What do fictional Northern California biker gangs, a beloved television institution and two Victorian poets have in common? According to this video from Sesame Street’s amazing line of pop culture parody skits, they share a love of rhyming couplets, of course. In typical Sesame Street fashion, they’ve taken something decidedly adult – the hit FX show Sons of Anarchy, which…
Category: Digital Collections
(Digital Collections) The Spencer Collection Marches On With 400+ New Titles!
Unlike some of our never-ending projects (ahem, Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, ahem), there are some projects that we’re making slow, steady progress on every day. And that’s why we’re announcing a new batch of items in the Frances G. Spencer Collection of American Popular Sheet Music – 461 all told! The items span a century’s worth of song craft…
(Digital Collections) A Not-So-Innocent Abroad: Presenting at the Keystone Digital Humanities Conference
When I use the phrase “digital humanities,” what comes to mind? Humans using machines to analyze what makes us human? Machines pretending to be humans? A T-800 model Terminator quoting Shakespeare? Turns out, it’s a trick question, because no one really agrees on what “digital humanities” means for sure. That’s a big takeaway I got from a three-day conference on…
(Digital Collections) Documenting 64 Years of Joyful Noise: The School of Music Performances Programs Collection is Complete!
They were written on typewriters, word processors and laptops. Some used italicized fonts, others used “high tech” typefaces and the most recent ones feature the Baylor University Judge Baylor/Pat Neff Hall wordmark. They could be one page, two pages or dozens. In short, while the School of Music Performances Programs collection may seem like a one-trick pony, there are actually…
(Digital Collections) Small But Mighty: Introducing the Armstrong Browning Library Photographic Archive
Boy howdy, it’s been a few days since we last blogged! [Checks calendar, sees it’s been almost two months, feels regret.] Let’s make up for that today, shall we? We’re excited to announce the launch of a new collection based on holdings of the Armstrong Browning Library. The new Photographic Archive will feature items digitized from the photographic holdings of…
(Digital Collections) An Open Letter to Andrew Lincoln, a.k.a. “The Walking Dead’s” Sheriff Rick Grimes
Dear Mr. Lincoln, That all of us at the Digital Projects Group are big fans of your work on America’s #1 Zombie Apocalypse Themed Television series is no surprise to anyone who reads this blog. Over the course of five seasons we’ve seen you grow from startled victim to grizzled leader of a hardened band of survivors. And far be…
(Digital Collections) Caps, Gowns and College Towns: Collegiate Life in The Spencer Collection
It’s cap and gown season here on the campus of ol’ BU, and the class of 2015 has a lot to celebrate. Years of study, focus and passion come together in a 20-second walk across the stage to acquire their sheepskins and cross the threshold into alumni-hood. Themes related to college life find unique expression in a collection of early…
(Digital Collections) A Campus Divided? The Historic Precedent for the “Bearlin Wall”
To the Baylor Campus Community, As President Abraham Lincoln said during the dark days prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Those words may have slipped into the realm of cliche to those of us in the enlightened 21st century, but they hold truer than ever as we face the great…
(Digital Collections) Classic Post: In A Time Of Uncertainty, The Pursuit of Permanence Reinforced
The article below originally ran on April 18, 2013, one day after a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas destroyed the facility and caused 15 fatalities (mostly first responders) and millions of dollars in property damage. We are reposting the article on this, the two-year anniversary of the event. At the time of this writing, the campus…
(Digital Collections) “Lord, Don’t Forget About Me” – Thoughts on Sustainability, Digital Collections and Museums
This week, I’ve been attending the Texas Association of Museums’ annual conference in Ft. Worth (a.k.a. Cowtown, a.k.a. Funkytown). Amid the usual offerings on how to engage preschool visitors, trends in collections management and how to navigate federal law as it relates to Native American ceremonial items, one of the recurring themes has been the idea of sustainability. Not in…