Ancient Cuneiform Tablets Spend 100 Years at FSU

The present year of 2022 marks a full century since the acquisition of Special Collections and Archives’ oldest inanimate residents, the cuneiform tablets. Purchased by faculty in 1922, these twenty-five tablets were bought from Edgar J. Banks back when the school was still referred to as the Florida State College for Women. Although they currently

Student Archival Investigations, Part III

Guest Authors: Nadia Rassech and Eli McKown-Dawson, with Tarez Samra Graban, Associate Professor of English and Honors Teaching Scholar This is the last installment of three highlighting the work of students in Special Collections and Archives with HUM 2937/IDH 3109 Sustainable Public Discourse during American Archives Month 2021. You can read the first and second

Student Archival Investigations, Part II

Guest Authors: Miranda Fuller and Kate Kramer, with Tarez Samra Graban, Associate Professor of English and Honors Teaching Scholar This is the second installment of three highlighting the work of students in Special Collections and Archives with HUM 2937/IDH 3109 Sustainable Public Discourse during American Archives Month 2021. You can read the first installment on

Student Archival Investigations, Part I

Guest author: Tarez Samra Graban, Associate Professor of English and Honors Teaching Scholar Florida cannot develop its parks too rapidly or conserve its attractiveness too zealously. Governor LeRoy Collins, Dec. 1960 During American Archives month, the 17 students enrolled in HUM 2937/IDH 3109 Sustainable Public Discourse embarked on an archival investigation that invited them to

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. 

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.

New Year, New Look, More Stories

Thank you to Katie McCormick, Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives, for this post to kick off our new blog redesign. Welcome to Illuminations, the FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives blog. Whether you are a regular reader or this is your first time here, you’re in a new place. We’re excited about our

Introduction to Instruction

As the caretakers of Special Collections, staff work diligently to preserve the integrity of materials for future researchers. This includes reducing materials’ exposure to light and preventing fluctuations in temperature and humidity within carefully controlled environments. Interaction with collections usually occurs in the Reading Room to ensure these conditions can be regulated. Sometimes, though, materials leave

Defining (and Challenging) the Book

How do you define “the book”? What functions do books serve? What are the essential qualities of a book? How have these characteristics changed over time? Those are a sample of the questions raised during the Special Collections & Archives instruction sessions for the “Introduction to the History of Text Technology” classes (ENG 3803) and the “What is a Text” class

A Place of Pilgrimage

While assisting with Special Collections & Archives instruction classes as part of my graduate assistantship, I have found the following quote from Michael Suarez, director of the Rare Book School, full of plenty of food for thought: How is the way that your collections are mediated telling those who are in contact with them about their treasureful-ness? About the power