Welcome to March, Redbirds! We sure were busy last month. Here’s a rundown of what you may have missed:
—The archives of the Mennonite College of Nursing have officially been transferred to the University Archives! We are excited to have their materials join the rest of our archival collections and are looking forward to preserving this extremely important historic record. A big thanks to the Jean Ann Dargatz at the Mennonite College of Nursing for help in coordinating the move and another big thanks to Ross Griffiths, Jenna Self, and Samantha Wolter for packing and taking inventory on over 100 boxes of Mennonites archives. Way to go, everyone!
—Did you catch our graduate assistant’s blog series and display case in Milner highlighting the importance of backing up and saving digital files? Wolter showed us what can happen when we don’t back up our important digital photos and files and gave us examples of how we can take action to save our own personal history. If you would like to learn more, we’ve archived her exhibit here at the University Archives, and you can read her blog entries from last month.
—Speaking of our graduate assistant, she was busy this February! Wolter helmed our display table at Founders Day, showing visitors artifacts from Old Main. Items included the time capsule box that was placed in Old Main’s cornerstone in 1857 and recovered during its demolition in 1958, construction materials such as bricks and nails from the building, photographs of Old Main in her glory days, and membership books from the Wrightonian literary society, which held their meetings in one of Old Main’s large meeting halls. If you missed out on seeing these fascinating artifacts, let us know and we’ll be happy to set up an appointment for you to view them.
—Lastly, I want to thank Self and Wolter for holding down the fort while I was away. February was also a busy month for me; my second niece was born on February 12! I also made a short trip to the University of Central Florida (UCF) and discussed digital exhibiting with the wonderful folks at the texts and technology program and some of my old friends at the UCF Library. It was lovely to see you all!
For many of you, we’ve already reached midterms. We’re halfway through the term! The next several weeks leading up to graduation will be busy so be sure to set up your research appointments with us soon. In the meantime, enjoy spring break next week and come back to us safe, sound, and ready to knock out the rest of this term!
