LSU Libraries blogs

LSU Libraries Closing September 1

2008-08-28T14:34:53Z

The LSU Libraries will be closed on Monday, September 1.

WRS: Environmental and Energy Resources Library

2008-08-26T21:28:34Z

From their website: "eERL's mission is to be the best possible online collection of environmental and energy sustainability resources for community college educators and for their students. The resources are also available for practitioners and the public." http://www.eerl.org/index.php A clearinghouse for Environmental Science and Technology related websites and electronic resources.

WRS: Environmental and Energy Resources Library

2008-08-26T21:28:04Z

LSU Special Collections Completes NHPRC Grant

2008-08-21T19:00:11Z

The LSU Libraries Special Collections is pleased to announce the completion of a 3.5 year, $196,140 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to microfilm Transcriptions of Louisiana Police Jury Records created by the Louisiana Historical Records Survey during the New Deal. In paper form, the collection totals 206 cubic feet and resulted in 581 35mm reels. Police juries are the governing body of Louisiana’s parishes, and 60 of Louisiana's 64 parishes are represented in the collection. Their meeting minutes and ordinances document local government responsibility; parish budgets and taxes, citizen participation in and expectations of government; settlement of the state's rural areas and changes in land ownership; local ordinances governing slavery and local attitudes about it, as well as the changing status of African Americans after emancipation. The records reflect topics such as the development of education for blacks and whites, the battle to control yellow fever, livestock maintenance, transportation, and flood control and levee-building. The records also contain genealogical information, useful in identifying ancestors' places of residence, death dates, and role in their communities. Microfilming was necessary to preserve these important historical records, as the transcribers used poor-quality wood-pulp paper, which had become embrittled to the point where every use was damaging. Further, the order of the collection was at times confusing and incorrect. In addition to the physical access problems, intellectual access to the transcriptions was hampered by an inadequate and difficult to use finding aid. Therefore, the collection was also reprocessed and a new and improved finding aid produced. The pdf version is available here. The LSU Libraries will make copies of the microfilm available to library patrons, both at LSU and via interlibrary lending, and positive use copies of the film are available for purchase. For more information about these services, please contact Special Collections Public Services, Hill Memorial Library, Baton Rouge, LA 70803; phone 225-578-6568; fax 225-578-9425; or through our website. A second set of the microfilm is available to the public at the State Archives of Louisiana. Andrée Bourgeois, now with Access Sciences Corp, Houston, TX, served as the project graduate assistant, and Tara Laver, Curator of Manuscripts, was the project director. Elizabeth Dow, Associate Professor of Library and Information Science, was invaluable in refining the mark-up and display of the EAD version of the finding aid, and former LSU SLIS student Jennifer Pino, now employed at Boston University, also assisted with tagging.

Worldbook is now available

2008-08-18T14:00:13Z

You can find it on our webpage under indexes and databases.

Check out these World Book Resources!

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbkids.html - World Book Kids

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbspanish.html - World Book Spanish Student Discovery Encyclopedia

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbadvanced.html - World Book Advanced

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbreference.html - World Book Online Reference Center

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbdecouverte.html - L’Encyclopédie Découverte

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbdiscover.html - World Book Discover

Worldbook is now available

2008-08-18T13:59:33Z

You can find it on our webpage under indexes and databases.

Check out these World Book Resources!

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbkids.html - World Book Kids

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbspanish.html - World Book Spanish Student Discovery Encyclopedia

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbadvanced.html - World Book Advanced

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbreference.html - World Book Online Reference Center

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbdecouverte.html - L’Encyclopédie Découverte

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/databases/descriptions/wbdiscover.html - World Book Discover

New Databases Available

2008-08-08T18:58:23Z

The LSU Libraries has recently started subscriptions to the following databases: Caribbean Literature: This database offers the full text of many 19th and 20th century literary works from every Caribbean country. Furture plans for the database include author interviews and dictionaries of various Creole languages. The American Civil War Research Database: This database is an online resource for researching the soldiers, regiments, and battles of the American Civil War. Learning Express Library This resource provides interactive online practice tests and tutorials for many standardized tests like the GRE, Praxis, ACT, and others. Visit the Indexes and Databases web page for access to over four hundred databases.

Hooke's Books

2008-08-08T16:03:28Z

There is a new site from the National Library of Medicine called "Hooke's Books: Books that influenced or were influenced by Robert Hooke's Micrographia"

Why Oral History?

2008-08-07T00:16:47Z

Why should we care about oral history? It basically boils down to three words: "primary source creation." If done well, an oral history interview is as valid as other primary sources--maps, photos, manuscripts, newspapers, artifacts, architecture, diaries, ledgers--the list goes on. Of course there are potential flaws, but that's another post for another day. Overall, the benefits of oral history greatly outweigh the potential challenges. I suppose my own passion for the discipline can be summed up in (again) three words: "democratization of history." Or, as an anthropologist might say--oral history is a leveling mechanism for recorded history. This field is a powerful way to balance out the written account of history with multiple perspectives. I'm saying nothing new here. One great thing associated with working for an oral history repository like the center is that we have opportunity to collaborate with individuals and groups to create their own oral history projects. We are able to witness and participate in research that contributes to the present and future understanding of a historical and/or cultural phenomena. It is fantastic to see how interviews aid the pursuit of a project: whether because oral histories helped a student with a thesis, or documented a heretofore unrecorded event, or added an interactive element to a teacher's classroom project, or provided a way for community members to get to know their history (and their neighbors), oral history is fulfilling project for anyone who tries it. So my questions for you today are: Have you done any oral histories? If so, what were some of your rewarding experiences? Challenges? Disappointments? What do you want to know more about regarding this process? What oral history experiments are you considering in the future? - Jennifer Abraham

PAWS and Moodle Downtime this Sunday

2008-08-06T13:11:47Z

To accommodate LSU ID project work, PAWS will not be available on Sunday, August 10, from 7:00 am until 11:00 am. In addition, all applications linked through PAWS will not be accessible during this time. These include the following database systems:

Accounts Payable

Advance Billing

Employee Time

Human Resources

Personal Access Web Services (PAWS)

Procurement

Registration

Security Access Maintenance