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Illuminated Heritage

July 31, 2007

Tuesday’s Treasure

So, how about a little bit of good ole’ fashioned shopping here at Art Anderson’s General Store in Lake Zurich? From the Ela Area Public Library’s collection on Digital Past.

posted by Kay at 2:00 pm | Comments (0)

July 27, 2007

A Few Highlights from the Genealogy World

So, in my blog reading, I ran across some interesting posts this week and I thought I’d share.

First, from Steve’s Genealogy Blog, he has a nice writeup about how to specify the exact locations of Polish villages. He has a nice run down of some important points in the history of Poland. This is also a really nice way to use a blog in your genealogy research and I follow along to see what he comes up with next. If you are thinking of starting your own, this could definitely be a good example.

Secondly, in case you missed it, Ancestry has released a large collection of records concerning Australian convicts, so if your roots are there, you have a good source now!

And last, but not least, there’s a cool mash-up of Ancestry.com and Google Maps called MapYourAncestors. This could be interesting to play with…map migration patterns and all that kind of good stuff.

posted by Kay at 9:39 am | Comments (0)

July 24, 2007

Tuesday’s Treasure

Today, I’m thinking of….picnics! So, how about a nice macaroni salad? Perhaps your macaroni was from the Foulds Macaroni Company in Libertyville? Perhaps not (I have no idea if they are still in business or not! Anyone know?)? From the Cook Memorial Public Library’s collection.

posted by Kay at 2:00 pm | Comments (0)

On a Side Note…

Ok, so as you probably know if you’ve read this all along, I have a horse. A lovely little 8-year old bay Morgan named M’Lord Prince Charming. And you probably know that I (and our trainer, Dawn Atlas) take him to little horse shows in the IL-WI area.

So this weekend we were up at a charity show in Walworth County because there was a costume class both days and I wanted a chance to show off my lovely Medieval caparison that I made him. I spent months studying how to as accurately as possible create such a garment, contacting the Royal Arms Museum branch in Kentucky even to check on materials and all. As such it is wool lined with linen (which I dyed black) with leather and silk ties. The binding is hand-sewn wool. The coat of arms are the Schlumpf family’s (handed down from the original 14th century bearers) and are all hand-appliqued. The bridle is also hand-stitched and created from late Medieval sketches/drawings. This is a serious outfit which I created to just about fit the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) guidelines for such so I would be prepared should I ever decide to join. It was also a very fun project for me, to put that Medieval Civ. degree to work, to use all the crafty skills I’ve acquired over the years, and to have a horse who loves to show off and wear such things! But I digress…

So, my question is how is this at all humorous? Out of the 3 trophies awarded - Most Original, Prettiest and Most Humorous, we won Most Humorous. I’m not complaining, we got an award, but I have to say I’m quite perplexed. My parents, who came to one of our shows for the first time just to see this costume in all its glory, figure it must have been a clerical error.

I’m asking your opinion now, here’s a photo of us and besides for the expression on my face (I have no idea what I was saying at the time) - how do you think it’s humorous?

And, in case you’re curious, here’s what Prince looks like out from under all that:

Hard to believe he was rescued from the slaughter pens, huh?

posted by Kay at 11:06 am | Comments (1)

July 17, 2007

Tuesday’s Treasure

Sailboat Regatta Scheduled Here This Weekend! Wow, maybe somewhere, but not where I live…unless I went over to The Lake. I mean, we have a nice pond, but you’re only going to fit maybe 1 or 2 on there! Anyway, in 1966 the Sailboat Regatta was scheduled in Wauconda, from the Wauconda Area Library.

posted by Kay at 2:00 pm | Comments (0)

Open Library Initiative

This is something to keep an eye on, both from a digitization and a library stand point. Brewster Kahle (of the Internet Archive) and Aaron Swartz are leading an initiative called “Open Library.” Their plan is to create an internet library that contains every book ever created that “the people” curate, view and update (sort of like Wikipedia). Once you search for a title, it gives you a list of places to buy or borrow it and, if available, it’ll also give you the option for downloading. For me, it feels rather familiar but I can’t put my finger on it - there’s probably something else out there similar that I’m thinking of. Or perhaps it just all feels so obvious that I’m sure someone else has thought of it. Anyway, it’s an interesting concept and it, apparently, has the people behind it to make it grow. Check it out yourself at: http://demo.openlibrary.org/

posted by Kay at 8:58 am | Comments (0)

July 13, 2007

Mr. Rogers to be Digitized

That’s right! Plans are underway to digitize 900 episodes of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood plus print and audio. Saint Vincent College is leading this collaboration between the on-campus Fred Rogers Center and Family Communications, Inc., the production company founded by the late Mr. Rogers. That’s pretty cool, even though we didn’t get PBS where I grew up, so I only got to know Mr. Rogers as a college student! Full story.

posted by Kay at 10:11 am | Comments (0)

July 11, 2007

Audio Descriptions and Digital Past

I’m sure that those of you who have received LSTA grants for digitization lately know that they are starting to require a small group of your items to have audio descriptions. Several Digital Past people and myself attended the seminar on audio descriptions held here at NSLS earlier this year but for those who didn’t and would like to more, I will refer you to the Audio Description Illinois site from the Alliance Library System who is spearheading the effort. Be sure to check out some of the nice Best Practice sites, like the one about Ronald Reagan.

So, naturally, that means that we have to find a place to put the written text and the audio mp3 links in our metadata structure for Digital Past. After a lot of thinking, I think it makes sense to put both in the description field. They ARE descriptions after all and they will be towards the top of the page so people don’t have to go too far to find them. The extensive text descriptions will certainly enhance the rest of that which you have. And if you just put in the audio mp3 as a link like: http://www.link.com, CDM will automatically make it a link. The link should be headed with “Audio Description:” so screen readers can pick that up easily. You can then put the mp3 on your server or wherever. I still have to figure out where/how to load them on our server, but I should have that information for you soon…

Anyone think a different field would be better?

posted by Kay at 2:24 pm | Comments (0)

July 10, 2007

Tuesday’s Treasure

How about a building for a change!? I found this image of the old Wilmette Village Hall (1890-1910) from the Wilmette Public Library’s collection. I love how much work they put into the architectural description! Go Karen!

posted by Kay at 2:00 pm | Comments (0)

July 3, 2007

Tuesday’s Treasure

I’m happy to report that I have a lot more options for the Fourth of July on the Digital Past site now! Thanks everyone! This year we’ll go for a different kind of flag…one marching down 6th Street. This is from the Lake County Discovery Museum. Enjoy!

posted by Kay at 2:00 pm | Comments (0)