SHSU Special Collections and University Archives

We’re taking a leaf out of @nglspecialcollectionsandarchives‘s book from last year and having our own @yearinreview of the best Museums, Libraries and Collections of the year:

@thegetty

@huntingtonlibrary

@gifitup2015

@upennmanuscripts

@uwmarchives

@uwmspeccoll

@historicroyalpalaces

@brooklynmuseum

@lindahall

@detroitlib

@othmeralia

@uispeccoll

@cityoflondonlibraries

@smithsonianlibraries

You have no idea how much it pains us not to make this list longer, but it’s based on our Likes over the past year so it’s as scientific as it gets! All of the Tumblrs listed have gone above and beyond in terms of interesting content, fantastic GIFs and very many laughs.

Thanks @unirdg-collections for keeping this going! We may never be able to compete with the top posts about bread sticks or people named Chris, but all the library, archival, and collection tumblrs out there are great. 

Here are some of our favorites

@uicspecialcollections

@southwestcollectionarchives

@woodsonresearchcenter

@othmeralia

@detroitlib

@huntingtonlibrary

@todaysdocument

Book/Not Book

This week we present an untitled work by Greg Martens using a lotus book structure. Produced in 2007, it was one of the first experimental books produced by Martens as an undergraduate student in Max’s Book Arts Survey course. Since then, Martens has earned a BFA, MA, and MFA, and currently works as an Art & Design instructor here at UWM. He also continues to make artists books, among several other media.

But way back when he was first learning book arts concepts as an undergraduate, Martens created this piece in response to the “Single-Image Transformation” assignment (recall that exercise from a previous Book/Not Book post), in this case using the classic book-arts concept of “mirror image.” Here, the same cosmic-battle event is viewed from the perspective of each opponent. Although it is a single event that literally “unfolds” in the same way, they appear as different experiences when viewed through the adversarial lens. Yet, those oppositional viewpoints are literally two sides of the same space. Same narrative, different outcomes.

Ah, the wonders of the book form! Or, is it a book, or just another lotus-structure plaything?

Book/Not Book? Please reblog and/or let us know what you think.

View more posts from the Book/Not Book series.

Normally we try very hard not to track sand in with us after a visit to the beach. When we do find sand on the stacks we are relieved that is contained like in this lovely miniature book “Ocean Dunes” by Jill Timm, 2003. It’s a good reminder of beaches our there other tabs our own. This sand hails from the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. #tinytuesday #beach #sand #specialcollections #librariesofinstagram #artistsbook #bookstagram http://ift.tt/1RMKjcW

We love Jill Timm’s miniature books! We have a couple in our collection as well

These idyllic fore-edge paintings come from Mary Grey Lundie Duncan’s book entitled Memoir of Mrs. Mary Lundie Duncan: Being Recollection of a Daughter by Her Mother, third edition, published in 1846. After her daughter’s untimely death at 25, Mary Grey...

VE Day: May 8, 1945 - The War Ends In Europe

Happy VE Day!

Just a few more glimpses of our Marvelous Marbles exhibit being featured on the third floor Reading Room in Special Collections.  Stop by and take a look if you’re in the area.  

Or check out the previous post for more marbled beauties.

Finals are almost upon us and it is that time when students hunker down and start studying. We here at Newton Gresham Library want to do everything we can to help whether it is looking up resources for a paper or offering a space to study. To help you study, we have crafted a music playlist of some of our favorite music to listen to while reading, studying, or trying to break that case of writer’s block. We have got everything you need (ambient soundscapes, acoustic jams, classical, and pop).

Music to my ears! Now this is library service!

Moon Safari is one of my favorite albums for relaxing/calming down before finals. Great library minds think alike!!

We try our best!

Global Stability

Global Stability by Gerald R. Ford was the tiniest book in the library for a number of years till someone decide to actually measure the recent acquisitions. While no longer the tiniest, this tiny treatise from our former president remains a wonderful oddity in our collection.

 Who knew the answers to world peace only need a couple of pages in tiny print?

Severe weather season is upon us, and yet without it we would never have shattered a 2x4 by firing it out of a cannon. Then again…we probably would have anyway.

(Courtesy of our Dr. Tetsuya Theodore Fujita Papers)

Everyone must reblog this Gif!

Picture of Bearkat cheerleaders supporting the football team during a game on October 1, 1982. Bearkat cheerleader Venita Jones can be seen on the far right and Jessi Armenta is next to her.

It’s Miniature Monday!  

With all the snowy weather and frigid temperatures a lot of us are experiencing, I thought this miniature book would be a good fit.  The gorgeous box and stunning photography by Jill Timm make you appreciate all the beauty winter has to offer..despite the rapidly dropping temperatures.  

-Kelly 

Timm, Jill.  Winter white / photography by Jill Timm.  [Wenatchee, Wash.] : Mystical Places Press, c2004.

Special Collections Smith Miniatures Collection N7433.4.T57 W565 2004 

We also have this lovely book!

We have some of Jill Timm's work as well!

An SHSU football player smashes East Texas’ QB in 1969. This photograph was taken from the 1969 Alcalde.  

Tumblr’s Year in Review did not include any libraries or archives on its year end lists. We have seen some absolutely fabulous posts and gifs this year from the library and archival community, so we thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite library and archives Tumblrs.

In no particular order:

Tumblarians! Share some of your favorite library and archives tumblrs. Who knows, maybe we can get our own category next year!

Note: This post reflects my personal opinion and is not meant as criticism for Tumblr (who we love very much).

What started off as us just wanting to share our favorite library and archival blogs of 2014, turned in to so much more than we expected. Thanks to everyone that gave a shout out to their favorite blog. I am sure they appreciated hearing from you.

Obviously the above list could have been so much longer, so make sure to look through the notes and see all the other blogs that ruled in 2014.

Can't wait to see what these blogs have in store for us and all the new ones that will be discovered in 2015!

Arleigh B. Templeton

Arleigh B. Templeton was Sam Houston State University’s 8th president from 1965-1970. It was under Templeton leadership that Sam Houston went from a teachers college to a state school. He would eventually leave Sam Houston to serve as the first president of University of Texas-San Antonio.

Here are pictures of Templeton as he watches the SHSU football team practice in 1969.

In 1963, NASA selected Rice University to participate in a study on airglow phenomena, a weak glow detected in the sky on dark nights. The idea was to send a series of rocket probes high into the atmosphere to take measurements that might help scientists better understand the mysterious...

Book/Not Book

This week we present a “book” in the form of a sliding puzzle: Begin to Know Yourself by Milwaukee visual and book artist Jessica Poor. In this work, a one-of-a-kind produced in 2004, the viewer is required to slide interlinked tiles in a particular sequence in order to reveal advice on how to achieve self-realization. The viewer is then invited to reassemble the fragmented image of the “self” into a coherent whole. The artist considers this a book work, so it is part of our book arts collection. But can we really consider this a book, or is it simply a puzzle, a game, a toy, or just a novelty item?

So, we ask you: Book/Not Book? Tough call? Reblog and let us know.

Find it in the catalog here.

Nice GIF!

Book!

Tumblr’s Year in Review did not include any libraries or archives on its year end lists. We have seen some absolutely fabulous posts and gifs this year from the library and archival community, so we thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite library and archives Tumblrs.

In no particular order:

Tumblarians! Share some of your favorite library and archives tumblrs. Who knows, maybe we can get our own category next year!

Note: This post reflects my personal opinion and is not meant as criticism for Tumblr (who we love very much).

There are so many great archives and library tumblrs out there, it’s hard to choose, but off the top of our heads we’d include broadcastarchive-umd, smithsonianlibraries, cityofbostonarchives and our colleagues at ourpresidents, fdrlibrary, fordlibrarymuseum and congressarchives!  And we also really enjoy the vintage cars at aacalibrary.   (And of course, thanks, nglspecialcollectionsandarchives!)

What Libraries or Archives would top your 2014 Tumblr Year in Review list?

Here is how I feel about that list: