Library News
Library to offer access to massive archive of Holocaust testimonies
McMaster University has become the first Canadian institution to offer full access to videotaped testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses, nearly 52,000 in all, contained in one of the largest archives of its kind.
Recorded in 56 countries and in 32 languages-mostly between 1994 and 1999-the interviews are contained in the USC Shoah Foundation Institute's Visual History Archive, which can be accessed either remotely or on campus through secure access to McMaster University Library.
The USC Shoah Foundation was established in 1994 by director Steven Spielberg to collect and preserve the testimonies of survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust.
There are accounts from Jewish Holocaust survivors, homosexual survivors, Jehovah's Witness survivors, liberators and liberation witnesses, political prisoners, rescuers and aid providers, Sinti and Roma survivors, survivors of Eugenics policies and war crimes trials participants.
Nearly three thousand survivors were interviewed in Canada, with 34 interviews conducted in Hamilton.
"The testimonies will serve as a remarkable research tool for our students, faculty and the much wider community," said University librarian Jeff Trzeciak. "This tremendously rich archive can and will be used across all disciplines at the University, providing scholars with tremendous insight on the Holocaust."
A special launch event is to be held on campus Thursday evening, 7 p.m. at CIBC Centre, with keynote speaker Branko Lustig, the Oscar-winning producer of Schindler's List and one of the founding figures of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. His own testimony is preserved in the Institute's archive.
In each testimony, a survivor speaks of life experiences before, during and after the war. Many show photographs, documents and artifacts or introduce family members and friends on camera. Approximately 150 of the interviews feature walking tours, some conducted at former concentration camps, ghettos, mass graves or in front of a former family home.
"Nearly 52,000 survivors and witnesses have shared their voices, shared their messages with the world," USC Shoah Foundation Institute Executive Director Stephen D. Smith said. "They are eyewitnesses who have testified about what they saw and experienced during the Holocaust and across their lives. Their testimony is allowing historians to enter the past as never before, and scholars of wide-ranging disciplines are finding the archive to be of utmost value to their research. The Institute commends McMaster University for making such learning opportunities possible in Canada."
"These unique holdings are a mosaic of experiences that not only speak to the Holocaust in terms of a historical past, but also inform our current and future social and moral obligations," said Noah Shenker, an expert in Holocaust testimony and post doctoral fellow in the Faculty of Humanities and McMaster University Library. "This has a tremendous influence on how we document and respond to other genocides, including those in Armenia, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Darfur."
Acquiring the archive is part of a commitment by the University to collect primary sources from the Holocaust, he said, such as the development of the Madeleine and Monte Levy Virtual Museum of the Holocaust and the Resistance.
by Michelle Donovan
For photos of the launch event see the Library's flickr stream.
Author/Publisher Anna Porter Speaks at McMaster
On Thursday, April 12, the Library hosted an event for Library donors and friends to hear a talk by author and publisher Anna Porter. Porter is the author of three crime novels and an acclaimed memoir, The Storyteller. Her two other non-fiction books are Kasztner’s Train: The True Story of Rezso Kasztner, Unknown Hero of the Holocaust and most recently The Ghosts of Europe: Journeys through Central Europe’s Troubled Past and Uncertain Future, both of which have won important awards. She has also written many articles for magazines and newspapers.
Porter was a co-founder and publisher of Key Porter books, which published authors such as Farley Mowat, Allan Fotheringham, Howard Engel, Joan Barfoot, Norman Jewison, Hume Cronyn, George Jonas, Margaret Atwood, Jean Chretien, Sylvia Fraser, and many others. In 2004, she sold her interest in the company to H.B. Fenn Limited. Sadly, H. B. Fenn announced that it was suspending operation of Key Porter Books in January 2011.
From her vantage point as both a writer and a publisher, Porter has a unique understanding of the Canadian literary scene and book trade. She delighted the audience with her reminiscences of some of the extraordinary people she has known and worked with in her career as a publisher, and also shared her views on the future of the book industry both in Canada and worldwide.
McMaster University Library has a special relationship with Anna Porter, holding both her personal archives and those of Key Porter Books. The Library’s William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections has a long history of collecting in the areas of Canadian literature and the Canadian publishing industry, holding the archives of major writers such as Farley Mowat, Pierre Berton, Margaret Laurence and Marian Engel, as well as those of other publishing houses such as McClelland & Stewart, Macmillan Canada and Copp Clark.
McMaster also recently partnered with Queen’s University Archives and the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto on a digital initiative Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing, which contains 90 case studies on aspects of Canadian publishing written by professors, independent scholars, archivists and library staff from across Canada. The site includes a case study of Anna Porter and Key Porter Books.
Please visit the Library’s Flickr page for photos from Anna Porter’s lecture.
LibAccess issues
Over the weekend, a system failure with an external vendor led to the accidental deletion of numerous LibAccess accounts. We apologize for the inconvenience and are taking steps with the vendor to avoid a reoccurrence. Here are suggested remedies for those affected:
- Most people who have reported issues do not need to be using a separate LibAccess account. Anyone who has a valid MAC ID should be using that username and password to log in to use the Library's electronic resources.
- For those who lack a MAC ID, it is possible to recreate a Libaccess account in several quick steps. Those who lack a "Working at McMaster" card with a barcode should follow these steps.
- FHS Instructors and Research Affiliates who don't know their barcode should contact hslib@mcmaster.ca
We strongly encourage anyone eligible for a MAC ID to apply for one and to use those credentials to access the Library's resources.
Library Hours - Spring/Summer 2012
Effective April 26th, the libraries move to Spring/Summer Hours.
Thursday April 26th & Friday April 27th - 9am to 5pm
Saturday April 28th & Sunday April 29th - Closed
As of April 30th:
Monday to Thursday: 9am to 10pm
Friday: 9am to 5pm
Saturday: 9:30am to 5pm
Sunday: Closed
Please note that Innis Library will be closed Saturdays and Sundays.
$700,000 gift to provide greater accessibility to library, enhance learning for business students
McMaster announced today a gift of $700,000 from TD Bank Group to help students with disabilities better access the full services of the University libraries and to create a dynamic learning space for business students at its newest campus, the Ron Joyce Centre.
Part of the gift will help fund a staff position - named the TD Coordinator for Library Accessibility Services - to offer support services in research, to help manage the hardware and software students with disabilities use to help access information, and to provide study and consultation rooms that use adaptive technology, among other functions.
"We are deeply grateful to TD Bank Group for helping us provide our students with the resources that they need to succeed," says Patrick Deane, President of McMaster. "It is imperative that we provide the infrastructure needed to support all our students, so that they may have an exceptional education."
The TD Coordinator for Library Accessibility is based at Mills Library, which is the largest library on campus, with more than 1.3 million visits by patrons each year.
Mills Library has undergone a major transformation in recent years, becoming a hub for collaborative learning in a high tech environment that enables skill development, research and new avenues of learning.
"TD is proud to be partnering with McMaster University to create a dynamic learning space for students with disabilities so that they may have full access to the services of the University libraries," said Frank McKenna, deputy chair, TD Bank Group.
The second component of the gift is the TD Learning Commons, which is located on the first floor at the Ron Joyce Centre in Burlington. There, students from the DeGroote School of Business' MBA and executive education programs have full access to an open, airy space that enhances their academic experience.
The Ron Joyce Centre opened in 2010 and by next year is expected to be serving 700 to 800 students.
By: Michelle Donovan
Source: http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=8831
Books from Crime to Contemplation in Archives and Research Collections
The William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections is pleased to announce that four book collections on a range of subjects are now open for reading and study. Come visit us on the Lower Level of Mills to learn more.
If your interest is English literature, this is the collection for you! The Powys Brothers collection contains more than 400 volumes by and about John Cowper, Theodore Francis, and Llewelyn Powys. Originally gathered by Peter J. Bassnett, the books are complemented by a collection of archival materials.
West Indies & African Diaspora
Consisting of more than 200 volumes published from the 18th through the 20th centuries, the collection has strong roots in West Indian and Caribbean history, as well as the history of slavery and Africans in the New World. The collection came to us from long-time collector Dr. Anthony MacFarlane.
J. Robert Janes Collection
Mystery enthusiasts can explore Occupied France during World War II with the St.Cyr & Kohler mystery series, penned by Canadian author J. Robert Janes. A trained mining engineer, Janes also authored several books on geology and earth science. The accompanying archive gives you a look behind the scenes of his books.
Students of philosophy or theology can enjoy a collection of just over 100 volumes related to the life and teachings of 18th century Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg and the church that bears his name.
Scholars GeoPortal Geospatial Data Discovery Tool ready for use
The McMaster University Library is pleased to announce the official launch of Scholars GeoPortal: http://geo.scholarsportal.info. This Ontario Council of University Libraries initiative allows you to work with a number of features such as downloading a vast amount of geospatial data for use in Geographic Information Systems and creating maps for printing and sharing. For a full list of features visit: http://www.ocul.on.ca/node/618.
McMaster receives treasure trove of ad materials from Pirate Group
A significant collection of advertising campaign materials from some of North America's most iconic brands - Molson, Coca Cola, Pepsi, McDonald's, General Motors and Budweiser among them - has been donated to McMaster University from the Pirate Group.
Pirate Group is the largest advertising audio production company in Canada, co-founded in 1990 by Terry O'Reilly, and includes partners Tom Eymundson, Chris Tait, Tom Goudie and Vanya Drakul. The unique archive documents the creation of some 50,000 radio and television commercials from 1981-2007, featuring celebrities such as Leslie Nielson, Bob Newhart, Ellen DeGeneres, John Cleese, Jay-Z, Kiefer Sutherland and Eugene Levy.
There are concept presentations, casting sessions and auditions, script edits, music demos, final tracks, sheet music and lyrics and final commercials, among other materials.
It includes preparatory materials for such notable commercials as Becel's " I Cant Believe Its Not Butter" series, spots for the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Super Bowl, Eaton's, the first ads for early cell phones and campaign ads for prime ministers.
"This is an industry of stories," says O'Reilly, who is well-known to Canadians as the host of CBC Radios long-running The Age of Persuasion - a weekly program exploring the world of advertising and its impact on popular culture, recently re-launched as Under the Influence.
" Advertising touches every aspect of life, and this collection not only illuminates the craft of persuasion, but it proves that advertising is a reflection of our culture at any given time. We believe it's important to preserve ads, to collect them, so they are not lost to the sands of time. Our hope is that this collection will help students and researchers to study our industry, help them spot trends, analyze communication techniques and, above all, inspire the next generation of advertising people. "
Students from across all disciplines - marketing, communications, advertising and popular culture, among others - will have access to the collection, thought to be the largest of its kind in Canada.
" This is an outstanding collection of truly iconic commercials and advertising campaigns," says University librarian Jeff Trzeciak. " It is a remarkable source of information for our students and faculty, providing them with concrete examples of the entire creative process."
by Michelle Donovan
For photos of the gift announcement see the Library's flickr stream
New Group Study Rooms open @ Thode
Two new Group Study Rooms have opened on the 2nd floor of Thode Library. Each room will give a group of up to 6 students a place to work collaboratively.
Room 204 has been added to the Study Room Booking System. Room 203 will be added to this system shortly.
We hope you enjoy using these rooms!
New Study Area now open at Thode Library
The new Quiet Study area on the 2nd floor of Thode opens today.
Students now have access to approximately 390 individual study carrels, in a variety of configurations. More than half of these study spaces will have power for charging laptops and other electronic devices.
The electrical work is not quite complete, but we wanted to make the space available to students as soon as possible, so please be patient with us while the final work is being completed.
Enjoy this new study area!
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