Articles tagged with: Archives and Special Collections

  • The Archives First Hashtag Party – #ArchivesBlackEducation

    Monday, February 08, 2021 | By

    Stylized text reading #ArchivesHashtagParty

    The US National Archives hosts a monthly “hashtag party” that encourages archives worldwide to post an item from their collections to Twitter and Instagram. Over the past three years, diverse monthly themes have included: weather, ancestors, baking, and movies. This February, the Brock University Archives participated for the first time with the timely subject being #ArchivesBlackEducation.  We reached into our popular Rick Bell Family Fonds:

    Certificate of Admission to St. Catharines Collegiate presented to Richard Nelson Bell in 1925.

    This certificate was awarded to Richard Nelson Bell of St. Catharines, Ontario in 1925 giving him admission to attend the local high school.   Descended from former slaves who came to Canada after the Civil War, Richard was among the first of this generation of Bell family members to attend high school.

    More rich history can be discovered through the Rick Bell Family fonds in the Brock University Digital Repository.

    Keep an eye out for next month’s archives hashtag party!

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    Categories: Archives, Main

  • Terry O’Malley: a legendary career in advertising

    Thursday, November 19, 2020 | By

    Terry O'Malley in front of Archives display

    In 2003 Terry O’Malley, advertising ace and St. Catharines local,  donated a substantial archive of correspondence, notes, scripts, sketches, campaign materials, awards, video, audio, and scrapbooks to Brock University Archives and Special Collections. The trove offers a glimpse into the creative mind of one of Canada’s marketing legends.

    Now, the Library’s Archives and Special Collections and Digital Scholarship Lab bring the O’Malley Archive directly to your fingertips in a new digital exhibit. The content features some of the major ad campaigns developed over the course of Terry O’Malley’s remarkable career including  memorable commercials from the late 1960s to the 1990s.

    Tonight marks the 20th annual Terry O’Malley Lecture in Marketing and Advertising. The event was created by O’Malley as a way to expose Brock students to the world of marketing.  This evening’s virtual lecture “Looking back, to see the future” will be presented by Chris Powell and David Brown, co-founders and editors of The Message.

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    Categories: Archives, Main

  • Welcome and Welcome Back!

    Friday, August 28, 2020 | By

    What's New graphic

    What’s new? We’re so glad you asked. Our team has been hard at work refining Library online services and supports to serve you. We encourage you to keep up with changes to our usual services and resources by reading our Library Services and Resources Amid COVID-19 webpage.

    If you are new to Brock – in any capacity, we invite you to peruse our Discover Your Library orientation site.

    Over the summer, Access Services staff developed and rolled out a print materials pickup service to instructors, graduate students and post doctoral researchers. Keep an eye on our website for details about the expansion of this service to additional user groups this term.

    While not brand new, we are pleased to announce the library scanning service has resumed. Open to all in the Brock community, making a request for a pdf scan of a chapter from a print book or journal article is easier than ever. Learn more about requesting a scan via Omni.

    Instructors at Brock are now able to self-upload their course reserve readings to Ares. Step-by-step instructions as well as video demonstrations are available for faculty interested in trying this out.

    When the Brock University Smart Start Team moved their programming online, we followed suit and offered our Top 10 Tips for new students. As orientation continues, all Library extra-curricular learning opportunities are posted on ExperienceBU. Among the myriad listings, we invite you to embark on your own Library Quest, take a mid-week Library Yoga break, develop your citation management competencies with Zotero, and get introduced to Vector Design for CNC.

    Brock University Library is now a member partner of HathiTrust and has signed onto its Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS). ETAS provides electronic read-only access to approximately 30% of our in-copyright print collections. In addition, over 4 million worldwide public domain items already accessible in HT. The service is available to all current Brock University faculty, students, and staff. Learn more.

    For the immediate future, the Archives & Special Collections is closed to the public. However, the staff of the Archives is still working.  Direct any questions or needs to archives@brocku.ca.  They will do their best to assist you.  You can also find many of their digitized materials in the Brock University Digital Repository.

    During the pandemic, Archives staff have been creating digital exhibits featuring some of the collections and records that we have in the Archives.  See some of the rich history that we have in our collections.

    In March, the Archives and Digital Scholarship Lab Teams started to collect stories, questions/answers, photos, videos, and other materials that chronicle the pandemic in the Niagara area.  To contribute to this project and have your experiences and thoughts preserved into the future, go to our COVID-19 in Niagara website and add your stories.

    The Digital Scholarship Lab in conjunction with the Map, Data & GIS Library invite you to learn from their expertise with their Fall Workshop Series. In addition, both the DSL and MDGL invite you to get ‘hands-on’ by plotting your hometown and entering the Data Visualization Contest.

    Our Makerspace Team invite you to take a virtual tour of their new facilities. Workshops will continue online for the fall term and their website features a new FAQ.

    Stay up-to-date by keeping an eye on the website and our social media channels – Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for any changes or expansion in services as the term progresses.

    The Library Team wish you all the best for a successful start to the fall term.

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  • Brock University cover art on display

    Tuesday, December 03, 2019 | By

    The Matheson Learning Commons digital art wall is displaying the cover art of various publications from Brock University since 1964.

    From these works, you can see the changing graphic art styles, how Brock promoted itself to prospective students, and special milestones in our over 50 year history.

    The originals books can be found in the Brock University Archives & Special Collections located on the 10th floor of the Library.

     

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    Categories: Featured Collections, Main

  • On Display: Getting Graphic: 50+ Years of Representing Brock

    Thursday, September 05, 2019 | By

    On your travels across campus, take a moment or two to view Getting Graphic, the latest exhibit by University Archivist, David Sharron.

    Located at the Thistle entrance to the Learning Commons, the display cases feature past logos for Brock Athletics, the University Coat of Arms, a classic ad from Time Magazine and even a nod to Star Wars!

    Intrigued? Stop by the exhibit and learn the strategy behind some of the University’s most successful promotional campaigns. Getting Graphic runs to Friday, September 13.

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    Categories: Featured Collections, Main

  • On Display: Origins of Niagara’s Winescapes

    Friday, July 05, 2019 | By

    When enjoying a glass of wine from the Niagara region, have you ever thought, how did this wine come to be? The Origins of Niagara’s Winescape exhibit features artifacts from the Brock University Archives the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute. The exhibit explores the lasting legacy of Niagara’s wineries – from the first grape growers in the 1850s to the present. The exhibit runs until the end of July in the James A. Gibson Library, and will then move to the Brock University Archives.

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    Categories: Featured Collections, Main

  • How to Draw a Pig Blindfolded

    Wednesday, June 26, 2019 | By

    Line drawings of pigs

    Have you ever wondered who Sean O’Sullivan is and why Brock University has a theatre named after him?  Have you pondered over Brock Library’s namesake James A. Gibson? Or perhaps you’ve contemplated what it takes to be a bee keeper or how to draw a pig blindfolded?

    Well if you have or even if you haven’t mused over such musings, your interest must certainly be piqued!  You’re encouraged to take a peak at some of the curiosities and treasures held in Brock’s Archives and Special Collections by accessing some exceptional new online exhibits.

    Special Collections staff have been hard at work digitizing their collection to make it more accessible to you and in partnership with the Brock Digital Scholarship Lab they have been developing intriguing online exhibits to showcase their many resources.

    By visiting these online exhibits you will learn about who Sean O’Sullivan was, see wrestling trading cards from the 1930’s, learn about Niagara’s very own Alexander Hamilton, explore the Welland Canals, and view photographs of a very young St. Catharines! You can even read a letter that the 1941 Toronto Maple Leaf’s coach Hap Day wrote to St. Catharines Mayor Charles Daley under the instruction of Conn Smythe! This list of prized content truly does not do the collection justice.

    Visit the following links to explore and experience the Brock Special Collections for yourself:

    https://exhibits.library.brocku.ca/s/sean-o-sullivan/page/introduction

    https://exhibits.library.brocku.ca/s/ArchivalApps/page/ArchivalAppsWelcome

    For more information on the Archives and Special Collections visit:  https://brocku.ca/library/collections/special-collections-archives/ or drop by the 10th floor of the Schmon Tower.

    If you are interested in how these exhibits were created using the platform Omeka S and would like to learn how you can create your own exhibit, contact the Brock Digital Scholarship Lab at: dsl@brocku.ca and visit https://brocku.ca/library/dsl/.

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    Categories: Digital Scholarship Lab, Main

  • Digital Exhibit Brings to Life the Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald Archival Fonds

    Thursday, May 23, 2019 | By

    Black and white portrait of Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald

    The Brock University Archives and Special Collections has again partnered with the Digital Scholarship Lab to create a digital exhibit showcasing one of their unique collections.  This particular exhibit features a guided history of the life and literature of Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald, which was developed by Shauna Ribaric, Digital Resource Assistant.

    Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald (1857-1947) was raised in Rockwood, Ontario and was home schooled, unlike her brothers who attended Rockwood Academy, a boarding school owned and operated by their father William.  Eventually Wetherald attended boarding schools in both the United States and Ontario and went on to develop a real talent for writing. She was a contributing author for The Toronto Globe, writing on a variety of topics, but was also a highly respected poet. In this exhibit, Ribaric takes a very thoughtful approach to not only providing a snapshot of Wetherald’s life, but also highlights how her life influenced her writing and displays how the subject matter of Wetherald’s writing changed over time as a reflection of the changes that took place throughout her life.

    Creating a digital exhibit such as this is not a quick and easy process.  Ribaric has done a remarkable job of analyzing an entire archival collection to tell one woman’s story.  Ribaric explained the approach she took when developing her project: “I had scanned some material from this collection for the Digital Repository, but quickly found that an exhibit required a different perspective.  I did some research using some of the books in Archives and Special Collections (included in my source list) and decided to do a chronological approach to Ethelwyn’s life.  There were quite a few moments in her life that seemed to impact her writing style and I found it interesting how life influences both style and subject matter in Ethelwyn’s writing.  The items I chose had to reveal more of her life story instead of just revealing items in the collection.”

    This collection was brought to life using Omeka, a publishing platform for sharing digital collections, just one of many useful tools supported by the Digital Scholarship Lab. Ribaric and her colleagues in the Archives and Special Collections have spent quite a bit of time learning how to use this tool to share content: “It’s a great way to exhibit our diverse collections and shine a spotlight on important figures or events in our area. A completely different way for our users to experience our Archives. These kinds of exhibits enable us to reveal some of the interesting work happening in the Archives and Special Collections.  A digital exhibit can be a great way to share a glimpse of a collection, but also link the user to a finding aid that includes so much more.  Our collections also become much more accessible to the broader Niagara community who may be interested in certain historical figures/events from our area.  Digital is the direction that our users are moving and I think it’s important that we keep ourselves relevant for researchers both in the Brock community and beyond.  The digital repository has allowed us to connect with researchers internationally and I think Omeka will continue to support the effort to reach as many researchers as possible.”

    To view the Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald Fonds or other unique collections, visit the Brock Arcvhies and Special Collections located on the 10th floor of the Schmon Tower in the James A. Gibson Library. For more information visit their website.

    If you are interested in learning more about Omeka or other digital tools, please contact the Digital Scholarship Lab at dsl@brocku.ca or visit their website.

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    Categories: Digital Scholarship Lab, Featured Collections, Main

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