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Archive for April, 2010

social media research assistantships (2)

April 26th, 2010

Are you a USF student? Are you social media savvy? Do you want to use your social media skills to reach a wide audience?

We are looking for 2 paid summer undergraduate research assistants to broaden participation in The September Project, a grassroots effort to encourage events about freedom at all libraries in all countries throughout the month of September. Students will be expected to work about 5 hours a week from May 24 - August 24. Pay is based on USF student worker pay scale.

Responsibilities include:

* brainstorming and writing blog posts about participating libraries and librarians (blog);
* maintaining and extending our twitter stream (@septproject);
* maintaining and extending our google map of participants (map); and
* performing general research about local, national, and international libraries and librarians.

Successful candidates will not only have skills and experience with the kinds of social media the September Project currently uses, but also will have creative ideas for and curiosity about new ways to help the project grow and succeed.

To apply:

Submit a resume and cover letter outlining your skills and motivations for applying for this position. Please also include a URL that points to a blog post or other use of social media that you crafted and of which you are particularly proud. Send your application - no later than Monday, May 3rd - to Professor David Silver at the email found on this page. Decisions will be made by May 10.

These social media research assistantships are made possible by USF's Faculty Development Funds (FDF).

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Posted in Feeds, University of San Francisco

Congregational Library, London

April 26th, 2010

Although I collect postal librariana related to libraries throughout the world, most of my posts on the Library History Buff Blog pertain to libraries in the United States. Today (April 26) the Library and Information History Group (LIHG) of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), the United Kingdom's equivalent of the American Library Association, held a one day conference on parochial libraries. So I thought I would do a post about a group of folded letters mailed to the Congregational Library in London in the 19th century. All of the letters are mailed to Reverend Algernon Wells in his capacity as Secretary to the Colonial Missionary Society. The Colonial Missionary Society evidently had its offices at the Congregational Library, but had no other direct connection to the library. The earliest of the letters was mailed in 1838 and the latest in 1844. All of the letters have postal markings, but only the 1842 letter has a postage stamp (shown above). You may know that it was Great Britain that issued the first postage stamp (commonly called the Penny Black) in 1840. The 1840 letter shown above was mailed just a month before the Penny Black became valid for postage on May 7. At the time the letters were mailed the Congregational Library was located on Blomfield Street in Finsbury, a location it occupied from 1831 to 1866. The use of the terminology "parochial library" is more common in the United Kingdom where one of the earliest pieces of legislation was the Parochial Libraries Act of 1708.

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Tags: the american

Sexual Violence Awareness Week Display in Library

April 23rd, 2010

Photo by Rob Guillen

To observe Sexual Violence Awareness Week, the library has a display of tee shirts from the Clothesline Project which were made by USF students. It’s next to the entrance gate, by the fountain.

Along with the tee shirts, there are also library materials and other resources to learn about and prevent sexual violence. All books and videos in the display can be checked out.

You can make a personal pledge against violence too! Just visit the display, trace your hand, and write your pledge on the drawing of your hand.

Thanks to the following library staff members for their help with this display: Carol Spector, Kelci Baughman-McDowell, Locke Morrisey, Lloyd Affholter, Matt Collins, Rob Guillen, and Debbie Benrubi.

Photo by Rob Guillen

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Posted in Feeds, University of San Francisco

One of 5 Most Beautiful Reading Rooms

April 23rd, 2010

Today I visited the newly renovated library reading room at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison. After its renovation I believe that it is one of the five most beautiful reading rooms in America. Others in my opinion include the main reading room in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, the main reading room of the New York Public Library's Research Division, and Bates Hall of the Boston Public Library. I invite you to nominate one or more libraries to complete or include in the top five most beautiful library reading rooms. When the American Library Association met in Waukesha in 1901, conference attendees came to Madison to visit the newly completed building of the Wisconsin Historical Society and, "There was but one opinion of the entire party in regard to the beauty and arrangement of the building, and that was satisfactory to the highest degree."

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Tags: the american

Gleeson Library is Celebrating National Poetry Month…

April 23rd, 2010

And you can, too!

Check out a book (or multiple books!) from our National Poetry Month display, featuring Bay Area and California Poets:

and join us at the 2nd Annual Staff and Faculty Poetry Reading on Thursday, April 29th @ 5:30pm in the Library’s Rare Book Room:

See you soon!

(Special thanks to Rob Guillen for the photos of our display and to Rob Kroenert for letting us use his awesome photograph of St. Ignatius on our flyer).