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Every year, Swem Library hosts its annual Two-Sentence Horror Story Competition to encourage students, faculty, and alumni to share their scariest short stories. The competition challenges community members to use their creativity to create these bone-chilling tales in the most concise way possible…

  • SCRC's Civil War Transcription Project: The Tucker-Coleman Papers

    Posted

    The Special Collections Research Center at Swem Library is currently working on a transcription initiative as part of the "From Fights to Rights: The Long Road to a More Perfect Union" project. The transcription work is a massive effort by volunteers to transcribe selected documents such as diaries and letters and make them available online for current and future researchers.

  • New Material, 2011.001-2011.050

    Posted

    Well, I have gotten pretty far behind on updating you all on the new and exciting materials that have recently come into the Special Collections Research Center. But no more! In a few quick posts, I shall updated you on all of these wonderful new materials.

  • Dreaming of Returning to France

    Posted

    Five years ago, I took my first and only trip out of the United States, spending 10 days in France on a trip with my AP French class. Before splitting off into the suburban homes of our host families, we visited Paris and parts of the Loire Valley, where we toured numerous castles, cathedrals, and historic towns. Since then, I have often dreamed of returning to France and seeing other European countries for the first time.

  • The Sixty-Year Diary

    Posted

    George Fetterman, a western New York farmer, did something remarkable. He wrote a diary entry every day. Every day--for sixty years. 1890-1950, the period Fetterman's diaries cover, saw the rise of corporations and industry, the women's suffrage movement, a Great Depression, and two World Wars. But to read his diary, you would hardly know it.

  • SCRC's Civil War Transcription Project: The Diary of Asa John Wyatt, 1861-1862

    Posted

    The Special Collections Research Center at Swem Library has begun a transcription initiative as part of the "From Fights to Rights: The Long Road to a More Perfect Union" project. The transcription work is a massive effort by volunteers to transcribe selected documents such as diaries and letters and make them available online.

  • Sealed in Wax and Wrapped in Vellum

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    One of the intriguing features of working at the Special Collections Research Center is the variety of material that I have had the opportunity to work with over the course of my time here.

  • Applying Organization and Discovering Significance

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    Following my work on the Johnson-Nance Papers which I discussed in my last post, I began processing the Georgia Ragsdale Curtis Papers which I worked on during the months of November and December 2010. After this I organized a couple smaller collections before beginning work on the William Welling Papers.

  • Treasure Hunter and Path Maker

    Posted

    In the fall of 2009, I began volunteering three to four hours per week in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) of Earl Gregg Swem Library at William & Mary.

  • Processing a Collection

    Posted

    One of the neat things about working at the SCRC is the sheer variety of projects we oversee. Last time, I told you a bit about the rewards and challenges of putting together an exhibit, but, recently, I got to try my hand at another major part of archival work: processing a collection.

  • "Why can't everything just be online?!?!"

    Posted

    Why can't everything just be online? At some point most of us have pondered this question.

  • New Accessions, 12/1/2010-12/30/2010

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    Here are the new accessions for 12/1/2010 through 12/30/2010, a little longer than normal due to the holiday rush:

  • New Accessions, 11/15/2010-11/30/2010

    Posted

    Well, I have gotten pretty far behind on updating you all on the new and exciting materials that have recently come into the Special Collections Research Center. But no more! In a few quick posts, I shall updated you on all of these wonderful new materials.

  • The Challenge of Designing Exhibits

    Posted

    Do you ever stop to ogle the contents of the numerous display cases spread throughout Swem Library? Me neither. Or, at least, I didn't. Now, every so often when I'm hunting for a book on the third floor, I venture over to the small flat case outside the Brown Board Room, just to check that everything is how I left it.

  • New Accessions, 11/8/2010-11/12/2010

    Posted

    Here are the new collections accessioned by the Special Collections Research Center from 11/8/2010 to 11/12/2010:

  • I am a self-proclaimed craft nerd

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    I freely admit: I am a self-proclaimed craft nerd. In kindergarten, I was the kid who truly enjoyed gluing sticks into haphazardly-formed structures and insisted that every painting my little fingers lovingly created be prominently displayed on the family refrigerator. This creative passion has continued into adulthood as I thoughtfully knit gifts for friends and family and scrapbook every vacation taken.

  • My time in Special Collections

    Posted

    Throughout the past month, as a part of my graduate apprenticeship I have been working with the Johnson-Nance Family Papers, a manuscript collection from the early twentieth century at Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, at William & Mary.

  • From Copy Machines to Tobacco Farmers

    Posted

    How often have you stopped to think about the wonder that is the copy machine? If you were like me, not often at all—as students, interns, and young professionals most of us probably spent more time being warmed by the light of the copy machine than we would like to think about.

  • New Accessions, 11/1/2010-11/5/2010

    Posted

    Here are the new collections accessioned by the Special Collections Research Center from 11/1/2010/11/5/2010:

  • Colonial Echo Digital Archive Bookmark

    Posted

    You are sure to have heard us mention a time or two just recently that William & Mary yearbook, the Colonial Echo, for the years 1899-1995 was recently digitized. A bookmark was created for the official launch of the Colonial Echo Digital Archive during Homecoming 2010.

  • Newly Digital, 10/25/2010-10/29/2010

    Posted

    This post contains links to content that has been newly digitized and is now available to view online.