University of Virginia Library
Library News
Devising New Roles for Scholars Who Can Code (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/28/13) [LINK]
U.Va.’s Barbara Selby Wins James Bennett Childs Award for Documents Librarianship (UVA Today, 4/25/13) [LINK]
Recently Acquired Records in U.Va. Special Collections Shed Light on Virginia’s Black-Owned Banks (UVA Today, 3/7/13) [LINK]
DMPTool Partners Awarded Funding for Enhancement (DMPTool Blog, 1/14/13) [LINK]
Free UVA Exhibit Features Artifacts from 10,000 B.C. (NBC29, 1/4/13—Video) [LINK]
Jefferson’s Drawings and Monticello Inspire Work of Australian Artist (UVA Today, 12/21/12) [LINK]
Book Learning: Bibliographical Society Launches Fellowships for U.Va. Graduate Students [LINK]
Capture Metadata and Wild Obsolescence: Media Preservation at the University of Virginia Library (Media Preservation Blog/the Media Preservation Initiative at Indiana University Bloomington, 11/01/12) [LINK]
Library Offerings for Family Weekend– October 26-27, 2012
Friday, October 26
Finding Your Kin: Special Topics – The 1940 U.S. Census: What’s In It For Us?
Friday, October 26, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Clemons Library, Room 407
The 1940 census records were released by the U.S. National Archives on April 2, 2012. The census is made up of 3.8 million images, scanned from over 4,000 rolls of microfilm. It is an incredible database of information for the genealogist and historian—a snapshot of our nation on April 1, 1940. Among the issues studied in this census are internal migration, employment, the New Deal, and education. This census also contains general population schedules for the U.S. Territories, including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Librarian Jean Cooper’s presentation will give an overview of the 1940 census. In addition to reviewing the questions asked in this census and discussing the usefulness of the document for genealogical research, she will talk about how to access the census and what indexing is available for the data.
Saturday, October 27
Librarian at Sea
Saturday, October 27, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Alderman Library, Room 421 (adjacent to the Scholars’ Lab)
U.Va. is the academic sponsor of Semester at Sea, a comparative global education program offering students the opportunity to sail around the world, take classes while on board the floating campus, and gain hands-on field experiences while in port. Rebecca Cooper served as the shipboard librarian for the summer 2011 voyage. Come hear about Rebecca’s adventures and find out more about the SAS program.
Mapping Yourself
Saturday, Oct. 27, 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
Alderman Library, Room 421 (adjacent to the Scholars’ Lab)
Curious about GPS, Google mapping, and how you can be part of the fun? Join Chris Gist and Kelly Johnston of the U.Va. Scholars’ Lab for an introduction to the magic of GPS and Google mapping. You’ll leave with the tools to communicate with satellites 12,000 miles overhead, make your own maps and selectively share your cartographic masterpieces with the world.
Friday and Saturday
Declaring Independence: Creating and Re-Creating America’s Document
9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m
Harrison Institute and Small Special Collections Library, First Floor
Explore Albert H. Small’s (Engr ‘46) unique collection of documents relating to the Declaration of Independence. The exhibition sheds light on not only the writing and signing of the Declaration but also on its first printing, distribution across the colonies, and future impact on American history. The highlight of the exhibition is the Dunlap broadside, the very first printing of the Declaration. There are only 25 known copies in existence. An accompanying documentary film is available for viewing in the gallery.
Flowerdew Hundred: Unearthing Virginia’s History
9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Harrison Institute and Small Special Collections Library, Entry Level
Featuring archaeological artifacts from the University of Virginia’s Flowerdew Hundred Collection, this exhibit presents material evidence of Virginia’s early inhabitants: Native American stone tools and pottery shards; arms and armor used to defend the new colony; refined, imported wares from Europe; and American-made goods, including items manufactured by African Americans. The materials from U.Va.’s Special Collections also on display—images from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century maps and books—illustrate the importance of the historical record in the study of material culture.
Charlottesville: 250 Years of History (1762-2012)
9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Harrison Institute and Small Special Collections Library, First Floor
Established in 1762 and named for Queen Charlotte of England, Charlottesville has been touched by most of the major events in American history. Charlottesville: 250 Years of History (1762-2012) highlights some of the stories of the City’s people, events, and landmarks, covering the periods through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, annexation and the industrial revolution, and racial segregation and urban development. This exhibit is co-sponsored by the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library and the University’s Office of Community Relations.
Layers of the Past: Discoveries at Flowerdew Hundred
9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Harrison Institute and Small Special Collections Library, Entry Level
The recorded history of Flowerdew Hundred begins in 1618, when the Virginia Company of London granted George Yeardley a thousand acres on the James River, but written documents tell an incomplete story. As early as ten thousand years ago, successive groups of Virginia Indians began to occupy the site. English colonists, enslaved African Americans, Union soldiers, and countless others later followed—each group leaving behind evidence of their daily lives.
Over the past several decades, a clearer picture of Virginia’s early inhabitants and their ways of life has emerged through archaeological excavations at this property. This exhibit features fascinating artifacts and new ways of thinking about one of Virginia’s most interesting archeological sites.
experimental beds, an exhibition of six prints by Aboriginal artist Judy Watson.
9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Harrison Institute and Small Special Collections Library, Entry Level, South Gallery
Judy Watson is an Indigenous Australian artist who visited the University of Virginia in October 2011 as an artist-in-residence at the Kluge-Ruhe Collection. Inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s architectural drawings of U.Va., Watson was given access to the drawings by the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. She developed her ideas in collaboration with Professor Dean Dass and advanced printmaing students in U.Va.‘s print workshop. The resulting prints incorporate Jefferson’s architectural drawings along with her sketches of artifacts unearthed at Monticello’s Mulberry Row and vegetables grown in Jefferson’s “experimental beds.”
The project was co-published by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, the artist and grahame galleries + editions in Brisbane.
Dilemmas of the digital humanists (The Times Literary Supplement—book review) [LINK]