Showing posts with label Archives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Archives. Show all posts
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Boost for Army library
Saw this article in the ALA newsletter. The newspaper is from Petersburg, VA.
FORT LEE - The Army Logistics University Library officially accepted one of the most comprehensive collections of logistical documentation ever donated to an Army professional development school. Retired Lt. Gen. William "Gus" Pagonis donated a collection he has had in his possession since the end of the Persian Gulf War. The documents, reports and videos detail the logistics behind the war effort known as Operation Desert Storm.
"Every briefing, every interview was taped," Pagonis said during the ceremony yesterday. "I was hoping that by doing that, we wouldn't make the same mistakes twice."
Pagonis said that in his role as the chief logistician under Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he asked several historians within the National Guard and Army Reserve to document the operations. Those operations in 1990 and 1991 included bringing equipment to the area, moving two divisions behind enemy lines and setting up logistics stations. The moves were some of the largest ever accomplished by an Army. Pagonis said he even drew on history to make the moves possible with the logistics stations. The inspiration for that came from antiquity.
"Alexander the Great would leave logistics camps as he conquered the known world at that time so that he didn't have to go very far back for supplies," Pagonis said.
He added that Schwarzkopf asked if there were more modern examples, to which Pagonis cited the British in the North African campaign of World War II. Pagonis said that while the British faced defeat through most of that campaign, they kept their supplies close at hand. German Gen. Edwin Rommell did not and ended up losing the campaign. For the U.S. in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, there was a seven-month buildup to the 100-hour war.
"It was one of the greatest coups in history," Pagonis said. "Logistics is what made it work."
One of Napoleon's great mistakes was moving into territories with no supply planning; bad logistics.
He added that of all the casualties suffered, approximately two-thirds were logisticians. Pagonis said that the records were never his. "I was just holding on to them," he said of the documents, maps and tapes.
John Shields, research librarian at Army Logistics University, said that because Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield were such important operations, it's good to have primary documents. "In these operations, he really made logistics come together," Shields said. Shields added that the Army Logistics Library has never had anything like this donated or added to its collection before. "We're very excited about it."
Maj. Gen. James E. Chambers said that he's hopeful the library will soon have other important document collections added to it, perhaps from other wars such as World War II. Shields said that the library is still formulating how the documents will be added to the catalog. As part of the special collections, all the items will be able to be used by students at the Army Logistics University and members of the public who wish to do research.
"We won't let it circulate though," Shields said.
FORT LEE - The Army Logistics University Library officially accepted one of the most comprehensive collections of logistical documentation ever donated to an Army professional development school. Retired Lt. Gen. William "Gus" Pagonis donated a collection he has had in his possession since the end of the Persian Gulf War. The documents, reports and videos detail the logistics behind the war effort known as Operation Desert Storm.
"Every briefing, every interview was taped," Pagonis said during the ceremony yesterday. "I was hoping that by doing that, we wouldn't make the same mistakes twice."
Pagonis said that in his role as the chief logistician under Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he asked several historians within the National Guard and Army Reserve to document the operations. Those operations in 1990 and 1991 included bringing equipment to the area, moving two divisions behind enemy lines and setting up logistics stations. The moves were some of the largest ever accomplished by an Army. Pagonis said he even drew on history to make the moves possible with the logistics stations. The inspiration for that came from antiquity.
"Alexander the Great would leave logistics camps as he conquered the known world at that time so that he didn't have to go very far back for supplies," Pagonis said.
He added that Schwarzkopf asked if there were more modern examples, to which Pagonis cited the British in the North African campaign of World War II. Pagonis said that while the British faced defeat through most of that campaign, they kept their supplies close at hand. German Gen. Edwin Rommell did not and ended up losing the campaign. For the U.S. in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, there was a seven-month buildup to the 100-hour war.
"It was one of the greatest coups in history," Pagonis said. "Logistics is what made it work."
One of Napoleon's great mistakes was moving into territories with no supply planning; bad logistics.
He added that of all the casualties suffered, approximately two-thirds were logisticians. Pagonis said that the records were never his. "I was just holding on to them," he said of the documents, maps and tapes.
John Shields, research librarian at Army Logistics University, said that because Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield were such important operations, it's good to have primary documents. "In these operations, he really made logistics come together," Shields said. Shields added that the Army Logistics Library has never had anything like this donated or added to its collection before. "We're very excited about it."
Maj. Gen. James E. Chambers said that he's hopeful the library will soon have other important document collections added to it, perhaps from other wars such as World War II. Shields said that the library is still formulating how the documents will be added to the catalog. As part of the special collections, all the items will be able to be used by students at the Army Logistics University and members of the public who wish to do research.
"We won't let it circulate though," Shields said.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
U.S. Bares ‘Alien Files’ Kept on Immigrants
Adele Macher, researching her Italian roots.
Immigration files containing a wealth of information collected by American border agents, some of it dating from the late 19th century, will be opened to the public soon and permanently preserved, providing intriguing nuggets about such famous immigrants or visitors as Alfred Hitchcock and Salvador Dalí.
But to millions of Americans, the real treasure will be clues about their own families’ histories in the photographs, letters, interrogation transcripts and recordings that reflect the intense scrutiny faced by those trying to enter the United States during an era when it waged two world wars and adopted increasingly restrictive immigration policies.
Under an agreement signed this year, the files, on some 53 million people, will be gradually turned over by the Department of Homeland Security to the National Archives and Records Administration, beginning in 2010. The material, accounting for what officials describe as the largest addition of individual immigration records in the archives’ history, will be indexed and made available to anyone.
Ms. Macher used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the Alien File kept on her great-aunt Laura D’Amario.
Immigration files containing a wealth of information collected by American border agents, some of it dating from the late 19th century, will be opened to the public soon and permanently preserved, providing intriguing nuggets about such famous immigrants or visitors as Alfred Hitchcock and Salvador Dalí.
But to millions of Americans, the real treasure will be clues about their own families’ histories in the photographs, letters, interrogation transcripts and recordings that reflect the intense scrutiny faced by those trying to enter the United States during an era when it waged two world wars and adopted increasingly restrictive immigration policies.
Under an agreement signed this year, the files, on some 53 million people, will be gradually turned over by the Department of Homeland Security to the National Archives and Records Administration, beginning in 2010. The material, accounting for what officials describe as the largest addition of individual immigration records in the archives’ history, will be indexed and made available to anyone.
Ms. Macher used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the Alien File kept on her great-aunt Laura D’Amario.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Letter by Lincoln, Lost for Decades, Is Returned
National Archives - President Lincoln wrote the letter five days before the Gettysburg Address.
A letter Lincoln wrote in 1863 is back with the National Archives, nearly 70 years after it was torn from its original volume.
The letter, written to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, was donated to the archives by Lawrence M. Cutler, a private collector from Arizona who bought it a few years ago.
Lincoln wrote the letter on Nov. 14, 1863 — five days before the Gettysburg Address — on behalf of Robert Stevens, the recently fired head of the United States Mint in San Francisco. The president directed Mr. Chase to allow Mr. Stevens, who was the son-in-law of a deceased senator and friend of Lincoln’s, to either have a copy of or be allowed to examine the files explaining why he was fired.
A letter Lincoln wrote in 1863 is back with the National Archives, nearly 70 years after it was torn from its original volume.
The letter, written to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, was donated to the archives by Lawrence M. Cutler, a private collector from Arizona who bought it a few years ago.
Lincoln wrote the letter on Nov. 14, 1863 — five days before the Gettysburg Address — on behalf of Robert Stevens, the recently fired head of the United States Mint in San Francisco. The president directed Mr. Chase to allow Mr. Stevens, who was the son-in-law of a deceased senator and friend of Lincoln’s, to either have a copy of or be allowed to examine the files explaining why he was fired.
Friday, May 15, 2009
New databases
OCLC expanded FirstSearch by adding three databases:
• OAIster: union catalog of over 19 million digital resources from more than 1,00 orgs, developed by U Michigan; it's accessed using Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).
• CAMIO - Catalog of Art Museum Images Online: high quality art images from around the globe.
• Archive Grid: online access to descriptions of archival collections. Seems a very useful resource for particular uses.
I put in the term Tunney, Gene and one of the results is
Clicking on the hyperlink shows details, including Access: 
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/van.5a52892
Clicking on that hyperlink shows the thumbnail of this picture
Amazing. This technological advance is impressive.
• OAIster: union catalog of over 19 million digital resources from more than 1,00 orgs, developed by U Michigan; it's accessed using Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH).
• CAMIO - Catalog of Art Museum Images Online: high quality art images from around the globe.
• Archive Grid: online access to descriptions of archival collections. Seems a very useful resource for particular uses.
I put in the term Tunney, Gene and one of the results is
| [Portrait of Gene Tunney] Author: Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964, photographer. Publication: 1934 Resource Type: image; image; image; Data Contributor: Library of Congress Digitized Historical Collections; |
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/van.5a52892Clicking on that hyperlink shows the thumbnail of this picture
Amazing. This technological advance is impressive.
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