Author Archives: Sadie Roosa

New Collections Added to Digital Commonwealth in December

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Happy New Year! These awesome new collections were added to Digital Commonwealth in December. Check them out!

Boston Architectural College Library

Original works by Boston Architectural Club Members : 1 item

Publications of the Boston Architectural Club : 32 items

Boston Athenaeum

Hooded merganser duck from Yarmouth Town Libraries, West Yarmouth Library.
Hooded merganser duck from Yarmouth Town Libraries, West Yarmouth Library.

Boston Athenaeum, Cartographic Collection : 6 items

Boston College University Libraries

27 collections with 4950 items

Boston Public Library

John D. Merriam Collection : 16 items

Ziba B. Oakes Papers, 1852-1857 : 651 items

Fall River Public Library

Historical Postcards, c. 1880-1965 : 1312

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historical Site

Plans & Drawings, c. 1847-1979 (Bulk 1882-1970) : 68 items

Norwell Public Library

Norwell Historical Society Postcard Collection : 74 items

Perkins School for the Blind

Manual Arts and Vocational Training : 124 items

Physical Education at Perkins School for the Blind : 129 items

Westborough Public Library

Historical Records of the Town of Westborough: Administrative Documents, 1724-1929 : 134 items

Records of the Westborough Rifle Company, 1861-1870 :10 items

Records of Westborough’s Involvement in the American Revolution, the Massachusetts Militia, and the Continental Army, 1774-1792 : 45 items

Weymouth Public Libraries, Tufts Library

Harry C. Belcher Lepidoptera Collection : 177 items

Yarmouth Town Libraries, West Yarmouth Library

Castonguay Carved Bird Collection at West Yarmouth Library : 34 items

 

 

New Collections added to Digital Commonwealth in September and October

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Check out all of the wonderful content now available in the collections added to the Digital Commonwealth since September!

The Eastham Historical Society Inc. Postcard
The Eastham Historical Society Inc. Postcard [ca.1860-1980]
Atwood House Museum of the Chatham Historical Society

Nautical Chart Collection of the Chatham Historical Society : 40 items

Boston Public Library

Charles C. Perkins (1823-1886) Collection : 36 items

Charles H. Woodbury (1986-1940). Prints, Drawings, Watercolors, Oil Paintings, and Copper Plate : 1550 items

George Bellows (1882-1925). Prints and Drawings : 92 items

Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts : 1 item added to existing collection

Stereograph Collection : 1624 items added to existing collection

Tupper Scrapbook Collection: Scrapbooks of mounted views, portraits, etc., relating to Europe and Egypt. 1891-1894 : 10 items

Eastham Historical Society

Eastham Historical Society Local History : 219 items

U.S. Army Natick Soldier System Center

Natick Soldier Systems Center Photographic Collection : 4012 items added to existing collection

New Collections Added to the Digital Commonwealth in July and August

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These past two summer months, Digital Commonwealth has added some new collections. Check them out!

Cereus, by Mrs. Duffield.
Cereus, by Mrs. Duffield. From the new Botanical Prints collection, from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Library.

Phillips Academy Andover

Sidney R. Knafel Map Collection at Phillips Academy : 2 items added to existing collection

Massachusetts Archives

Massachusetts Metropolitan Water Works Photograph Collection : 92 items added to existing collection

Massachusetts Horticultural Society Library

Botanical Prints : 756 items

Bridgewater State University, Maxwell Library

204 items added to existing collections

Pine Manor College

Pine Manor College Photograph Collection : 2,923 items

Hatfield Historical Museum

Hatfield Historical Museum Civil War Collection : 2 items

Holyoke Public Library

Holyoke History Newsprint Collection : 2 items

Holyoke Public Library Books and Pamphlets : 2 items

Boston Public Library

Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts Collection : 2 items added to existing collection

Alphonse Legros (1837-1911). Prints and Drawings : 22 items

Stereograph Collection : 823 items added to existing collection

Mural Cycles at the Central Library in Copley Square : 56 items

Another Getting Started with Digital Commonwealth & Free Digitization Workshop

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If your institution is looking for a presence in the digital world but you aren’t sure where to start, then this seminar is for you.  Join representatives from the Boston Public Library and the Digital Commonwealth Board in this practical 2-hour seminar that will answer:

  • What is Digital Commonwealth?
  • How does one apply for free digitization?
  • What free services does the Boston Public Library offer?
  • What kind of commitment does an institution have to make to get involved?
  • What are benefits of membership in Digital Commonwealth?

This will be the third in a series of free Introductory Workshops around the state. Registration is free to libraries and cultural institutions across the state of Massachusetts. Register here!

Event Details:

Presenters: Digital Commonwealth & Boston Public Library Digitization Team

Date: Thursday August 20th

Time: 10:00-12:00

Place: Lucius Beebe Library, 345 Main Street, Wakefield, MA 01880

If you can’t make this event, you can register for the final introductory event, which will be on September 22 in Whately.

New Collections Added to the Digital Commonwealth in June

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This post was updated on July 7, 2015 to include the Amherst College collections. 

Several new collections were added to the Digital Commonwealth in June. Check them out!

Perkins School for the Blind

Helen Keller investigating statue, from the Helen Keller Collection from Perkins School for the Blind
Helen Keller investigating statue, from the Helen Keller Collection from Perkins School for the Blind

Carmela Otero : 21 items

Helen Keller Collection : 172 items

Condolence Letters and Clippings : 65 items

Sullivan / Keller / Anagnos correspondence, 1886-1895 : 88 items

 

Boston Public Library

Boston Pictorial Archive Collection : 4993 items

Winslow Homer Illustrations Collection : 182 items

Social and Political Cartoons Collection : 169 items

Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts : 1 item

Stereograph Collection : 1567 items

 

Amherst College

Archives & Special Collections : 2221 items

Emily Dickinson Collection : 839 items

Another Introduction to the Digital Commonwealth and Free Digitization

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An image from the Introductory Workshop in Bourne this May.
An image from the Introductory Workshop in Bourne this May.

If your institution is looking for a presence in the digital world but you aren’t sure where to start, then this seminar is for you.  Join representatives from the Boston Public Library and the Digital Commonwealth Board in this practical 2-hour seminar that will answer:

  • What is Digital Commonwealth?
  • How does one apply for free digitization?
  • What free services does the Boston Public Library offer?
  • What kind of commitment does an institution have to make to get involved?
  • What are benefits of membership in Digital Commonwealth?

This will be the second in a series of free Introductory Workshops around the state. Registration is free to libraries and cultural institutions across the state of Massachusetts. Register here!

Event Details:

Presenters: Digital Commonwealth & Boston Public Library Digitization Team

Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Time: 10:30-12:30

Place:  Joshua Hyde Library, 306 Main Street, Sturbridge, MA 01566

Parking: Parking is next to the library, behind town hall

Directions from the Mass Pike: Take Exit 9 to Route 20 via Exit 3B.  In .7 miles turn left at the stoplight onto Route 131.  In half a mile the library will be on your left at the stoplight.

If you can’t make this event, you can register for one of the two other introductory events, which will be on August 20 in Wakefield and September 22 in Whately.

New Collections Added to the Digital Commonwealth in May

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We’ve had several new collections added to the Digital Commonwealth this past month. Check out their great contents!

 

American Textile History Museum

Scene from the Pageant of Cape Cod, held on the banks of the Cape Cod Canal. From the Bourne Archive Photographic Collection
Scene from the Pageant of Cape Cod, held on the banks of the Cape Cod Canal. From the Bourne Archive Photographic Collection

American Textile History Museum Image Collection : 449 items

Boston Public Library

Stereograph Collection : 1668 items

Leslie Jones Collections : 400 items added to existing collection

Costume & Set Designs : 243 items

Bourne Archives

Bourne Archives Map Collection : 2 items

Bourne Archives Photograph Collection : 4 items

Flint Public Library 

Local History of Middleton : 2 items

Jamaica Plain Historical Society

Jamaica Plain Historical Society Photo Gallery : 3 items

 

Getting Started with Digital Commonwealth & Free Digitization

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The first in a series of free Introductory Workshops around the state

May 27, 2015 from 10-12 at Jonathan Bourne Library, Bourne, MA

If your institution is looking for a presence in the digital world but you aren’t sure where to start, then this seminar is for you.  Join representatives from the Boston Public Library and the Digital Commonwealth Board in this practical 2-hour seminar that will answer:

  • What is Digital Commonwealth?
  • How does one apply for free digitization?
  • What free services does the Boston Public Library offer?
  • What kind of commitment does an institution have to make to get involved?
  • What are benefits of membership in Digital Commonwealth?

Registration is free to libraries and cultural institutions across the state of Massachusetts.

Register at: http://digitalcommonwealth.memberlodge.org/events

Presenters:  Digital Commonwealth & Boston Public Library Digitization Team

If you can’t make this one, consider these:

  • July 7 2015 – Joshua Hyde Library in Sturbridge (tentative)
  • August 20, 2015 – Lucius Beebe Library in Wakefield
  • Sept. 22, 2015 – MLS Whately Office 10-12

Hope to see you there!

Elizabeth Cousins

Co-Chair, Digital Commonwealth Outreach Committee

New Collections Added to the Digital Commonwealth in March and April

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A lot of new collections have been added to the Digital Commonwealth website since our February post. Here’s the complete list of collections added in March and April.

Collections Added in April:

Griffin Museum

Arthur Griffin Photographs : 3,812 items added to existing collection

Newton Free Library

52 collections: 3,803 items

U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center

Natick Soldier Systems Center Photographic Collection : 2,838 items added to existing collection

Public Library of Brookline

Brookline Public Library Manuscript Collection : 462 items

Whitman Public Library

Ruth Graves Wakefield/Toll House Collection : 16 items

Erving Public Library

Erving Public Library Gravestone Rubbings : 44 items

Plymouth Public Library

Plymouth Tercentenary Photographs : 159 items

Beaman Memorial Library

Beaman Memorial Public Library Historical Collection : 113 items

Chelsea Public Library

City of Chelsea Historical Postcards : 128 items

Great Chelsea Fire of 1908 : 374 items

Hingham Public Library

Scenes from Hingham’s Yesteryears-Hingham Public Library’s Postcard Collection : 210 items

Boston Public Library

Magic Posters : 45 items

Anti-Slavery Collection : 38 items

Eadweard Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion : 783 items

Photographs of the American West : 296 items

Collections Added in March:

Cary Memorial Library

Edwin B. Worthen Collection : 67 items

Cary Library Local History Collection : 2 items

Public Library of Brookline

Brookline Photograph Collection : 605 items added to existing collection

Hatfield Historical Museum

Howes Brothers Glass Slides, Hatfield, Massachusetts, 1882-1907 : 78 items

Old Manuscripts and Deeds : 202 items

Hatfield Local History Collection : 7 items

Lenox Historical Society

Lenox Historical Society Collection : 165 items

Dana Hall School

Nina Heald Webber 1949 Archives Collection : 81 items

Bay Path University

Bay Path University Photograph Collection : 1,062 items

Lancaster Historical Society

Lancaster, Massachusetts Historical Image Collection : 426 items

Lincoln Public Library

Lincoln Town Archives : 6 items

Thomas Crane Public Library

Parker Collection : 5,371 items

Lenox Library Association

Local History Photograph Collection : 1,708 items

Edwin Hale Lincoln Photographs : 567 items

Boston Public Library

Fine and Historic Bookbindings : 352 items

Justin H. Goodstein-Aue Collection : 20 items

Sheet Music Lithograph Covers : 219 items

Archive of Photographic Documentation of Early Massachusetts Architecture : 332 items

NEA Recognizes Digital Commonwealth and BPL

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On March 21st, Digital Commonwealth was co-awarded the New England Archivist’s Archival Advocacy Award along with BPL’s Digital Services. The award was presented on Saturday morning at the NEA business meeting (part of the Spring NEA meeting).

NEA’s former president Alyssa Pacy presented the award and highlighted the work BPL’s Digital Services staff members have been doing to help institutions share content in Digital Commonwealth. Alyssa acknowledged the important work BPL’s digital services staff had been able to for cultural organizations because of federal funding (the initial grant funding), and ongoing state funding.  Amy Ryan thanked the New England Archivists for the award and said she was honored to accept on behalf of the BPL but wanted Tom Blake to say a few words because of all he has done with the work that was being recognized. Tom acknowledged that the BPL’s plan to assist others with digitization tasks when the BPL has over a million items to digitize is ambitious but he feels like it is important and he appreciated the fact that Amy Ryan has been so supportive of the efforts.  He acknowledged the work of all in his department and the receptiveness of the organizations they have assisted.  He thanked everyone from the NEA/MARAC meeting who had volunteered to help with geo-coding at the BPL on Thursday (3/19); this was the “Day of Service” activity offered in conjunction with the conference.

Nancy Heywood accepted the award on behalf of Digital Commonwealth.  Nancy complimented the BPL’s developers for their excellent work on the website and also the excellent work of Tom Blake’s department.  She also had the opportunity to mention that Digital Commonwealth’s partnership with the BPL (in which the BPL takes the lead on the repository and portal) is allowing Digital Commonwealth the non-profit organization to think about programming/events/training sessions that will help the people involved with digitization efforts become knowledgeable about relevant issues. Nancy also thanked everyone who worked at institutions who have contributed content to the Digital Commonwealth website.