Library Winter Break Hours
(LOBBY BOOK DROP WILL BE OPEN)
December 19-21, 2022: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
December 22, 2022 – January 2, 2023: CLOSED
January 3-15, 2023: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday; CLOSED, Saturday & Sunday
Regular semester hours resume Monday, January 16.
Library finals week hours begin Sunday, December 11
Sunday, December 11: NOON – 11:00 PM
Monday, December 12 – Wednesday, December 14: 8:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Thursday December 15: 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Friday, December 16: 8:00 AM – NOON
Saturday & Sunday, December 17 & 18: CLOSED
Winter Break hours begin Monday, December 19
The Library will have reduced hours / be closed over the Thanksgiving Holiday break. The website, databases, and ebooks will still be available.
Tuesday, November 22: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Wednesday, November 23: CLOSED
Thursday, November 24: CLOSED
Friday, November 25: CLOSED
Saturday, November 26: CLOSED
Sunday, November 27: 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM
The Library’s Annual Book Sale on October 6 was a great event this year! Big thanks to everyone who came out to browse books, make buttons, and enjoy the beautiful weather. Check out some pics from the event!
Browsing the selection
Fiction for sale on a sunny day
Students making buttons!
Please welcome our Visiting Teaching and Learning Librarians Traci Haynie and Emily Warren!
About Karin “Traci” Haynie, DNP, MSLS, MS
I am a Visiting Teaching & Learning Librarian with a focus on teaching information literacy instruction for the CORE Seminars. I am also the liaison librarian for the STEM disciplines. My primary focus is to assist students in accessing library resources and conduct research for their courses.
Before SMCM, I volunteered in my local public library; worked as a registered nurse; and am a retired Army Reserve soldier. As a former nurse educator, I discovered the joy of teaching and working with students in the classroom, simulation labs, and in the hospital during clinical rotations. As a retired Army Reserve soldier, I worked primarily in logistical management of supplies, equipment, and coordinated training. My hobbies include knitting & crochet, exercise, reading, strolling through antique stores, and working in my yard.
About Emily Warren, MLIS
Emily holds a Master of Library and Information Science from Kent State University in her hometown of Kent, Ohio. Prior to completing her degree, Emily worked as a circulation assistant at her local public library. As a Visiting Teaching & Learning Librarian at SMCM, Emily is looking forward to conducting information literacy instruction for the Core classes, serving as the liaison for the social science departments, and getting to know all of the faculty, staff, and students!
The Hilda C. Landers Library building is open 7 days a week during the Fall and Spring semesters.
Hello readers! My name is Zoey, and I am an intern at the St. Mary’s College of Maryland archives this spring. I am currently in a graduate program for archives at the University of Maryland, and I graduate in May 2022! The school requires each student to complete an internship before they graduate.
During my time here, I was assigned to read and describe the Lura Frances Johnson Letters (MSS 097) [link to: https://smcm.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/resources/153 ]. I created the scope and contents notes within the finding aid for the archive’s website. Before I go into detail about what the process was like, I would like to give some background information on Lura. Miss Johnson was originally from West Point, Georgia and taught math at St. Mary’s Female Seminary, the predecessor institution of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, from about 1928-1943. The majority of the letters were written to her mother. The letters in this collection describe the daily events happening to her at the time. This collection is a significant example of a teacher’s perspective on routine life at the school.
Lura Frances Johnson (left) and Helen Leighley (right), a fellow St. Mary’s Female Seminary teacher, in Cleveland (MSS 097 Box 1 Folder 12)
Initially, I found the letters difficult to interpret. Lura wrote most of her letters in cursive. Since Miss Johnson was a teacher, I expected her to have neat cursive letters, but I was incorrect. After reading through a couple of her letters, I began picking up on her handwriting, and it was much easier reading through them. This assignment was the perfect task for me to dip my feet into the archival world. It was challenging yet, rewarding when I finally deciphered Lura’s writing.
The key debate in archival work is whether we should process our collections with a minimalist or a maximalist perspective. My mentor and I decided it would be best to take a maximalist approach when processing these letters. Because these letters provide a unique perspective on the school’s history, we believed it would be best to summarize all the letters written by Miss Johnson. By adopting the maximalist approach to these letters, we will be able to support our students in the future. This is because we have a precise understanding of the information contained in these letters. Robert S. Cox states in his article Maximal Processing, or, Archivist on a Pale Horse, “If a collection is less well described, less well organized, and less well understood, logic dictates that, all things being equal, it must take longer for archivists to navigate the collection when conducting reference work or when performing any of the other tasks that make use of the actual materials” (Cox, 2010). By taking the time to read through and summarize these letters, we will be able to better help our students look for materials to support their research. While the maximalist approach worked for this finding aid, we cannot use this approach to process all of the materials in an archive because it would take too much time to process.
Lura filled her letters with the daily activities of her life. During part of her time at the college, Miss Johnson was completing her master’s degree. She wrote her mother consistently about how her thesis was coming along. Within these letters, you can practically feel the stress, joy, and relief when she finally finished her thesis.
Overall, I have learned a lot from my time interning at the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Archive. I am so appreciative of this opportunity to learn the daily operations of a university archive. The task I had of creating a scope and contents for these letters was a great first task in my archival career. I cannot wait to see what is in store for my future and will be forever thankful for this opportunity!
Zoey Downs
Archives Intern
References
Robert S. Cox (2010) Maximal Processing, or, Archivist on a Pale Horse, Journal of Archival Organization, 8:2, 134-148, DOI: 10.1080/15332748.2010.526086
The St. Mary’s College of Maryland community now has access to over 60 significant collections of digitized archival material.
Adam Matthew Digital is a UK-based publisher of unique primary source material from leading archives and libraries around the world. Content spans the humanities and social sciences, from medieval manuscripts to 20th century global politics.
Adam Matthew provides access to all of their collection through one search engine called “AM Explorer.” Alternatively, you can access individual collections directly through the library’s A-Z Databases list.
Read on to learn about just a few of the collections available, some of the primary source materials they contain, and ideas for use in research and classes.
This collection features manuscripts and other documents from the National Archives (UK) from the early 17th through early 19th centuries. Content focuses on the early settlement of the colonies, American Indians, the American Revolution, legislation, trade, and the frontier–perhaps of special interest to local historians of St. Mary’s.
Librarian Kent Randell, immediately upon finding out that the College has subscribed to AM Explorer, eagerly utilized this valuable resource and has already cited their Colonial History collections for his series of articles on the Susquehanna estate for the Maryland Genealogical Society Journal. Above is an excerpt of a memorandum regarding the case of Richard Smith, Jr., who was one of the most prominent Protestants to support the Catholic Third Lord Baltimore’s government until the “bitter end,” even after the Protestant Associators razed Lord Baltimore’s government in the Fall of 1689. Richard Smith, Jr. refused to recognize the provisional rebel government and was imprisoned by the Protestant Associators, and above is an excerpt of a memo regarding his case prepared for the English Lords of Trade. Smith’s wife, Barbara (Morgan) (Rousby) Smith, traveled to England and successfully appealed to the Lords of Trade to have her husband removed from “gaol” (jail).
Forty-five digitized titles are available here, spanning around 200 years of U.S. history. These newspapers include publications by tribal nations, students, and Christian missionaries in English and indigenous languages of the U.S. and Canada. All of these papers are fully searchable and may allow for research contrasting the coverage and interpretation of events in indigenous versus mainstream publications.
Indian School Journal was published by the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School from 1900-1980. The monthly edition’s contents are the work of the Office of Indian Affairs (OIA), while the weekly edition was written by students.
Some of the issues provide a look into the everyday life, thoughts, and activities of the students, while others give insight into the OIA’s agenda. Articles in the April 1906 issue, for example, seem to push assimilation as an imperative, bringing up negative stereotypes about the so-called blanket Indians, who remained committed to tribal traditions. However, at times the articles directly respond to racist ideas with tongue in cheek humor; a mention of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker praises him as one good Indian who isn’t dead.
Focusing on communities in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, and North Carolina, the collection includes primary sources from the 19th and 20th centuries. Researchers can find items including oral histories, newsletters, correspondence, family papers, and photographs. These materials may interest those studying race relations, housing problems, desegregation, the Civil Rights movement, and African-American culture and identity.
The collection contains many video and audio oral history interviews, along with their transcripts. Subjects include Quincy Jones, Koko Taylor Spike Lee, Gloria Naylor, and Cornel West. In this interview with visual artist Kara Walker, she describes the influence of artist Adrian Piper on her work, and the ways she uses silhouetted figures to interpret minstrelsy and romantic novels of the South. Interviews may give viewers context for the work of the individuals highlighted, and a greater appreciation for the experiences shaping their lives and responses to overt and institutionalized racism.
This collection gathers materials related to the Crimean War, the American Civil War and the First World War. The emphasis is on medical developments and their relationship to these conflicts, examining treatment during war and the influence in turn of war on medical breakthroughs. Materials in this collection include clinical notes and medical records, correspondence, personal accounts, studies, military records, and the Florence Nightingale papers, containing handwritten letters that are searchable by keyword.
HMS Terrible: Medical and Surgical Journal, available in 3 volumes from 1853-1856
It may not surprise researchers to learn that life aboard the HMS Terrible was…difficult. The Royal Navy ship, which fought in the Crimean War, records the health problems of its crew in this journal. The ship’s surgeon tracked the name, age, role on the vessel, date, and outcome of the visit; i.e. sent back to duty, hospitalized, or occasionally, death. The last pages of the journal give a tally of the incidents of particular medical issues, as well as offer the surgeon’s additional notes. Major culprits for infirmary visits include contusions (bruises), wounds, ulcers, phlogosis (inflammation), and rheumatism, with the most common communicable disease as syphilis. Researchers may gain insight into the health of sailors aboard ships in the Crimean War, as well as sympathize with at least one soul sent to the hospital due to the severity of an ulcer on his foot.
A Film and Media Studies major with a Religious Studies minor, Dirk Dupre has a passion for filmmaking and video production. Previously a double major in religious studies, he was inspired to declare the major after taking classes with Dr. Meckel focusing on Indian religion and modern India (but opted for graduating on time in May over the double major!).
Religious Studies brings another perspective to Dirk’s work with film, and Dr. von Kellenbach’s Religion and Ecology class had a direct influence on his film work. The class inspired an idea for an SMP related to religion, the environment, and surfing by framing environmentalism in a new way. Though Dirk would still like to pursue this idea, he ultimately decided to hold off on the project. “It would take years just to learn enough about surfing for the project,” Dirk says.
While he considered film schools, Dirk decided a liberal arts school would provide a broader education, along with the analytical and philosophical perspectives of classes in the humanities. SMCM happened to make the best offer, and the rest is history. Even though SMCM was chosen based on practical considerations, Dirk has enjoyed getting to know the people here and the beautiful campus. By necessity, he has learned to find things out for himself and seek film production opportunities beyond campus, experiences that challenged him to take initiative. Along with Media Center colleague Kevin Glotfelty, Dirk made a short film to practice filmmaking techniques and experience more of the technical elements of film production.
Dirk has worked with the Media Center for nearly 2 years, beginning during his sophomore year. After spending a lot of his time in the Media Center working on film projects, Justin Foreman mentioned an opportunity to work on a PFP project that Dirk was eager to participate in. Working with a team, Dirk has been producing, editing, and filming one minute videos to highlight the different majors at SMCM. He also helps students working with Photoshop or video production in the LAMC’s 3rd floor.
What has kept Dirk at the Media Center for so long? The staff has been supportive and invaluable in terms of providing creative feedback and professional advice. Justin has worked as both a supervisor and mentor, sharing practical advice about putting together demo reels, and giving student employees a sneak peek at his current projects.
When not behind the camera, Dirk is often at the mic hosting a radio show with Kevin or climbing the rec center’s rock wall. In addition to resetting the college’s climbing wall every semester, Dirk helps with rock climbing competitions held in the fall and spring semesters.
After graduation, Dirk plans to relax and enjoy bicycling along the C&O Canal starting from the Washington, DC area. He would like to continue working in DC with the film production company where he completed his internship. Ultimately, Dirk has his sights set on a city with a bigger film scene, like New York, Los Angeles, or Atlanta. He’d later like to find his own crew and make documentaries.
Can Dirk be a true film major without recommending a film or two? Of course not! He suggests the documentary Free Solo, which follows the journey of a free soloer* attempting the first such climb of El Capitan in Yosemite. Dirk is also a fan of the highly stylized 1990s teen film Trust directed by Hal Hartley.
We’re sad Dirk is leaving the LAMC team soon, but we can’t wait to watch his documentaries!
*Free soloing: rock climbing by yourself without a harness
Jeff Eden is an Assistant Professor of History at SMCM, and a (friendly) rival with our librarians for number of hours clocked at the library. With a recently published book and strong opinions about suitable guest lecturers, Jeff answered some questions for us about his research and the role of the library in scholarship.
This is my second semester at SMCM. I love it here: the beauty of the place; my wonderful students and colleagues; the liberating atmosphere of “sanctioned weirdness”; the feeling of deep history all around; and the beet salad I had a while ago at our unusually good dining hall, which was the best beet salad I’ve had in my life. And I’ve lived a life rich with beet salads.
I got a Ph.D. at Harvard, an M.A. at Indiana U, a B.A. at the U of Chicago, and a Participation Trophy from the Owings Mills Little League Baseball “Minors Division” (1993).
Right now I’m working on two projects: one about the Soviet Union during the Second World War, and one about slaves’ lives in Central Asia. My research agenda also includes dabbling, false starts, acid reflux, and awkward hallway smalltalk.
My most recent book is called Slavery and Empire in Central Asia (Cambridge, 2018), and I’ll let the official blurb take it from here: “The Central Asian slave trade swept hundreds of thousands of Iranians, Russians, and others into slavery during the eighteenth–nineteenth centuries. Drawing on eyewitness accounts, autobiographies, and newly-uncovered interviews with slaves, this book offers an unprecedented window into slaves’ lives and a penetrating examination of human trafficking. Slavery strained Central Asia’s relations with Russia, England, and Iran, and would serve as a major justification for the Russian conquest of this region in the 1860s–70s. Challenging the consensus that the Russian Empire abolished slavery with these conquests, Eden uses these documents to reveal that it was the slaves themselves who brought about their own emancipation by fomenting the largest slave uprising in the region’s history.”
Every research project I do starts with a tower of library books. The SMCM library’s collection is discerning and terrific, and our broader USMAI library system is the research resource that dreams are made of. Millions of books can be delivered right to the SMCM library circulation desk–one at a time, ideally!–within 2-4 days. And then there are the millions of articles available through the library’s online databases. And then there is Interlibrary Loan (ILL), which expands our reach from millions of sources to tens of millions.
Students should definitely know the people. Librarians and archivists are experts in research methods and resources, and seeking their help is likely to yield great results. Their expertise extends to online research tech too: a couple weeks ago I learned some amazing Google search “hacks” from Kent Randell that I wish I’d learned years ago!
The best book I’ve read recently is The Foundation Pit by Andrei Platonov– a dark, surreal satire of the Soviet Union written by a committed socialist & proud Soviet citizen. It’s one of those books where you keep trying to laugh and it keeps coming out as a deathly wheezing sound. For more modern (and less weird) stuff, the best book I’ve read lately is Zadie Smith’s Swing Time. It goes off the rails at times, but stick with it (and ignore the critics!)– it is wonderful.
Fathers and Sons (Turgenev). The older I get, the better it gets. Loving this book is a requirement for passing my Russian Civilization class.
I love all of my classes and all but one of my students.
(Yes, everyone but that mean guy back in 2013, when I was a TA. Why was he so mean? I hope he’s alright…)
The only right answer is Genghis Khan. Deduct points for any other answer.
There are some really great book recommendations on this library blog!
