The University of Illinois Archives has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to develop a prototype web-portal and analysis-engine to provide access to archival material related to the development of the iconic, multi-disciplinary field of cybernetics. Continue reading “University of Illinois Archives Awarded NEH Grant to Digitize “The Cybernetics Thought Collective””
Since its establishment in 1963, the University of Illinois Archives has served as the steward of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s institutional memory. Through the preservation of the administrative records that document the development of the University’s colleges, departments, and programs; of faculty papers that shed light on the fascinating twists and turns of research and the light-bulb moments in which ideas emerge; and of the papers of alumni and student groups that allow us to understand the legacy of the University and student life, the materials in the University Archives’ holdings chronicle the achievements, activities, and impact of the University of Illinois’ administrators, faculty, and students over the past 150 years. Continue reading “University of Illinois Archives Celebrates Sesquicentennial”
A searchable index of publicly available materials regarding the Steven Salaita hiring controversy is now available from the University of Illinois Archives.
The Steven Salaita Reference File and Index is comprised of preservation copies of documents, news stories, blog posts, social media traffic, and other materials, providing the most comprehensive source for material concerning the decision by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2014 to rescind a job offer to Steven Salaita and the subsequent controversy and lawsuit regarding this decision.
This project was designed and launched in August 2014, with the goal of capturing in real time not only web-available news reports and institutional releases, but especially social media content from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the like. Controversies create not only internal strife but a flood of reports, counter-reports, news stories, editorials, and blog posts not to mention social media postings. Early on, the Archives realized that if we didn’t capture everything we could about the Salaita affair in real time, we would lose the ability to create an enduring, authoritative record of the controversy.
As of September 6, the resultant Salaita “clipping file” contains direct links to approximately 2,249 distinct documents from 653 sources in 14 separate categories, including news stories, responses to Freedom of Information Act requests, social media postings, videos, etc. The materials are intended for use in private research, teaching, and study. For all other uses, including but not limited to publication, broadcast, and distribution, users must obtain written permission in advance from the original author, creator, or copyright owner.
The Steven Salaita Reference File and Index can be found at https://archives.library.illinois.edu/social-media-archives/salaita-reference-index/. This new collection is also described in our holdings database.
The University of Illinois Archives has officially re-opened to the public. Our new location, room 146 Main Library is open and ready for visitors. The new location is easy to find and features a large brightly lit reading room, all new furniture, new wireless networking, and outlets at every table.
Over the next few months, we will be working on all the procedural, operational, and technology adjustments that come with any new space.
However, for the moment, contrary to all the naysayers, it has happened, we have moved, and an architect just told me only “Only two years from the program design report to opening day–that’s a land speed record.”
So, come see for yourself, and if you cannot visit sunny Urbana (err, well we have actually moved across the city line even though the zip code is the same), look at the moved-in photos available at the following URL.
For photographs documenting our move please visit: https://uofi.box.com/ArchivesNewSpace
It was days like October 8, 2012, when undergraduate researchers and campus scholars crowded our long-superseded reference room, that helped us define the kind of space we wanted to have created for University Archives’ users.
