContinue reading “Training the Next SCA Generation”
75th Anniversary of Intercollegiate Sports at FSU
This past weekend marked the beginning of a season-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of intercollegiate sports at Florida State University. This season is our 75th intercollegiate season in football, basketball, baseball, golf, swimming, and tennis since our transition from Florida State College for Women (FSCW) to co-educational Florida State University in 1946. Below areContinue reading “75th Anniversary of Intercollegiate Sports at FSU”
Hymn To the… Purple and Gold?
Happy College Colors Day! To celebrate, we wanted to share an interesting bit of our university’s history with you. Though Florida State University is recognized by its garnet and gold school colors, FSU’s predecessor institutions went through several color changes before settling on the iconic combination that we are so familiar with today. The storyContinue reading “Hymn To the… Purple and Gold?”
Preparing for a visit to FSU Special Collections and Archives
As classes get started, syllabi are passed out, and projects are being scheduled; we have a few tips for preparing for your future visits to the Special Collections and Archives research spaces on campus. A few things you can do ahead of your visit now, and a few extra steps once you get into theContinue reading “Preparing for a visit to FSU Special Collections and Archives”
Illuminations During the Summer
As we approach the start of a new semester and prepare to head back to classes, we’re looking back on topics we explored over the summer and some of our most popular posts. May was Older American’s Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In June, we looked back on a year ofContinue reading “Illuminations During the Summer”
FSU Special Collections & Archives Reading Rooms are Open
Photos and editing by Kristin Hagaman Welcome back students! FSU Special Collections and Archives is looking forward to seeing you again, and we are ready to assist you this semester with your research or class visit needs. As we return to in person research services, there have been a few changes implemented to ensure youContinue reading “FSU Special Collections & Archives Reading Rooms are Open”
Bowden’s Legacy at FSU in Images
A selection of images from Heritage & University Archives. Most of these images were created over the years by talented current and former staff of the university. We will continue to add new photographs over the next few weeks. Click here for more recent images from FSU News.
Amazing Grace: Tallahassee’s Countercultural Newspaper
What do you think of when you think of the culture of the late 1960s and 1970s? Hippies? Beatnik literature? Civil Rights? The Beatles? Woodstock? All of those events, movements, people, and art that you might be thinking of belong to a certain period in history: the counterculture movement. Permeating everything from clothing, music, culture,Continue reading “Amazing Grace: Tallahassee’s Countercultural Newspaper”
The Casual Dirac
The Paul A.M. Dirac Papers are a terrific source of information about the public, scholarly side of Paul Dirac: the lecturer, the genius mathematician, a theorist among theorists. However, in our eagerness to honor someone’s professional achievements, it’s easy to gloss over the rest of their personality, the private figure that coexists with the publicContinue reading “The Casual Dirac”
Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Newly Digitized Material Coming Soon to the Digital Library
On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. This legislation, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ended segregation and unequal voter registration requirements. It also prohibited employment-based discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.1 This legislation would be passed a few weeksContinue reading “Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Newly Digitized Material Coming Soon to the Digital Library”
Seedling Till
An Original Poem by Linney Osias commemorating what would have been Emmett Till’s 80th birthday.
Propagating the Truth: Mamie and Me
I am honored to be writing about Mamie Till now more than ever because I am currently an Emmett Till Archives Intern at FSU. I have gotten to experience her story on a different level.
Explore DPLA’s Online Exhibits
Florida State University serves as the home for the Sunshine State Digital Network (SSDN), the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) hub for Florida. We have highlighted some DPLA resources before and today we want to introduce you to DPLA’s exhibitions. These are curated online exhibits that showcase material from cultural heritage institutions across theContinue reading “Explore DPLA’s Online Exhibits”
The Elmo TT-12F Document Camera and Special Collections Instruction
While the buzz of a classroom filled with excited discussion was somewhat lost in the move to a virtual space, this technology allowed us to share as much of the tactile experience of archives work as we could.
New Collection – Flying High Circus
Despite Covid’s best attempts at stopping us from acquiring new material for the archive, we’ve received a large and extremely interesting collection from the Flying High Circus! This collection covers a wide range of material from budgets to publications to photographs and even records. The Flying High Circus was created in 1947 by Jack Haskins.Continue reading “New Collection – Flying High Circus”
Campus Places & Student Spaces
As we return this summer and to a more normal fall, let’s take a closer look at some of the most familiar landmarks on the Tallahassee campus. If you are new to Florida State, here’s a peek into some our historic places and spaces. For more information about FSU history visit Heritage & University Archives.Continue reading “Campus Places & Student Spaces”
Back in the Classroom: Reflections on a Year of Remote Instructional Support
We are excited to apply the new skills we have developed over the past year of remote instruction to upcoming in-person or virtual sessions, as well as continue to develop more activities to introduce and support primary source literacy at FSU and beyond.
Social Responsibility and Libraries
Trigger Warning: This post contains slurs and epithets used against the LGBTQ+ community. The American Library Association describes its values as the following: Access Confidentiality/Privacy Democracy Diversity Education and Lifelong Learning Intellectual Freedom The Public Good Preservation Professionalism Service Social Responsibility Sustainability Social responsibility was the one that caught my attention immediately. To me, itContinue reading “Social Responsibility and Libraries”
New Ways of Exploring the Blog
In January 2021 the Illuminations blog unveiled our redesign. The purpose of this renovation was twofold: overhauling the look of the blog while making our 500+ posts easier to find and navigate. It’s hard to miss the new images from our collections in the center of the home page. These images link to posts relatedContinue reading “New Ways of Exploring the Blog”
Money in the French Revolution
I will admit, military history is not an interest or a forte but as we’ve been working on digitizing Journal Militaire for a graduate student at The Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution, I have been reviewing the images prior to making them available in the digital library. Journal Militaire was an official FrenchContinue reading “Money in the French Revolution”
Korean Movable Type: A Mini-History
Most scholars credit China with the conception of printing. The oldest surviving printed book, The Diamond Sutra, dates back to 868 AD. For reference, Gutenberg’s bible was printed in 1455. Fast forward a century from the Diamond Sutra and we meet Bi Sheng who was the first person to create movable type between 1039 andContinue reading “Korean Movable Type: A Mini-History”
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
This is a crosspost, click here to see the original by Kyung Kim. We are celebrating Asian and Pacific American Heritage this month. Congress proclaimed a week of May in 1979 as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week, and in 1992, it designated May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. The month of May was chosen to commemorate the firstContinue reading “Asian Pacific American Heritage Month”
Older Americans Month 2021
In March of 1944, a 43-year-old Senator Claude Pepper introduced a resolution to designate the second Sunday in October as “Old Folks Day.” While the resolution did not pass, Pepper would go on to devote much of his energies in the Senate and later in Congress, to ensure that elderly Americans retained the ability toContinue reading “Older Americans Month 2021”
Library History at FSU, Part 9: John and Mable Ringling Art Library
Governance of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art was given to FSU in 2000. The University oversaw the restoration and renovation of all four buildings on the complex: the Ca d’Zan, the Museum of Art, the Circus Museum, and the Historic Asolo Theater. The Art Library was established with The Ringling’s reopening underContinue reading “Library History at FSU, Part 9: John and Mable Ringling Art Library”
Commemorating May Day
FSU Special Collections & Archives commemorates May 20th, Florida’s Emancipation Day, and the history of Emancipation in the United States. On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.1 Because it only applied to states “in rebellion” it excluded enslaved people in the four border states that remained in the Union. Furthermore, its signingContinue reading “Commemorating May Day”
Celebrating Jane Yolen
May is Jewish Heritage Month and to celebrate, I wanted to also find a woman author on our shelves to highlight on the blog. I was excited, and a little embarrassed I didn’t already know, to find that Jane Yolen is a Jewish American author for whom we hold copies of primarily her children’s booksContinue reading “Celebrating Jane Yolen”
Library History at FSU, Part 8: Library and Learning Center at FSU Panama City
In 1972, the University of West Florida was directed by the Florida Board of Regents to establish a center of higher education in Panama City. The center was originally located in the Bay County School Board Office Building and the Gulf Coast Community College campus. The library was housed in Gulf Coast Community College. InContinue reading “Library History at FSU, Part 8: Library and Learning Center at FSU Panama City”
MythBusters Month Wrap-Up
Throughout the month of April we shared some of the most commonly held misconceptions and myths about Special Collections & Archives, and then proceeded to debunk them. Here is a roundup of all our mythbusting posts in case you missed one. Welcome to Special Collections & Archives MythBusters Month! by Rachel Duke Rachel showed usContinue reading “MythBusters Month Wrap-Up”
Library History at FSU, Part 7: College of Engineering Library
The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering was established in 1982 and is the only shared engineering college in the nation. The facilities were remodelled in 2011. It is located less than three miles from both FSU and FAMU campuses. College of Engineering students at both FAMU and FSU learn together at the joint College of EngineeringContinue reading “Library History at FSU, Part 7: College of Engineering Library”
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.
University History and Mythology
As with any person, place, or institution of note, there are a multitude of myths that attach themselves to their histories through various avenues. They can range from fun anecdotes to harmful misrepresentations.
Myths Busted in My First Archives Job
Lisa Play was an archival assistant in 2019. Archives are social places! Talk to your peers! That isn’t to say the Reading Room isn’t quiet, because it is. However, if you think archives are places where talking doesn’t happen, that’s false. There’s a lot of communication that happens between scholars, archivists, and archival assistants toContinue reading “Myths Busted in My First Archives Job”
Do we just collect “Old Stuff”? Appraisal in Special Collections & Archives
While monetary value and current demand for a book are part of the criteria I review in assessing its appropriateness for FSU’s Rare Book Collections, it is just one facet in a web of related values that are considered.
FSU SCA Artists’ Books Featured in New Digital Exhibit
Undergraduate students in the Spring 2021 “Museum Object” course (FSU Department of Art History) spent the semester developing and curating Show & Tell, an online exhibition of artists’ books. They collaborated with FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives and the Small Craft Advisory Press (SCAP) and endeavored to use this year’s non-traditional exhibition format toContinue reading “FSU SCA Artists’ Books Featured in New Digital Exhibit”
Movie Myths: Busted!
We’ve all seen a movie or two that has a scene set in the Archives or a Special Collections Library. Movie magic can really show our work off well. The silver screen is notorious for exaggeration and over generalizing certain tasks and this is even true for the depictions of the world of Special CollectionsContinue reading “Movie Myths: Busted!”
Is it Lost in the Archives?: Discovery Myths and Archival Labor
Every so often in the news we hear about an important document that was previously unknown and discovered in the archives. Beginning in 2012, The Atlantic ran two pieces about one such example: The Leale Report. This is a perfect case to examine for making archival labor transparent and looking at several myths in theContinue reading “Is it Lost in the Archives?: Discovery Myths and Archival Labor”
Awareness and Perceptions of Archives
Has the internet impacted perceptions about archivists and the work we do? Caitlin Patterson’s article “Perceptions and Understandings of Archives in the Digital Age” intends to help us understand.1 Here are the main takeaways of her survey: Increased expectations to find both general information and archival materials online. Respondents felt that archives were inaccessible andContinue reading “Awareness and Perceptions of Archives”
“It’s all online, right?”: Myths of the Digital and the Archives
Among the many myths of the archives, the ones around digitization and digital libraries are perhaps the ones that can frustrate me the most. But then, I am a digital archivist so that will not surprise you. However, ever since archives started to digitize their materials and share them online, we’ve been battling these mythsContinue reading ““It’s all online, right?”: Myths of the Digital and the Archives”
Welcome to Special Collections & Archives MythBusters Month!
Throughout the month of April we’ll be debunking some of the most popular myths about our work, on our Illuminations blog and on FSU Libraries’ Twitter and Instagram. We invite you to join us on this SCA MythBusting journey!
Their Stories: Why Oral History Matters.
LGBTQ+ history has traditionally been passed down orally. Through stories, shared experiences, and even gossip, queer people have kept alive their art, colloquialisms, and their truth. Oral history is a huge component to understanding the queer experience (as for other cultures). However, it is a more modern development for institutions to note the value ofContinue reading “Their Stories: Why Oral History Matters.”
Springtime in the SSDN Repository
This springtime the Sunshine State Digital Network challenges you to “spring clean your mind” by exploring our repository for materials related to spring!
Armchair Traveling in the Digital Library
We’ve all been stuck pretty close to home for over a year now and, I don’t know about you, but I am missing the fun and excitement of traveling. I find myself planning trips and adding more and more days onto a European vacation that has been postponed for two years now. A recent newContinue reading “Armchair Traveling in the Digital Library”
Archival Spring Cleaning
Winter has finally passed and while you revel in the return of green things, you might also think about doing some Spring cleaning. Brushing out the cobwebs of a neglected basement or attic, you find some ancient treasures, boxed up and passed down over the generations. As you page through fragile letters and photographs fromContinue reading “Archival Spring Cleaning”
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 majorContinue reading “Pocket books: small volumes in the Shaw Collection”
Library History at FSU, Part 6: Law Research Center
The College of Law Library opened alongside the College of Law in the fall of 1966 with a collection of 13,000 volumes. The college was located in Longmire Hall and included offices, the law library, and a shared auditorium. Construction began on a new classroom building for the College of Law and was completed inContinue reading “Library History at FSU, Part 6: Law Research Center”
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