Resurrecting Images from the Morgue: A Case Study of the London Free Press Collection of Photographic Negatives

Collections ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-392
Author(s):  
Tom Belton
Keyword(s):  
Free Press ◽  
Current Collection ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Digital Resource ◽  
Visual Evidence ◽  
Form Part ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
Management Issues

This paper is a case study of the ongoing transformation of the London Free Press Collection of Photographic Negatives from a physical archive to a digital one. This Collection is a typical medium-sized newspaper photographic negative morgue dating between 1938 and 1992. These morgues possess enormous value as visual evidence of the development of communities, and society in general. The London Free Press serves a market of around a million people in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The Collection’s current custodian, the University of Western Ontario Archives and Special Collections, is in the process of transforming it from a purely physical entity to a digital resource of great research potential. To place the case study in a broader context, the author reviews some of the recent literature on the topic of newspaper photograph morgues. He then delves into a detailed description of the custodial history of the Collection as well as details about current collection management issues, including metadata and digitization. The author concludes that the digitized body of tens of thousands of unique images will be more than enough to satisfy many visual researchers and could form part of a North American digital photojournalism archive of immense historical value.

scholarly journals James Moses. Trends in Rare Books and Documents Special Collections Management. 2013 Edition. New York: Primary Research Group, 2013. 64p. $75 (ISBN 978-1-57440-226-1).

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-80
Author(s):  
Amy Chen
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Ohio State University ◽  
State University ◽  
Collections Management ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Rare Books ◽  
The Ohio State University ◽  
The University

Trends in Rare Books and Documents Special Collections Management, 2013 edition by James Moses surveys seven special collection institutions on their current efforts to expand, secure, promote, and digitize their holdings. The contents of each profile are generated by transcribed interviews, which are summarized and presented as a case study chapter. Seven special collections are discussed, including the Boston Public Library; AbeBooks; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Washington University of St. Louis; the Archives and Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati; the Rare Books and Manuscript Library at The Ohio State University; and the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare . . .

scholarly journals The Rali affair: A case study for a free press

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-124
Author(s):  
David Robie
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Free Press ◽  
Student Newspaper ◽  
The University ◽  
Cover Up

In early 1996, a PNG news media cover-up was alleged over the so-called Topul Rali affair. An exposé by the student newspaper Uni Tavur led to a clash with the University of PNG administration and the journalism programme was closed down three years later. 

scholarly journals Mapping the networks of ownership and distribution of rare books in Special Collections at the University of Auckland General Library

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jo Birks
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Provenance Research ◽  
Rare Books ◽  
Book Collectors ◽  
The University ◽  
Purposive Sample

<p>The extent and research potential of provenance evidence in rare books in Special Collections at the University of Auckland General Library is largely uncharted territory. This project helps fill that gap by examining the provenance evidence, such as inscriptions, bookplates and stamps, in some of those rare books to identify any networks or patterns in their ownership history and distribution. A purposive sample of 291 pre-1851 volumes on New Zealand and Pacific-related travel and exploration was examined for provenance evidence within a qualitative framework and an historical case study design. Taking a subset of those books, which were bequeathed to the Library by Alfred Kidd (1851-1917), the project then examined other works from his bequest to further explore the scope of provenance evidence.  The project demonstrated the value of treating books as artefacts, exposing a wealth of provenance evidence and providing snapshots of the ownership and distribution histories of some volumes. Overall, 71 percent of the sample contained evidence for identifiable agents: 88 former owners, 14 booksellers, one auction house and nine book binders. The project also discussed lesser-known New Zealand book collectors who merit further study, including Alfred Kidd, Sir George Fowlds, Arthur Chappell and Allan North. Further provenance research into this collection and the provenance-related cataloguing practices in New Zealand libraries would generate additional useful insights.</p>

Setting up a ‘Special Relationship’: Students as Co-Creators of a Research-based Curriculum

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Hallett ◽  
Charlotte Tomlinson ◽  
Tim Procter
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
Hybrid Identity ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Institutional Ethos ◽  
The University ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
The Way

The idea of student/staff partnership has become ubiquitous in the way universities market their institutional ethos and enshrines an idealised 'dialogic structure' within curriculum design. Which universitities are actually putting this into practice and allowing their students a significant role in the machinations of curriculum design and enhancement?This case study investigates the emerging co-operation between the University of Leeds Library, a team of Special Collections interns and the academic and student communities they reach out to. It suggests, in microcosm, a model for the co-creation of the curriculum which positions the student as co-creator, certainly, but also as mediator, tutor, mentor and communicator.The project case study adds insight into the fascinating hybrid identity that students can occupy within the contested territory of university-wide curriculum design, and explores the complex status and authority of students and tutors as they explore fresh relationships of opportunity and expertise.

scholarly journals Building infrastructure in the digital age: case study of the Isis Bibliography of History of Science, 2002-2018

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Stephen P. Weldon
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Digital Environment ◽  
Knowledge Infrastructure ◽  
Digital Resource ◽  
History Of ◽  
Networking Technologies ◽  
Digital Knowledge ◽  
Historical Methods ◽  
Knowledge Ecology

The IsisCB Explore went online in 2015 as a foundational digital resource for historians of science. Built on the History of Science Society’s 100-year-old Isis Bibliography of the History of Science, this service is meant to lay the groundwork for a digital infrastructure to support historical work in the relatively new digital environment where so much modern scholarship now takes place. In order to create this resource, the director of the project, Stephen Weldon, has learned how to shape traditional historical methods, practices, and resources to fit the new digital paradigm. Computer and networking technologies have been built out of the needs and practices of technologists, natural scientists, and business innovators, all of whom employ it in very specific ways, quite different from the practices of humanistic scholarship, and history in particular. As a result, the digital environment is not especially friendly to historical work or products. As a result, it has taken a great deal of effort to understand and refactor historical data so that it functions well within a digital knowledge ecology, a “knowledge infrastructure,” as Christine Borgman refers to it. This paper describes the difficulties (epistemological, cultural, and economic) that make the creation of tools like the IsisCB Explore service challenging for historians and suggests some ways forward.

Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage: A Case Study on US Latina/o Archives and Digital Humanities

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
Gabriela Baeza Ventura ◽  
Lorena Gauthereau ◽  
Carolina Villarroel
Keyword(s):  
Digital Humanities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Digital Repository ◽  
Successful Work ◽  
The Us ◽  
Literary Heritage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Personal Archives ◽  
The University

AbstractThis article focuses on the work and efforts put forth by the University of Houston’s Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage program (Recovery) to create the first digital humanities center for US Latina/o Research: #usLdh. Recovery is a program to locate, preserve, and make available the written legacy of Latinas/os in the United States since colonial times until 1960. Through 27 years of successful work Recovery has not only been able to inscribe the excluded history of Latinas/os, but also has created an inclusive and vast digital repository that facilitates scholarship in this area of studies. This article focuses on the importance of recovery work in the writing, teaching, and understanding of history and considers how local personal archives have helped to fill in the gaps of mainstream history. We will detail the goals and challenges of this mission, as well as the importance of educating the community in digital methods that preserve and disseminate minority voices.

scholarly journals The Nurse in the University: A History of University Education for South African Nurses: A Case Study of the University of the Witwatersrand

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Simonne Horwitz
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Education ◽  
South African ◽  
Nursing Program ◽  
University Education ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
University Training ◽  
First Time

This paper charts the history and debates surrounding the introduction of academic, university-based training of nurses in South Africa. This was a process that was drawn out over five decades, beginning in the late 1930s. For nurses, university training was an important part of a process of professionalization; however, for other members of the medical community, nursing was seen as being linked to women's service work. Using the case-study of the University of the Witwatersrand, one of South Africa's premier universities and the place in the country to offer a university-based nursing program, we argue that an historical understanding of the ways in which nursing education was integrated into the university system tells us a great deal about the professionalization of nursing. This paper also recognises, for the first time, the pioneers of this important process.

Tracking changes in natural history collections utilization: A case study at the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of New Mexico

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethany L. Abrahamson
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
University Of New Mexico ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
History Of ◽  
Data Source ◽  
History Of Use ◽  
The University

AbstractNatural history collections (NHCs) are used in many fields of study, but general knowledge regarding their uses is poor. Because of this, funding and support for NHCs frequently fluctuate. One way in which collections professionals can illustrate a collection’s contribution to a variety of fields is based on the collection’s history of use. Tracking NHC utilization through time can increase NHC value to others outside of the collection, allow for the analysis of changes in specimen-based research trends, and assist in effective collection management. This case study focuses on NHC usage records held by the Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB), a currently growing university collection used in many research fields, and presents methods for quantifying collections utilization through time. Through an exploration of these data, this paper illustrates MSB’s growth and changes in research produced over time and offers explanations for the changes observed. Last, this study provides suggestions for how collections professionals can most greatly benefit from considering NHC records as a data source. Understanding NHC usage from “the collection’s perspective” provides a new way for NHC professionals to understand NHCs’ value in the context of the research it supports and demonstrates the importance of this key infrastructure to a broader audience.

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