Author: dorner
Primary Sources: Handwritten Text Recognition functionality added to Mass Observation Online
Mass Observation was a social research organization that attempted to record the every day life of British citizens through questionnaires, observation, surveys, and diaries. The digitized content is available in Mass Observation Online, which the Library has owned for many years.
Because much of the content has been handwritten, the search functionality of the resource is limited. Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) has expanded this functionality to some extent. A basic or advanced search for key term will still only search the metadata that has been assigned to each document. If there is a hit in the document’s metadata for the term, then the HTR software will automatically search for that term in the full text of that document when a user selects the document from the Search Results list.
While this is not as useful as a full-text search would be, it does help users quickly find where a term is located in a document, making it easier to determine the value of that document to their research.
Primary Sources: Science, Technology, and Medicine, 1780-1925, Pt. 1
The Library has recently acquired a new module in Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Science, Technology, and Medicine: 1780-1925, Part 1. This includes:
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia: Minutes and Correspondence
Minutes, correspondence, archival collection summaries, membership lists, and donation ledgers from the academy’s founding in 1812 until 1924 (and 1925 in the case of the minutes).
American Medical Periodicals
A collection of serials covering the entire scope of medical history in the nineteenth-century United States.
Collections of primarily monographs from the 19th century, sourced from the Huntington Library.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Electricity and Electromagnetism
Civil Engineering
Color Theory and Practice
Evolution and the Origin of Species
Mathematics
Reports of Explorations Printed in the Documents of the United States Government
Throughout the 19th century the U.S. government sent out a wide variety of missions to explore and document the country, its coastal waters, and beyond. This collection includes primarily monographs and reports held at the Library of Congress.
Scientific and Technical Periodicals from the Royal Society of London’s Catalogue of Scientific Papers 1800-1900
A collection of international publications held at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.
Primary Sources: Patriotes aux Armes! (Patriots to Arms!): The Underground Resistance in France, Belgium, Holland, and Italy, 1939-1945
The Library’s recent acquisition of Patriotes aux Armes! (Patriots to Arms!): The Underground Resistance in France, Belgium, Holland, and Italy, 1939-1945 includes newspapers and periodicals, broadsides, leaflets, books, pamphlets, and other documents produced by or relating to the underground resistance in France, Belgium, Holland, and Italy. The organization of the collection housed at McMaster University Library can be found on the landing page. Links to the finding aids at the Library provide access to more detailed PDF documents that describe the holdings.
Primary Sources: National Farm Worker Ministry: Mobilizing Support for Migrant Workers, 1939-1985
Another recent acquisition of the Library is the online archive National Farm Worker Ministry: Mobilizing Support for Migrant Workers, 1939-1985. These records of the California Migrant Ministry, which became the National Farm Worker Ministry, are part of the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs housed at Wayne State University’s Walter P. Reuther Library.
This collection reproduces correspondence, reports, speeches, minutes; included are materials relating to the farm workers, poverty programs, Public Law 78, Braceros, labor camps, the United Farm Workers Union and the Delano Grape Strike. The landing page for the online archive includes a descriptive list of contents.
Primary Sources: Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees: The West’s Response to Jewish Emigration
From the publisher’s description: “The Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees (IGCR) was organized in London in August 1938 as a result of the Evian Conference of July 1938, which had been called by President Roosevelt to consider the problem of racial, religious, and political refugees from central Europe…. For the first time, there was discussion on extending protection to would-be refugees inside the country of potential departure, particularly central Europe. The IGCR, however, received little authority and almost no funds or support from its member nations for resettlement of refugees from Europe in countries allowing permanent immigration, and it had little success in opening countries to refugees…. In July 1944, 37 governments participated in the work of the Committee. Of these, representatives of nine countries, including the United States, served on its Executive Committee. The primary responsibility for determining the policy of the United States with regard to the Committee was that of the Department of State. It ceased to exist in 1947, and its functions and records were transferred to the International Refugee Organization of the United Nations.”
The Library recently acquired the online archive of the Department of State’s records relating to the IGCR, which reside in the National Archives. More information about the scope and arrangement of the collection is available in the finding aid for the microfilmed edition.
Primary Sources: Japanese American Internment: Records of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library
The Library has recently acquired Japanese American Internment: Records of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, a digitized collection of materials that were assembled by library staff at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. The finding aid for the microfilm version provides more detailed information about what is included in the collection and how it is arranged.
Primary Sources: New additions to ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Our access to ProQuest Historical Newspapers now includes these titles:
Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-2002
Atlanta Daily World, 1931-2003
Norfolk Journal and Guide, 1916-2003
These are cross-searchable with the other historic Black newspapers we have acquired from ProQuest:
The Baltimore Afro-American, 1893-1988
Chicago Defender, 1909-1975
Los Angeles Sentinel, 1934-2005
New York Amsterdam News, 1922-1993
Our link to ProQuest Historical Newspapers provides access to 17 newspaper databases. To limit your search to specific titles, click on Databases in the menu bar, then uncheck the titles you don’t want to include in your search.
You can also use the basic or advanced search to search all the newspaper databases, and then limit your search to specific titles using the Publication title facet that appears to the left of the results.
If you have questions about how to use this resource, contact Jennifer Dorner at dorner@berkeley.edu.
Primary Sources: ProQuest Executive Branch Documents 1933-1942
The Library has added Part 2 (19333-1939) and Part 3 (1940-1942) to its acquisition of Executive Branch Documents, accessible through ProQuest Congressional. This resource contains documents produced by federal government departments, agencies, and commissions that were not included in the U.S. Serial Set.
Resource: PoliticoPro-California
The Library acquired PoliticoPro-California. Politico is a major news organization that has covered U.S. politics and government since 2007, and they have expanded their coverage to larger states like California. In additional to finding news articles about the state, the Datapoint and Documents modules contain current primary source information and info-graphics used in Politico’s reporting for California and the nation. These can be reused in papers, classes, or other research projects. Users can also sign up for customized news alerts and the ability to correspond with Politico’s news reporters.
Access Note: This database is currently unavailable for use through the proxy. For off campus access, please use the VPN.
Primary Sources: Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels
The Library has recently acquired an online archive of Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels, described on the publisher’s website as the “first-ever scholarly online collection for researchers and students of adult comic books and graphic novels. This multi-part resource covers the full spectrum of this visual art form, from pre-comics code era works to modern sequential releases from artists the world over.
“From the shocking and explicit work of young artists exploring newfound freedoms to intricate and beautiful designs of aesthetic craftsmanship, the comic book has shown itself to be a medium capable of both the offensive and the sublime. Now users can experience the full range of this offbeat art form by exploring 200,000 pages of original material alongside interviews, commentary, criticism, and other supporting materials.”