The Library of Congress is doing a great job of developing best practices for digital preservation-both for individuals and libraries. The National Digital Information Infrastructure Program (NDIIP) has a very good digital preservation site which focuses on a national strategy to collect, preserve and make available significant digital content, especially information that is created in... Continue reading “The Signal and other digital preservation resources at the Library of Congress” ›
Jan Hensley and Lynn Sutton ZSR’s Special Collections department received an exciting addition to its Southern American literature collections in 2012 with the gift of Jan Hensley’s personal collection of materials by and about North Carolina authors. Mr. Hensley, who attended WFU in the 1960s, is a photographer, author and collector who has been active... Continue reading “A Gift of Literature: Jan Hensley’s North Carolina Authors Collection” ›
Ethiopia, the oldest independent nation in Africa, has a unique Christian tradition dating back to the 4th century. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church developed largely in isolation after the Islamic conquest of Egypt in the 640’s. But Christianity remained the official state religion for many centuries, and the Ethiopian imperial family claimed to be descended directly... Continue reading “Ethiopian Psalter, 18th or 19th Century” ›
I recently began work on repairing an important book in our special collections, and thought I’d share the process of preservation. The book is loaded down with a long French title, but is known as Diderot’s “Tree of Knowledge.” The “Tree of Knowledge” was an attempt to represent the structure of knowledge graphically and was... Continue reading “Preserving Diderot’s “Tree of Knowledge”” ›
Special Collections is happy to announce a new exhibit in the small case in the atrium. The exhibit highlights the Samuel and Sally Wait Collection and shows examples of their letters from Wait. It also includes Samuel’s walking stick and reading glasses. Take a look when you get a chance! Continue reading “New Samuel and Sally Wait Exhibit in the Atrium” ›
From the title page verso of the 1502 first edition The Renaissance scholar Aldus Manutius (ca. 1451-1515) began his career in typical fashion, as a tutor to an aristocratic Roman family. We don’t know what prompted him in 1490 to move to Venice and try his hand at a business venture involving the exciting new... Continue reading “Divina Commedia, by Dante Alighieri (Aldine Press, 1502)” ›
Although the Charles Lee Smith papers have had a finding aid online, it has not been complete. Well, it is now! We have added 3 additional boxes and an over-sized folder to the former collection. Many of you may know of Charles Lee Smith from the Charles Lee Smith Library (the books that are housed... Continue reading “Charles Lee Smith Finding Aid Complete (Again)!” ›
You may remember another post about Henlee Barnette’s Correspondence series being complete. Well, we have now updated the finding aid to include his second wife, Helen Barnette’s (née Poarch), papers. Henlee Barnette’s first wife died, leaving him with two young sons. He later married Helen and they added a girl and boy to the family.... Continue reading “The Helen Barnette series is complete!” ›
Special Collections and Archives is excited to announce the completion of the inventory and finding aid for RG11.1, Audio Recordings: Reel to Reels. This collection consists of over 500 recordings that sometimes take up to five reels per title. This is a massive collection. Now that we have a comprehensive list and description of what... Continue reading “RG11.1, Audio Recordings: Reel to Reels Processing is Complete!” ›
This post was written by Sarah Appleby, Graduate Student in English and student employee in Special Collections and Archives. Thanks, Sarah! Stein in Richmond, VA 1934 The material in this collection comes from collaboration between influential writer, Gertrude Stein, and the professional endeavors of three young men at a fledgling press. Conference Press was founded... Continue reading “Featured Collection: Gertrude Stein and Conference Press” ›