Heitman is currently collaborating with Louisiana Public Broadcasting on a TV documentary version of A Summer of Birds.  As part of this project, he recently returned to St. Francisville and walked once again in Audubon’s footsteps.  In an article published in today’s issue of The Christian Science Monitor, he reflects on this experience and on how much has changed since 1821.

To read Heitman’s article, click on the link below:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0810/p18s04-hfes.html

The Special Collections division of the LSU Libraries is pleased to announce the availability of fellowships to support scholars using Special Collections to conduct research in the history of Louisiana and the South.  Thanks to support from an anonymous donor, six fellowships of $900 each will be awarded.

Special Collections includes the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections (LLMVC), which document the history and culture of the region.  The largest accumulation of materials on Louisiana and the lower Mississippi Valley in existence, LLMVC comprises more than 5,500 manuscript and archival groups; 120,000+ volumes of books, periodicals, maps, Louisiana newspapers, and other published material; 2,500 tape-recorded oral history interviews; and approximately 200,000 historic photographs.  From early land grants to the most recently published materials on the reconstruction of post-Katrina New Orleans, this comprehensive collection provides a remarkable range of resources to its users.  For more information about Special Collections, visit http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/.

Fellowship Eligibility and Requirements

Applicants must be currently enrolled graduate students in an appropriate discipline with a research focus involving Louisiana history or history of the southern United States.  Recipients must use the LSU Libraries’ Special Collections for research. 

In order to receive the payment of the fellowship stipend, each recipient must write and send to the Head of Special Collections a brief report (1 to 2 pages) stating what Special Collections resources were used and what was accomplished during the recipient’s research in Special Collections.  This report must be received within one month of the scheduled completion of the recipient’s research as noted in his/her application.

Application Procedure

To apply, send

1. a statement outlining your research project and how that project will benefit from work in the LSU Libraries’ Special Collections;

2. a brief statement indicating how you will use the fellowship funds (e.g. travel, living expenses, duplication expenses, etc.);

3.  a schedule indicating when you plan to conduct your research at LSU;

4. your curriculum vitae; and

5. letters of reference from two persons familiar with your scholarship to: Library Fellowships, ATTN: L. Browning, 295 Middleton Library, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-3300; email: lbrow17@lsu.edu; fax: 225-578-6825.

Deadline

There is no deadline.  The selection committee (composed of one library faculty member and two faculty members in the Department of History) will consider applications as they are received.  Awards made on the basis of merit until all 6 fellowships have been given out. 

The Library stopped adding cards to the card catalog in the early 1990s when collections began to be entered instead into the online catalog. Manuscripts processing staff chipped away at the task of adding the information from the paper file to the OPAC, but no programmatic effort to recon the old card catalog was made until June of 2006 when Special Collections Cataloger Hans Rasmussen was hired. Rasmussen focused his efforts on the project, and Cataloger Joseph Nicholson and Luana Henderson, LA in Manuscripts Processing, also contributed. Together they added approximately 1839 records, bringing the total number of historical manuscript collections described in the online catalog to 4414, which represents all of Special Collections’ processed manuscript holdings.

LSU’s online catalog is accessible from the Special Collections website.

In the weeks and months after Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, photographer Donn Young worked to document the disaster and its effect on the people of New Orleans. Young will show and talk about his work on Thursday, October 16, at 4:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall of Hill Memorial Library.

Young’s multi-media presentation shows the aftermath of the storm: a once vibrant city shrouded in darkness, the 9th Ward and the Lakeview neighborhood where he lived transformed into ghost towns. He introduces us to the hard-working, home-owning Americans who abruptly had no place to call home. He documents the effects on social structures – religion, health care, social services – as well as the civil liberties and civil rights of New Orleanians trying to return and rebuild. He will discuss the role and responsibility of the photographer as journalist and artist in the midst of the disaster and attempts to recover. Young’s post-Katrina work, as well as materials salvaged from the ruins of his Lakeview home and studio, are on display in Hill in the exhibition “After Katrina” through November 8.

A reception and exhibition viewing will follow Young’s presentation. This event is free and open to the public.
]]> http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2008/10/06/new-orleans-photographer-donn-young-to-give-presentation/feed/ 0 http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2008/09/29/the-louisiana-book-festival-little-lambs-and-libraries/ http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2008/09/29/the-louisiana-book-festival-little-lambs-and-libraries/#comments Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:13:36 +0000 Gabe http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2008/09/29/the-louisiana-book-festival-little-lambs-and-libraries/

Join us this Saturday, October 4, for the Louisiana Book Festival in downtown Baton Rouge. This year the LSU Libraries display showcases sources related to a variety of creatures, from the lowly mosquito to the mighty polar bear, and all “critters” in between.

Representatives from Hill Memorial Library will be available (LSU Libraries – Booth #1) to discuss our collections and special projects. Stop by and pick up some nifty postcards and bookmarks (FREE!!!) featuring images from our unique research materials.

We hope to see you there!

Visit http://www.louisianabookfestival.org/ for more information on the Louisiana Book Festival.

[Image from University Archives: LSU Public Relations Record Group]

For more information, contact Hill Memorial Library at (225) 578-6544 or visit the web site at http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special.
]]> http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2008/09/17/after-katrina-exhibition-extended/feed/ 0 http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2008/04/17/look-at-our-microfilm-from-home/ http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2008/04/17/look-at-our-microfilm-from-home/#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:46:05 +0000 Gabe http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2008/04/17/look-at-our-microfilm-from-home/ Want to see a reel of microfilm from Special Collections but can’t make it during business hours? Thanks to equipment purchased with a grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents you can now request Remote Film Access and view the film on your home computer using a web browser like Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari.

In response to the increasing interest and need for digital access to microfilm, Hill Library purchased a Canon MS-800 and two ST-Imaging ST200 reader/scanners for the reading room. Using one of the three new machines, Special Collections patrons can view microfilm in the reading room where they have the option of saving scanned images from the reel to a USB drive, e-mailing the files to themselves, or printing the images.

LSU Special Collections was able to purchase an additional component, the Remote Film Access System, for one of the ST200 machines with the grant money. The remote access capabilities enable patrons who cannot visit the reading room to view film. Utilizing remote desktop software and a unique remote film access system created by ST-Imaging, Inc., Special Collections patrons are now able to view, scan, e-mail, and print from reels of microfilm in the comfort of their homes.

Individuals from around the state and the country who have used this LSU Libraries service are very pleased with the results. Special Collections provides the remote access service for a fee of $20 per session/reel. A session with one reel is offered from 5:00 p.m.- 9:00 a.m. (central time) Monday through Thursday, which is outside regular business hours to allow for in-house patron use of the machine.

Additional information about the service is available on the Special Collections website. Please contact Judy Bolton, Head of Special Collections Public Services or Gina Costello, Digital Services Librarian if you would like further details about Special Collections’ microfilm services for library patrons.

A mini-exhibition featuring Sturm’s recent work is on display in the lecture hall through October 20.

The talk, titled “James Sturm’s America: Cartooning on the Frontier,” was sponsored by the LSU Libraries, Department of English, the School of Art, and the College of Arts and Sciences. Special Collections would like to thank Professor Brannon Costello, Department of English, for arranging the lecture.