Today we thought we should alert everyone to the WLA conference coming up in November.  Some of our very own from the UWDC will be giving presentations.


The conference, titled Raiders of the Lost ARCs (and Public Libraries): Adventures in Local History Digitization, will be held on Nov. 3 in Wisconsin Dells.


Steven Dast and Catherine Phan, from the UWDC, will give a presentation on the challenges and downfalls of trying to maintain and digitize local histories.  


Also presenting is Leah Ujda, from the UWDC, with Jamie Stoltenberg, from the Robinson Map Library, on an important project for Wisconsin. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, there is a collection of ariel photographs of the state, the oldest in existance. The University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center, the Robinson Map Library, the State Cartographer's Office, and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation received a three-year grant to scan and geo-reference the collection.  They are also building a web space to house the information.  Ujda and Stolenberg's presentation will describe the project and discuss certain details.  


It should be an interesting event.  Hopefully we will see some of you there!

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!

The University of Wisconsin will celebrate Darwin Day tomorrow, February 13th! A full day event will be held at the Microbial Science building on the UW campus. The event is free and open to the public. Check out the activities planned for Darwin Day 2010!

The UWDC wants to help you get in the Darwin spirit with our Galápagos Collection. The collection of Galápagos materials that includes anatomical specimens, images, and papers at the UW-Madison Zoological Museum (UWZM) is unique and rare. Ten expeditions since 1969 to the Galápagos by UW-Madison scientists and researchers have produced a wealth of invaluable museum specimens: approximately 669 complete and 675 partial skeletons. In addition these expeditions have produced thousands of images and papers that up until now have not been preserved in any format.

The images in the collection are great examples of the animals found on the island and provide great views of the land. The image on the top left shows the Galápagos Tortoises with a great view of the landscape of the island. On the right is an image of the Galápagos Penguin and Marine Iguanas sitting on lava.

Celebrate Darwin's 201st birthday by taking at look at these images.