The pages in the book were created using images from the Library’s digital collections, which were digitized from original artwork, publications, and albums.
Please note: We’ve edited the images to increase their “colorability.” In many cases, this process obscured some of the incredible detail and shading in the original work. We encourage you to explore the master scans (and the many, many other items in our collections!) at www.scranton.edu/library/zanerbloser.
We hope you enjoy our book, and we can’t wait to see what colors you bring to our collections!
As coloring fans ourselves, we couldn’t help but toss our hat into the ring. We’ve already shared a University Archives coloring book this week, but today we turn our gaze outward to our beloved city of Scranton.
As coloring fans ourselves, we couldn’t help but toss our hat into the ring. We have a few small coloring books headed your way this week, and here’s the first!
All of the pages in the book were created using images from the Library’s digital collections, most of which were digitized from original drawings, photographs, and publications from our University Archives.
We hope you enjoy our book, and we can’t wait to see what colors you bring to our collections!
A volume of the George W. Scranton lettersA peek inside at the copy-pressed letters
The Lackawanna Historical Society’s Scranton Family Papers collection includes 19 bound volumes of over 9,000 letters written by George W. Scranton, Joseph Hand Scranton, and William Walker Scranton, dating from 1850 to 1917. The Scranton Family collection is quite large; the full set has over 11,000 pages. Our goal for this Scanathon was to completely digitize the first two volumes of the collection: the George W. Scranton Papers (approximately 414 letters, 625 pages), which cover the time period June 1850 through June 1854.
The Historical Society also loaned us a box of loose correspondence from the Scranton Family, with letters to and from Joseph H. Scranton, Seldon T. Scranton, George W. Scranton, and William W. Scranton, dating from 1841 through 1874.
Participants
We knew we’d need a lot of help, and the History Department stepped up. Faculty member Dr. Adam Pratt came and brought students from his HIST140: Craft of the Historian course. The Royals Historical Society also volunteered in force. In total, more than 30 students came to the Library to work three-hour shifts. Staff members from the Lackawanna Historical Society and Scranton Public Library joined in, working side by side with our students.
Digitization
History Department volunteers at the Scribe Station
Bound volumes are always difficult to scan. Luckily, we got some extra help from the State Library of Pennsylvania, which loaned us their brand new table top Scribe Station for the weekend. The Scribe Station is part of a new initiative to support the digitization of important cultural heritage materials in the state of Pennsylvania, and we were the first to sign up! We also used the Library’s flatbed scanners to digitize the loose correspondence.
The result? Success! Not only did we completely digitize both George W. Scranton volumes, we also made a serious dent in the loose letters. Over the course of the weekend, volunteers created 1,608 digitized images (over 20 GB).
Why digitize? The most important reason is access. Up until now, the George W. Scranton volumes have only been accessible to researchers visiting the Lackawanna Historical Society in person. Digitization and online publication will make the letters much more accessible (and full-text searchable!) to historians, students, genealogists, the citizens of Scranton, and any other interested members of the public. Digitization also helps to protect and preserve the papers, which are in rather fragile condition – most researchers will be able to use the digital versions, reducing the wear and tear and decreasing the risk of damage to the original physical volumes.
Description and Transcription
Volunteers hard at work on metadata
The Scanathon wasn’t just about scanning, though. In order for digitized images to be discoverable and useful, they need to be described. In between shifts on the scanners, our volunteers captured descriptive information (called metadata) about the letters and prepared a spreadsheet that we can use to prepare the digitized images for online publication. Lackawanna Historical Society volunteers had previously prepared transcriptions of the George W. Scranton volumes (thank you!!), which our volunteers copied into our metadata spreadsheets. We also got a start on transcribing the loose correspondence — our students really stepped up to the challenge of reading scrawling, 19th-century cursive.
What’s Next?
The Scanathon may be over, but our work isn’t done quite yet. In the next few weeks, Scranton Public Library and University of Scranton Library faculty and staff will match up the digitized letters with the descriptions and transcriptions and publish them online in the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives. (To get a sense of how they will look, take a look at this letter that we digitized a few years ago as part of a collaborative Civil War digital history project.)
Update: Full volumes (sans transcriptions) are live on Internet Archive!! (Volume 1 – Volume 2)
Early next year, the letters will also be discoverable in the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) via the brand new Pennsylvania Digital Collections Project service hub. The University of Scranton and the Scranton Public Library are both founding members and active participants in this statewide initiative, so we’re thrilled to be able to give this new digital collection the exposure it deserves.
Acknowledgements
Weinberg Memorial Library, Scranton Public Library, and Lackawanna Historical Society staff putting our heads together to calibrate the Scribe Station (photo courtesy of Julia Frakes)
This was our first Scanathon, and it was certainly a learning experience. Perhaps the most important lesson learned was how wonderful it is to have help and support from so many people. Our deepest thanks go out to: Weinberg Memorial Library faculty and staff (especially Sam Davis, Sheli McHugh, Mary Kovalcin, Sharon Finnerty, Kym Fetsko, Kevin Kocur, Ian O’Hara, and work study Kate Reilly), History Department faculty and students (especially Dr. Adam Pratt and RHS president Julia Frakes), Lackawanna Historical Society staff and volunteers (especially Sarah Piccini and the Martin Family), Scranton Public Library staff (especially Scott Thomas, Martina Soden, Sylvia Orner, and Elizabeth Davis), and the State Library of Pennsylvania (especially Alice Lubrecht and Bill Fee). We’ll scan with you any day!
Tomorrow morning at 9:15 am, the City of Scranton will kick off its year-long Sesquicentennial Anniversary Celebration. Scranton was incorporated as a city on April 23, 1866, so next spring (April 23, 2016) will be the city’s 150th birthday.
While the University of Scranton itself wasn’t around back at the very beginning (founded in 1888, we just celebrated our 125th anniversary in 2013-2014), we’re proud of the close ‘town and gown’ relationship we’ve had with the city of Scranton throughout our shared history.
Here at the Weinberg Memorial Library, we’re looking forward to joining in the fun throughout the anniversary year. Beginning in May, each month of the City celebration will highlight a decade (or two) in the city’s history, and here on our Library blog we’ll be highlighting how the University grew alongside the city during that time.
Our University Archives and Helen Gallagher McHugh Special Collections include many rare and unique resources related to the history of the City of Scranton, its residents, and its major institutions. For example, the Library holds the records of the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton – and in the fall, we’ll be exhibiting materials from this collection in celebration of the 125th anniversary of ICS (now known as Penn Foster), which was founded in 1891.
At the state level, we’re collaborating with other academic and public libraries on a broad initiative to establish a Pennsylvania service hub for the Digital Public Library of America, which will make Pennsylvania history and cultural heritage more accessible and discoverable to students, teachers, genealogists, historians, scholars, and others in our communities and around the world.
So happy birthday, Scranton! Let’s get this party started.
2015 University of Scranton Teacher of the Year Award
Each year the Graduating Senior Class selects its “Teacher of the Year.” Beginning Monday, April 13th, please vote for the faculty member who you believe best exhibits the following characteristics:
Maintains the highest standards of academic excellence and fairness.
Inspires interest in the discipline through personal enthusiasm and dedication.
Is consistently effective in communication.
Is available outside of the classroom.
The award will be presented during Class Night on Friday, May 29th, 2015.
If you’ve walked into the Weinberg Memorial Library even once in the past three years, you’ve undoubtedly come across the work of this week’s spotlighted student worker, April Francia ’15.
Since joining the Library in January 2012 as a Digital Services Technology Consultant, April has made significant contributions to all sorts of different Library projects. Here’s a just a small sampling of her work:
Digital Collections. You’ve heard about the gigantic newspaper clipping collection we’re working on, right? April processed about 14,000 of those images on her own and trained fellow students to help out with the others. She’s also digitized, cropped, processed, described, and edited thousands of other digital collections resources over the past 3.5 years.
Graphic Design. As the Digital Services Department’s resident Creative Suite expert, April has created hundreds of graphic designs for Library collections and services. You’ll spot her designs on our digital signage, web pages, presentation slides, and posters and flyers throughout the building and across campus. She’s especially talented with logos – we have her to thank for our new Reilly Learning Commons logo.
Marketing and Promotion. You’ll find April’s graphic designs on many of the Library’s promotional items – buttons, water bottles, mouse pads, etc – but she has also contributed her creativity and talent to other innovative projects, like customized thank you notes and Moleskine notebooks, our #wmlenvart Instagram exhibit, 3D printed Christmas ornaments, and the extremely popular Unofficial University of Scranton Coloring Book.
While April jokes that the Library is her second home, she’s made her mark in many areas outside of our building. She is a double major in Philosophy and Political Science and a member of both the Honors and Special Jesuit Liberal Arts (SJLA) programs. (We once heard Dr. Parente compliment her coursework – and as many University community members know, praise from Dr. Parente is high praise indeed!) She is assistant editor of the Windhover, vice-president of the Pre-Law Society, a Royal Ambassador, and a student facilitator for Scranton Emerging Leaders. She’s completed internships with the Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development and the offices of U.S. Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr. and Pennsylvania State Representative Doyle Heffley. When she takes some time off to relax, you might find her hiking, reading, baking, or watching House of Cards on Netflix.
What’s next for April? She’s currently weighing multiple law school acceptances and plans to work towards a career in law or policy analysis. Whatever direction her path may take, we know it will lead to success. While we don’t know what the heck we’ll do without her when she graduates this May, we’ll be proud to see April go and set the world on fire, and we’ll be cheering her on all the way.
One of the most highly prized jewels in our Helen Gallagher McHugh Special Collections is the Zaner-Bloser Penmanship Collection, one of the most extensive collections of American ornamental penmanship from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Over time, we’ve been digitizing parts of the Zaner-Bloser Collection to make it more accessible to researchers and penmanship enthusiasts around the world.
We’re now happy to announce that more than 500 photographs of celebrated masters and instructors of penmanship from the Zaner-Bloser Collection are now publicly available online. The photographs (96 portraits of women and 453 of men) were gathered by Zaner-Bloser for publication in penmanship journals like the Business Educator. Few of the photographs are dated, but we estimate that most of them were taken between the early 1900s and early 1940s.
None of these photographs would be online today were it not for Thomas W. Costello, who spent many hours carefully digitizing the portraits for us. Tom’s great-grandfather is Scranton’s own master penman P. W. Costello, who has three portraits in the collection. Tom described the photograph collection as a “wonderful, well-deserved tribute to the masters and many of the dedicated unsung heroes who worked under the radar teaching penmanship.” We couldn’t say it better ourselves. Thank you, Tom, for bringing the men and women behind the pen into the spotlight.
UofS librarians Sheli McHugh and Kristen Yarmey are hosting an Office of Research and Sponsored Programs research seminar on 3D printing, featuring lightning talks by faculty members Dr. Ben Bishop (Computing Sciences), Dr. Alan Brumagim (Marketing and Management/Entrepreneurship), Dr. Tim Cannon (Psychology/Neuroscience), and Prof. Nick Truncale. Come join us this Friday, November 21 at 3:15pm in Brennan 509!
The University of Scranton seeks an Archival and Special Collections Cataloging and Metadata Specialist (part-time). The Archival and Special Collections Cataloging and Metadata Specialist supports the work of the Special Collections Librarian, the Digital Services Librarian, and the Cataloging and Metadata Librarian, in the coordinated cataloging, description, and record-keeping necessary to the preservation, accessibility, and findability of University Archives and Special Collections materials. Working across varied Library information systems, this position creates, maintains, and enhances descriptive, administrative, structural, and preservation metadata of various types for materials of diverse formats.
Qualifications: A bachelor’s degree required along with broad subject knowledge. A graduate degree in archives, public history, digital humanities or an ALA-accredited master’s degree in library or information science is preferred.
Required knowledge, skills, and abilities include: a knowledge of library and archival procedures; the ability to perform repetitive, detail-oriented tasks and work independently in an isolated environment; and excellent record-keeping, written, oral and instructional skills.
The candidate must be able to lift at least 30 lbs., climb a step-stool, and be tolerant of different environmental conditions. A familiarity with various software and tools related to digital asset management, i.e., word processing, spreadsheets, databases, file processing, Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop, Bridge and a familiarity with standards and best practices for cataloging and metadata are preferred.
Hours: This position requires 17.5 scheduled hours per week between the hours of 8am and 4pm, Monday through Friday.
This position will remain open until filled.
All applications must be submitted electronically:
Click “Search Postings” on the Human Resources page to create an application and then apply for a position. Please note you will not be considered an applicant until you apply for a specific, open position. If you need assistance, please call Human Resources at (570) 941-7767 or e-mail your questions to hr@scranton.edu. Thank you for your interest in working for The University of Scranton!
Position number and title are:
Title: Cataloger (Part-Time); Posting Number: 6000736
The University of Scranton is committed to developing a diverse faculty, staff, and student body embracing an inclusive campus community which values the expression of differences in ways that promote excellence in teaching, learning, personal development, and institutional success. The University welcomes Veterans, minority persons, women, and persons with disabilities to apply. The University of Scranton is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer/Educator.
