“The Archives Portal Europe provides access to information on archival material from different European countries as well as information on archival institutions throughout the continent.”
Visit the site here:
http://www.archivesportaleurope.net/
Founder’s Online
6.19.13
“The National Archives recently launched the Founders Online website [http://founders.archives.gov/]. This free online tool brings together the papers of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison in a single website that gives a first-hand account of the growth of democracy and the birth of the Republic.
Founders Online was created through a cooperative agreement between the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grant-making arm of the National Archives, and The University of Virginia (UVA) Press.
Altogether, some 175,000 documents are projected to be on the Founders Online site. This website promises to be of immense value for the public’s ability to understand the world and intentions of the nation’s founders. It will also provide a bold economic, educational, and technical model that will provide important lessons as we plan future efforts for online publication of historical materials.”
Visit the site here:
http://founders.archives.gov/
Pop-Up Libraries
6.13.13
Pop-up libraries have been a popular trend since last summer, but the new one on Governor’s Island is the result of a joint partnership between the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Queens Public Library systems.
http://untappedcities.com/2013/06/05/daily-what-the-pop-up-library-on-governors-island/
Find out how you can create a pop-up library in your community:
http://www.shareable.net/blog/how-to-create-a-low-cost-pop-up-library
From Nelson’s Flag to Astronaut Moon Dust: Revealing the Hidden Objects of Museums
6.13.13
What’s on display in museums is just a fraction of the fascinating objects held in their collections. For reasons of size, delicacy, lack of space, or lack of historical context, these objects remain invisible. In The Secret Museum, a new book by Molly Oldfield, 60 of these objects are revealed, from Van Gogh’s sketchbooks, to a space suit covered in moon dust, to Queen Victoria’s dental tools, to Dr. Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley’s hats from their famous meeting in Africa. See the link below for an interview with Ms. Oldfield.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/molly-oldfield-the-secret-museum
Mary Rose: Crew Of Henry VIII’s Sunken Tudor Ship Revealed As £27m Museum Opens
5.30.13
The Mary Rose Museum at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard opens today with the only 16th century warship on display in the world. A celebratory launch day is being held at the same place where the ship was built in 1510. The ceremony will start with a wreath-laying at the wreck site in the Solent followed by a gun salute and water cannon display as the Mary Rose bell becomes the last item to be brought to the new ship-shaped museum.
Happy Birthday to the Brooklyn Bridge
5.24.13
“German-born John A. Roebling and his son, Washington A. Roebling, designed and built the famous Brooklyn Bridge connecting the cities of New York and Brooklyn. The remarkable design used Roebling’s patented system of steel wire cable construction. When it opened on May 24, 1883, the 1,595-foot main span was the longest suspension bridge in the world.”
http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/index.html?dod-date=524
Data geek humor . . . visualized.
5.24.13
A humorous look at making graphs of data more interesting:
‘UNKNOWN MAN DIED EATING LIBRARY PASTE,’ 1908
5.23.13
This headstone, located in the Goldfield Pioneer Cemetery in Goldfield, Nevada is apparently real.
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/headstone_reads_unknown_man_died_eating_library_paste_1908
Name the Dragon Competition
5.23.13
Julie found this. “The Bodleian Libraries’ Shop would like your help in naming our new dragon.”
http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/whats-on/online/magical-books/name-the-dragon
This is Water – A Message for Those About to Graduate
5.15.13
An excerpt from a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College in 2005 set to video. Well worth the time it takes to watch it: