Tag Archives: collection development

Featured, News and Features, University Archives

Archives Office Hours at the SOURCE

We know, there’s less than a month before LDOC and you need another thing to do like a hole in the head. But, if you’re a leader or an active member of a Duke student group (including graduate and professional student groups), finish out your group’s year by giving documentation about your activities to the Duke University Archives.

By archiving your records, you ensure that your group’s legacy remains part of Duke University’s history, alongside the records of Duke’s presidents and campus offices. It’s your way to make your mark on what future Duke students and scholars will know about Duke history for decades to come.

To help with this, University Archives staff will be holding regular office hours at UCAE’s the SOURCE starting this week through the end of the semester. You’ll find us at the SOURCE on:

  • Thursday, March 26th from 2:00-4:00 PM
  • Thursday, April 9th from 2:00-4:00 PM
  • Thursday, April 23rd from 2:00-4:00 PM

No appointment is necessary—just stop by with any questions about the records collecting process or to tell us more about the records you’d like to archive.

Cast from "The Womanless Wedding," ca. 1890. From the University Archives Photograph Collection.
This group is in the Duke University Archives. Is yours?
Cast from Theatrical Performance at Trinity College, before 1892. From the University Archives Photograph Collection.

Need a little background information before coming to visit us?

Read more about the types of documentation we collect—and see some examples of student groups whose records we hold—on our student group records website.

Before you stop by, make a quick canvas of any documentation your group might be ready to place with the University Archives. Think about the types of documentation you have, the dates it covers, and if there are any special formats (do you have tons of video files? do you have a gigantic banner from a group event?). We’ll then help decide what should come to the University Archives.

We’ll also ask you how much documentation you have to give to us, so we can estimate the number of boxes you’ll need (yep, we can provide those) or make arrangements to get digital files from you via DropBox, a flash drive, etc.

Can’t visit the SOURCE during our office hours?

Complete our online form to let us know a little about the records you’d like to donate, and we’ll get in touch with you to discuss next steps. Or send us an email with any questions!

Post contributed by Amy McDonald, Assistant University Archivist.

From Our Collections, New at the Rubenstein Library

A “Surprise Box” from Judy Malloy

MalloyBoxOpenWhile the staff here at the Rubenstein Library often travels to bring collections back to Durham, we also receive a great many packages from around the world.  For us, there’s nothing like opening those newly arrived boxes to assess the contents’ research value and find their place within the context of the collection to which they belong, and within our holdings as a whole.

Judy Malloy, the pioneering author of electronic literature such as Uncle Roger (1986), one of the first hypertext fictions, recently sent us a “surprise box” of additions to her papers here.  It was, indeed, full of wonderful surprises!  They included a painted notebook from her work Paths of Memory and Painting, a portrait of Malloy by Irene Dogmatic, and some documentation of recent online works.

The box also contained a couple of Malloy’s early artist’s books, including “up”, from around 1975, which incorporates a computer chip into its design.

MalloyUp
Judy Malloy, “up”, from the Judy Malloy Papers.

Documentation of some of Malloy’s performances and art projects from the 1970s to the 1990s is also included.  A hand-painted sign captures her passion for both the freedom of expression online and the tactile enjoyment of physical artwork.

MalloyCyberLiberties
Sign from a Cyber Liberties event at the University of California, circa 2004.

We look forward to many more surprises, both from Judy Malloy and other authors of electronic literature and from the many other boxes we crack open every week!

Post contributed by Will Hansen, Assistant Curator of Collections.