Tag Archives: digital collections

River city maps

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Town maps can certainly be beautifully done, but they are at the mercy of the grid of streets to give them visual interest. Throw in a variable, like a winding river, and they become ever more interesting. The way the water meets the land and how a town is forced to bend along the banks adds lines and color to the maps. Where waterways meet cities the grid breaks down and leaves behind some visually rich maps.

Sometimes the river makes the city, both in development and in character. Indiana’s most famous river city is probably historic Madison, along the mighty Ohio River. Kentucky is usually omitted from maps, making it look like the town is situated at the edge of a cliff. The river is impossible to ignore there.

Likewise, Huntington was built up along a river. The Wabash, Little Wabash and the canals; waterways were ever important to its development. The maps are beautiful in the way the angled streets disorient the buildings. Especially lovely with the illustrations is this detailed map from 1879.

Other times, the city seems to develop while almost ignoring the river. Columbus seems to just dip a toe into the East Fork of the White River. Indianapolis, too, seems to be shying away from the White River and looking inward toward the circle center. Both of these towns have had interesting relationships with their rivers, but now Columbus Riverfront and Indianapolis are looking for ways to embrace their beautiful waterways.

It seems Logansport’s not afraid to straddle and nestle within the arms of the Wabash and Eel rivers. And Elkhart, too, appears not to have shied away from the St. Joseph and Elkhart Rivers. The river seems to be coming and going, swirling and whirling on the page.

If you enjoyed looking at these maps, take time to explore some of the great digital map collections available online. Don’t we all need something for our minds to linger on right now?

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
American Geographical Society Library
Osher Map Library
New York Public Library

This post was written by Indiana Collection Supervisor Monique Howell. 

Stuck at home? Enriching activities to do with all ages from the Indiana Young Readers Center

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Looking for extra activities to keep children busy? Explore some of these activities put together for you by the Indiana Young Readers Center, located in the Indiana State Library. Remember, children of all ages can benefit from play and reading. Keep your kids engaged with some of these resources.

Ages 0-5
Parents with very young children have a big challenge. Little children will not understand what is happening in relation to the current COVID-19 situation. They might sense the fear and anxiety in their parents and react to that by being cranky and unmanageable. Keep them engaged by trying some of the activities listed in our Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award Program Guides. We have three guides from 2018, 2019 and 2020 all chock-full of fun, developmentally-appropriate activities for little kids. Even if you don’t have the books listed in the guides, you can still do most of the activities.

For children ages 0-5 the best thing to do is to talk, sing, read, write and play with them. We know little kids can’t really write yet, so anything you can do to get them using their hands to work on fine motor skills is a good thing. Examples are block play, crafts, finger painting, playing with pots and pans and so much more.

Ages 6-9
Children in this age bracket are more independent and may be missing their friends and social connections. Involve them in planning out your day of activities. They can do so many things, and many of them independently. Have a game tournament. Start a reading challenge. Keep them involved in the world from inside your home by talking about nature. The Indiana Nature Conservancy has put together a guide for sharing with children to get them more connected to nature. Most of the activities in the guide can be done right at home.

This age group might enjoy many of the ideas in the aforementioned Firefly guides as well. The 2020 guide in particular has activities appropriate for older children on topics like Africa, optical illusions and pirates!

Ages 10 – 14
Even though your preteens might be the group most likely to tell you that they are bored, they are also developmentally ready for more mature thinking. They will have a better understanding of what is going on than little children and can brainstorm with you about how to spend the days in productive and balanced ways. Kids in this age group are often passionate about their interests and may be missing their friends.

Genealogy
The Indiana Young Readers Center has put together a genealogy program for children in this age group. Take this time to talk about family and the practice of genealogy. What is it anyway? Share family stories and history. Work through the program guide and learn about the kinds of documents that genealogists refer to when filling in their family trees. Do you have any documents in your home right now that you can examine?

  • Indiana Young Readers Center Genealogy Program Guide

Indiana History
If you are looking for more academic resources, take a look at this video about two of the murals located in the Indiana State Library. They discuss the history of Indiana Statehood. Talk to your school age students about how the United States was created. Who lived here when settlers arrived in Indiana? If you’d like to have a more robust conversation, take a look at the discussion questions that we use during our fourth grade field trips.

Still hungry for more history content? Explore the Indiana Historical Marker Program coordinated by the Indiana History Bureau. Every Indiana county has at least one marker. Choose an Indiana social studies standard for your student to work on. Fourth grade standards are especially relevant to Indiana history. Find a marker that relates to that standard. Take it further by researching a little more using Indiana State Library’s Digital Collections. This project could fill a whole morning and introduce your student to great online resources.

Keep a Journal – Good for all ages
Encourage children in all age groups to keep a journal about how they are feeling and what is going on around them. This is a historic time. Researchers in the future will be fascinated by primary resources like journals and diaries written by Hoosier children. Those future primary resources will not exist unless we create them now. Someday, your child could donate their journal to the Indiana State Library!

Letters About Literature  – Grades 4-12
Do your kids like reading and writing? Every year the Indiana State Library hosts a writing contest for students in grades 4-12 called Letters About Literature. Students write to an author, living or deceased, about a book that changed how they see themselves or how they understand the world around them. Students write to us every year about how books help them understand topics close to home like family and school or more sophisticated topics like racism and war. The contest for 2020 is closed, but students can always get a jump on working on their letter for next year. Visit the Letters About Literature website for more information about the contest. Your student could get published!

Ages 15-18
High schoolers are more likely to be able to fill their own time, however they may be in need of resources to help them with their existing school work. Be sure to get familiar with INSPIRE. INSPIRE is Indiana’s virtual online library, a collection of online academic databases and other information resources that can be accessed for free by Indiana residents. INSPIRE includes full-text magazine and journal articles, images, historic newspapers and much more. If students are frustrated about not finding sources for a paper or project, have them try INSPIRE.

Explore Old Journals
The Indiana Young Readers Center has put together a packet for teens interested in reading old diaries. Work through the packet to learn about the value of writing journals and researching old diaries. The diaries in the packet are written in cursive! Does your student know cursive? Take this time to teach your student the basics of cursive writing. Why is it important for students today to be able to read and write in cursive? Explore this question with your student. Fun fact: One of the diaries is from 1896 and the writer talks about playing euchre with her family!

  • Indiana Young Readers Center Diary Program Guide

Indiana State Library’s Digital Collections
Still looking for something to do? Take a look at some of the interesting things that the Indiana State Library has in our digital collections. From car racing to dogs to historic documents. We’ve got something for everyone:

Indianapolis 500, between 1926 and 1957
Artistic family tree (featuring President James Polk)
Pre-Photoshop trick photo postcard
Studio photos of Chow Chow dogs
South Shore Line broadsides featuring the “Workshop of America,” 1926
Miami Treaty of St. Mary’s, 1818
Preserved ivy taken from Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train 
Letter from D.P. Craig, a soldier with the 14th Indiana Regiment to his family, 1862
Awards given to African American WACs at Camp Atterbury, 1943
Women’s suffrage pamphlet with map, ca. 1915
Susan B. Anthony letter to Grace Julian Clarke, 1900-01-11 
Locks of hair presented to John. M Conyers (March 29, 1865)

In these unprecedented times, we hope these enriching activities will keep children of all ages engaged and busy.

This blog post was submitted by Indiana Young Readers Center Librarian Suzanne Walker.

Suffrage materials in the Indiana Digital Collections

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“We are convinced that the time has arrived when the welfare of the nation would be most effectually conserved by conferring upon women the privilege of voting and holding political office.” – Ida Husted Harper from “Suffrage – A Right”

In conjunction with the 100-year anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment, the Indiana Division has digitized many of our materials about the suffrage movement of the late 19th and early 20th century.

You can find materials in the “Women in Hoosier History Digital Collection,” one of many collections at the library. Once there, you can click on “Women’s Suffrage” under “Browse these suggested topics.” The collection can be found here. Below is a sampling of some of the collection.

One of the earliest items is a pamphlet from 1888 during the presidency of Benjamin Harrison. It includes an article written by Susan B. Anthony.

The collection also includes two pamphlets by Ida Husted Harper. One pamphlet is about suffrage, in general, from 1906 and other about the international suffrage movement from 1907. Born in 1851, and raised in Indiana, Harper was a nationally-know writer, lecturer and suffragist. Her works include a three-volume biography of suffrage leader, Susan B. Anthony, and part of a six-volume “History of Woman Suffrage.” She also served as secretary of the Indiana chapter of the National Woman Suffrage Association.

Organized in 1911, The Women’s Franchise League of Indiana began when the Indianapolis Franchise Society and Legislative Council of Indiana Women merged together. The League was associated with the National American Woman Suffrage Association and was the prominent suffrage group in the state. Their membership was 1,205 across the state. Their constitutions, programs and directories provide information about the league and its members.

The Leagues’ publication, The Hoosier Suffragist, was “a monthly newspaper published in the interest of the woman suffrage cause in Indiana.” First published on Aug. 22, 1917, it provided information about the activities and people involved in the movement across the state.

The Women’s Franchise League of Indiana remained the prominent suffrage group until 1920, when it became the Indiana League of Women Voters, which remains in existence today. Their first congress was held April 6-8 in 1920 at the Claypool Hotel in Indianapolis. You can find their first program in the collection.

These are just some examples of what one may find in the “Women in Hoosier History Digital Collection.” Explore the collection to see what you can find.

For additional information:
Indiana Women’s Suffrage Centennial
League of Women Voters of Indiana

This post was written by Christopher Marshall, digital collections coordinator for the Indiana Division at the Indiana State Library.

Researching in ISL Digital Collections: Indianapolis Bicentennial

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The city of Indianapolis is about to turn 200 years old and the Indianapolis Bicentennial Commission is planning a celebration which will begin in June 2020 and last through May 2021. Those planning to celebrate can check the commission’s website for announcements, contests, events and a list of commission members. Since the Indiana State Library is continually adding materials to its online collections, now seems like a great time to check the collections for information about Indianapolis in order to gear up for the forthcoming festivities.

The Indiana Historical Legislative Documents collection contains the earliest volumes of the Indiana Acts. The volumes have an index to help locate specific laws passed in a year by the General Assembly. In this case, browsing the index and noticing “Seat of Government” points toward Indiana Acts 1820, Chapter 10, “An Act appointing Commissioners to select, and locate a site for the permanent seat of government of Indiana,” which was approved Jan. 11, 1820, and would move the state capitol from Corydon to a new location to be determined.

Indiana Acts 1821, Chapter 18, “An Act appointing commissioners to lay off a town on the site selected for the permanent seat of government,” was approved Jan. 6, 1821, and stated “the said town laid out as the permanent seat of government for the state of Indiana shall be called and known by the name of Indianapolis.” It was then necessary to plat it out on a map.

Indiana State Library Map Collection contains a digital copy of Plats of the town of Indianapolis, which shows maps of the downtown Indianapolis mile-square donation lands with the names of the first patentees. It includes a comprehensive list of Indiana laws from 1821 to 1913 related to the lots and out-lots. The Indiana Archives and Records Administration has additional details about the Indianapolis Donation and the official state land records held there.

The Indiana Documentary Editions collection contains the Messages and papers of Jonathan Jennings, Ratliff Boon, William Hendricks, 1816-1825. Jonathan Jennings was the governor at the time and issued a proclamation calling for the commissioners to meet in 1820 to select a site for the new capitol. John Tipton was one of those commissioners. The book “John Tipton papers. Volume I: 1809-1827” includes the transcript of the journal Tipton kept during the May 17-June 11, 1820 expedition. Here’s a bonus: the Rare Books and Manuscripts online John Tipton Collection contains digital copies of Tipton’s 1820 journal in his own handwriting.

There is a wealth of information not only in the Indiana State Library’s physical collections, but also in the ever-growing online digital collections. As the Indianapolis Bicentennial approaches, more online materials about the history of the city could show up. Keep searching!

This blog post was written by Indiana Division Librarian Andrea Glenn. For more information, contact the Indiana Division at 317-232-3670 or “Ask-A-Librarian.”

Preserving Indiana’s memories for the future

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On Wednesday, March 1, 2017, Sam Meister, program manager for the MetaArchive Cooperative, sent out the call to six member organizations1 to trigger the ingest of four archival units (AUs) prepared by the cooperative’s newest member, Indiana Digital Preservation (InDiPres). Within minutes, the systems administrators managing the specified local servers within the LOCKSS-based distributed preservation network began to respond in the affirmative, “AUs added at … .”

This action culminated 18 months of preparatory work undertaken by the Indiana State Library (ISL) and the Cunningham Memorial Library at Indiana State University to create a sustainable digital preservation solution for Indiana’s cultural memory organizations, especially those of modest size and resources. Using Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding, the libraries established a fee-based collaborative group for the sole purpose of joining the MetaArchive Cooperative, a community-owned and governed distributed digital preservation network founded in 2004. As a collaborative member of the MetaArchive Cooperative, Indiana Digital Preservation provides InDiPres participants the means to securely store master digital files in multiple copies at geographically dispersed sites in the United States and Europe for an affordable price. Start-up costs, which includes a three-year MetaArchive collaborative membership and the purchase of the LOCKSS server housed at Indiana State University, were covered by monies received through the 2015-2016 LSTA Special Digitization Project Grant.

From left to right: Connie Rendfeld (ISL), Cathi Taylor (American Legion Auxiliary), Eric Spall (Lebanon Public Library), Ryan Weir (Rose Hulman), Brooke Cox (DePauw) and Cinda May (Indiana State) at the InDiPres Foundational Meeting on May 17, 2016 at the Indiana State Library.

By working together, Indiana’s heritage organizations are able to store multiple copies of master files throughout a global network that monitors the integrity of the files to ensure the survivability of digital content into the future. Members of Indiana Digital Preservation share in the expense of long term storage and preservation of digital assets created by these institutions; particularly those that contribute to Indiana Memory. Based on a model of 20 members, the InDiPres membership fee is $325 per year with a three-year commitment, plus $.59 per GB of storage space based on individual needs. The $325 breaks down to a required $100 participation fee, $125 for a member’s share of the MetaArchive Collaborative membership which costs $2,500 per year and $100 for a share of the InDiPres LOCKSS server at three-year refreshment cycle. These costs are likely to be reduced as more organizations join the endeavor. Membership in InDiPres is open to any Indiana institution creating digital content whose principles and guidelines are consistent with those of Indiana Digital Preservation. This includes, but is not limited to libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, community groups, research centers and state and local government agencies.

The 2016-2017 LSTA Special Digitization Project Grant included funding to hire a metadata specialist to work with InDiPres partners to perform necessary data wrangling tasks and preparation for the ingest of content into the MetaArchive Preservation Network. To date more than 656 GB of digital files created by InDiPres members are stored within the network.

Indiana Digital Preservation will celebrate its first anniversary at a meeting of its membership on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017. This meeting, which is open to the public, will take place at the Indiana State Library from 1-4 p.m. For more information about how to join InDiPres please contact Connie Rendfeld via email or at (317) 232-3694.

This blog post was written by Cinda May, chair, Special Collections, Cunningham Memorial Library, Indiana State University.

1. MetaArchive Cooperative members storing InDiPres submitted content are: HBCU Library Alliance, Consorci de Biblioteques Universitaries de Catalunya; and the libraries of the University of North Texas, Oregon State University, Purdue University, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Meet Chris Marshall, Indiana Division Digital Collections coordinator

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Since Jan. 30, 2017, Chris Marshall has been the digital collections coordinator for the Indiana Division at the Indiana State Library. He’s previously held positions at Conner Prairie, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Indiana State Museum and the Indianapolis Public Library (IndyPL). Recently, he took time to answer some questions and here are the responses.

Chris Marshall, smiling and working.

Describe some of your work duties?
I answer reference questions, either in person or by email or chat, but the biggest part of my job is digitizing materials from the Indiana Division’s collection and building digital collections.

How does this job compare to previous jobs?
When I worked at the Indiana State Museum, I worked with objects in the Decorative Arts Collection. This was in the pre-digital world. I also curated a major exhibit about early 19th century furniture and architecture. This required researching and searching for furniture in the collections.

This position reminds me of part of my previous job at IndyPL’s Central Library. Here, I’m focusing on the digital access of the collections by providing information and research materials to patrons all over the world. I often wonder how many people in Frankton, New Zealand might be researching something in Frankton, Indiana. I don’t really know if they are, but it amazes me that just twenty years ago, the access would have been limited and required more time and patience.

Educational background?
I have a B.A. in American History and French from Ball State University. I have an M.A. in Museum Studies, also known as Historical Administration, from Eastern Illinois University, with an internship at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Last but not least, I got my Master of Library Science at IUPUI/Indiana University.

What sparked your interest in collections?
When I was in middle school, I was a history geek. We took a trip to the Anderson Public Library and there we learned about genealogy. That sparked my interest. In hindsight, I was glad that I started working on it then because it gave me the chance to talk with the older members of my family and I learned a lot about the family. From that, I found my love of research and cultural history and learned what it was like to live during the times I was researching. I was always more interested in the social and cultural aspects of history, as opposed to political or military histories.

Better than Guy Fieri.

Julia Child vs. Guy Fieri?
Julia Child without a doubt! She pioneered teaching cooking and look at what that lead to.  She knew who to teach and encourage and do it in such a way that made me smile and want to actually learn to de-bone a duck. No, I have not done it yet.

Guy seems to be more of the celebrity chef. Julia was humble in her work and career.

Hobbies?
If I’m not writing or working on my books that I have yet to find an agent for, I’m being crafty. During my Conner Prairie days, I learned to knit, so I have a lot of yarn stashed away for future projects. I usually knit while catching up on movies that I didn’t see at the theater or while binge-watching television shows like “Grace and Frankie” or “The Twilight Zone” or “The Simpsons.” Gotta get back to “The Walking Dead;” not my favorite, but it grabbed my attention. I’ve also learned simple bookbinding.

The books I’ve written range from a middle-grade time-traveling trilogy to a haunted hotel in upstate New York to a secret love affair. Some are complete and some are in the works. I also maintain a blog with some of my short stories and miscellaneous posts about my observations on life. I am also a Lego maniac and I’m working on a series of blog posts using my Lego sets. My favorite books are ones set in museums. I’m currently reading “Relic.” I re-read “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,” but I definitely prefer the 1970s movie version over the book.

Best album of all-time?
I don’t have one. My parents had a huge record collection and I would listen to variety of music. I like individual songs more than one particular artist, so I listen to a variety ranging from Benny Goodman to Rufus Wainwright to the Boston Pops to Doris Day to Frank Sinatra to the Beatles to Elton John. The list goes on…

What do you hope to gain from your experience here at the state library?
To learn more about Indiana history. My goal as the Digital Collections coordinator is to have a least one digitized item from each county of the state in the digital collection. So far, so good on that one. I also hope that this might lead to a high-level position; maybe manage a whole digital department somewhere someday.

This blog post was written by John Wekluk, communications director, Indiana State Library. For more information, email the communications director at communications@library.in.gov.