National Archives at Seattle

The students in the chapter of the Special Libraries Association at the University of Washington (SLA-UW) were kind enough to share another report from their visit to the National Archives at Seattle. This archive is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and is a regional repository for records. Thanks again to Violet Fox for the pictures and summary of the visit!

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Co-sponsored by the UW chapter of the Society of American Archivists and SLA-UW, our tour to the National Archives and Records Administration(NARA) Seattle facility was a huge success with 19 participants!

Archivist Ken House and student assistant Jill Anderson graciously showed us around and thoroughly answered our many questions.

The NARA building on Sand Point was originally built in 1945 as an aviation storehouse. When World War II came to an end shortly after, it was repurposed for federal record keeping. The Seattle facility is responsible for storing records from federal agencies and courts in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. It also contains a wide variety of historical records, including military, census, naturalization, and immigration records.

The facility is one of the largest repositories of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; those records are used frequently for genealogy and land border questions. There are many documents that have information about effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Other records such as plat maps and building plans help researchers identify environmental pollution that may have occurred. NARA’s records on the McNeil Island Penitentiary are also well-used. Nearly all their files are paper documents; collections of photographs and other media are sent to the National Archives facilities in College Park, Maryland. With about 38,000 cubic feet of records, the Seattle facility serves over 100 different governmental agencies. They struggle frequently with insufficient space, shredding unneeded documents when they run out of room.



The staff at NARA includes four archivists, two technicians, and a number of students and volunteers that help run the day-to-day activities of the archive. There are also a number of record management staff (who establish policy and train on proper records information management), additional record staff, and a regional manager. The archives staff are kept busy retrieving records, answering questions and requests, and preserving items. They get about ten to fifteen requests a day by phone and email, along with in-person visitors who can bring in their own scanners or digital cameras. Unfortunately they simply don’t have the time or staffing to scan items or catalog them with item-level or often even box-level descriptions. Visitors are welcome for whatever reason they want to see the materials–there’s no requirement to prove a research need.

NARA is an extraordinary resource conveniently located just three miles from the UW campus. They’re often looking for volunteers–if you’re looking to get experience in archives, check their website for more information!

National Sporting Library & Museum

The National Sporting Library & Museum in Middleburg, VA is seeking applications for the John H. Daniels Fellowship. The fellowship supports researchers-in-residence to study and use the collections for research into "a topic exploring the intersection of field sports with the evolution of conservation." Check out the Fellowship brochure for more information. The application deadline is March 1, 2013.

The National Sporting Library & Museum was founded in 1954 and the collections contain over 24,000 works of art and books on field and equestrian sports. The collection boasts items dating back to the 15th century. "The National Sporting Library and Museum is dedicated to preserving and sharing the literature, art and culture of equestrian, angling and field sports." There is an online catalog although it appears you'll need a log in to access it. You can contact the library to find out about access. The manuscript and archive collections contain scrapbooks, papers, photographs and research. Finding aids are available online. The library and museum are both open to the public and free of admission. If unable to visit in person, reference services are available. However, research is limited to 30 minutes per request. If you are curious about the library and collections, read the resource brochures available on the website, or like them on Facebook and check out some of the photos.

San Diego Zoo Library

Zoos have libraries. Go figure. I discovered this bit of information recently when I saw a job posting for an Associate Director of Library Services at the San Diego Zoo Global Library. The position closed to applications on October 11th, however here is the link to the job posting for anyone interested, and this is a link to a .pdf I've uploaded to Google Docs for posterity. The existence of libraries in zoos had never occurred to me. Then I realized, of course zoos have libraries. Zoos need access to veterinary collections for animal care, biological research, zoo history, current practice in animal care, to name a few needs.

I spent some time on the San Diego Zoo's library website and was impressed with the resources available. Check out these Fact Sheets. They are HTML pages that cover a breadth of topics. I dig the hippopotamus photo.


The zoo library has over 11,000 books and 400+ journal titles. There are archives and rare books, as well as general reference services and information. It looks like a great library resource. I borrowed some photos from the website to give you a look. Click the photos to visit the library home page.

Historical Medical Library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia

A few weeks ago I spent a weekend in Philadelphia with my husband. It was my first time in the city and we did the usual visit to the birthplace of democracy; Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross's house, Ben Franklin's print shop and post office, and Elfreth's Alley. We barely scratched the surface of things to do, but only had one day in the city. We decided to spend the afternoon visiting the Mütter Museum.

The museum is amazing. It definitely has disturbing elements. For me, the wall of fetal deformities was a little difficult to take in. There were exhibits linking Grimm's Fairy tales to medical conditions, and I learned more than I ever intended about skin conditions and the assassinations of Lincoln and Garfield. Check out this article from the British Society for the History of Science Travel Guide for more information about the museum. There was a wonderful quote on a display description that sums up the importance of the collection well.

"A great museum collection is as important to medical education as a great library because specimens are nature's books"

While at the Mütter I learned about the Historical Medical Library also housed in the building. Established in 1788, it's one of the world's premier research collections into the history of medicine. Over 400 incunables, manuscripts, archives, and 19th and 20th century medical journals. Sadly, I did not have an appointment, so I could not visit the stacks. The library is open by appointment only Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10:00am to 4:00pm.

If you want to see specifics, you can search the catalog online. The Catalog search help is fairly comprehensive if you would like a tutorial in how to use their catalog system.

Also available for distance visitors are the digital resources, Digital Books and two digitized 18th Century Manuscripts.

See the library website for history of the collection, or read this very informative article from the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, which is part of the Literary and Cultural Heritage Map. Photos are not allowed within the museum so these shots of the door and the one taken from the library website above will have to satisfy your visual cravings.

United States Military Academy's Jefferson Hall Library

The United States Military Academy's Jefferson Hall Library was listed in the Princeton Review Annual The Best 377 Colleges as #2 for Best College Library. Congratulations USMA Library! (Harvard College got #1) USMA may be more familiarly known as West Point. In checking out the Library's website I came across a 12 page tour book that provides a lot of great detail and some images of the Jefferson Hall Library. It's worth taking a look at the six floors and to get a little jealous of the beautiful views.

The catalog is publicly searchable, and some of the Special Collections and Archives might be accessible by request.

"The Special Collections and Archives Division reading room is open to researchers Monday through Friday, 0800-1630; exceptions will be posted. Researchers (excluding USMA Cadets, staff and faculty) are accommodated by appointment only and require approval from the Associate Director for Special Collections and Archives. To request a research appointment, please complete the Researcher Registration form in advance of your visit. Please allow time for us to respond; appointments are not set until confirmation is received." --Library Website

You can fill out a researcher request form online after browsing the Special Collections or Archives collection descriptions and finding aids. Lucky you who are be granted access to this beautiful building and collections. For those unable to visit in person, this Online Photo Gallery will have to suffice. There are also a few digital collections accessible on the website for you to browse through, like these Colonial and Federal Era Maps Collection

American Museum of Natural History Library

This week's post is about a library visit by the Library & Information Science Student Association. A former officer and recent graduate of the School of Communication & Information at Rutgers directed me to their pictures and provided some details about their visit to the American Museum of Natural History Library in New York, NY.

The library at the American Museum of Natural History was established with the founding of the museum in 1869. This library is one of the largest natural history libraries in the world. Among the collections, the library also maintains the astronomy collection from the Hayden Planetarium, which was transferred in 1997.

The website is worth a perusal if you don't have the opportunity to check this library out in person. The Congo Expedition of 1909-1015 is very well done with multimedia t presentations, impressive gallery with QuickTime videos and images of 3D visuals and high resolution display, and well presented access to the transcripts of the introduction. The Darwin Manuscript Project with a cleverly called Darbase is also worth a look. Check this this link for the list of digital collections. To whet you appetite for an in person visit, browse their catalog online.

The Flickr page from the Rutgers LISSA visit give some great perspective of the behind the scenes. These images were clipped from the Flickr page and link to the original Flickr files.

Society of the Cincinnati Library

The Society of the Cincinnati was founded by Continental and French officers who fought in the Revolutionary War. The society was formed to continue to foster the friendships built during the war and in remembrance of the principles for which they fought. The society is named for the Roman hero Cincinnatus. George Washington was elected the first President General of the society, a position he held until his death in 1799. The society has continued through the membership of direct descendents of the original founders and other eligible officers.

"In addition to a museum and library at Anderson House, the Society supports scholarship, publications, historic preservation efforts and other programs to promote increased knowledge and appreciation of the achievements of American independence." --Short History of the Society

The headquarters of the society is housed in Anderson House, a beautiful Guilded Age mansion in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC.


The house was built as the winter home of Larz and Isobel Anderson in 1905. The house is impressively preserved to showcase the original architecture and furnishings. The billiard room has been converted into a small exhibit space.

The home is a National Historic Landmark and is well worth a visit if you have the opportunity.

In 1998 the basement was entirely renovated to create an inviting library space for researchers to access the impressive collection of "printed and manuscript materials relating to the military and naval history of the eighteenth century, with a particular concentration on the people and events of the American Revolution." The collection spans several areas including, The Art of War, Official Military Documents, Contemporary Accounts and Discourses, Manuscripts, Maps, Papers related to the origins of the society, Anderson Family Collection, Graphic Arts, Literature, a Modern Reference Collection (works published post 1820), as well as books published by members of the society. This collection is a must see for any researcher interested in the Revolutionary War. Anderson House is open for public tours, see their website for more information. Contact the library if you are interested in researching the collection. The library does sometimes accept volunteers for projects. Email the library at "library (at) societyofthecincinnati.org" for more information.