Today We are going to share another new collection with you.  Recently we went live with Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, St. Croix, and Rusk Counties: Local History Collections.  This collection is made up of both texts and images. The collection’s texts are comprised of community records, local history narratives, retrospectives, and high school yearbooks.  The collection’s images include street scenes, historical buildings, notable people, and important events.


The collection allows users to search the text collection for information they may be interested in. The image collection is broken down into five sub-categories including Downtowns, Storms, St. Croix County, Pepin County and Dunn County. The images are really interesting and a good quality. 


If you are from this area you might appreciate this collection of local history. Take a look and let us know what you think!  

Today we are sending a proud congratulations to former Head Coach and current Athletic Director, Barry Alvarez.  Yesterday Barry was inducted into the college football Hall of Fame.  Everyone from Biddy Martin and current Head Coach Brett Bielema to former players and friends and family from Alvarez's home town, Burgettstown, were there to support the Hall of Fame inductee. 


Here at the UWDC we just want to say that we are proud of you, Barry!


The image on the left is from 1990, before Barry changed the football helmets to show the motion W.  If anyone would like to see more images of Barry, visit our UW-Madison Collection. 

Today I'm feeling a bit under the weather and thought I'd blog about some of my cures for the common cold.

My first cure is hot tea.  Every time I'm sick I try and drink as much hot tea as I can.  It warms me up and soothes my throat.  This tea pot from our Decorative Arts Collection looks like it could hold some delicious tea! and its extremely intricate.

Also when I'm sick I always have a bowl of soup.  Sometimes chicken noodle or french onion, yum I love hot soup.  I've never tried cheeseburger soup, which is what this artist book at the right is titled, but you never know it could hit the spot!

The last thing I like to do when I'm sick is watch a ton of movies.  Today I think I'll watch How To Train Your Dragon, which if you haven't seen is a movie about Vikings and Dragons.  I know it's a kids movie but it's exactly what this cold needs.  This image on the left is of a silver Viking ship with dragon heads.  It looks like it could be right out of my movie!

I hope this combination cures my cold! What do you do to make yourself feel better when you're sick?

The weatherman is predicting what could be the first big snow fall of the winter season.  Personally the first snow fall is my favorite.  Everything is clean and crisp and people want to get out and play in the snow.

Isn't this image on the left beautiful, so peaceful and white.

So what type of things do you like to do when the first snow falls?

Some of you students at UW-Madison might be preparing for the giant snowball fight that occurs every year. The snow fight always congregates on Bascom Hill and spreads to the surrounding areas.  The image on the right is what it looks like just before the students charge.

One thing I never understood is how people can still ride their bikes after it snows.  I guarantee my face would hit the ground almost immediately.  This little girl on the left doesn't seem to happy about riding her bike in the snow either.

I love the first snow. I plan on curling up with some hot tea and watching a movie, in between the studying that is. I hope you all have a fun first snow!

Everyone keeps saying that the semester is winding down to a close, but this couldn't be more wrong.  The semester might be ending soon but it is far form winding down, it is actually winding up.  The libraries are full, printers are running out of ink from printing final papers and students are getting less and less sleep. I would definitely not consider this winding down.

We thought we'd look through the pages of old Badger Yearbooks to see what past Badgers have said about their finals experience. On the left is an article from the 1977 yearbook, page 85.  The article talks about how books take priority over beer during finals and that students line up at the libraries to claim their "territory" for the day. The article gives a fun look into studying during finals.

Also in the 1977 yearbook, on page 86, I found this section titled, The Amateurs' Guide to International Etudiance.  The section talks about students reverting to ancient methods of cramming for exams.  The images are comical as is the text. Take a quick read and see what methods you may have tried.

We hope that these articles are a nice break from the study session you are most likely in right now.  Let us know what else could make your studies a little more fun.

Since Thanksgiving is getting closer I thought I'd share with you some of the things I'm thankful for...

First, I'm thankful for sleep. This past week has been full of exams and papers for me and I will be thankful tomorrow night when I can finally sleep in my bed at home. This lullaby sounds like it could put me to sleep right here.

Secondly, I'm thankful for wine. My family drinks wine at every meal, especially Thanksgiving. It is a staple at family events and I am looking forward to having a glass and relaxing.

Now this third one goes out to my grandma who I am very thankful for. She is quite the character and I bet if you ask her what she is thankful for, she would say bananas.  My grandma loves bananas so much I have contemplated buying her a banana tree. And once a banana goes bad, she makes banana bread, which I am also thankful for, because it's the most delicious bread you will ever eat.

Lastly, I am thankful for family.  I love holidays when everyone comes over for food and drink.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for?

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Today I thought would be a great day to blog about the German Studies Collection.  This weekend UW Madison with Humboldt College are paying tribute to Jost Hermand on his birthday.  Earlier this year the UW payed tribute to Hermand as the most famous living scholar of German literature and culture, whom still teaching in Berlin and Madison.


Within our German Studies Collection is a sub-collection called The Wisconsin Workshop. Beginning in 1969 the Department of German at the University of Wisconsin, Madison sponsored “The Wisconsin Workshop,” an annual, interdisciplinary conference traditionally held in the fall and focused on a topic related to German culture. It was remarkable in the way it brought together young and mature scholars of German literature, arts, culture, and history, creating a transatlantic bridge for scholarly exchange about “things German.” 


Reinhold Grimm and Jost Hermand, the department’s two senior Vilas Research Professors, organized the annual event with support from younger colleagues and published the volumes from 1970 until 1982 in Germany and from 1986 until 1994 under the imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press.The selected proceedings of each Wisconsin Workshop were published in volumes that have accompanied and documented major trends in the discipline of German Studies. Many of these volumes are considered path-breaking contributions in the field, others have become standard reference works.


We hope you take a look at his collection, especially all you Germans out there. And lets all say a Alles Gute zum Geburtstag to Jost Hermand.

Today we have another new collection to share with you, the UNTAC Archives.  The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia is mainly a radio archive and can be considered as a Cambodian historical item. The collection features the democratic transition in Cambodia in early 1990s, after the end of Cold War. The radio program was established in 1992, began broadcasting in 1992 and ended in 1993. The radio was a very effective tool for UNTAC to get its information on the electoral process, human rights and other UNTAC’s activities to Cambodian people across the country. 


The collection consists of around 232 programs in which comprises of 2,462 paper documents and 2,113 distinct tapes. The transcript and other types of text-based documents are in English, Khmer or/and French, while audio tapes are only in Khmer except some interviews with non-Khmer speakers.


Take a listen and let us know what you think.

Now there is a new way to search some of our digital collections.  UW Forward, a resource discovery tool that offers a unified search interface for library data, has added five of our digital resources to its search library.  You can now search through these collections along with UW System library holdings.  The collections that can be found in UW Forward include Africa Focus, Artists' Books, Publishers' Bindings Online and SouthEast Asian Images and Texts. Take a look at this new search system and let us know what you think!

The Mueller Bros. Brewing Co.

Two Rivers History is another collection we recently went live with.  The collection contains the Hubert R. Wentorf Photo Collection and Fisher-Hamilton Industries Product Catalogs.

Mr. Wentorf was both a local photographer and a collector of historical photographs. His images focus on local landmarks, industries and institutions, and people going about daily life in Two Rivers. Many of his photographs include group shots of organizations and civic groups.

Artists Sketch of Hamilton Manufacturing Company

The Fisher-Hamilton catalogs document the products manufactured by the company and the evolution of these products (and the company itself) over the years. These catalogs serve as a valuable resource to antique hunters.

Take a peek at this great image collection. Maybe you will find a little history of your own.

Bethesda Spring

Last Friday, we showed you our new Bunny Berigan Collection. Today I wanted to highlight another of our new collections, the Waukesha County History Collection.The materials selected document the industries, people, and structures important to the development of Waukesha County. Many of the images come from Warren S. O’Brien, a prolific Waukesha photographer.


The 1870s marked the beginning of the Springs Era in the city of Waukesha. As mineral springs were discovered and their waters bottled, Waukesha’s health and tourism industries flourished. Large and small bottling plants cropped up, giving rise to Waukesha’s beverage and bottling business. 

Fountain Spring House

Known as the “Saratoga of the West,” Waukesha became a nationally recognized destination for those seeking relaxation and restoration of the mind and body. Beautiful parks dotted the landscape, lakes offered recreation opportunities, and grand resorts welcomed visitors.


This image and text collections highlights this era is Waukesha history.


Take a peek and let us know what you think!

Bunny with his trumpet, 1937

This month we went live with three new collections within our State of Wisconsin Collection, I wanted to highlight one of them for you today.  


Bunny Berigan, Fox Lake's Own is an image collection of everything from the famous trumpeters days in Wisconsin.  Although born in Hilbert, Wisconsin, Bernard “Bunny” Berigan, a prominent jazz trumpeter, is considered Fox Lake’s own. He moved there with his parents when he was only a few months old. 


At the end of his sophomore year in the Fox Lake, Bunny transferred to a Madison high school. Bunny joined a band with his Uncles and was discovered by Hal Kamp. He signed Bunny to play with the Kamp Orchestra leaving for a European Tour. During this tour Bunny made his first big trumpet solo.

Bunny Berigan Band at Paramount Theater, NYC in 1937

When Bunny got home he was famous. He was associated with such great names as Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Red Norvo and Frankie Trumbauer. Later Bunny led his own band.


The collection is full of great images throughout Bunny's life. If your a Bunny fan or a jazz fan this is the perfect collection to put on some music and take a peek at the making of a jazz legend.

Tomorrow is the start of the Wisconsin Library Association Annual Conference. Since this year's conference is being held in Wisconsin Dells, we thought we would highlight some of the collections that have images from the Dells.


The image on the left is from the Great Lakes Maritime History Project Collection.  The caption says this is the Alexander Mitchell, at landing in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, passengers are posing on both decks.


The image on the right is from the Brittingham Lantern Slides Collection.  The picture is A view of rock formations and water in the Upper Dells of Wisconsin.


Both of these collections can be found in the State of Wisconsin Collection.  


We hope everything goes well at the conference this week and maybe we will see some of you there!

Halloween weekend is officially here!  Everyone's costumes are ready and its almost time for the Halloween parties to begin.

This year we thought we would put together a collection of some of our scariest photos from all of the collections.  We added the collection to our Flickr site.  It's called UWDCC Fright Night!, check it out!

My favorite creepy picture from our collections is the one on the left. The people look like ghosts next to this huge fire!

We have tons of scary pictures in this Flickr set. From clowns and spiders to ghost babies and cemeteries, we have something creepy for all of you.

We are also tweeting creepy images all day. Check out our Twitter @UWdigiCollec.

Do you have a favorite creepy, Halloween inspired picture from our collection? Let us know!

Halloween weekend is finally here. I hope everyone has their costumes finished and is ready for Freakfest. I still have a few things to pick up for my costume but I am looking forward to the State Street activitites. 

Our UW-Madison Collection has great images from past Halloweens. On the left in a picture from Halloween in 1982.  Back then they used to have the festivities on Library Mall. They also used to sell beer at the event.


The image on the right is from 1983.  These costumes seem a little creepy.  What are you and your friends planning on being for Halloween this year? Something scary? Cute? A group costume?

The Wisconsin Alumni Association has put together a timeline of the History of Halloween at UW Madison.  Did you know the first one was in 1979? Take a peek at their timeline before you head out Saturday.

Hopefully everyone will have a great Halloween.  You can catch me on State Street Saturday. I can't wait to see all of your costumes.

Back in the day, alright not that long ago, volleyball was my sport of choice.  I'm starting to miss playing a little and thought today would be a good day to celebrate UW Madison's Women's Volleyball. Tonight the women's volleyball team takes on Iowa and on Sunday they play Minnesota.  


In our UW Athletics collections contains media guides from the early years of UW Volleyball.  The image on the left is the cover of the booklet from the 1982 season. 


On the right is an image from a game in 1989.


The media guides contain images from games along with stats from previous seasons.  There are also small bios about the players, coaches and athletic department staff.  


Take a peek at the history of UW Volleyball and don't forget to tune in and support the volleyball team this weekend!

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!

Today we thought we'd share with you a little known gem in our collections.  Playing House: Homemaking for Children is a collection of manuals used to educate young girls on how to be a good housewife.

American domestic advice or homemaking manuals emerged in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and served to advise the housewife in the care and upkeep of the home and its contents and occupants. While most of these manuals were written to assist the “woman of the house”, others aimed at educating young girls, the homemakers of the future. 


These books provide instruction on a wide range of topics including cooking, cleaning, laundry, household management and occupational training for young maids. Through them, young girls could learn among other things, the proper way to make a bed, polish the silver, decorate a table, and prepare and serve a nice meal.


This book is interesting to look at.  Whether you are a modern day working woman or a homemaker, this book is cute and a tad comical. Enjoy!  

Recently we went live with the History of UW-Parkside collection.  The collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes published material as well as archival materials and may eventually include additional books, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, maps and other resources. The collection is particularly full of images from past theater productions.  Take a peak, you may have seen some of these plays!  

Scene from Hold Me, 1983

Scene from Peppermint Bear, 1985

Tomorrow our Wisconsin Badgers will face the Minnesota Golden Gophers. These teams will be competing for the ever famous Paul Bunyan's Axe. 

The trophy goes to the winner of the annual University of Wisconsin--Madison vs. Minnesota game, the longest football series in Division I-A football. The teams first met in 1890 and have played consecutively since 1907. The axe replaced other trophies in the rivalry, such as the walnut Slab of Bacon, and was a gift of the National W Club in 1948. The winners of all the Wisconsin-Minnesota games are engraved on the handle. In November 2003 the original axe was donated to the College Football Hall of Fame and replaced by a sturdier version with room for more names on the handle.

Now keeping in mind that the gopher is part of the badgers regular diet, I hope to see all of you out there supporting our team!

Also in the spirit of Homecoming, we have created a special Flickr collection dedicated to UW Madison Homecoming images through the decades.  Take a peek!

The Homecoming festivities have already started, this year's theme is the Legends of Bucky Badger. We wanted to take some time and show you how campus used to celebrate Homecoming traditions!  All of these photos and more can be found in our UW Madison Collection.

Get out your paper mache, all you student organizations and Greeks!  This years parade is on Friday, Oct 8 and will go from Gilman to State Street. The parade has been going on for years and the University community always has some great floats!  From Homecoming paper mache animals to a hobo band, in 1986 there was even a Homecoming camel! 

The pep rally is another time honored tradition on campus.  The image on the left is from the Homecoming pep rally in 1947.  This year's pep rally will follow the parade.  And don't miss out on the fireworks!


Homecoming is a fun time here at UW Madison.  Have you and your friends participated in any of the events in the past or this year?  


On Friday, we will blog about the upcoming rivalry game between Minnesota and our Badgers.  So look out for the axe.


If you want more information on the festivities this year go to the UW Homecoming site.

The Wisconsin Book Festival starts today and will run until October 3rd.  The festival attracts accomplished writers from all over America and encourages literacy across Wisconsin.  

One event that took place this year just before the Wisconsin Book Festival started was the Lorine Niedecker Wisconsin Poetry Festival.  Our Historic Fort Atkinson Collection contains manuscript materials, notes, letters, text & audio interviews with people who knew Lorine, video productions about Lorine and numerous photographs.  The image on the left is from the collection and shows Lorine sitting at her desk.  


One of the presenters this year is Curt Meine, Ph.D.  He is a conservation biologist, historian, and writer. Meine has edited and authored several books. His biography Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work, published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 1988, was the first full-length biography of Leopold, and was named Book of the Year by the Forest History Society. 

Our Aldo Leopold Archive 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.


There are many other interesting presenters and events going on this week.  Check out the Wisconsin Book Festival Schedule for more information!

Tomorrow, Tuesday Sept. 28, President Obama will speak in library mall.  They have begun setting up for tomorrow's events and we thought it might be fun to do a little before and after of library mall!

 

 

Today we thought we would share one of our new collections with you.  The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Digital Collection contains more than 4,000 black and white photographs taken by field geologists working for the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey between 1910 and 1935.


The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, part of the University of Wisconsin–Extension, conducts research on Wisconsin’s rocks, soils, and groundwater. 


Since its official creation by the state legislature in 1897 the Survey has produced publications describing the natural history, geography, geology, soils, and groundwater of the state. WGNHS continues to produce maps and publications for geology professionals and for the general public. City and county governments, engineers, schools, and conservation groups are among those that depend on research done by the Survey for projects and developments.


The pictures show natural rock formations; Wisconsin landscapes including lakes, rivers, and dams; and economic activities such as brick making, mining, road building, and farming. The collection also includes photographs of the field parties and their families as well as a few images from neighboring states and from the Southwest.


We hope that you take a look and enjoy! 

Yesterday, while I was walking to class, dancers were everywhere dancing over bridges, on the grass and outside campus buildings. I was slightly confused until I realized that it was the kick off for Illuminate: UW-Madison Year of the Arts 2010-2011.

From September until August the UW will have over 300 exhibitions, performances, speakers, and other events celebrating the arts on campus.

The digital collections contain images of various art events over campus history and have a few collections dedicated to art.

The Artists' Book Collection is an illustrated, descriptive index to the collection located in the Kohler Art Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Presently, it contains over 800 titles.The artists’ books are finely crafted and visually stimulating works made by more than 150 presses and artists worldwide. They comprise limited edition, one-of-a-kind, and offset books, representative of major book artists working during the past thirty years, including many who trained in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Art Department.

The Arts Collection brings together, in digital form, primary and secondary materials relating to the creative arts as broadly defined: visual, literary, musical, and performing. Our first submission to the collection was the journal Arts in Society, published on the University of Wisconsin campus from 1958 to 1976. Now the collection hosts over 10 sub collections ranging from exhibition catalogs to Latin American Cartonera.

Take a look at the Illuminate website for a schedule of all the events going on around campus!

Tonight at the Memorial Union is the Study Abroad Fair. From 4 p.m. til 7 p.m. the Great Hall will be filled with students trying to decide which study abroad is right for them.

I know I will be there night possibly looking at a study abroad that fits my interests, probably somewhere in Italy. But many of you might take a look at the study abroad in Ghana for example. If you do the image on the left shows the University you might attend.

Others may want to travel to the South East of Asia and study in Vietnam or Thailand. If you do, maybe you will make a trip to Cambodia and see the temples, like the one at the right, at Angkor Wat.

Where ever you go it will sure to be an adventure. Before you leave the U.S. check out some of our collections. We have images from different cultures around the world.