Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | March 31, 2007
Last week I attended an excellent day-long workshop called “The Accidental Map Librarian” in Boulder, Colorado. The Center for British and Irish Studies on the fifth floor of the University of Colorado Norlin Library where the workshop took place seemed a fitting, elegant space for a map workshop. The presenters were young, energetic, and knowledgeable [...]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | March 22, 2007
Once a month, the Library of Congress offers a one-hour online experience that is well worth your time. They call on a subject area expert who gathers goodies from Library of Congress collections and beyond, and then a small team leads participants through an exploration of the selections. They use a software called OPAL, short [...]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | March 18, 2007
We’ve all heard variations on the philosophical riddle, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” In other words, can something exist without being perceived? Likewise, if a primary source (letter, document, map, film, sound recording, artifact) is never digitized and no one [...]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | March 12, 2007
Last week I visited my older brother in Corpus Christi, Texas. Together one evening we opened a box of World War II items from our father, who is deceased. He was a U. S. Marine Corps radio operator who fought for two years and ten months in the Pacific Theater, including the campaigns at Iwo [...]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | March 5, 2007
Last Friday I served as the official “pronouncer” for the 7th-8th Grade Regional Spelling Bee. A seventh grader correctly spelled soliloquy to take first prize over 107 other spellers. Even though luck often plays a part in the contest, in the end, any of a half dozen strong contestants could have won. Spelling bees have [...]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | March 1, 2007
Today is the first day of Women’s History Month. There are many fabulous online lessons and collections available for teaching about women in history through primary sources. Because I live in a city filled with military people (15% retired military, Fort Carson, the United States Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force [...]