We will be back after a short relaxing vacation. Have a great break everyone!

The University of Wisconsin -- Madison is celebrating Water Week this week on campus. The UWDC has multiple collections dedicated to water research.

One in particular is The History of Limnology This image collection is a depiction of three generations of limnological research in Wisconsin. The collection mainly focuses on the important pioneers of limnology, Dr. Edward A. Birge, Chancey Juday and Arthur D. Hasler, research laboratories, and field equipment. A significant portion of the 125 images are from the photo archives of the Center for Limnology Library.

The Center for Limnology is a research facility affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Center for Limnology was established in July 1982 to plan, conduct, and facilitate inland freshwater research.

Take a look at this collection and all of our water related resources and take time this week to celebrate water.

Dr. Virginia E. (March) Kline was a plant ecologist with a thirst for knowledge about the natural world. She enthusiastically taught the wonders of nature and the science of ecology to students of all ages. In her role as the University of Wisconsin Arboretum Ecologist and Research Program Manager, she helped to develop the new field of restoration ecology. She lectured and consulted around the world in the field of restoration ecology and received many awards for scientific excellence and community service.

The Virginia M. Kline Collection includes a series of slides reflecting the natural history of Wisconsin, past and present. Also included are a series of audiotapes from the course "Reading the Landscape," taught by Dr. Virginia M. Kline. The images were part of the personal slide collection of Dr. Kline. She used the slides for numerous courses and presentations. Some of the slides have become faded and scratched and the quality of many of the audiotapes is less than ideal. Nevertheless, the collection records a story of the natural history of Wisconsin and of the life and work of Dr. Kline.

Take a look at the collection. You might recognize some of the plants growing in your own backyard.

American Sacred Music provides access to sacred music published in the United States, with a focus on publications from the Midwest. Dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries, these are primarily collections of hymns and anthems, with other types of sacred music, such as cantatas and revival songs, also represented.

This digital collection illustrates the variety of religious and sacred music found within the musical life of Wisconsin. Hymns, anthems and sacred songs were by no means restricted to congregational singing during church services. At revival meetings, at home, at singing schools and in the classroom, sacred music was an important community activity.

The books have interesting music lessons for school along with practical lessons, like the one above, that should be practiced every day. Browse the collection and you might learn something about singing.

In 1970 the Teachers Assistant Association went on strike on the UW campus. According to the TAA-Madison website the UW had refused to move on issues critical to the TAs. The TAs went on strike, and four weeks later won most of their demands.

At the UWDC we have a project focusing on these strikes.

Campus Voices is a project meant to capture, present, and preserve some of the strongest historical stories and memories of UW-Madison, through the people who lived them. The project’s first album focuses on the 1970 Teaching Assistants Association strike, in commemoration of its 40th anniversary.

The interviews are available to listen to and the transcripts are also included.

Take a look at what the TAs had to say.

Kenosha County is situated in the most southeastern part of Wisconsin adjoining the Illinois State border, and is this bloggers home town.

The C.E. Dewey Lantern Slide Collection contains images of this time period from the 1830s to the early 1940s. Cortland Ernest Dewey collected Kenosha County photographs, images, drawings, and maps and also provided detailed descriptions of these materials from old settlers, their descendents, and news stories.

The Louis M. Thiers Glass Negative Collection contains images from the 1880s into the 1910s. The Louis M. Thiers Glass Negative Collection is comprised of over 1,000 glass plate photographic negatives. In 1938 Mr. Thiers gave his glass negatives, albums, notebooks and other items to the Kenosha County Historical Society. The stability of the glass plates has wonderfully preserved the images of people, homes, buildings, industries, domestic and recreational scenes, animals, landscapes, and events in Kenosha County, primarily from the late 1880s into the early 1910s.

The eight books chosen for this collection represent the early days of European-American settlement in Kenosha County, document the history of Racine and Kenosha Counties, and profile prominent residents.

This collection contains amazing photographs showing Kenosha before my time. This picture on the left looks exactly like a log that me and my friends used to hang out at in Petrifying Springs park, who knows maybe it's the same one.

Check it out, Kenosha might surprise you!

The Wisconsin Oneida Language Preservation Project presents original stories and curriculum, with accompanying audio that teaches the Wisconsin Oneida language. Materials presented here include Kindergarten through Grade Six curriculum, songs, and stories, and approximately 800 stories recorded as part of the 1930-40's Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.

By UNESCO standards the language of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin is critically endangered, which means there is a real and present danger that the language will be irretrievably lost in the foreseeable future. At this point there remain only three native speakers of the Wisconsin dialect of Oneida. All of these elders are over 90 years old.

This collection is interesting and educational. The stories are available in audio files as well as paper copies. Take a look and you might discover great traditions.

March is Women's History Month and today specifically, March 8th, is International Women's Day!

One collection in particular that highlights women is our History of Women at the University of Wisconsin. The collection augments the general histories of the University by focusing on the roles and activities of women students, faculty, and staff and on the development of women's studies throughout the UW System.

It consists of seven works published by the University. Four are part of a series of essays entitled University Women. The collection includes writings on how women's education changed over time at University of Wisconsin system schools.

Women at Stout: A Centennial Retrospective specifically highlights the history of women on the Stout campus.

These collections are a great way to learn about the history of women on UW campuses. Take a look and maybe you will learn a little something.

This weekend, March 5-7, marks the 11th annual Aldo Leopold Weekend in Wisconsin. According to the Aldo Leopold Foundation on March 4, 2000, the citizens of Lodi congregated to read A Sand County Almanac aloud, cover to cover. And in March 2004, Governor James Doyle signed legislation designating the first weekend in March Aldo Leopold Weekend across Wisconsin.

The UWDC is lucky to have the Aldo Leopold Archives in our collections. Aldo Leopold is considered by many to have been the most influential conservation thinker of the 20th Century. Leopold's legacy spans the disciplines of forestry, wildlife management, conservation biology, sustainable agriculture, restoration ecology, private land management, environmental history, literature, education, esthetics, and ethics.

He is most widely known as the author of A Sand County Almanac, one of the most beloved and respected books about the environment ever published. The Leopold Collection houses the raw materials that document not only Leopold's rise to prominence but the history of conservation and the emergence of the field of ecology from the early 1900s until his death in 1948.

We hope that you enjoy our collection of Aldo Leopold works and go out and participate in the Aldo Leopold festivities in your town!

March is finally here and all I can think about is spring coming. For the Zazzle print of March we wanted to pick something that made us think of spring. These daffodils are perfect for spring time.

This image comes from Bowles's Florist: Containing Sixty Plates of Beautiful Flowers, Regularly disposed in their Succession of Blowing, To Which Is Added, An accurate Description of their Colours, With Instructions For Drawing and Painting them according to Nature. Being A New Work Intended for the Use and Amusement of Gentlemen and Ladies Delighting in that Art. This small volume, hand-colored and ornately bound with gilt edges, intended for the "amusement of gentlemen and ladies," exemplifies the refined taste of 1777 London.

This image, along with other flower prints from this book, can be purchased on our Zazzle.com store. Take a look and think spring, it will be here soon!

In the spirit of the Academy Awards this Sunday, we thought we should share with you our collection of Haresfoot Club production images and programs in the Selections from the University of Wisconsin Madison Archives collection.

The Haresfoot Club featured all-male casts in their productions. They performed throughout the state, known for their actors in drag.

More of these great images can also be found on the UW Digital Collections Flickr page! Take a peek at the costumes and chorus lines in the UW Haresfoot Club Set!