The Buzz in Digital Collections

Steenbock Library, in cooperation with UW Digital Collections, is pleased to announce its sweet release of "Historical Bee and Bee-Keeping Literature" from the Charles C. Miller Memorial Apicultural Library.  Newly-digitized as part of this project are 11 serial titles in bee-keeping from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.   

The initial collection of this bee-keeping literature was donated to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1922, with a stipend for its continued support, by enthusiastic admirers of Charles C. Miller who had mentored many a bee-keeper through example and scholarship.  Once housed in Agriculture Hall and then Steenbock Library upon its completion in 1969, many of its texts have since been transferred to the Department of Special Collections where there are descriptive finding aids to the collection.  A list of publications that were documented by WPA workers as part of this collection in 1936 can be found via links from the library catalog. The collection was also featured in an article for the Friends of the Libraries Magazine in 2004. 

Madison Reads Leopold, 2014

Visit the UW Arboretum for a special (9th annual) reading from Aldo Leopold’s seminal treatise on life in the natural world and conservation ethos, A Sand County Almanac, among other essays and inspired performances, Saturday, March 1 (beginning at 9:30 AM).

Consult the site for a complete schedule of essay selections and featured speakers from campus and community.   The "Madison Reads Leopold" events are free and open to the public.  The Arboretum Visitor Center is located at 1207 Seminole Highway.

For general information about this and other events, phone the UW-Arboretum Visitor Information Desk (608-263-7888) or visit its Website.

For related interest and inspiration, do review photos and text from the digitized Aldo Leopold Archives (UW Digital Collections)!

Friends with Cookbooks

Celebrate the harvest and Wisconsin’s rich food heritage when the Friends of the Libraries host a special program to feature Steenbock Library’s cookbook collection.  The festivities begin with a reception at Steenbock Library where guests can browse the collection, watch a simple cooking demonstration and chat with special community guests from CHEW, REAP, Wisconsin Local Foods Journal/Ginkgo Press and the Greenhouse Residential Learning Community.  

Following the reception, guest speaker Traci Nathans-Kelly will share her delightful experiences and fascinating research using community cookbooks to illustrate community and women’s history.  Visit Steenbock Library’s event page to learn more about the evening and to find links to special guests and the digital collections that feature cookbooks from the Steenbock collection.   

We look forward to seeing you there!

Date:  Friday, September 20
Time: 5:30 – 8:00 PM (reception 5:30-6:45; lecture/presentation, 7:00-8:00 PM)
Place: Steenbock Library (first floor); Ebling Symposium, Microbial Sciences

Madison Reads Leopold (March 2)

Visit the UW Arboretum for a special public reading from Aldo Leopold’s seminal treatise on life in the natural world and conservation ethos, A Sand County Almanac, among other essays, Saturday, March 2 (beginning at 9:30 AM).

Scheduled readers include Madelyn Leopold, Scott Craven, Ron Seeley, Marie McCabe, and Stuart Levitan, among other students, naturalists and leaders from community organizations.

The "Madison Reads Leopold" events are free and open to the public.  Beginning at 1:00 PM, singer-songwriter, Tim Southwick Johnson will perform a special musical interlude of compositions inspired by Leopold.

The Arboretum Visitor Center is located at 1207 Seminole Highway.

For more information about these events, phone the UW-Arboretum Visitor Information Desk (608-263-7888) or visit the Website.

View the campus press release.

For related interest and inspiration, do review photos and text from the digitized Aldo Leopold Archives!

Green Fire and Panel Discussion (Dec 5)

Save the date to attend a special screening of Green Fire, a feature-length documentary film about the life and legacy of Aldo Leopold. The film is narrated by Curt Meine, Nelson Institute alumnus and Leopold Scholar.  Following the screening, there will be a panel discussion moderated by Dick Cates, CIAS. Scheduled panelists include:

• Paul Johnson, past chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Curt Meine, Aldo Leopold Biographer and Scholar
• Stanley Temple, Emeritus Leopold Chair in Wildlife Ecology
• Joy Zedler, Professor of Botany and Aldo Leopold Chair in Restoration Ecology
• Michael Bell, CIAS Director 

What:  Green Fire, Agriculture and the Land Ethic: Leopold’s Legacy, Screening and Panel Discussion 

When:  Wednesday, December 5, 2012 (7:00 PM) 

Where:  Biochemistry, Room 1125 (420 Henry Mall)

This event, a CIAS Culture of Agriculture event, is free and open to the public. 

"We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes – something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."

--Aldo Leopold, "Thinking Like a Mountain," Sand County Almanac with Essays on Conservation from Round River

Of related interest do consult the Aldo Leopold Archives, UW Digital Collections.

Print an event poster. (PDF)

Top 10 Things to Know: UW-Archives

10. We’re right here on campus! Located on the fourth floor of Steenbock Library, the Archives is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8:00-4:30! Planning a trip to the Archives? Call 262-5629 or email in advance.

9. Researching a topic related to campus history? Many of our collections are cataloged into the library’s online catalog. Click here to begin a search.

8. Some of our most useful "foundation" resources have been digitized and are available online through the UW Digital Collections Center’s UW-Madison Collection.

7. Our collections include approximately 3,500 films, 1,200 oral history interviews and almost 1.5 million photos. That’s a whole lotta campus history! We can provide digital copies or facilitate viewing/listening to the original item depending on the format and your project needs.

6. Is your department or group celebrating an anniversary? Hosting a retirement event for an honored faculty or staff member? Planning a reunion? The UW-Madison Archives can help! Find out how, here.

5. Although we LOVE working with our colleagues over the hill, we’re not the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS). Located on Library Mall, the WHS archives collects and shares materials that document Wisconsin history. It’s importation to note that their collections do include materials related to campus so check both the UW-Madison Archives and WHS Library-Archives when researching such a topic.

4. We are actively collecting! In general, we collect materials that document UW-Madison, UW Extension, and UW System and Colleges administration history. As faculty and staff retire or move out of office space, sometimes materials of historic value are left behind. Feel free to call us (or share our contact information with colleagues) if you discover something "archives worthy". We are more than happy to meet and review your materials for potential inclusion in our collections.

3. Did you know we have a records manager who works with University departments to curate and manage "official business records" of the University? Contact Records Management or visit for more information.

2. Love social media? So do we! We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and more. Follow us from the Archives home page.

1. We love a good history mystery! Got a question? A research challenge? Shoot us an email and we’ll do our best to find the answer. For more information about the UW-Madison Archives, visit our home page.

With thanks to Vicki T. for this blog post.

Go Badgers! (Part 2)

As you plan to attend Homecoming festivities, take a look at the UW-Archives/UW-Digital Collections Flickr set to see how UW Madison Homecoming has been celebrated over the years.

For more information about these photos or other aspects of UW-Madison campus history, contact the UW-Madison Archives or visit the Archives Images site.

Additionally, take a peek at the UW-Madison Collection, UW Digital Collections for more imagery and digitized (print) collections that explore the history of the university and the evolution of campus life.

Go Badgers!

In the spirit of Homecoming, take a look at the UW-Archives, Flickr set of Football Uniforms and Equipment (1890s-1980s). This particular collection was organized by Marcus Bacher for the University Archives.

For more information about these photos or other aspects of UW-Madison campus history, contact the UW-Madison Archives or visit the Archives Images site.

Additionally, take a peek at the UW-Madison Collection, UW Digital Collections for more imagery and digitized (print) collections that explore the history of the university and the evolution of campus life.

Campus Housing, Historic Photos

This week on Flickr, University Archives features a small set of historic photos showing student campus housing from the late 1890s through 2008. How has "Move-in Week" and student accommodations changed during the years?! Be sure to take a peek (and reply to this post!)

100 Years of Student Housing at UW-Madison

The photos featured in this Flickr set will be added to UW Digital Collections-UW Madison Collection later this year.

For more information about the photo collections, visit the University Archives Images site.

With thanks to Vicki T., Images/Media Archivist, for this blog post.

Forward Thinking Redux

Earlier this fall, library staff from UW-Madison and the UW System launched a beta edition of "Forward"--a reinvention of our library catalogs and a fresh approach to resource discovery.

Find links to Forward from the Websites to UW-Madison Libraries and Steenbock. Set your search for UW-Madison or for the UW System and UW Digital Collections.

While you give it a try, be sure to send your thoughts and suggestions to the development team by clicking on the Feedback button links.

View the flyer and instructional video clips to learn more about how to use Forward effectively or speak with your campus librarians.

• Choosing a Campus in Forward
• Searching Forward
• Item Records in Forward
• Placing a Request in Forward
• Toolbar in Forward
• Your Account in Forward
• Digital Collections in Forward
• Browsing Forward

Forward Thinking

On November 1, library staff from UW-Madison and the UW System launched a beta edition of "Forward" –a reinvention of our library catalogs and a fresh approach to resource discovery.
Find links to Forward from the Websites to campus libraries and Steenbock. Set your search for UW-Madison or for the UW System and UW Digital Collections.

As of the November 1st date, two campuses (Madison and Whitewater) can already place requests for UW System items directly within Forward. The development team anticipates that more campuses will be able to do so soon during Forward’s public beta period which runs through December.

While you give it a try, be sure to send your thoughts and suggestions to the development team by clicking on the Feedback button links.

Food Systems at War (Nov 19)

In conjunction with Go Big Read, Kellen Backer, History of Science dissertator, will present a public lecture, “Food Systems at War: Canned and Frozen Food Production during World War II” in the HSLC Auditorium 1335, Thursday, November 19 (noon – 1:00 PM). A question and answer session will follow the lecture. Those who attend are invited to donate a canned good item to benefit area food pantries.

Of related interest:

UW Digital Collections has released “Recipe for Victory: Food and Cooking in Wartime” a digitized collection of books and government documents that highlight the national campaign to promote gardening and food preservation on the home-front--instrumental to the plan for victory during World War I. Many of the documents and texts that have been digitized for this collection can be found at Steenbock Library.

Forest Products Oral History

The UW-Madison Oral History Program, in collaboration with the Forest Products Laboratory and the UW Digital Collections Center has launched a new web presentation of oral histories that celebrates the centennial anniversary of the lab and documents its history as a leading research facility dedicated to the study of wood and its judicious use as a renewable resource.

Through audio recordings and transcripts, the narrators (current and former staff) share their anecdotes and perspectives about the history and research of the lab. Visitors to the site will be able to browse or search the oral histories and listen to the recorded interviews.

US Forest Products Lab Centennial Oral History Project

Recipe for Victory

University of Wisconsin Digital Collections has announced its release of “Recipe for Victory: Food and Cooking in Wartime” a digitized collection of books and government documents that highlight the national campaign to promote gardening and food preservation on the home-front--instrumental to the plan for victory during World War I.

This collection of materials features titles that not only describe the world food situation and the nutritional value of particular foods, but importantly, how to cultivate gardens and to cook and preserve foods during times of scarcity.

Steenbock librarian, Barb Hamel (with the assistance of a student intern), selected the titles featured in this collection.

Blooming Books

Blooming Books is currently on display at the Kohler Art Library through July 31, 2008. This exhibit of artists’ books explores the beauty and wonder of nature as found in flowers, trees, blossoms, leaves and insects. As artists’ books, the book design, itself, is often inventive, featuring pop-up, tunnel and accordion features, among other design elements. The books for this exhibition were selected by Lyn Korenic from among the Kohler Art Library’s extensive collection of artists’ books.

For online access to some additional "blooming books", consider viewing the following:

• The Beauties of Flora

• Bowles's Florist

• American Medical Botany

These titles and others can be found in the Digital Library for the Decorative Arts.

All Sewn Up: Millinery, Dressmaking, Clothing and Costume

UW-Digital Collections is pleased to announce this new collection that explores the craft and profession of millinery, dressmaking, fashion, vocational history, drawing and design.

The books selected for the All Sewn Up collection were published between 1907 and the 1940s and include such titles as Practical Millinery, Textiles and Costume Design, Thrift Clothing and Woman as Decoration, among 32 others.

Click here to access the collection.

"If you are labouring under the delusion that the beret is merely a small round felt hat with a closely fitting headband, then my primary aim must be to disillusion you as quickly as possible."
[from Winifred Reiser’s Your Millinery, 1949; Chapter 6: The Beret, page 61]

Carson Gulley Cookbook Collection

When was the last time you enjoyed some fudge-bottom pie on campus? This signature dessert was just one of the creations attributed to chef Carson Gulley (1897-1962) (his original recipe does differ, though, from the ones currently-served on campus).

Not only was Carson Gulley renown as head chef of the Housing Division’s food service from 1927 until his retirement in 1954, but he also contributed to several instructional programs, managed a catering service, and published his recipes.

For the first time, these recipes are going online as the Carson Gulley Cookbook Collection. Click here to savor the collection.

Digital Leopold

UW Digital Collections is pleased to announce that diaries and journals from the Aldo Leopold collections are now available online.

The project to digitize the University Archives’ complete collection of Leopold materials is being done through a grant awarded to the Aldo Leopold Foundation by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

The diaries and journals consist of US Forest Service diaries and miscellany from 1899-1927, hunting journals from 1917-1945, and shack journals from 1935-1948. Browse this collection.

Other pieces of the Leopold collection will be coming online during 2008, with the next installment anticipated to be Leopold’s correspondence—mostly during his UW years from 1933-1948.

Finding Aid to the Aldo Leopold Papers