Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Dollar Steamship collections featured

(by Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian)

Our friends at the National Park Service Museum Collection blog have featured some of our Dollar Steamship collections items, including some of the colorful brochures and a fabulous pith helmet.

Their post links to our online Museum objects catalog and our finding aids in the Online Archive of California, but if you're interested in learning even more, don't miss the Library items on the Dollar Steamship Lines listed in our Keys Catalog of Library materials, many of which are available for lending via interlibrary loan.  (Ask at your local library about borrowing items from us and other libraries around the world via "ILL," or contact us to learn more!)

Monday, November 19, 2012

Holiday hours, Nov. 2012

(by Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian)

Please note that the Library will be closed Wednesday, November 21 through Friday, November 23; regular service resumes Monday, November 26.

See our Plan Your Research Visit site for more information, or contact us to learn more!


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Pulp treasure: The Grain Ships

(by Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian)

The Library is fortunate to have a significant holdings of maritime pulp fiction.  These materials, vastly popular when published, are now often scarce due to the materials used in their manufacture: inexpensive papers that are highly acidic, known as "pulp."

Our holdings have currently been enriched through a large number of pulp magazines dating from the late 19th through the 20th centuries, donated as part of the Krummes Collection of Steamship Fiction.  Although we are mourning the recent passing of Dan Krummes, we are proud to preserve and make available these materials that created a love of the sea in so many.

We are cataloging the stories in the pulp magazines individually to make them more accessible;  if you're not able to come in to read them in person, simply contact us to obtain copies.

While cataloging the contents of vol. 3, no. 2 (Nov. 20, 1922) of Sea Stories Magazine, I came across the poem, "The Grain Ships" by Captain Dingle.  It was too good not to digitize as part of our pilot program to digitize library materials--it is now available in multiple formats via the Internet Archive and NPS Focus, and I am delighted to present here this charming poem about San Francisco's grain ships:

Image of The Grain Ships




Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Park's Collections Highlights by Subject

(by Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian)

We have a new way to browse highlights of our collections--by subject!  These categories now appear at the bottom of our Museum Collections website:

The Museum Collections website has long encouraged exploration by format (object, archival, library, or small craft collections) but until now a way to browse articles and writings on our collections by subject or theme has been lacking.  Under these subjects you'll find everything from articles on specific collection items to writings using images of our collections as illustrations.

If you're interested in browsing our actual collections records, or accessing our online collections, then see our Collections Catalogs & Finding Aids.  Records for our collections are represented in many catalogs as are our finding aids to archival collections.  Have a question about which catalog is best for your research?  Don't hesitate to contact us--our Reference Staff is available to assist with your maritime research strategy.