From the Vault: September 2020 Newsletter
School has started online and we are meeting our users' needs virtually.
Happy Fall to our Archives & Special Collections friends! Online classes started at SCU this week and we are still distancing socially, working with classes and students over a variety of media, virtually and usually from home: Camino/Canvas, Zoom, Loom, YouTube, LibWizard, email, chat, and more!
This quarter the SCU Library and Learning Commons is only open in 2-hour blocks for SCU affiliates who have reserved a study room, and the Archives & Special Collections Martin Reading Room continues to be closed. General access to the building and the collections by library users is not permitted.
Nonetheless, most of the staff of Archives & Special Collections have received essential worker status which means we can offer increased research services virtually—if you have a need to consult materials held in Archives & Special Collections, please let us know and we will work out a way for you to do so over the Internet. Just email SpecialCollections@scu.edu.
If someone forwarded you this newsletter, subscribe today! If you no longer want to be on our email list, feel free to unsubscribe at the bottom of this message.
Ask an Archivist Live Chat
Since the Martin Reading Room is closed, we are piloting a new Ask an Archivist chat service to address your research needs! Chat live with department staff by using the widget on the Archives & Special Collections website. The service is available every weekday Monday through Friday from 10 am - 12 noon and then again 1 pm - 3 pm throughout the fall quarter.
Twin Pandemics Forum
Department members Erin Louthen and Kelci Baughman McDowell will be presenting at the Twin Pandemics forum, a virtual conference presented by the SCU Center for Arts and Humanities to take place on the SCU “Zoom Campus” on October 1 and 2, 2020. The presentation will be part of Panel 4 on Thursday, October 1st at 2 pm: Intersectional Studies of Race, Ethnicity, Disability, and Indigeneity. Erin and Kelci will provide a brief background of the Mission Santa Clara Manuscript Collection, the lack of Ohlone representation in the SCU Archives, and what they plan to do about it in light of the SCU Ohlone History Working Group report that was released last month. Register to watch the conference on Zoom.
Videos of Rare Materials
Since we cannot welcome students and researchers into the Martin Reading Room, we have been creating videos of rare materials to show to classes. If you are missing the experience of leafing through a rare book, you may perhaps enjoy the whole playlist!