On August 11, 2009 the ASU Libraries hosted a special event in the Luhrs Reading Room to celebrate the US Postal Service issuance of a Steve Allen commemorative postage stamp.

Steve Allen, the original host of “The Tonight Show,” is on one of the 20 Early TV Memories collection commemorative stamps. Allen started his broadcasting career in Phoenix and has donated memorabilia from his life to ASU. The Phoenix Postmaster donated a 30×38 replica of the stamp to ASU to accompany Allen’s archival collection that is preserved by our Special Collections. University Librarian Sherrie Schmidt received the stamp replica on behalf of the ASU Libraries.

University Librarian Sherrie Schmidt and Phoenix Postmaster Alvaro A. Averez

For more information about special Steve Allen items in the ASU Libraries Archives and Special Collections, please visit the Luhrs Reading Room on Level 4 of Hayden Library on ASU’s Tempe campus.  Or contact Luhrs at 480-965-4932.

Image information:  University Librarian Sherrie Schmidt and Phoenix Postmaster Alvaro Alvarez unveil the commemorative Steve Allen Stamp on August 11, 2009

Video by Keith Jennings, ASU

Photographer, amateur radio operator, politician, adventurer, outdoorsman, humanitarian, presidential candidate, and father are just a few things to describe the life and career of Senator Barry M. Goldwater.

In this episode Fred McIlvain talks with Arizona Historical Foundation archivists Linda Whitaker, Susan Irvin and Rebekah Tabah on the debut of the Personal and Political Papers of Senator Barry M. Goldwater after 5 years of heavy lifting (literally and figuratively) processing the collection.

When Barry Goldwater founded the Arizona Historical Foundation nearly 50 years ago, the last thing he would have expected is to find his papers in disarray. It is the ultimate irony, that a man who saved everything for posterity, would leave a collection requiring tough interventions so that it could be fully processed and cataloged. For all practical purposes this collection had remained largely unprocessed and hidden confounding researchers worldwide.

 
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Collection Vital Statistics:
• 1180 linear feet (970 boxes)
• 8,000 un-mounted photographs, 1,500 negatives, 5,000 slides, 110 photo albums
• 107 news clipping scrapbooks (many digitized to searchable CDs)
• 480 reels of microfilm (all digitized to searchable CDs)
• 1,028 film reels, cassettes, and tapes
• 896 pages (finding aid)
• 1.14 million documents
• 125+ years (1880s-2008) of Arizona and U.S. History

Host:
Fred McIlvain

Guests:
Linda Whitaker
Susan Irvin
Rebekah Tabah

Episode 99
Running Time: 25:48

Opportunity for Public Comment

Date: Thursday April 2nd, 2009
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Location:  University Center Building, 411 N. Central Ave
Information Commons Computer Lab, Lower Level
Arizona State University at the Downtown Phoenix campus

You are invited to help us build Why Arizona? The Arizona Migration Digital Library, a freely accessible digital library of archival materials that tell us stories about why people chose to come to Arizona, why they stayed, and why they left. Through the lens of thousands of archival photos, audio recordings, videos and texts we will connect individuals and families of the past and present who chose Arizona for employment, religious freedom, ethnic communities or recreation.

We invite anyone to participate in this project by offering their stories, suggesting topics or events they would like to see documented here, or simply cheering us on! At this meeting the public will be invited to learn about the progress of the project, see samples and descriptions of materials nominated for digitization and public access and add their voice to our work! If you can’t attend the meeting, please visit our website at www.whyarizona.org and email your comments!

Why Arizona is a multi-year collaboration of archivists, librarians and technology professionals from the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University that will be formally unveiled in time for the Arizona Centennial in 2012. In the meantime, watch us grow! The project is supported with funds granted by the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records Agency under the Library Services and Technology Act, which is administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Why Arizona? The Arizona Migration Digital Library is grateful to the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission for designation of Why Arizona? as an Arizona Centennial Legacy Project.

Arizona archives collect, preserve and make accessible millions of resources for your use. Please visit:

• Arizona Memory Project
• Arizona Archives Online
• Arizona Cultural Inventory Project

The Library Channel bids a fond farewell to Marilyn Wurzburger, who retired from ASU Libraries on January 23rd, 2009 after 48 years of service.

Host Fred McIlvain, who’s career spans nearly 30 years himself, reflects with Marilyn on her years with ASU Libraries discussing the move from the cramped Matthews Library to spacious Hayden Library and the unique collections she helped build. She talks about her tutelage under Assistant Librarian Jay Dobkin and her career growth from cataloger to Head of Special Collections.

She also talks about the building and acquiring of many collections including the Peter Lawford papers, the Doris and Marc Patten Collection of Herbals and Early Gardening Books, the William S. Burroughs collection, the Alan Dean Foster papers and much more.

Please read the ASU news article about Marilyn’s career and visit ASU Libraries Special Collections to learn about Marilyn and the specialized collections held at ASU.

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HOST:
Fred McIlvain

Guest:
Marilyn Wurzburger

Episode 89
Running Time: 58:20

Rachel Leket-Mor, ASU Libraries Jewish Studies Bibliographer, joins Fred and co-host Mimmo Bonanni for a fascinating discussion on the history and impact of Israeli pulp fiction. Rachel provides an overview of the 300 pulp books available from the ASU Libraries Archives and Special collections and what this unique collection of westerns, sci-fi, detective, World War II, and adventure stories reveal about Israeli culture during the 1950s and 1960s.

The ISRAPULP Collection at ASU Libraries, the only repository of its kind outside of Israel, is now open for scholars, offering hundreds of titles from the 1930s and on. For more information visit the links below and visit the pulp collection at ASU Libraries Archives and Special Collections.

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For further information: The Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy Stalags, Heymann Brothers Films documentary | (Official Movie Site) Eli Eshed References: Tarzan in the Holly Land Hebrew SF and Fantasy from the Bible to the 90s THE ETERNAL MAN IN HEBREW: German SF, Fantasy and Pulp Literature in Israel Hebrew Comics – a History Readings: Ben-Ari, Nitsa. 2006. Suppression of the erotic in modern hebrew literature. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. Ben-Ari, Nitsa. 2008. Popular mass production in the periphery: Socio-political tendencies in subversive translation. In Beyond descriptive translation studies: Investigations in homage to gideon toury., eds. Gideon Toury, Anthony Pym, Miriam Shlesinger and Daniel Simeoni, 1-18. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing. Eshed, Eli. 2002. Mi-tarzan ve-`ad zbeng: Ha-sipur shel ha-sifrut ha-popularit ha-`Ivrit [From Tarzan to Zbeng: the story of Israeli pop fiction]. Tel Aviv: Bavel. [Hebrew] Shavit, Zohar and Yaacov. 1974. “On the Development of the Hebrew Crime Story during the 1930’s in Palestine”. Ha-Sifrut, 18-19: 30-73. [Hebrew] Hosts: Fred McIlvain Mimmo Bonanni Guest: Rachel Leket-Mor Episode 83 Running Time: 28:35

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The Arizona State University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections will be celebrating Arizona Archives Month throughout October!

In celebration of Arizona Archives Month, the Fall 2008 exhibits feature images, documents, ephemera, and artifacts from the University Archives that tell the story of the Great Name Change and the 50th Anniversary of Arizona State UNIVERSITY

The exhibits are located in the Hayden Library Rotunda in the concourse lobby and the Luhrs Gallery on the 4th floor. The rotunda exhibit is available during all the hours Hayden Library is open, but the exhibits in the the Luhrs Gallery and Reading Room, the home of the Arizona State University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections, are available as follows:

• Mondays: 11 am to 7 pm
• Tuesdays and Wednesdays: 8 am to 7 pm
• Thursdays and Fridays: 8 am to 5 pm
• Saturdays: 1 to 5 pm
• Closed on Sundays

For more information about the history of Arizona State University and the exhibits from the University Archvies, please refer to our web site at: http://www.asu.edu/lib/archives/ and http://asu.edu/museums/hc/luhrs.htm

For information about exhibits in the ASU Libraries, please contact the Exhibits Committee at libraryexhibits@asu.edu.

The Luhrs Reading Room on Level 4 of Hayden Library will be closed for remodeling on Saturdays June 14th, 21st, 28th, July 5th and July 12, 2008. Materials from any of our repositories will not be available during the days the reading room is closed.

The Luhrs Reading Room will resume Saturday afternoon hours on July 19th, 2008.

We apologize for any inconvenience this closure causes.

In this edition of The Library Channel, Fred converses with Arizona Historical Foundation Photo Preservationist Rebekah Tabah, about an exhibit of images selected from over 40,000 foundation photographs illustrating various ways that Arizona has been surveyed, measured, mapped, and studied. These images and artifacts capture an Arizona we cannot fully experience today, representing 150 years of explorers, miners, soldiers, ranchers, engineers, archaeologists, and government officials.

 
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This exhibit can be viewed in the lobby of the Hayden Library on the Tempe campus through the rest of the summer, during all hours the library is open.

For more information about the exhibit, please contact Rebekah Tabah, Arizona Historical Foundation, 480-965-3283

Host: Fred McIlvain

Guest: Rebekah Tabah

Episode 77

An Exhibit Featuring Select Photographs from the Arizona Historical Foundation

Photographers have been documenting Arizona’s landscape, culture, and people for nearly 150 years. This is a state that has been surveyed literally from the bottom up. Fortunately for us, explorers, miners, soldiers, ranchers, engineers, archaeologists, and the government officials have left behind a trail of images to follow.

These images were selected from over 40,000 photographs held by the Arizona Historical Foundation. They were chosen to illustrate various ways that Arizona has been surveyed, measured, mapped, and studied. They were also chosen for their rarity, composition, perspective, and in some cases, their charm.

From the earliest glass plate negatives of the Grand Canyon to filming the last river trip before the Colorado River was dammed, these images capture an Arizona that cannot be fully experienced today. The landscape, people, and cultures have changed. But through it all, Arizona endures as a land of mystery and majesty.

This exhibit can be viewed in the lobby of the Hayden Library on the Tempe campus through the rest of the summer, during all hours the library is open.

For more information about the exhibit, please contact Rebekah Tabah, Arizona Historical Foundation, 480-965-3283

Photo: Vermilion Cliffs, Colorado River, 1940