As we prepare to make a fresh start of new projects in 2009, we’re featuring a few New Year’s-related items from past collections in Iowa Digital Library, ranging from a Jan. 1 diary entry in 1864 to a presidential campaign video captured 144 years later.   Thank you to all of the Libraries staff who have helped us make soContinue reading “A fresh start”

Thanks to a $32,700 grant from the National Archives, DLS wil be working with the Libraries’ Preservation and Special Collections departments to digitize the microfilm edition of the Henry A. Wallace Papers. Iowa native Henry A. Wallace (1888-1965) was a geneticist, author, economist, businessman, U.S. vice president, and third-party presidential candidate. A wartime V.P. under Franklin Delano Roosevelt,Continue reading “The modern vice president”

This Fall, DLS and Central Technical Services staff have been working on scanning and providing metadata for materials from the Libraries’ Special Collections Department related to the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and the building of the Union Pacific Railroad. The Civil War documents include diaries and letters written by soldiers and female aid workers describing theirContinue reading “Little did he know”

“This is at once a celebration of the literary riches and resources of Iowa City and a spur to action. We look forward to working with our new partners in the Creative Cities network — to forging dynamic relationships with writers, artists and others committed to the life of discovery. This is a great dayContinue reading “City of Digital Literature”

As Iowa City braces itself for more flooding, library staff who aren’t busy with volunteer sandbagging for the city have been working on flood-proofing library basements, securing stored holdings and clearing away debris. Alas, these measures are insufficient in the case of the Music and Art Libraries, situated near the banks of the Iowa River.Continue reading “Preparing for the deluge”

Scheduled to launch in the fall, the UI Women’s P.E. digital collection has quickly become a favorite work-in-progress around the DLS offices, allowing those of us spending the summer in the library to enjoy vicariously the biking, camping and canoeing activities of students past. The synchronized swimmers of the Seals swim team series provide additional inspiration as weContinue reading “Synchronized scanning”

  An impending collision, June 3, 1905 The impending cataclysm, June 6, 1922 Good luck old man!, June 11, 1926 Those ticklish moments before the parachute opens, June 7, 1928 Question: how to tackle him to ensure an easy conquest?, June 5, 1929  They say the hardest part is to make a good landing, JuneContinue reading “Unhappy graduation”

As the Iowa Digital Library approaches the 100,000-item mark, we’re celebrating this milestonetemp by highlighting some of our favorite items from the collections. Title: The president and the portrait: a featured presentation of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Fine Arts Festival, Iowa Memorial Union, State University of Iowa, June 10-Aug. 5., 1964 Creator: unknown Collection: Art FestivalContinue reading “IDL staff pick: “The president and the portrait” program, 1964″