history Archives | American Libraries Magazine

Patricia Bearden (left) and Raquel Flores-Clemons present “Partners in History: Chicago State University Archive and International Society of Sons and Daughters of Slave Ancestry Digital Collaboration" at DPLAfest in Chicago on April 20.

DPLAfest Comes to Chicago

By John Amundsen | April 25, 2017

Several presentations highlighted efforts to document, preserve, and share digital collections on social justice and community engagement. Preserving African-American history on Chicago’s South Side “Partners in History: Chicago State University Archive and International Society of Sons and Daughters of Slave Ancestry Digital Collaboration,” led by Chicago State University (CSU) Archivist Raquel Flores-Clemons, Patricia Bearden, president … Continue reading DPLAfest Comes to Chicago →

Children read in the Soissons Library in Aisne, France, after World War I. Photo: ALA Archives

The French Connection

By Marcelline Dormont | February 16, 2017

Anne Tracy Morgan, daughter of financier John Pierpont (J. P.) Morgan, was the mind and money behind the volunteer mobilization. Morgan was a frequent visitor to France. When war broke out, she threw herself into relief work for the Allied cause. In 1917, she created the American Committee for Devastated France, better known as CARD … Continue reading The French Connection →

Revisiting an Old Friend

By Joseph Janes | January 3, 2017

Anyway, in the chapter on the library and society from Shera’s 1976 textbook Introduction to Library Science, he writes in the first paragraph: “It is axiomatic … that the library as a social instrumentality, is, as it has always been, conditioned and shaped by the social milieu within which it functions” (emphasis mine). Well. We’ve … Continue reading Revisiting an Old Friend →

Dewey Decibel podcast Episode Eight: Hail to the Chief's Library

Dewey Decibel Podcast: Presidential Libraries

December 1, 2016

Meredith Evans, director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta. American Libraries managing editor Sanhita SinhaRoy talks with Meredith about managing a presidential library, her work with President Carter, and more. Jodi Kanter, associate professor of theater at George Washington University and author of the book Presidential Libraries as Performance: Curating American … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Presidential Libraries →

Lyndon B. Johnson. Photo: Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum

By the Numbers: Presidential Libraries

By Megan Perrero | November 1, 2016

1939 Year the Presidential Library System began. Franklin D. Roosevelt donated his presidential and personal documents to the federal government. 643 Number of hours of recorded telephone conversations the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum has collected. The conversation topics range from the assassination of JFK to dealing with the USSR. 45 Number of meetings … Continue reading By the Numbers: Presidential Libraries →

All in the Family

By Karen Muller | September 1, 2016

Fostering Family History Services: A Guide for Librarians, Archivists, and Volunteers, by Rhonda L. Clark and Nicole Wedemeyer Miller, offers practical advice, with bibliographical notes, on how to establish a family history service within the framework of existing programming and outreach. The authors assert that providing family history resources is more about offering guidance and … Continue reading All in the Family →

Our Digital Heritage

By Meredith Farkas | May 2, 2016

Libraries have always played a role in preserving local history, but that job has become more complex as the formats in which materials may be available continue to multiply. On the other hand, the technologies to digitize and post local history resources online have become cheaper and more readily available, even to small libraries. Some … Continue reading Our Digital Heritage →

Ken Burns on “Grover Cleveland, Again!”

January 9, 2016

Documentarian Ken Burns sits down for an interview with American Libraries to discuss his new children’s history book, Grover Cleveland, Again! He also reveals the common thread that unites nearly all United States presidents and presents an idea for improving the teaching of history.

On the Road with Lafayette

By Phil Morehart | October 29, 2015

The Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat who fought for the US in the American Revolutionary War, is a ubiquitous but overlooked character in American history. He touched many significant events, people, and places: the Revolution, Herman Melville, Marie Antoinette, and also our modern parks, cities, and roads. The name “Lafayette” is everywhere in the US, … Continue reading On the Road with Lafayette →

Digitizing History

By Phil Morehart | July 31, 2015

Cambridge goes online Cambridge Archive Editions (CAE), in partnership with East View Information Services, has digitized its collection of British archival documents from the 18th to the 20th century, including original print volumes and accompanying maps, and made them available as online editions via the East View ebook platform. Twenty-five years’ worth of accumulated CAE … Continue reading Digitizing History →

Ephemera from the local history reference collection at Albany County (Wyo.) Public Library in Laramie.

What To Collect?

By Kathy Marquis and Leslie Waggener | July 29, 2015

Where to begin The patron base for your LHRC will help determine types of materials and subject matter to acquire. Another factor is how much space you have to house the materials. And, of course, your budget is an important consideration. What can your library afford? You may have to build slowly, but that’s okay. You … Continue reading What To Collect? →

Latest Library Links

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Emily Parker writes: “One of the great things about America is that if you don’t like the government, you have the right to speak out against it. Now, an extraordinary request from the Department of Justice could make people increasingly afraid to exercise that right. The DOJ is trying to compel an internet hosting company, DreamHost, to hand over information about everyone who visited disruptj20.org, a DreamHost customer website that helped organize Trump inauguration protests.”

Reuters, Aug. 22
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ACRL has published The Self as Subject: Autoethnographic Research into Identity, Culture, and Academic Librarianship, edited by Anne-Marie Deitering, Robert Schroeder, and Richard Stoddart. This collection of reflective narratives explores the varied dimensions of librarianship in the present moment, and examines autoethnography’s potential to help librarians answer questions that cannot be answered by traditional, empirical research methods and to reveal voices that are obscured by aggregations of data.

ACRL, Aug. 22
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The theme of inclusion was pervasive on the second day of the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Wrocław, Poland, with presenters sharing research and case studies framing ways that library professionals can improve access to information, services, and safe spaces—especially for marginalized users, including indigenous populations, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community.

AL: The Scoop, Aug. 22
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The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a homicide that occurred in Springville, Alabama. Authorities have identified the victim as 46-year-old Michael Collins, a librarian at Odenville Middle School and area assistant football coach. The school website states that Collins has worked at Odenville for 10 years, the first four teaching 7th-grade reading, before spending the past six as the school librarian.

Birmingham (Ala.) News, Aug. 21
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The field of paranormal research continues to grow in south Texas; so much so, that a local high school librarian was asked to share his knowledge on a national TV show. For McAllen High School librarian Noe Torres, his interest in UFOs began decades ago as a kid. His many years of research prompted him to write several books on the subject. His books caught the attention of the producers of the Travel Channel show Mysteries of the Outdoors, who gave him a call to make an appearance in the show.

KVEO-TV, Brownsville, Tex., Aug. 21
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Eileen Bien Calabro writes: “Earlier this year, YouTube took another step into television streaming with the launch of YouTube TV, shortly after the introduction of YouTube Red, a slightly tweaked, ad-free YouTube experience. YouTube proper, of course, is the ad-filled, people’s video service, providing endless cat videos, fan commentaries, and legit creative programming. YouTube TV competes with Hulu and Netflix, while YouTube Red simply enhances the experience you’re used to. Are either of them worth your money?”

PC Magazine, Aug. 21
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ALA Publishing eLearning Solutions will host a new two-session workshop, “The Smart Way to Acquire New Technology: Creating a Successful RFP” with Timothy J. Dickey, to take place on October 19 and 26. Dickey will walk through the complete process for acquiring new library technologies, from the internal assessment of user needs to the writing and evaluation of a Request for Proposal. Registration is through the ALA Store.

eLearning Solutions, Aug. 21

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