Tag Archives: archives

How To #Scan 50 Miles of #Historical Documents Into an #Online #Archive | Gizmodo #VeniceTimeMachine #tech #digital #preservation #digitization

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Tracking the lightning quick development of modern cities is easy with Google Street View, but the [Venice Time Machine] project aims to provide context for the past 1,000 years of urban evolution in Venice, Italy. The Venice Time Machine will digitize and catalog a staggering amount of historical documents—a combined 50 miles worth of shelves!—then turn the data into an internet archive and adaptable 3D model. READ MORE: How To Scan 50 Miles of Historical Documents Into an Online Archive | Gizmodo

Chicago Artist Theaster Gates and the Stony Island #Art Bank | CityLab #crowdfunding #community #buildings #historic #archives

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Chicago’s first-ever Architecture Biennial served as a staging ground for wild pavilions, exhibits, and installations. The fair also coincided with the debut of a major new artwork: the Stony Island Art Bank. Theaster Gates bought the Prohibition-era Stony Island Trust & Savings Bank building from the city of Chicago for $1. Yes, there was a catch: The artist had to raise the $3.7 million it would take to rehabilitate the building and put it to new use. Gates did the thing that you’re never supposed to do with a historic building: He started pulling it apart, piece by piece. READ MORE: Chicago Artist Theaster Gates and the Stony Island Art Bank | CityLab

Recent #Terrorism, #Disaster and #Transparency Events Related to #Publishing, #Libraries, #Archives and #Museums

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A worrying trend. A way for ordinary citizens to challenge ignorance, censorship, intellectual freedom and freedom of speech is simply to stay informed and be aware of recent events:

From 2014

Smithsonian’s @Kickstarter to Show Neil Armstrong’s Spacesuit Blasts Past Goal | Mashable #libraries #museums

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May inspire other museums, libraries and archives to launch Kickstarter campaigns!

When the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum launched Reboot the Suit, a Kickstarter campaign to preserve and display Neil Armstrong’s iconic Apollo 11 spacesuit, they set a goal of $500,000. With two hours left of the campaign, they’ve raised over $715,000 from more than 9,400 backers. READ MORE: Smithsonian’s Kickstarter to show Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit blasts past goal | Mashable.

Student Finds Old Parchment In University Library, Turns Out It’s Probably The World’s Oldest Quran | HuffPost #Quran #libraries #artifacts #religion

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http://embed.live.huffingtonpost.com/HPLEmbedPlayer/?segmentId=55aff7fd02a76081990002ef&autoPlay=false
A Ph.D. student who stumbled upon several ancient pieces of paper hidden in another book may have inadvertently discovered pages from the world’s oldest Quran, researchers at the University of Birmingham in England announced Wednesday.

Radiocarbon dating estimates the pages, likely made of sheep or goat skin, are 1,370 years old, the BBC reports. The testing is more than 95 percent accurate, meaning the parchment is probably from the era of Prophet Muhammad, who is thought to have lived between the years 570 and 632. READ MORE: Student Finds Old Parchment In University Library, Turns Out It’s Probably The World’s Oldest Quran | Huffington Post.

Digital #Storytelling: An Opportunity for #Libraries to Lead in the Digital Age | Dr. Brian Detlor | Slideshare #tech #society

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African American Family Records from Era of Slavery to Be Available Free Online | The Guardian #genealogy #archives

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Millions of African Americans will soon be able to trace their families through the era of slavery, some to the countries from which their ancestors were snatched, thanks to a new and free online service that is digitizing a huge cache of federal records for the first time.

Handwritten records collecting information on newly freed slaves that were compiled just after the civil war will be available for easy searches through a new website, it was announced on Friday.

The records belong to the Freedmen’s Bureau, an administrative body created by Congress in 1865 to assist slaves in 15 states and the District of Columbia transition into free citizenship. READ MORE: African American family records from era of slavery to be available free online | Life and style | The Guardian.

Copy of Original #StarWars Script Discovered in UNB Library | CBC News #libraries

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Deep in the archives of the University of New Brunswick’s library in Saint John, a famous movie script sat forgotten and collecting dust. It tells the tales of a galaxy far, far away — and no one knows how it got there.

READ MORE: Copy of original Star Wars script discovered in UNB library | New Brunswick | CBC News.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets, All 154, Reimagined Through a New York Lens | NYTimes.com #Shakespeare

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The endeavor, called the Sonnet Project, grew from the work of the New York Shakespeare Exchange, a local theater group. The group, which started the project in 2013, just completed its 100th film: Sonnet 27, starring Carrie Preston, an Emmy award-winning actress, and filmed on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, It will premiere April 8 on the Sonnet Project website and app. (Sonnet 108 will appear on April 22.) MORE: Shakespeare’s Sonnets, All 154, Reimagined Through a New York Lens | NYTimes.com

Unusual Library Collections Around the World | Flavorwire

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A few interesting library collections noted here…I’m sure there are many others that are not mentioned in this Flavorwire list.

Imagine walking into the home of a recently deceased resident after getting a mysterious phone call about a massive collection of maps. That’s what happened to Glen Creason, the map librarian at Los Angeles Central Library and author of Los Angeles in Maps. Creason walked out of the home with boxes of historical maps and coveted city guides that instantly doubled the library’s collection. L.A.-based filmmaker Alec Ernest captured the story of Creason and an unknown map collector named John Feathers in a mesmerizing short film about the beauty and power of physical objects, and the strange passions people have for them. Ernest’s film inspired us to travel libraries around the world and explore their unique and sometimes bizarre collections.

READ MORE: Unusual Library Collections Around the World | Flavorwire.