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Full-Text Articles in History
Provocation Through Accessibility At Special Collections At Musselman Library, Chloe Parrella
Provocation Through Accessibility At Special Collections At Musselman Library, Chloe Parrella
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
Gettysburg College Special Collections is a place where the worlds of archiving, preservation, and interpretation intersect. In the climate-controlled stacks, shelves lined with volume after volume attest to the centuries of history that the college has witnessed. It is the role of the current staff and interns to disseminate the seemingly infinite artifacts, manuscripts, and other primary sources that come through the door to those who travel to Special Collections to learn, discover, and enrich themselves. As Freeman Tilden wrote, “Information, as such, is not interpretation. Interpretation is revelation based upon information”. However, interpretation is not something that should be …
Serving The Public First: Archives 2.0, Matthew D. Laroche
Serving The Public First: Archives 2.0, Matthew D. Laroche
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
The hallmarks of contemporary archival philosophy, known casually as “Archives 2.0,” have everything to do with making archives open, attractive resources for researchers of all persuasions. These rotate around a few main assertions. First, that archivists should endeavor to make their repositories as attractive as possible to users—this means offering friendly, all-inclusive access, being responsive to user desires, being tech-savvy, and leaving some discovery and processing of collections to the researcher. Secondly, modern archiving stresses accessibility—having a standardized way of organizing collections that will be easily understood by visiting researchers, utilizing language familiar to average people for finding aides, and …
Pohanka Reflection: Special Collections & Archives, Musselman Library, Gettysburg College, Bryan G. Caswell
Pohanka Reflection: Special Collections & Archives, Musselman Library, Gettysburg College, Bryan G. Caswell
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
The reading room of Gettysburg College’s Special Collections is one of those singular spaces where the denizens of academe encounter the uninitiated yet insatiably curious members of that nebulous group known as the public. Indeed, many summer afternoons on the fourth floor of Musselman Library witness researchers diligently pouring over primary source material and rare books while intrigued visitors study the numerous displays of artifacts with equal dedication. While my duties in Special Collections are mostly confined to working with the collections themselves, I have upon occasion received the opportunity to observe our visitors as they interact with the history …