A Bi-Weekly Update
4/15/11
Unveiling of Muhlenberg College Digital Commons
For the past year, Trexler Library, in conjunction with several departments across campus, has been busy creating and populating an online archive, dubbed the Muhlenberg College Digital Commons. Still very much under construction, the Digital Commons already includes selections of
- publications by Muhlenberg faculty and staff
- materials from Trexler Library Special Collections
- images of fine art from the College Art Gallery’s Tonner Collection and Curtis Photogravures
While intellectual property issues remain a significant challenge, the goal over time is to provide a permanent, digital archive the content of which can be retrieved with all major web search engines and is freely available to the public at large.
Join us on Friday, April 29, from 1-2 p.m. on level A of the library, for an unveiling of the Muhlenberg College Digital Commons. Refreshments will be served.
Duke U. Attorney to Speak about Academic Copyright
Muhlenberg (and LVAIC) faculty and staff (and LVAIC colleagues) are invited to a presentation at Muhlenberg College on “Copyright, Education, and You,” given by Duke University copyright attorney and librarian Kevin Smith.
This presentation on May 10, from 2-4 p.m, in Seegers Union at Muhlenberg College will be packed with information about copyright in academic settings, and include plenty of time for Q&A.
Please forward this announcement to any and all interested parties.
RSVP to this email to save a seat.
(Questions for the Q&A period of the presentation may be sent in advance. Simply reply to this email with your copyright queries, and Kevin will, time permitting, address them.)
Please note: This workshop has been partially funded with Federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds administered by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries and would not have been possible without the help of the College and Research Division of PaLA.
Infomaniac Tip
This Week in History: Civil War Primary Sources Online
On April 12, 1861, the American Civil War began with the attack on Fort Sumter. Almost four years to the day later, Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Courthouse, effectively ending the war. The following selected resources showcase a variety of Civil War primary sources, including: speeches, legislation, photographs, letters, newspapers, and more.
Primary Documents in American History: Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860-1877 (Library of Congress)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/CivilWarRecon.html
This web guide from the Library of Congress brings together important primary documents from major Civil War related addresses, legislation, and more.Selected Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress)
http://international.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
“The Selected Civil War Photographs Collection contains 1,118 photographs. Most of the images were made under the supervision of Mathew B. Brady, and include scenes of military personnel, preparations for battle, and battle after-effects. The collection also includes portraits of both Confederate and Union officers, and a selection of enlisted men.”The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War (University of Virginia)
http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/
“The Valley Project details life in two American communities, one Northern and one Southern, from the time of John Brown’s Raid through the era of Reconstruction. In this digital archive you may explore thousands of original letters and diaries, newspapers and speeches, census and church records, left by men and women in Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania.”Gilmer Civil War Maps Collection (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
http://dc.lib.unc.edu/gilmer/
“The Gilmer maps are an extensive group of Civil War maps, including both manuscript maps and printed maps with manuscript annotations and engineers’ drawings of military construction. […] This site currently includes 161 maps representative of the entire southern region, with particularly large groupings of North Carolina and Virginia maps. Most of the maps are dated 1861-1865.”Civil War Love Letters (Virginia Tech University)
http://spec.lib.vt.edu/cwlove/
“When he wasn’t marching, fighting, or setting up camp, the Civil War soldier might take a few moments to write to his loved ones at home. These letters often contain accounts of battles, life in camp, and general news. But many soldiers, as they marched off to face the enemy, had left behind a wife or sweetheart, and to them they would compose sweet, poignant, and occasionally funny letters that give life and personality to the participants in this great national conflict. The Special Collections Department holds many Civil War era (1861-1865) manuscript collections, several of which include letters written by soldiers to their loves, and a few from the ladies to their soldiers. These letters show their sorrows of being apart, fears that the soldier would not return home, and hopes for the future after the war’s end.”
Calendar of Events
4/29 – South Mountain Middle School Library Scavenger Hunt (part of “college experience” day) (Information Commons, 9:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m.)
4/29 – Muhlenberg College Digital Commons Inaugural Reception (level A, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.)
5/6 – Trexler Library Annual Book Sale (library front steps, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
5/10 – Copyright, Education, and You: Duke U. attorney Kevin Smith address the subject of academic copyright in all its variety. Q&A included (Seegers 111 and 112, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.)
