University of St. Francis Library Archives

Entering my third year as Archivist at the University of St. Francis, I have new responsibilities in the library and goals for the archives. A Quick Recap College of St. Francis cheerleaders practicing in hallway ca. 1980-1989 At the beginning of last year my student worker, Adjo Tameklo, and history intern, Madison Bowie, worked together to add metadata for over 500 new images for the digital collection, Sharing Our Past, A Visual History . Many of the pictures depict USF athletics from the 1970s-1980s, which had been a gap in the collection. I was also able to catalog 400 books from the Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theater Collection . Mostly autobiographies, biographies, and historical reference books the collection is available to search in the Brown Library catalog. During the summer I became the Library Archives & Catalog Manager for the Brown Library. Along with managing the archives, I am now responsible for overseeing the cataloging and classification of mate...

We are halfway through 2016, so I want to do a quick update for one of the projects I discussed in the first post of this year ( go check it out if you haven’t read it !). Pictured: (left) Enchanted Evenings ; (right) Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks ; (center) Broadway Musicals Beginning in March, I started to catalog the large number of biographies in the Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theater Collection. It was decided these books are best served as reference materials, which means they do not circulate. You might ask why, since this is a library and shouldn’t all books circulate? Normally, yes. However, the books add context to the songs, lyricists, composers, and shows the archived sheet music emphasizes, so I think they are more useful as reference books. Some of the influential people in the musical theater and motion picture world includes: Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim and many more. Now they all have a place in the reference collect...

After my first year of being the University of St. Francis archivist, I hope to make 2016 as productive as last year. A Brief Recap Last year we created 18 individual collections relating to the University’s rich history, participated in Chicago Open Archives and showcased the Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theater Collection , implemented our records management system ArchivesSpace, and continued to fill requests from faculty, students, alumni, and the public. There are also a few new forms, making contact with the Archives easier. The Appointment Request Form can set up a time to meet with me individually or for a class session. I also created forms for our faculty and student groups to transfer  valuable  historical  records for permanent storage to the Archives. New Goals Over the next few months, my focus will be cataloging the 1,000+ books of the Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theater Collection. We will start with biographies, which focus on influential...

An exciting event is happening next month in the USF Archives as a part of Chicago Open Archives: Collecting and Connecting . Over twenty local archives, research centers, and cultural institutions in the Chicago area will offer special events open to members of the public on October 8-10, 2015. Chicago Open Archives: Collecting and Connecting is an opportunity to discover unique historical materials and engage with archivists, librarians, and museum curators. I will present one of the Archive’s special collections, the Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theater Collection on Saturday October 10 th .  Barbara Cooke is an alumna of USF whose career in musical theater has spanned over 30 years. She spent time on stage in both Chicago and New York City, all the while collecting sheet music, books and other items related to musical theater. Visitors will have the chance to view rare materials and hear how the Archives acquired the collection. The collection includes sheet music, comp...

The Joliet Area Historical Museum is hosting a special exhibit: Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate - 145 Years Serving God, Serving Community . "The Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate transformed the landscape of Joliet through their ministry and the Congregation's building of a Motherhouse, an academy, a college, an orphanage, and a retirement home. This exhibit features facts pulled from their rich history, continuing the journey that Mother Alfred Moes began 145 years ago." Visit the Museum from June 6 through October 10, 2010 to view this amazing collection of photographs, information, artifacts, artwork and more about the Sisters' century and a half in Joliet. The Motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate - ca. 1912

The hours for the USF Library Archives will change slightly for the months of May, June and July. The Archives will be closed on Friday afternoons from May 14th through July 30th. Please be sure to visit us during the rest of our open times to explore our collections: Monday - Thursday 9am-4pm Friday 9am-12pm Here's to a great summer! Hope to see you here soon.

You may have read our post here , announcing that our book proposal had been accepted by Arcadia Publishing . The work was all sent off in March and we received word that the book will be published the week of August 31st, 2010. Just in time for the start of the new school year, Founder's Day and Homecoming. We're all very excited and can't wait to share this printed collection of information and photos from the Archives. We'll post more information as it gets closer to the release date.

The USF Library Archives has processed and completed the Finding Aids of six new collections. We are happy to open the following collections for research: History of the University (10-117) City History (40-100) Diocese History (40-105) English Department (20-120) Speech & Speech Pathology Department (20-210) Foreign Language Study (20-135) See a complete list of our processed collections here . The USF Library Archives is open Monday-Friday, 9-4am.

The USF Library Archives will have the following schedule over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend: Wednesday, Nov. 25 - 8:00am-3:00pm Thursday, Nov. 26 - Sunday, Nov. 29 - Closed We will open again Monday, Nov. 30 at 8:00am and return to our regular hours. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.