Library Blog

Last year the BBC released a documentary series entitled The Beauty of Maps. Episode 2 explored William Morgan’s remarkable Map of London (1682) which was produced after the Great London Fire of 1666. This was the first time the whole city had ever been surveyed, drawn to scale, and depicted with such detail.

Submitted by Chris Pollette

When you visit the main library at Emory University, chances are you’ll see a statue of a man near the entrance. It’s Robert W. Woodruff, the longtime head of The Coca-Cola Company, former Emory student, and the person for whom the library is named. If you’ve spent any time in Atlanta, you know there are other buildings named for him.

By Amber L. Moore, Project Archivist, Amistad Research Center

"Working for Freedom: Documenting Civil Rights Organizations" is a collaborative project between Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, and The Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center to uncover and make available previously hidden collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and New Orleans. The project is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Each organization regularly contributes blog posts about their progress.

The Amistad Research Center files of the Warren Q. Marr, II papers document Marr's ongoing involvement with the Center. Marr, in conjunction with the Center's first director, Clifton Johnson launched the Amistad Research Foundation Fund campaign (1968) to obtain a new building and endowment.  Correspondence, publicity information and minutes regarding the Amistad Research Foundation Development Fund are contained in this collection.  Of particular note is a 1970 memo written by Marr titled, “Amistad Research Center Publicity and Promotion Campaign,” which details a plan of action for promotion.

Here is an excerpt from the memo:

To prevent the comparative massiveness and singularity of Amistad Research Center from diminution and perhaps even eclipse, it is necessary to take immediate and broad action to promote and publicize the Center. 

If you've ever wished to be at the heart of American Abstract Expressionism, the Philip Pavia papers will come as close to fulfilling your fantasy as possible.  A selection of the Pavia papers is currently on display in MARBL, viewable from Monday-Saturday, 9am-5:30 pm.  

Philip Pavia was a sculptor, an organizer, and a central figure in the cast of characters who would become known as "Abstract expressionists" in the 1950s and 1960s.  A prime mover behind the "Club," a regular gathering of intellectuals and artists in New York City that took the lead in defining Abstract expressionism, he was also the publisher of It Is, a magazine that contained images of art works, essays, and statements from prominent artists.

Scott Townsend, our Digital Scholarship Commons assistant, spent the last few months learning HTML and CSS, the basic tools for creating a website. He did a great job, so I asked him to write a little bit about his experience building his very first website. —Miriam Posner, Mellon postdoctoral fellow, Digital Scholarship Commons

Sage Research Methods Online is a research methods tool created to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. SRMO links over 100,000 pages of SAGE’s renowned book, journal and reference content with truly advanced search and discovery tools. Researchers can explore methods concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings.

By Sarah Quigley, Project Archivist, Southern Christian Leadership Conference records, MARBL

"Working for Freedom: Documenting Civil Rights Organizations" is a collaborative project between Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, and The Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center to uncover and make available previously hidden collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and New Orleans. The project is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Each organization regularly contributes blog posts about their progress.

It isn’t uncommon to have material in archival collections that is difficult for archivists to identify.  Removed as we are from the creation of the records, even our knowledge of the creators and their historical context can’t always help us name individuals in photographs, pinpoint events or recognize the voices on audio tapes.  When we’re lucky, the records creators are available to help us.