Treasures of the Collection: Official War Records Part III (post-Civil War)

Official War Records Part III (post-Civil War)

After the Civil war the U.S. military engaged in a number of conflicts, among them; the Spanish-American War, various Caribbean military interventions in the early 20th century, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts.  Most, but not all, of these conflicts were the subject of official government histories.    For the Spanish American War and the Caribbean interventions, no “official” government histories were written.  However after World War I the Historical Section of the Army War College wrote a 17 volume official history of the conflict and the Army’s participation in it.   Published in 1948 and republished in 1988 by the Center for Military History (CMH), these 17 volumes comprise the official record of the Army Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in Europe in 1917-1918.   Hewes library has the 1988 republication found at D114.8:

In the middle of World War II, the Army created the General Staff historical branch in July 1943 which is now known as CMH.  This organization composed of historians, translators, editors, and cartographers began the publication of the Army’s official history of World War II.  Now comprising 79 volumes, the Green Books as they are called are a detailed accounting of all aspects of the Army’s participation in that war.   Go downstairs to the Ds and look for the green backed books.  These will all be volumes in the Army’s official history (but some of the titles are tan, not green).  There are also official Marine Corps histories of the conflict found in the same section. 

Subsequently, CMH wrote a series of books on the Army’s participation in the Korean and Vietnam Wars and is currently writing a history of the Cold War.  The Navy and Air Force historians have also written histories of those services’ participation in various conflicts.  

All of the more recent military histories, regardless of service are found in the D section of the basement.  Here is a breakdown of the areas to check for more these histories.
Air Force Histories: D 301
Army Histories: D 114.7
Marine Corps: D 214.13
Navy Histories:  D 207.10 and D 221.2

Digital Public Library of America

The Digital Public Library of America recently launched and strives to collect and make available the contents of libraries around the country.  It's mission states:

"The Digital Public Library of America brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. It strives to contain the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science. The DPLA aims to expand this crucial realm of openly available materials, and make those riches more easily discovered and more widely usable and used, through its three main elements:
1. A portal that delivers students, teachers, scholars, and the public to incredible resources, wherever they may be in America. Far more than a search engine, the portal provides innovative ways to search and scan through the united collection of millions of items, including by timeline, map, format, and topic.
2. A platform that enables new and transformative uses of our digitized cultural heritage. With an application programming interface (API) and maximally open data, the DPLA can be used by software developers, researchers, and others to create novel environments for learning, tools for discovery, and engaging apps.
3. An advocate for a strong public option in the twenty-first century. For most of American history, the ability to access materials for free through public libraries has been a central part of our culture, producing generations of avid readers and a knowledgeable, engaged citizenry. The DPLA will work, along with like-minded organizations and individuals, to ensure that this critical, open intellectual landscape remains vibrant and broad in the face of increasingly restrictive digital options. The DPLA will seek to multiply openly accessible materials to strengthen the public option that libraries represent in their communities."
 

Visit their website to view a few of their current digital exhibitions, including The Great Depression and New Deal, Indomitable Spirits: Prohibition, and This is Your Land: Parks and Recreation. 

Preservation Week: More Web Resources

Learn more about Preservation Week on the web from the following resources:

ALCTS Preservation Week: www.ala.org/preservationweek

Site provides information and ideas to help you celebrate Preservation Week. It includes a Speakers

Bureau, tip sheets, links to basic and extensive preservation information, and information about programs to be offered during Preservation Week. It is complemented by an ALA Preservation@Your Library web page for the general public.

 

American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works: Caring for

Your Treasures

Guidance for care of common categories of collections, printable as handsome two-sided 8.5 x 11” broadsides.  Heritage Preservation: Heritage Health Index and The Caring Books and Downloadable Documents. These provide valuable preservation information, with extremely useful information about responding to sudden emergencies in collections.

Institute of Museum and Library Services, Connecting to Collections
Links to online resources, grouped by category, at http://www.imls.gov/collections/index.htm, and a
bibliography of collections care titles distributed as a bookshelf to more than 2,500 local libraries and
museums (http://www.imls.gov/news/2008/080508_list.shtm). Includes hard-to-find categories like
audio-visual and digital materials. Information includes video and news about IMLS’s national conservation initiative.

Library of Congress: Preservation
Includes simple instructions for preserving family treasures and caring for collections with links to more comprehensive information grouped by topic and type of material.

Society of American Archivists: Preservation
Selected Links to Preservation Web Sites, Links to a wide variety of Web sites with preservation information useful to archivists and archives, among others.  Memories and treasures should last a lifetime and be passed on to future generations. President Obama once wrote, “Part of America's genius has always been its ability to absorb newcomers, to forge a national identity out of the disparate lot that arrived on our shores.” The memories and treasures of individuals, families, and communities are essential to our record of this process—they contribute to our understanding of history and its participants just as collections in libraries, museums, and archives do.

-Excerpted from What is Preservation Week?

Preservation Week: Charles Wilt on Preservation

Charles Wilt, ALCTS Executive Director, shares his thoughts on Preservation Week:

Pre-Finals and Finals Week Hours, Spring 2013

The library's pre-finals hours begin today!  We'll be open late on Friday and Saturday nights and opening early on Sunday morning so you can finish those last minute papers and projects.

 Pre-Finals & Finals Week, Spring 2013 (April 26 - May 8)

• Friday, April 26: 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
• Saturday, April 27: 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
• Sunday, April 28: 9:00 a.m. - Midnight
• Monday - Wednesday, April 29 - May 1: 7:30 a.m. - Midnight
• Thursday - Friday, May 2 - 3: 7:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
• Saturday - Sunday, May 4 - 5: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
• Monday - Tuesday, May 6 - 7: 7:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
• Wednesday, May 8: 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m

Preservation Week: The FUNadmentals of Book Care

Originally created for National Library Week by George Mason University Libraries. The short film provides informative lessons about preservation and proper book care.

Preservation Week: Preserving Your Memories

In addition to preserving materials housed in libraries - have you ever considered ways to preserve your family memories?  The Preservation Week: Pass It On theme also include personal, family treasures that need care and attention.  Depending on the material type, different steps and processes will be required to ensure the long term care of your item.

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services maintains a Preserving Your Memories section, which highlights reviewed resources for preservation of paper, photographs, and more. 

A few highlights include:

• Preserving Works on Paper: Manuscripts, Drawings, Prints, Posters, Maps, Documents from the Library of Congress
• Care of Photographs from the Northeast Document Conservation Center
• Storage Enclosures for Photographic Materials from the Northeast Document Conservation Center
• Caring for your Treasures: Books from the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works
• Caring for Textiles from the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works
• Care, Handling, and Storage of Motion Picture Film from The Library of Congress

Extended pre-finals library hours begin Friday!

Hewes Library will be open additional hours this weekend in anticipation of finals coming up.  We'll be open later on Friday and Saturday night as well as early on Sunday morning.

Pre-Finals & Finals Week, Spring 2013 (April 26 - May 8)

• Friday, April 26: 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
• Saturday, April 27: 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
• Sunday, April 28: 9:00 a.m. - Midnight
• Monday - Wednesday, April 29 - May 1: 7:30 a.m. - Midnight
• Thursday - Friday, May 2 - 3: 7:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
• Saturday - Sunday, May 4 - 5: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
• Monday - Tuesday, May 6 - 7: 7:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
• Wednesday, May 8: 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m

Preservation Week: Steve Berry

Steve Berry, New York Times best-selling author, is the first national spokesperson for Preservation Week. Berry started as spokesperson in January 2012 with an appearance at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, where he gave the keynote presentation at the Preservation Week 2012 Kick Off, sponsored by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS). He also commented on his role and the Preservation Week initiative in a YouTube video. - From ALCTS

 

Preservation Week: The Facts

Preservation Week @ your library: Fact Sheet from the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS)

 

Why is preservation important?

 

In 2005 the first comprehensive national survey of the condition and preservation needs of the nation’s collections reported that U.S. institutions hold more than 4.8 billion items. Libraries alone hold 3 billion items (63 percent of the whole). A treasure trove of uncounted additional items is held by individuals, families, and communities.

 

Some 630 million items in collecting institutions require immediate attention and care. Eighty percent of these institutions have no paid staff assigned responsibility for collections care; 22 percent have no collections care personnel at all. Some 2.6 billion items are not protected by an emergency plan. As natural disasters of recent years have taught us, these resources are in jeopardy should a disaster strike. Personal, family, and community collections are equally at risk.

 

 Key environmental factors that place collections at risk:

• Light: Ultraviolet rays from natural and artificial sources can cause fading and disintegration.
• Pollutants: Dust is abrasive and can accelerate harmful chemical reactions.
• Heat: High temperatures can accelerate deterioration.
• Moisture: High humidity promotes mold growth, corrosion, and degradation, while excessive dryness can cause drying and cracking. Fluctuations between extremes can cause warping, buckling and flaking.

Key items that should be preserved include historical materials that are unpublished and one-of-a-kind, such as:

• architectural drawings
• artifacts
• audio and video recordings
• diaries
• genealogical information
• letters
• maps
• memoirs/reminiscences
• minutes/reports
• photo albums and photographs
• printed materials
• professional and business papers
• speeches/lectures*

* Source: Utah State History website

 

Preservation Fast Facts

• More than 4.8 Billion Artifacts are held in public trust by more than 30,000 archives, historical societies, libraries, museums, scientific research collections, and archaeological repositories in the United States. 1.3 billion of these items are at risk of being lost.
• Roughly 70 percent of institutions need additional conservation/preservation training for their staff and volunteers.
• A majority of collecting institutions, more than 80 percent, do not have a disaster plan in place that can be executed by trained staff.
• Nearly a quarter of all the 21 million paintings, sculptures, and works of decorative art in U.S. collections need conservation treatment or improved care and conditions.
• More than 50 percent of collecting institutions have had their collections damaged by light.
• More than 65 percent of collecting institutions report damage to their collections due to improper storage.

 *Source: “A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections,” Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/preserv/tops/laise/index.html

 

Excerpted from ALCTS.  For more information on ALCTS and its work please visit www.ala.org/alcts.