Monthly Archives: October 2016

Image of the Week

Image

Our series examining an Image of the Week from the photographic files, by Kevin Warstadt, Edward Connery Lathem ’51 Digital Library Fellow.

Woman with baby elephant

Woman with baby elephant, circa 1954

No information is provided as to the identity of the woman or the elephant in this photo. However, it’s possible that the elephant is Queenie of the Rare Bird and Animal Farm of Fairlee, Vermont.

The Rare Bird and Animal Farm was founded by Bill Green in the early 1950s. Green, the child of a wealthy New Jersey family, developed a love of the outdoors at an early age. As an adult he began to travel, collecting animals on his many trips across the world. He purchased the Brackett Farm in Fairlee to house his growing collection of exotic animals, Queenie among them. The farm was opened to the public in 1954 at 75 cents admission.

Queenie was born in 1952 in Siam (now Thailand). She was purchased by Green in 1953 from Trefflich’s Pet Shop, New York City. She lived at the Rare Bird and Animal farm until 1967, and was introduced to water skiing by Marj and Jim Rusing of De Leon Springs, Florida, during this time. The unique performance earned the elephant and her owners some fame, and she became known as “The World’s Only Water Skiing Elephant.”

After the closure of the Rare Bird and Animal Farm, Queenie spent a number of years in various circuses. She was retired from the circus in 2003 and lived out the rest of her days at Wild Adventures theme park in Valdosta, GA.

DLP Staff Interview: Lizzie Curran, Assistant Conservator

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Next in our series of interviews with Digital Library Program staff. Today, Lizzie Curran, Assistant Conservator, answers questions about her work. Follow Lizzie and her colleagues at the Dartmouth College Library’s Preservation Lab on Instagram.

What does an Assistant Conservator do?
As the assistant conservator, I repair both the special collections in Rauner Library as well as the general circulating collection, fixing what needs to be fixed and beyond! Which is to say: I put covers back on, stick split spines back together, and flatten or mend where needed. I also build custom boxes and other enclosures for objects that come in to the lab. I am also the liaison to the Digital Library Program, so we can keep communication open between departments as objects come in to be digitized and need conservation.

How did you get here? That is, what was your path to becoming an Assistant Conservator here at Dartmouth?
I attended the North Bennet Street School in Boston and studied bookbinding there, full time for two years. During that time, I had an internship at Dartmouth (!) and a fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle working with their special collections. I was most recently a conservation technician at the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA, where I was doing something similar to what I’m doing here at Dartmouth, but in a private library setting. I moved back east in April, and the rest is history.

What’s a notable (interesting, challenging, unusual) project that you’ve worked on recently?
Lately I’ve been mending maps of cities and towns in New Hampshire to be digitized in the Evans Map Room. They span the entire twentieth century, so it’s interesting to see the evolution of the materials they’re printed on and purposes of the maps. For example, the earlier in the century the map is, the more information on land plots and land owners is given—later on, there are tourist destinations and historical landmarks noted instead. The things that haven’t changed in the last hundred years are also interesting; Route 4A in Enfield has been exactly where it is…for a long time.

What do you wish that more people knew about preservation and conservation (in relation to digital libraries or not)?
I wish people knew you should never “fix” a book yourself and put tape on it! Really though, I think what preservation addresses is how we think about accessing our information in the future. Though the future may lie in the digital world, print will certainly be around and we’re handling the print objects of the future right now. It’s not modern-day tape that drives me nuts, it’s tape from 1950. I’m just trying to help out Preservation Services in 2050, who will undoubtedly be chipping off tape from 2016 unless we alert the public now!

Who are you when you’re not being an Assistant Conservator?
I’m always keeping my hands busy somehow—I love baking, sewing, knitting, drawing, and making things in general. I like birdwatching while meandering around my neck of the woods in Vermont. Currently I’m in the throes of being a new homeowner and all the challenges that brings, ie: how to use a wood stove.

What’s the most unusual item that you’ve come across in your work so far with the DLP? (question from Bill)
The most unusual item I’ve seen here so far is a large project we’re doing with some albums from the Marcus Jewelry Company, which was based out of New York City around the turn of the last century. The little painted jewelry designs pasted in to the albums told us a lot about life and aesthetics in 1910, and the artistry of the tiny paintings was amazing. There were even little mockups of glitzy belt buckles with a velvet ribbon tacked in to the book. Some had moveable overlays to show you how a pin could transform to a necklace… really neat stuff like that.

What question would you like another member of the Digital Library Program staff to answer?
What has been a notable challenge with a DLP project?

Image of the Week

Image

Our series examining an Image of the Week from the photographic files, by Kevin Warstadt, Edward Connery Lathem ’51 Digital Library Fellow.

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JFK at Dartmouth, March 6, 1960

John F. Kennedy came to Dartmouth in March 1960 during his presidential campaign. He can be seen here en route to Dartmouth Hall, where he gave a speech on President Eisenhower’s tour of South America in February of that year. Of the visit, Kennedy’s spokesperson said that the Senator was “looking forward to being at Dartmouth and meeting students and townspeople even though he is a Harvard man.”

Kennedy suffered from a number of health problems throughout his life, including chronic lower back pain. In this image, one can make out the signs of that affliction.

Eight months later, he would defeat Richard Nixon in the 44th quadrennial presidential election, with running mate Lyndon B. Johnson.

 

DLP Staff Interview: Bill Ghezzi, Digital Production and Metadata Librarian

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Next in our series of interviews with Digital Library Program staff. Today, William (Bill) Ghezzi, Digital Production & Metadata Librarian, answers questions about his work.

What does a Digital Production & Metadata Librarian do?
As Digital Production Manager I work closely with the Digital Library Program and staff in the Digital Production Unit to plan and execute scanning and photographic projects for the Library. A large part of the digital production aspect of my work is project management. I convene the DLP Production Group where we design workflows, troubleshoot problems, share information, and generally shepherd projects through the DLP process. As Metadata Librarian, I work in Cataloging & Metadata Services to design and implement workflows for the creation of metadata for print and digital content. Our primary task in Metadata Services is to create a metadata database of record for all of our digital collections and publications.

How did you get here? That is, what was your path to becoming a Digital Production & Metadata Librarian here at Dartmouth?
I am in my twentieth year in the Library. I began as a Librarian in the Catalog Department. I worked with Cataloging staff on original cataloging of books, music scores, sound recordings, serials, and electronic resources. My work entirely focused on the Dartmouth College Library Catalog. Over the years, as we began to license more electronic resources, the focus of my work became more closely connected with digital resources and electronic resource management. In 2012, my position changed to half time as Metadata Librarian and half time as Digital Production Manager.

What’s a notable (interesting, challenging, unusual) project that you’ve worked on recently?
I would have to say the Stone Family Papers was one of the more interesting recent projects, mainly because it demonstrates the collaborative nature of the Digital Program. The Digital Production Unit worked closely with the Library Conservator to prepare and photograph the manuscripts. The DLP Production Group worked with the Digital Library Technologies Group and Cataloging & Metadata Services to develop a new local image viewing software to deliver the images online. We like to describe the work of the Digital Program as distributed across departments, and the Stone Family Papers project exemplifies that collaborative process.

What do you wish that most people knew about digital production?
The Digital Production Unit is in a secured area in the Library. This is to protect some of the valuable materials that we work with. I wish more people were able to just walk into the department and see what we are up to. Certainly, I welcome anyone who would like to learn more about what we do to come and visit. Just email me and I can set something up.

Who are you when you’re not being a Digital Production & Metadata Librarian?
For almost fifty years now, I have been performing and teaching the classical guitar. There is more about that at my website.

Are there innovative or transformative digital projects that other institutions have done that make you think “why don’t we try something like that here at Dartmouth?” (question from Mina)
There is a small interest group in the Library investigating linked open data. We spent some time looking at Linked Jazz, a site that considers jazz history through the many connections and relationships between jazz musicians. It’s a great site to learn about jazz, jazz musicians, and linked data at the same time.

What question would you like another member of the Digital Library Program staff to answer?
What’s the most unusual item that you’ve come across in your work with the DLP?

Image of the Week

Image

First in our series examining an Image of the Week from the photographic files, by Kevin Warstadt, Edward Connery Lathem ’51 Digital Library Fellow.

This photo comes from the Dartmouth photographic file entitled “Dartmouth in China“. A candid shot, it seems to capture the feel of life on a Chinese street in the early twentieth century with an eerie authenticity. It was likely taken sometime around 1920 in Zhili (now Hebei) province in North China.

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Man standing in front of street vendor (circa 1920)

Dartmouth has a long history in China dating back to the late nineteenth century, when missionaries associated with the College began moving there to convert the populace. Charles Daniel Tenney was Dartmouth’s most significant representative from this group. He became a confidant of Li Hongzhang, the influential politician and diplomat of the late Qing Dynasty, and later became the Commissioner of Education for the reformist government of Northern China. Tenney’s papers can be found in the the Dartmouth Digital Collections.

DLP Staff Interview: Mina Rakhra, Cataloging and Metadata Librarian

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Next in our series of interviews with Digital Library Program staff. Today, Mina Rakhra, Cataloging and Metadata Librarian, answers questions about her work.

What does a Cataloging and Metadata Librarian do?
A Cataloging and Metadata Librarian’s primary responsibility is to create and manage descriptive metadata for the Library collection in order to facilitate discovery of and access to those scholarly materials.  In addition to creating metadata, I’m also involved in the selection, creation, and implementation of appropriate metadata standards for the Library’s digital projects.

How did you get here? That is, what was your path to becoming a Cataloging and Metadata Librarian Dartmouth?
I’ve worked for the Library since 2000, starting in Acquisitions Services and then moving to Cataloging & Metadata Services in 2001.  At that time, I was also pursuing a master’s degree in library and information science at UIUC. Shortly before I graduated, I was fortunate enough to be offered a professional position in the Cataloging & Metadata Services department and I’ve been here ever since.

What’s a notable (interesting, challenging, unusual) project that you’ve worked on recently?
The most interesting and challenging project that I’ve worked on recently has to be the Occom Circle project.  This was a multi-year project to create a scholarly digital edition of the works of Samson Occom.  This was the first (and largest) digital project that I’ve worked on — it was an amazing experience to work collaboratively with such a large project group and to be so closely involved in the transcription, markup, and online delivery of over 500 handwritten eighteenth-century manuscripts.

What do you wish that most people knew about metadata?
Creating good metadata is a skill that anyone can learn — you don’t have to be a cataloger or a metadata librarian!

Who are you when you’re not being a Cataloging and Metadata Librarian?
When I’m not being a Cataloging & Metadata Librarian, I’m at home enjoying the peace and quiet of a small Vermont village.

What’s your favorite DLP project and why? (question from Jenny)
What I’ve really enjoyed about the text markup projects is the opportunity to read and interact with primary materials.  Both the Occom and the John McCoy Family papers projects involved handwritten letters from earlier centuries and it was fascinating to read them — there were times when a phrase would catch my eye and I would forget about the markup (temporarily!) and be completely immersed in the letter and the world that it described.

What question would you like another member of the Digital Library Program staff to answer?
Are there innovative or transformative digital projects that other institutions have done that make you think “why don’t we try something like that here at Dartmouth?”