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• Alumni Horae Digital Archive Launch

  29May

  Categories: Archives, Databases, Library News, Web Resources Click Here To Comment: 0 Comments

  By Lisa Laughy - Library Web Services
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  Lisa Laughy – Archives Assistant

  Ohrstrom Library is proud to announce a special Anniversary Weekend preview of the newly launched Alumni Horae Digital Archive.

  

  Alumni Horae, the St. Paul’s School alumni magazine, is published four times a year by the Alumni Association in order to engage the alumni community of SPS, to connect alumni to each other, and to enrich the School community. The magazine contains alumni news, features, book reviews, Form notes, and obituaries as well as information about current School life and athletics.

  The entire print run of the St. Paul’s School alumni magazine, has been scanned and is now accessible online. Every issue of the Alumni Horae from 1921 to the present has been professionally scanned using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to create a searchable online database.  The articles are also available in PDF format, which reproduces every page of the Alumni Horae as it was originally published, including all diagrams, tables, and photographs.  The PDF files are available for downloading and printing.

  Click HERE to access the Alumni Horae Digital Archive.

  Click HERE to access the user’s guide to searching and browsing the archive.

  Tags: alumni, Alumni Association, Alumni Horae, alumni magazine, Anniversary Weekend, archive, Archives, digital archive, OCR, online database, St. Paul's School

• New Reference Book: The Encyclopedia of Taoism

  26May

  Categories: History, Humanities, Religion, Research Click Here To Comment: 0 Comments

  By Lisa Laughy - Library Web Services
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  Lura Sanborn – Reference Librarian

  The Encyclopedia of Taoism edited by Fabrizio Pregadio, Routledge, 2008.

  Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 299.51 P91T

  This 2-volume set describes the history, traditions and principles of Taoism. The encyclopedia is divided into 5 main thematic sections:

  1. Overview – including entries related to: Scriptures and Texts, Deities and Spirits, Sacred Sites
  2. The Taoist Universe – including entries related to: Doctrinal Notions, Transcendence and Immortality, Mountains and Mountain Monographs
  3. History- including entries related to: Pre-Han and Han Background, Shangqing, Contemporary Taoism
  4. Forms of Religious Practice and Experience – including entries related to: Meditation, Alchemy, Ritual
  5. Taoism and Chinese Buddhism- including entries related to: Persons, Texts

  Two additional, shorter, sections are included at the end of volume two: Miscellaneous Terms Related to Religious Ideas and Practices and Associations.

  Helpful for: Chinese Studies, Religious Studies, Asian Studies, Humanities

  Tags: Asian Studies, Buddhism, Chinese Studies, Humanities, New Reference Book, reference, Religious Studies, Research, Taoism

• New Reference Book: Nature and the Environment in 20th-Century American Life

  21May

  Categories: Geography, History, Natural Sciences, Research, Social Sciences Click Here To Comment: 0 Comments

  By Lisa Laughy - Library Web Services
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  Lura Sanborn – Reference Librarian

  Nature and the Environment in 20th-Century American Life by Brian Black, Westport: Greenwood, 2006.

  Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 304.2 B56N20

  Did recent Earth Day activities generate an interest in topics related to the environment?  This new reference book is a great way to continue fueling the inspiration.  Read about oil and the automobile, the evolution of the National Park Service and/or the Donora Smog of 1948.  Dozens of additional topics are covered and discussed in this new source.  Photos and primary texts are scattered throughout the volume.

  Helpful for: Humanities IV, U.S. History Research, Environmental Research

  Tags: environment, environmental science, Humanities IV, nature, New Reference Book, Research, U.S. History, United States

• New Reference Book: Landmarks and Pioneers in American Science

  19May

  Categories: History, Humanities, Natural Sciences, Research, Social Sciences Click Here To Comment: 0 Comments

  By Lisa Laughy - Library Web Services
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  Lura Sanborn – Reference Librarian

  Research and Discovery: Landmarks and Pioneers in American Science edited by Russell Lawson, M.E. Sharpe, 2008.

  

  Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 509 L44R

  This three volumes set presents scientific biographies, topics and inventions from fourteen different branches of science.  A handful of primary source documents conclude each section.

  Read about Weather in Early America, John Josselyn’s Description of Seventeenth-Century Fauna, Psychoanalysis in America, Count Rumford and/or browse the entry on New Hampshire’s own Mary Baker Eddy and her connection to Medicine & Health.

  Helpful for: Science, Humanities IV, Ecology

  Photo credit:

  Count von Rumford, Benjamin Thompson. Essays, Political, Economical, and Philosophical. 2 vols. Boston: Manning & Loring, 1799. Thomas Jefferson’s Library. Lib. of Congress. 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefflib.html>.

  Tags: Count Rumford, Ecology, Humanities IV, New Reference Book, primary sources, psychoanalysis, reference, Research, Science, weather

• Postcards from the Past: SPS Historic Postcard Exhibit

  15May

  Categories: Archives, Library News Click Here To Comment: 0 Comments

  By Lisa Laughy - Library Web Services
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  Lisa Laughy - Archives Assistant

  

  The Historic Postcard online exhibit has now been updated to reflect the redesign of the Ohrstrom Library website.  Originally created in 2006, the exhibit has a new look as well as some new features.

  Here is a description of the exhibit excerpted from the “About” page:

  The SPS Historical Postcard exhibit presents images of St. Paul’s School from the late 1800s to the present. The scenes and buildings depicted by these postcards provide glimpses of the School as it has grown and changed over the decades. Images of vanished buildings, unfamiliar perspectives on buildings still in service, and of the School’s changing landscape (for example, the School’s stately elm trees from the days before Dutch Elm disease) offer an evocative mixture of the familiar and the unfamiliar, and invite us to view the School today with a fresh perspective.

  The exhibit contains 79 postcard images gathered from the SPS Archives and loaned by friends of St. Paul’s School.  It includes individual pages for each postcard and a slideshow of all 79 postcard images.  Images are of vistas of years past, including familiar as well as “vanished” buildings.

  Read more about the Postcard Exhibit HERE.

  Access the Postcard Exhibit Galleries and Slideshow HERE.

  Tags: Archives, archives exhibit, History, Ohrstrom Library, postcards, St. Paul's School

• World Collections Online: Expanding our Global Perspective

  14May

  Categories: Fine Arts, History, Humanities, Research, Technology, Web Resources Click Here To Comment: 0 Comments

  By Lisa Laughy - Library Web Services
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  Lura Sanborn – Reference Librarian

  The World Digital Library is a partnership between UNESCO and the U.S. Library of Congress.  The site aims to provide free access to digitized treasures currently housed in libraries, museums & other institutions around the world.

  Search by keyword or browse using different methods including: place, time or topic.

  

  Europeana is collaboration between dozens of European institutions including: museums, libraries, archives and galleries.  Currently housing 4 million items, the project aims to have 10 million items online in 2010.

  Search for James Bond, Descartes, hippos or Alice in Wonderland.  Searches may be further narrowed by item type including: texts, images, videos and sounds.

  

  Helpful for:  Humanities III, Humanities IV, Humanities V, Religious Studies, Art, Science, books, Primary Sources

  Tags: Art, books, Humanities III, Humanities IV, Humanities V, primary sources, Religious Studies, Science

• New Reference Book: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History

  12May

  Categories: History, Humanities, Literature, Research, Social Sciences Click Here To Comment: 0 Comments

  By Lisa Laughy - Library Web Services
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  Lura Sanborn – Reference Librarian

  The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History edited by Bonnie G. Smith, Oxford University Press, 2008.

  Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 305.4 Ox25W

  Browse through this new 4-volume set with 1250 entries focused on women’s issues.  The encyclopedia looks at the lives of individual women worldwide from the perspective of culture, work, politics, religion, health, achievements and activity.

  A sampling of topics include: Capitalism, Explorers and Exploration, Food Riots, International Lesbian and Gay Association, Islamic Empires.

  Individual biographical entries include: Queen of Zaria Aminatu, Empress Wu Zetian, and Big Mama Thornton.

  Helpful for: Humanities V, Humanities IV, Women’s Studies, World History, Global Studies

  Tags: Global Studies, Humanities IV, Humanities V, New Reference Book, reference, Research, Women's History, Women’s Studies, World History

• Primary Source Round-up: Something for Everyone

  08May

  Categories: Databases, History, Humanities, Periodicals, Research, Web Resources Click Here To Comment: 0 Comments

  By Lura Sanborn - Reference Librarian
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  Lura Sanborn - Reference Librarian

  Gathering primary sources for your Fifth Form paper?  Ohrstrom Library offers the following sources and suggestions:

  Online Databases:
  These databases, available through the Library’s website, are those most commonly used by Fifth Formers looking for primary source periodical material.

  • London Times – Provides the full-text of this newspaper from 1785-1985.

  • Historical Newspaper Collection – Provides the full-text of 6 major U.S. newspapers from 1851 through the early 2000s.

  • JSTOR – features a collection of 750+ journals, most dating from at least the 1800s forward.  (Note, be sure to watch the date.  A recent article on your topic represents current research, not a likely primary source.)

  Books – More Primary Source Potential:
  You can locate primary sources published in book form by using the following terms as subject searches in the Library’s Online Catalog.  Or, conduct a keyword search using one term below combined with your topic (i.e. Correspondence, Darwin; or Sources, Inquisition).

  • Correspondence
  • Diaries
  • Interviews
  • Personal narratives
  • Speeches
  • Sources

  

  Frequently, primary sources are embedded within books considered secondary sources.  For example, a book about the Cold War may contain the text of a relevant speech, letter and/or legal document.

  Venturing Online – Visit the Library @ Delicious:
  The Library has begun collecting high quality websites in its own Delicious account.  Click on the “Primary Sources” tag to generate a list of websites housing exceptional collections of primary sources.  Top picks are also listed in the Fifth Form paper research guide.

  

  Google Advanced Search Techniques:
  As a final online tip, try searching your subject in Google, but first, limit the domain to .edu and add the word archives to your search string.  If a University or College library has digitized a special collection in your area of research, this search could help you find it.

  

  

  Tags: Databases, Delicious, Google, primary sources, WebCat

• New Reference Book: The Oxford Companion to the Year

  07May

  Categories: History, Humanities, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Religion, Research, Social Sciences Click Here To Comment: 0 Comments

  By Lisa Laughy - Library Web Services
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  Lura Sanborn – Reference Librarian

  The Oxford Companion to the Year by Bonnie Blackburn & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, Oxford, 2003.

  Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 529.3 B560

  The first half of this volume offers a day-by-day listing of associated events and people.  The focus is on British and U.S. events with some non-western celebrations included.

  The second half of the volume describes the history of the Christian calendar and major non-Christian calendars.

  Helpful for: Celebrations, Browsing, History of the Calendar

  Photo credit:

  
  

  Tags: calendar, calendrics, Gregorian calendar, holidays, holy days, Humanities, Humanities IV, Humanities V, Julian calendar, lunar calendar, New Reference Book, reference, Research, solar calendar

• New Reference Book: Handbook to Life in the Medieval World

  05May

  Categories: History, Humanities, Research, Social Sciences Click Here To Comment: 0 Comments

  By Lura Sanborn - Reference Librarian
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  Lura Sanborn – Reference Librarian

  Handbook to Life in the Medieval World by Madeleine Pelner Cosman and Linda Gale Jones, Facts On File, 2008.

  Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 909.07 F11H

  Divided into twelve topics, this reference set presents daily life during medieval times.  Topics are presented from the viewpoint of medieval Christians, Jews and Muslims.
  A sampling of topics include: Warfare & Weapons (including an entry on Women’s Arms), Mysticism & Magic (including an entry on Alchemy), and Clothing, Costume & Textiles (including an entry on Fashionable Hats and Headgear).

  Helpful for: Humanities, History, Religious & Social Studies.

  Tags: Alchemy, History, Humanities, Medieval Christianity, Medieval Clothing, Medieval Judiasm, Medieval Muslims, Medieval Warfare, Medieval Weapons, Religious Studies, Social Studies