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  • Film poster for "The Vampire"

    The Resurrection of Frankenstein

    Posted

    This year is the 200th anniversary of the release of Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

  • A brick archway frames a formal garden

    Open Access & Open Education Resources (OER)

    Posted

    October 21 is the start of Open Access Week, that time every year when we salute all things open access. This year, W&M Libraries is focusing on Open Education Resources (OER), which are freely accessible, openly licensed text, media, and other digital assets that are useful for teaching, learning, and assessing as well as for research purposes.

  • Student examines a book on display in Special Collections

    October is Archives Month!

    Posted

    During the month of October we celebrate National Archives Month! Often the profession of an archivist can seem ambiguous, since the role can entail varied duties and areas of expertise.

  • Lord Botetourt coffin plate in silver

    Lord Botetourt Coffin Plate Returns - Come See It!

    Posted

    This exhibit celebrates the return of Lord Botetourt's coffin plate to the University Archives and commemorates the anniversary of his death on October 15, 1770. This is the first time it has been exhibited on the William & Mary campus since 1956.

  • USS Chaumont

    A 1926 Summer Cruise

    Posted

    Cruising for pleasure in 1926 was not quite the same as a cruise ship vacation ride today.

  • Special Collections Staff Participate in SAA

    Posted

    August 12-18 was the Society of American Archivist's Annual Conference, held in Washington, D.C. This year, two William & Mary staff members presented at the conference: Christina Luers, CA, Archives Collections Specialist for Special Collections Research Center, and Jay Gaidmore, Director of Special Collections. Their sessions were among 73 presentations at this year's conference that were selected from a record-setting 277 submitted proposals.

  • Cover of photograph album with gold embellishments

    Sally Daingerfield's "Plastic" Photograph Album Cover from 1867

    Posted

    Recently, Kim Sims, university archivist, and Christina Luers, archives collections specialist, had a unique opportunity to view scientific artifacts at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

  • Icon for text and data mining

    What is Text & Data Mining (TDM)?

    Posted

    TDM helps us discover, through the analysis of complex data sets, new information in the form of trends, patterns, and relationships. 

  • Man washing plane

    W&M Flight School & the College Airport

    Posted

    In September 1931 William & Mary established a department of aeronautics.

  • Map of Strasbourg

    A SCRC Volunteer's Exploration of Maps

    Posted

    I greeted my most recent assignment as a volunteer at the Special Collections Research Center enthusiastically.

  • Illustration of tree with portraits hung from the branches

    A New Guide for the Budding Genealogist

    Posted

    ​There is no doubt that the Williamsburg area is steeped in history. From the first permanent British settlement in the U.S. at Jamestown to the battlefield at Yorktown, and of course Colonial Williamsburg right next to the William & Mary campus, the area it is truly America's Historic Triangle.  

  • High tech Book illustration with 1s and 0s and computer circuits

    What does a digital scholarship librarian do anyway?

    Posted

    When people meet me, they often ask what I do, and when I give them my title, Digital Scholarship Librarian, they are just as unclear on my job duties as before they asked. Then, I flesh out the role a bit more. Essentially, I work to promote and support scholarship which goes on around campus.

  • Royal princesses playing with corgis

    Must Love Dogs: Royal Pooches

    Posted

    Last week, I had the opportunity to meet HRH Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester and show him some of the rich materials held in Special Collections.  I wanted to make sure to highlight the dog book collection, and I came across titles related to HRH's grandfather, King George V, as well as his first cousin, Queen Elizabeth II.  Of the ones I chose to display, the following titles are my favorites.

  • Research librarian helping a guest

    What Happens in a Research Appointment? (RA Series #1)

    Posted

    Many students are intimidated by making a research appointment because they don't know what will or can happen. I'm here to dispel the myths and rumors around the conundrum that is the Research Appointment. This blog post will be the first in a series about how we conduct our Research Appointments.

  • Welcome to Radford sign

    A Research Librarian's Road trip to Radford

    Posted

    Recently I had the opportunity to attend a conference at Radford University called The Innovative Library Classroom, or TILC. Radford University which is in, yep, you guessed it, Radford, Virginia, is about 270 miles from Williamsburg; therefore, road trip! The route from Williamsburg went along Interstate 64 and then south on Interstate 81.

  • The final page of the letter. Hortense finished the page and then turned it 90 degrees and wrote across her other words, leaving her signature partly visible on the left-hand side

    "[W]hy must I always suffer every misfortune which happens": An eyewitness account of revolution in the streets

    Posted

    The quotation in the title of this post is from a letter about an 1890 revolution in Buenos Aires known as The Revolution of the Park.

  • Closeup of a person holding a camera pointing forward at the viewer

    What can photographers find at Swem?

    Posted

    Did you know that May is National Photography month? Well if you didn't, now you do! I bet you're wondering -- what sorts of resources does Swem have for budding young students of photography?

  • The book of baby dogs book cover

    Must Love Dogs: E. J. Detmold

    Posted

    This month's "Must Love Dogs" blog series again focuses on an illustrator.

  • Alexis Vitali

    Student Voices: Alexis Vitali

    Posted

    Hey, fellow Swem-goers! My name is Alexis and I have been working at Swem Circulation for over a year now. I started out as an assistant, shelving and sorting from the books needed for final papers. Last year, I was able to help deliver books to professors all over campus. And as it turns out, books can bring more excitement when you get to drive them in a golf-cart, trying not to get stuck behind tour groups (otherwise known as flamingos).

  • Nic Deangio in front of the Swem delivery van

    Student Voices: Nic DeAngio

    Posted

    I started working at Swem in my very first week of freshman year and fell in love with the place immediately. On my first day, I wandered the library to fill out a scavenger-hunt-esque training exercise that introduced me to the labyrinth of books that serves as the cultural capital of our campus. The building really does it all.