Editor's Note,
2015
University of Southern Mississippi
Editor's Note, Peggy Price
The Primary Source
Editor's introduction to The Primary Source, Vol. 28, No. 1.
Entire Issue Volume 27, Number 2,
2015
The University of Southern Mississippi
Entire Issue Volume 27, Number 2
The Primary Source
Complete issue of Vol. 27, No. 2 of The Primary Source.
Process And Product: Jump-Starting Archival Cataloging,
2015
University of Mississippi
Process And Product: Jump-Starting Archival Cataloging, Chatham Ewing
The Primary Source
Two years ago, the University of Mississippi Department of Archives and Special Collections hired an archivist charged with moving the department's finding-aids onto the Internet. At that time, the information about our collections on the Internet was less comprehensive than the print information in the reading room. Available on the departmental web-site there were a few finding-aids that indexed important collections, subject-based lists of our holdings (designed to allow our patrons to discover brief summaries of many of our most important collections), and general departmental information. Additionally, there were several online exhibits.
Cataloging Community Cookbooks,
2015
Louisiana State University
Cataloging Community Cookbooks, Hans Rasmussen
The Primary Source
Whether issued by a public grammar school, a clapboard country church, or a starched-tablecloth ladies' volunteer society, a community cookbook belongs to a class wholly different from any other type of book in your library. Its clunky typeface, weak binding, tacky section dividers, and utterly nonsensical title pages plainly give away its proletarian origins. Of course, for the purposes of scholarship, there is nothing at all wrong with such humble beginnings. While once exiled by elitist librarians to the lowly and shameful book sale shelf hidden away in the corner, community cookbooks are now well recognized as rich sources for …
Special Collections Cataloging: Rare Books,
2015
University of Southern Mississippi
Special Collections Cataloging: Rare Books, Kathleen L. Wells
The Primary Source
What is a rare book? Age may be the first factor to spring to mind, but uniqueness of binding, edition (first or limited), inscriptions or annotations by authors or well-known owners, and size of print runs may cause more contemporary materials to be considered rare. While a standard AACR2 catalog record provides a general description of a book, it may obscure differences between different printings or "manifestations" of that particular work. (Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books), X.1.2) Researchers are generally more interested in the contents of a book than in the container. However, in the case of rare materials, …
Editor's Note,
2015
University of Southern Mississippi
Editor's Note, Peggy Price
The Primary Source
Editor's introduction to The Primary Source, Vol. 27, No. 2.
To England And Beyond!,
2015
Gettysburg College
To England And Beyond!, Elizabeth P. Steinhour
Blogging the Library
As I mentioned before, I am primarily working on transcribing the European travel diary of H. Lewis Baugher. He and his friend have so far arrived in England, and traveled to Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and the 1867 Exhibition in Paris.. He has described in detail all the wonderful sights he has seen including Oxford, beautiful rivers, and talked to several interesting people. My favorite parts of the diary, however, are when he describes the scenes of nature. One particular scene that grabbed my attention was describing Mt. Snowden in Wales and he has also described the scenes in Paris with …
Entire Issue Volume 26, Number 2,
2015
The University of Southern Mississippi
Entire Issue Volume 26, Number 2
The Primary Source
Complete issue of Vol. 26, No. 2 of The Primary Source.
The Mdah Historical Map Collection On The Move: Preservation And Access,
2015
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
The Mdah Historical Map Collection On The Move: Preservation And Access, Carolyn Woodley
The Primary Source
The maps known as the MDAH Historical Map Collection came together in the 1970s as a "special collection" of largely published, monographic maps of the Southeast region and the state of Mississippi dating from the late sixteenth century through the late nineteenth century. Considered to be the most significant maps held by the department, many of these maps could be found in standard map bibliographies for America and the large group of Mississippi city and county maps by a variety of publishers and a collection of early twentieth century U.S.D.A. county soil maps for Mississippi. It is important to note …
Maps As Evidence In Maritime Boundary Disputes: Louisiana V. Mississippi,
2015
University of Southern Mississippi
Maps As Evidence In Maritime Boundary Disputes: Louisiana V. Mississippi, James H. Wolfe
The Primary Source
Below the thirty-first parallel the Pearl River is the boundary between Louisiana and Mississippi. Its estuary empties into the Mississippi Sound - an arm of the sea separating the coast of Mississippi on the north from the Louisiana shore on the south. At the turn of the century oystering was a thriving industry, and the absence of a lateral seaward boundary led to ongoing friction between the oystermen of Louisiana and Mississippi. In addition to the problem of licensing fishing boats, Mississippi law permitted dredging oyster beds, whereas Louisiana authorities imposed fines on those caught using dredges. By 1902, an …
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Of Mississippi: A List,
2015
Mississippi State University
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Of Mississippi: A List, Lynne Mueller
The Primary Source
The following is a list of Sanborn maps for Mississippi located in the collections of the Library of Congress and Mississippi State University (boldface). Most are original maps unless marked "c" (corrected); corrected maps include both original and revised dates. Corrected maps may be photocopies or originals with paste-on corrections. Included towns may be on selected dates only.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: History, Use, Availability,
2015
Mississippi State University
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: History, Use, Availability, Lynne Mueller
The Primary Source
Sanborn fire insurance maps are an excellent resource for anyone researching specific American communities, buildings, or industries from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. High production standards insure uniform information over time. To extract the most information, the user needs to understand the original purpose of the maps and how to interpret the visual elements. In addition, the researcher needs access to the right maps.
Letter From The Editor,
2015
University of Southern Mississippi
Letter From The Editor, Peggy M. Price
The Primary Source
Update from the Editor of The Primary Source.
Entire Issue Volume 26, Number 1,
2015
The University of Southern Mississippi
Entire Issue Volume 26, Number 1
The Primary Source
Complete issue of Vol. 26, No. 1 of The Primary Source.
Reports,
2015
The University of Southern Mississippi
Preservin' The South,
2015
The University of Southern Mississippi
Preservin' The South
The Primary Source
Updates on research and developments in the field of preservation.
Primary Sources Via Ebay: Building An Archival Postcard Collection,
2015
Columbus State University
Primary Sources Via Ebay: Building An Archival Postcard Collection, Reagan L. Grimsley
The Primary Source
In 1898, Congress authorized the use of Private Mailing Cards, better known today as the postcard. At the turn of the twentieth century, a postcard craze swept the nation, and sending, receiving, and collecting postcards became a favorite pastime of Americans. Early manufacturers such as E. C. Kropp, Arthur Livingstone, and the American Souvenir Company produced a wide variety of cards featuring a broad range of people, places, and events. Although designed to serve as a means of communication between parties, many of these cards were based on original photographs, and serve to document the culture and history of locales …
Curating The Papers Of Best-Selling Authors: A Preliminary Case Study Of The John Grisham Papers,
2015
Mississippi State University
Curating The Papers Of Best-Selling Authors: A Preliminary Case Study Of The John Grisham Papers, Mattie Sink
The Primary Source
In 1989, Mississippi State University (MSU) acquired the papers of alumnus, lawyer and Mississippi State legislator John Grisham, who was at the time selling his first novel A Time to Kill out of the trunk of his car. Though the first accession of papers was small, consisting of the early papers of Grisham's legislative career, the acquisition was an exciting one. Mississippi State University has long exhibited pride in its alumni, and the MSU Library's collection of papers reflected that pride and connection. Although University President Don Zacharias and Library Directory George Lewis certainly had high hopes for Grisham's writing …
Murder With Southern Hospitality: An Exhibition Of Mississippi Mysteries,
2015
University of Mississippi
Murder With Southern Hospitality: An Exhibition Of Mississippi Mysteries, Jennifer Ford
The Primary Source
In the process of gathering the papers of many of Mississippi's distinguished authors, Dr. Thomas Verich, then Head of Special Collections, noted a missing piece in the literary collections of the department in the early 1990s. Working with then Curator of Mississippi Collections, Debbie Lee Landi, Dr. Verich observed the burgeoning output of murder mystery fiction written by Mississippians. Dr. Verich and Ms. Landi approached University of Mississippi alumnus and award winning mystery author Julie Smith. She generously donated her papers and thus began the core of a new collecting interest of the department. The papers of Nevada Barr followed …
The Ten Most Basic Things I Can Tell You About Processing Literary Papers,
2015
University of Southern Mississippi
The Ten Most Basic Things I Can Tell You About Processing Literary Papers, Hans Rasmussen
The Primary Source
These little gems of knowledge that I gained over a couple of years spent exclusively processing literary archives got me through some pretty rough roads. While the basic archival principles I learned in school still applied, I nonetheless perceived some unique qualities in authors' papers that required the adoption of special methods. So, in the spirit of state archival camaraderie, I'd like to share the ten most useful things I learned about processing literary papers for the benefit of those who haven't had to deal with them yet.
