Archive for the ‘Cataloging and Indexing’ Category
Thursday, November 4th, 2010
From America's Historical Newspapers
Contrary to this newspaper report that the event would take place in November 1797, the frigate USS Constitution was actually christened and launched at Boston’s naval shipyards the previous month on October 21—213 years ago this fall.
During the course of the next two weeks in 1797, a number of newspapers wrote or republished articles about the launching, including the Norwich Packet:
From America's Historical Newspapers (Click image to read full article.)
From American State Papers (Click image to read full page.)
The Constitution was one of six frigates (four 44-gun vessels and two 36-gun vessels) authorized for construction by the passage on March 27, 1794 of the Naval Act of 1794. Naval Document No. 2, published in the American State Papers, was communicated to the House of Representatives on December 29, 1794. The Constitution was to be built in Boston as one of the four larger vessels. As noted in the document:
“The frigates will be built of live oak and red cedar, in all parts where they can be used to advantage. These valuable woods afford the United States the highest advantages in building ships, the durability being estimated at five times that of the common white oak.”
(Source: U.S. Navy photo)
During a War of 1812 battle against the HMS Guerriere, it was this strong wood that lent the Constitution her nickname “Old Ironsides,” (but more on her famous moniker in a later posting).
Available today for all to see and board at Pier 1 at the former Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, the USS Constitution is the oldest floating commissioned naval vessel in the world. A four-line filler in the October 27, 1797 issue of the Commercial Advertiser was prophetic:
“…The Constitution moves slow, but we trust she will last long.”
Little did the writer know that “Old Ironsides” would still be a commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy in 2010!
Tags: America's Historical Newspapers, American History, American State Papers, Naval Act of 1794, Old Ironsides, Shipyards, U.S. Navy, USS Constitution
Posted in American History, Cataloging and Indexing, Collection Development, Journalism History, Primary Sources in the Classroom | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Suppose there were an information source from which you could learn practically everything about how the world’s 191 countries operate? What makes these global citizens tick? Why do they do what they do?
Why, for instance, did Saddam Hussein invade Kuwait in the first place? And why did some military experts and historians compare that invasion to Hitler’s conquest of Czechoslovakia in 1938? How did the 1994 civil war in Rwanda result in the massacre of half a million people? What forces keep the Middle East in perpetual turmoil?
Fortunately for those among us who are students of world history and current events, such a source already exists. It is United Nations Documents, a historical and current compendium that privileges users with an inside look at the often complicated and convoluted inner workings of the world’s nations.
Chief among the benefits of United Nations Documents are its comprehensiveness, historical value and currency:
COMPLETENESS. This is no sampling of wares. No condensed version of events. No “Best of the UN.” It is a comprehensive collection of all of the various types of United Nations documents. Here are the periodicals, the sales publications, the bound copies of all international treaties, the detailed copies of meetings with their attendant voting records, and the all-important General Assembly and Security Council masthead documents that mirror the world events that form the backbone of our daily news.
HISTORICAL VALUE. Users are provided with an unparalleled collection of documents that trace the growth and state of the world from the inception of the United Nations in 1946 to the present time. Post-World War II occupation and reconstruction, the tragedy of the Greek civil war, the birth of Israel in 1948, the rise of Mao Tse-tung and communist China, the death of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, and much more beyond these examples from the first decade of the UN’s existence.
CURRENT EVENTS. Although touted for its completeness and historical value, United Nations Documents is no slouch when it comes to current events. While newspapers and television provide up-to-the-minute coverage, this collection provides a valuable companion: a unique look at the actual speeches and correspondence that lie behind the military and political posturing of governments worldwide.
A final thought: does all of this sound like research heaven? For more information, please use this form, call 800.762.8182 or email sales@readex.com.
Tags: General Assembly, Security Council, United Nations, United Nations Documents
Posted in American History, Cataloging and Indexing, Collection Development, World History | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
The latest release of MARC Records for the Serial Set cover the 99th and 100th Congresses, 1985–1988. These 4,119 new records have been posted to our Readex MARC Records portal.
MARC records currently available include:
American State Papers: covering the 1st through 25th Congresses (1789-1838): 6,278 records
U.S. Congressional Serial Set: covering the 15th through the 100th Congresses (1817-1988): 363,637 records.
For more information about Readex MARC Records, please call 800.762.8182 or email sales@readex.com.
Tags: American State Papers, Government Publications, Kurt Waldheim, MARC Records, U.S. Congressional Serial Set
Posted in American History, Announcements, Cataloging and Indexing | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Where do all those papers in Readex’s America’s Historical Newspapers come from? The majority of the issues in the seven series of Early American Newspapers were originally filmed over many decades in partnership with the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts. However, a variety of libraries, museums, universities, and historical societies have also contributed a great many issues, as have several current-day publishers with historical back files. (more…)
Tags: America's Historical Newspapers, American Antiquarian Society, Connecticut State Library, digitization, Duke University Libraries, Early American Newspapers, Kansas State Historical Society, microfilm, preservation, Wisconsin Historical Society
Posted in Announcements, Cataloging and Indexing, Collection Development, Journalism History | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Readex offers MARC records for the documents and reports of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 based on the high level of indexing found in the full citations of the Readex digital edition. MARC records are also available for every publication in Readex’s American State Papers, 1789-1838.
To convert its indexing to MARC records, the Readex government publications cataloguing team worked with an expert advisory board that included Terry Reese, Gray Chair for Innovative Library Services, Oregon State University Library; Becky Culbertson, Shared Cataloging Program Manager, California Digital Library; and Leona Faust, Senate Librarian, United States Senate Library. Three sample records are available here.
Sample MARC Records
Readex’s cataloging includes:
- Description, which may include the title, statement of responsibility, edition, material specific details, publication information, series, notes, and standard bibliographic numerical data specific to the Reports, and Documents of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set as well as to the publications of American State Papers.
- Main entry (either the “United States Congress. Senate” or “United States Congress. House of Representatives”) and added entries (full official committee name).
- Subject headings, based on the following authorities:
- Legislative Indexing Vocabulary of the Congressional
- Research Service of the Library of Congress
- Library of Congress Subject Headings
- United States Congressional Biographical Directory for names of Senators and Representatives
- Getty Thesaurus of Geographical Names.
For the duration of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 project, new catalog records are added quarterly to our MARC Records portal.
MARC records currently available include:
American State Papers: covering the 1st through 25th Congresses (1789-1838): 6,278 records
U.S. Congressional Serial Set: covering the 15th through 98th Congresses (1817-1984): 353,240 records.
Tags: American State Papers, Government Publications, MARC Records, U.S. Congressional Serial Set
Posted in American History, Announcements, Cataloging and Indexing, Product Updates | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
A Readex breakfast event during the 2010 American Library Association annual conference included a presentation by Steve Daniel, an internationally known authority on government documents.
In “Dredges, Gunboats, and Mosquitoes,” Daniel traced the history of the idea of a water route through Central America as it is documented in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Daniel writes:
“The building of the Panama Canal was without doubt one of the great engineering and technological achievements of the modern era, equal in every respect to the first transcontinental railroad and putting a man on the moon. Its completion in 1914 was the realization of a dream that dates back to the early years of European settlement in the New World. (more…)
Tags: American Library Association, Central America, Government Publications, Panama Canal, Steven Daniel, U.S. Congressional Serial Set
Posted in American History, Cataloging and Indexing, Collection Development, Digital Humanities, Primary Sources in the Classroom, World History | No Comments »
Friday, July 2nd, 2010
The Dunlap Broadside from Early American Imprints
According to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, there are 26 known copies of the “Declaration of Independence,” which is often referred to as the “Dunlop Broadside.”
The name is attributed to the Philadelphia printer, John Dunlop, who was responsible for the first printing.
After Dunlop printed and distributed his broadside during the late afternoon on Thursday, July 4, several newspapers published this historic document, including Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Evening Post on July 6, 1776 and Pennsylvania Packet on July 8, 1776.
From the July 6, 1776 issue of the Pennsylvania Evening Post (America's Historical Newspapers)
On July 9, 1776, the Dunlop Broadside appeared in German translation in Der Pennsylvanische Staatsbote.
From America's Historical Newspapers
Happy 234th Birthday America!
Tags: America's Historical Newspapers, Declaration of Independence, Dunlap Broadside, German, July 4, Philadelphia, U.S. National Archives and Records Adminstration
Posted in American History, Cataloging and Indexing, Collection Development, Journalism History, Primary Sources in the Classroom, Print Culture | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
In the spring 2010 issue of Occasional Miscellany, a newsletter for members and friends of the Library Company of Philadelphia, James Green discusses his organization’s recent completion of an initiative “to catalog some 3,250 pre-1820 American imprints of which the Library Company holds the only available copy.”
Writing about Early American Imprints, Green comments:
“By adding full-dress descriptive and subject catalog records to the national bibliographic database, we have made these unique items accessible for the first time. Readex…has long been in the business of publishing digital libraries of early American imprints, and they have just begun scanning the imprints we cataloged under the NEH grant to create supplements to their two digital collections of early American imprints, the Evans series (1639-1800) and the Shaw-Shoemaker series (1801-1819), named after the venerable printed bibliographies on which they are based. These are in effect the national digital archive of American print, and our additions will increase it by more than 3%.”
(more…)
Tags: American Antiquarian Society, cataloging, Early American Imprints, Evans, James N. Green, Library Company of Philadelphia, scanners, Shaw-Shoemaker, Supplements
Posted in American History, American Literature, Announcements, Cataloging and Indexing, Collection Development, Interface Usability, New Collections, Print Culture, Product Updates | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
From Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1980
Many of us have read about Benjamin Franklin’s scientific work with electricity, but few know that this Renaissance man is also responsible for a groundbreaking study of the Gulf Stream current.
On June 9, 2010, the following was posted by Ed Redmond (Geography and Map Reference Specialist at the Library of Congress) on MAPS-L listserv:
“With all the sad happenings in the Gulf of Mexico, there are a plethora of contemporary maps depicting the forecasted extent of the ‘event.’
“A historic map related to the Gulf that some may not be aware of is Benjamin Franklin’s 1768 map of the Gulf Stream which can be found on the Library of Congress web site via: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g9112g.ct000753.
“Franklin’s 1768 map can also be seen next to a modern map depicting the approximate flow of the Gulf current around the Florida peninsula via the Library’s “Places in The News” website: http://www.loc.gov/today/placesinthenews/.
“Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), one of America’s founding fathers, is credited with the discovery of the Gulf Stream, a strong ocean current which flows north from the Gulf of Mexico along the Atlantic coast of the United States, where it joins the Labrador Current and flows eastward. In 1768 Benjamin Franklin and Timothy Folger produced the first map depicting the Gulf Stream which was published the English firm of Mount and Page. The Library of Congress holds one of the three extant copies of this very rare map.”
From Maritime Observations (1786)
A variation of the Franklin-Folger chart of the Gulf Stream later appeared in a number of publications, including Maritime Observations: In a Letter from Doctor Franklin to Mr. Alphonsus LeRoy (Philadelphia: Printed by Robert Aitken, 1786). The map was engraved by James Poupard and is preceded by a one-page description, “Remarks Upon the Navigation from Newfoundland To New-York In order to avoid the GULPH STREAM.”
From America's Historical Newspapers
These remarks (sans the map) were later published in the October 11, 1790 issue of the Boston Gazette, and the Country Journal.
The mapping of the Gulf Stream in the eighteenth century was a significant event for mariners around the world. Today, as oil in the Gulf of Mexico continues to leak, millions of Americans have a new awareness of the Gulf Stream’s flow. In a worst-case scenario, its powerful current could bring oil around Florida, up the Atlantic coast, and beyond.
Tags: America's Historical Newspapers, Benjamin Franklin, Early American Imprints, Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Gulf Stream, Library of Congress, Maps
Posted in American History, Cataloging and Indexing, Collection Development, Digital Humanities, Journalism History, Primary Sources in the Classroom | 1 Comment »
Monday, June 14th, 2010
[The Pope’s Stone, Part One discussed the theft and destruction of a block of marble sent by Pope Pius IX in 1853 to be placed in the Washington Monument, under construction on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. This Part Two recounts some inflammatory background to that embarrassing episode in American history in the form of the perilous visit of a Vatican prelate just before the destruction of the stone.]
The announcement of his upcoming visit was short and succinct, in no way foreshadowing the waves of bigotry, chaos, and violence, which over the following seven months would accompany his progress through America. Baltimore’s Sun of June 27, 1853 reported simply:
“Monsignor Bedini, Archbishop of Thebes, former Commissary Extraordinary of the Pontifical Government to the Legations, has left Rome as special Envoy of His Holiness to the United States. He is charged by the Holy Father to pay a visit to the government at Washington, and also to hold interviews with different Prelates of the Church in the United States, and to acquire the most exact information respecting the interests and condition of the Catholic Church in this country.
After making as along a visit as may be of advantage in the United States, Monsignor Bedini will go to Brazil, where he is to reside as Apostolic Nuncio near that Government.”
(more…)
Tags: America's Historical Newspapers, Catholicism, Cincinnati, Gaetano Bedini, German-Americans, Government Publications, Know-Nothings, Pope Pius IX, U.S. Congressional Serial Set, Vatican, Washington Monument
Posted in American History, Cataloging and Indexing, Collection Development, Digital Humanities, New Collections, Primary Sources in the Classroom, World History | 1 Comment »
