University of St. Francis Library Archives

"Campbell's Soup Cans" by Andy Warhol One of the reasons I enjoy working for USF are the professional development opportunities. At the end of April I attended the Midwest Archives Conference (MAC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to learn about developing trends in the archival profession. If you’ve never attended a professional conference before, it is usually made up of concurrent sessions on various topics, vendor fairs, tours, and student poster presentations. I attended a behind-the-scenes tour of the Milwaukee Art Museum conservation lab before the conference sessions officially started. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures of the lab, but I did see a couple of Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans.” At this year’s MAC, I attended the following sessions: From Theory to Action: A Pragmatic Approach to Digital Preservation Strategies and Tools (A Digital POWRR Workshop) Where Do We Store the Action Figures? Archives and the Growth of Popular...

Last year I became the LIBRAS Archives Special Interest Group Chairperson; part of my job is to put events together which interest archivists and librarians within the LIBRAS community. The most recent event was a visit and tour of the Chicago Film Archives . Their website states: “The Chicago Film Archives is a non-profit 501(c) (3) institution established in late 2003 in order to preserve and catalogue over five thousand 16mm films donated by the Chicago Public Library.” Extra copies of films donated by the Chicago Public Library During the visit, we discussed how the film industry in Chicago boomed during the early 20 th century with actors including Charlie Chaplin getting their first start at Essanay Studios. Chicago was the film industry hub until the production companies moved to Hollywood.  The films at CFA cover the “dark ages” of Chicago and Midwest filmmaking. As a regional archive their collections relate to Midwest history, amateur filmmakers, and home...

Nature Magazine cover, March 1924 With spring fast approaching, it was a good opportunity to highlight one of USF’s rare book journals . Nature Magazine , which focused on the great outdoors, began publication in 1923 by the American Nature Association’s president, Charles Pack, and his son Arthur. They heralded themselves as, “…the answer to a long-felt want—a monthly magazine where the child and the grown-up alike may revel in pictures and stories of birds, beasts, fish, tress, plants and other living, breathing evidence of the Creator’s handiwork” (1). This sentiment made its way into each issue of the magazine, until its run ended in 1959. Articles typically focused on plant development, animal evolution and biology, travel excursions from members of the American Nature Association, and advertisements for campgrounds, outdoor wear, and national parks. Celebrities were featured occasionally, as well; for example, Florenz Ziegfeld – the American Broadway producer of the Zieg...

CSF Francisline cheerleaders in formation Over the past month my student worker, Jojo, and intern, Madison, have been busy, busy, busy! I tasked them with creating original metadata (information about information) for over 600 images, which depict events, people, and places from the University’s past. These images were added to the Sharing Our Past, A Visual History online collection. This project was achieved through a number of steps; the first included digitizing the physical photographs. This was completed at the beginning of 2015. Over December 2015 and January 2016, I looked over all the images to see which ones would be selected for the online collection. This is known as “appraisal” and done at least twice to determine which images should be included based on their historical significance to the institution. Reasons images might not be included in the collection are: Redundant/duplicate material Photographs which are blurry and/or of poor quality Material tha...

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...

For the final blog post of 2015, I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read about the goings-on at the University of St. Francis Archives. I really enjoy writing this blog every month, so please stay with me in 2016! As its December, I thought it would be nice to share some photographs of Christmastime gone by. The pictures below range from 1938-2012, and offer a brief glimpse into the past. All images are taken from the Sharing Our Past: A Visual History online collection. Enjoy! Student Christmas Carolers ca. 1940-1950 Students in winter coats outside Tower Hall ca. 1940s Students decorating for Christmas season, ca. 1970s Students sorting Christmas presents in their dorm room, ca. 1938     Student cheerleaders participating in Light Up the Night event, 2012 Men's NAIA cross country team and Bernie walking in Light Up the Night parade, 2012

In honor of Veterans Day, we look back at the Encounter to see how the student newspaper staff paid respect to U.S. veterans. But first, a bit of background information! The origins of Veterans Day go back to World War I. According to the U.S. Office of Public Affairs , “World War I…officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919...However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice…or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.” In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day. Professor Michael LaRocco, 1978 Taken from Sharing Our Past digital collection Since 1919, there have been changes to the holiday, but the basic sentiment is the same: honoring all Veterans wh...