New French and Italian topic databases available
Stanford University Libraries has just acquired access to a few new databases for scholars working on French and Italian topics!
Blogs
Finding credible sources of information about the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul
What exactly happened in Turkey last month and what is happening at this moment? What kind of historical events led up to it? You can find information on the history of the Turkish government and politics in SearchWorks.
Historical textbooks in Cubberley Library
Did you know that Cubberley Education Library has a large collection of textbooks and children's books dating back to 1800? Items with call numbers beginning with OTx must be used in the library, but other titles can be checked out.
History and context to the NSA leaks about surveillance of US citizens
[Update #1: I added links to the OnlineBooks site at UPenn for historic materials from the "United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities" and "United States. National Security Agency -- History." OnlineBooks site pulls together digital material from HathiTrust and Internet Archive with items in your library's catalog. Very nice indeed! Thanks John Mark Ockerbloom at UPenn for the suggestion!]
Archive of Recorded Sound intern Abraham Tewolde
It is my pleasure to introduce Abraham Tewolde, a new intern at the Archive of Recorded Sound who is taking part in Stanford University Libraries 1st-generation summer intern program this summer. During his time here Abraham will be learning how a sound archive functions and operates, including work on finding aids, digitization, inventory control, accessioning, and research skills.
Abraham will also be a guest blogger during his time here. Please enjoy below the first of a series of posts Abraham will be offering over the summer.
Archives acquires major addition to Steven Chu papers
The University Archives is pleased to announce the acquisition of a major addition to the Steven Chu papers. The materials, spanning Chu's career, consist of correspondence, research and subject files, teaching files, awards, and posters.
Archives acquires additional Shockley papers on eugenics
The University Archives has acquired an addition to its William Shockley and Eugenics Collection. The materials, originally part of John B. deC. M. Saunders' files, consist of Foundation for Research and Education on Eugencis and Dysgenics (FREED) correspondence, news clippings, publications and ephemera related to Shockley's work on heredity, I.Q., and race.
Celebrating 100 years of "The Rite"
Today marks 100 years to the day since the infamous first performance of Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) at the Théâtre des Champs‐Elysées in Paris on 29 May 1913. The 31-year-old composer's two-part ballet score, coupled with 24-year-old Vaclav Nijinsky's choreography, provoked a riot on the opening night that according to most accounts rendered the music inaudible for most of the performance. The protests were so loud that Ballet Russes Director, Serge Diaghilev, was supposedly forced to shout instructions to his dancers onstage while flashing the auditorium's house lights in an attempt to quell the enraged audience.