Author: Ross Geoffrey

Come Work with Us! Job Opening in the HPNL

Posted on by Geoffrey Ross

Closes Oct 3, 2022

Senior Library Specialist

History Philosophy & Newspaper Library

Job Summary
As circulation/public service desk supervisor, responsible for overseeing the personnel management and operation of circulation and user assistance functions in HPNL, including recruiting, hiring, training, directing, and supervising the work of assigned personnel, resolution of employee relations issues and maintenance/approval of records, overseeing complex circulation activities (including resolving and responding to circulation problems), assisting library users by conducting reference interviews, and facilitating access to library equipment and materials; coordinates library emergency procedures relating to HPNL. As preservation coordinator, responsible for overseeing preservation activities associated with print newspapers, microforms, and the print circulating collection, including the training of library users and staff in correct handling procedures of large-format materials; liaison to Preservation. Continue reading “Come Work with Us! Job Opening in the HPNL” →

Colonial Caribbean New Module: Colonial Government and Abolition, 1833-1849

Posted on by Geoffrey Ross

Now available: the second module of the digital collection Colonial Caribbean. Like the first module, Module 2 covers British colonialism in the Caribbean, and comprises documents from the British National Archives, digitized in full color. Continue reading “Colonial Caribbean New Module: Colonial Government and Abolition, 1833-1849” →

Trial Access to ProQuest’s Electronic Resources Concluding August 2022

Posted on by Geoffrey Ross

[Post by Heather Murphy]

In 2019, the University Library secured trial access to the ProQuest “Access and Build Program” giving faculty, staff, and students at Illinois the ability to search 115 electronic resources. Over the years, the Library supported this evidence-based acquisition program, ProQuest added new databases, and the Library used accumulated credits to purchase those that demonstrated the most use. These multidisciplinary resources spanned the humanities, music and the arts, the social sciences, and some scientific disciplines, and each resource available through the ProQuest Access and Build program was marked in the Library’s catalog as being available on a trial basis. Continue reading “Trial Access to ProQuest’s Electronic Resources Concluding August 2022” →

What’s Missing from this Digital Collection?

Posted on by Geoffrey Ross

Many of our digital collections were created from microfilm surrogates, which is to say that the original print collection was at some point microfilmed (mostly in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s) for sale to libraries. Our own library bought many of these microfilm collections. Because it’s so much less expensive to digitize from microfilm (than from print originals), and because digitizing from microfilm spares those print originals from unnecessary wear and tear, many of our digital collections were created from these microfilm surrogates. You might be wondering how to determine whether a collection was digitized from microfilm. One good sign is if the documents in the collection are displayed in black-and-white (especially low bit-depth black-and-white) rather than color. Collections digitized directly from original print documents will usually display those documents in color. For example, the following: Continue reading “What’s Missing from this Digital Collection?” →

Introduction to Scholarly Research for Undergrads

Posted on by Geoffrey Ross

The International and Area Studies Library is pleased to announce the return of their series “Introduction to Scholarly Research,” which was developed to support undergraduate students with research projects. It is designed to help students become more comfortable with conducting research and writing academic papers. Continue reading “Introduction to Scholarly Research for Undergrads” →

6 New Digital Collections

Posted on by Geoffrey Ross

Early Modern England: Society, Culture, and Everyday Life, 1500-1700

Published and unpublished sources selected for their capacity to document the history of everyday life. Sources include court records, administrative records, petitions, wills, inventories, tax records, financial documents, military records, church records, memoirs, diaries, unpublished essays, commonplace books, printed broadsides, and printed books. Also included are 164 objects, such as clothing, jewelry, and home furnishings. The collection is organized around twenty themes: Family life; Birth, marriage, death; Health and medicine; Land and property; Possessions; Work and employment; Poverty; Agriculture; Finance; Trade and economics; Law and order; Politics and government; Foreign affairs; War; Monarchy; Religion; Scholarship, science, and the humanities; Arts, literature, and culture; Travel; and Women’s history. In addition to these themes, documents can be browsed by region and date of creation. Continue reading “6 New Digital Collections” →