SJSU Special Collections & Archives

Posted by Danelle Moon at 9:58 AM | 1 comments Links to this post  

The first phase of this grant project (Months 1-6) we developed the workflow documentation necessary to implement training of staff and to manage the project activities. With the workflow and training in place we have successfully sampled and produced 410 box inventories for the Records of the State Normal School Principles and the Presidents of the SJSU (1862-Present) using MPLP. The bulk of this work took place between October 1 and December 1, which represents tremendous output given the initial slow start of the grant implementation.

Additionally, we deselected approximately 54 linear feet of records that do not fit our collection development policies or mission. We also identified specific materials within the discrete record units that will require higher-level description, including records that document athletic and civil rights protest during the Civil Rights Era, and photographs and records documenting World War I and II.

As of July 7, 2009, we have sampled the entire collection of university archives, representing approximately 1,350 file boxes, 1,576 linear feet. Since January of 2009, we have made tremendous progress in the sampling the collections, processing the collections, cataloging and encoding the finding aids for publication on the Online Archives California (OAC).

List of collections processed, encoded, and published on the OAC (20):

The Benjamin F. Gilbert Research Papers

Byrne (John) Collection, 1886-1987

California and San José State University Master Plan for Higher Education Records

California State University Board of Trustees Records

Favela (Ricardo) Royal Chicano Air Force Poster Collection

Freimark, Robert Collection

San José State College Academic Deans' Council Records

San Jose State University Academic Senate Records

San José State University Continuing Education Program Records

San José State University Home Economics Department Records

San José State University Library Records

San José State University Public Relations and Publications Records

San Jose State College Presidential Office Administrative Records

San Jose State Normal School Principals and Early Presidents Records

San Jose State Normal School Teaching Tools Collection

San Jose State University Commencement & Honors Convocations Records

San Jose State University Dean of Academic Planning Records

San Jose State University Student Organization Records

San Jose State University Summer Session Records

Treadwell, David K. Genealogical Collection

Posted by Danelle Moon at 5:28 PM | 0 comments Links to this post  

SJSU Special Collections staff have been working hard to create basic finding aids for our collections. Since January of 2009, we have produced 16 new inventories, which you can view on the OAC. This production rate represents the the work of several student assistants, the work of the project archivist, Erin Louthen, and staff assistance from Mike Condon.



You can visit the OAC to see the full collection list, but here are the latest additions:



Benjamin F. Gilbert Research Papers

John Byrne Collection

California State University Master Plan for Higher Education Records

California State University Board of Trustee Records

David K. Treadwell Genealogical Collection

Ricardo Favela Royal Chicano Air Force Poster Collection

SJSU Continuing Education Program Records

SJSU University Library Records

SJSU Public Relations and Publication Records

SJSU College Presidential Office Administration Records

SJSU State Normal School Principals and Early Presidents Records

SJSU Commencement & Honors Convocation Records

SJSU Dean of Academic Planning Records

SJSU Student Organization Records

SJSU Summer Session Records

Posted by Danelle Moon at 11:24 AM | 0 comments Links to this post  

We have just added a new RSS feed for new updates on new books and archival collections. Here is the link to the feed and for the best display you should open in firefox.

Send your comments and suggestions to Danelle Moon at Danelle.Moon@sjsu.edu or by phone at 408/808-2061

http://mill1.sjlibrary.org/feeds/speccoll.xml

Posted by Danelle Moon at 4:08 PM | 0 comments Links to this post  

Since the summer the SJSU Special Collections staff has been very busy working on the NHPRC grant. Erin Louthen is working as our new project archivist, and she has been doing a great job! We have appraised over 300 file boxes of materials documenting the Office of the President, which span over 50 years. We anticipate on having at least 10 new catalog records and finding aids up on the OAC by the end of January. Erin is working closely with Mike Condon (part-time staff member) and six SLIS grad students to complete this work.

We have two important programs for the Spring First Wednesday. The first program on March 4, 2009, will celebrate Women's History Month with a panel discussion and exhibit on the history Women and Social Movements in San Jose. Patricia Hill SJSU Professor of History and a Women's History scholar will be one of our keynote speakers for this event. The second event scheduled for April 1, 2009 will feature CSU Stanislaus History Professor Nancy Taniguchi and CSU Stanislaus graduate student Teri Lunt. Their panel "Manipulating the Unwanted: Labor, War, and Public Policy," will explore " the "push-pull" factors that caused individuals to choose to migrate. In the cases discussed here, there are also push-pull factors, but of a completely different nature. Rather than describing individual choice, the factors here are controlled by the visible hand of American interests. The U.S. government is involved in both; in the first, unsuccessfully; in the second, with lasting ramifications."

Stay tuned for new updates on our RSS Feed for new books and finding aids.

Posted by Danelle Moon at 3:47 PM | 0 comments Links to this post  

The San José State University Special Collections & Archives (SJSU), Martin Luther King Jr. Library has been awarded a Basic Processing grant of $151,704 from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to make accessible all the permanent archival collections. The grant will support a full-time archivist to survey, catalog and encode the collection inventories of 80 manuscript and university record collections. The finding aids will be published on the On-line Archives of California. http://www.oac.cdlib.org/

We anticipate on hiring an project archivist in the next motnh, and hope to have the project underway by the end of August 2008. This grant will help us move forward in making our collections more accessible and will result in new discovery tools! We will post updates on the progress of this grant project once we get underway!

Posted by Danelle Moon at 4:49 PM | 0 comments Links to this post  

The Spring semester has flown by! Over 130 Undergraduate and graduate students were introduced to primary source research methods, and had the opportunity to explore the variety of formats and sources maintained in Special Collections. History 100w students learned about the resources documenting Japanese Internment and student life at San Jose State during Vietnam. History 200 students explored the possibilities documenting nationalism at the local and regional level, while English, Art, and Geology undergraduates learned about the rich collection of artists books, fine press, and other rare book collections.

Our outreach activities included sponsorship of the First Thursday lecture "A Soldier and a Collegian Remember their Nineteenth Century California Homeland, by SJSU Professor, Gregorio Mora-Torres, and the Wavelength Documentary Preview Screening on second wave feminism, produced by Jennifer Lee and Jennifer Myronuk.

For the summer we have two interesting exhibits from our artist books and war poster collection. The artist book collection exhibit draws upon the department's rich and varied printed book collection. It explores the significance of the advent of printing and its impact on the development of western civilization. This exhibit presents selections from a collection of approximately 1,447 World War I and II posters collected by Professor Charles Burdick. The posters provide a graphic portrayal of propaganda used to educate the public and enlist support for the war.

Posted by Danelle Moon at 12:24 PM | 3 comments Links to this post