Now available: The Philip & Rosamund Davies US Elections Campaigns Archive

A century of presidential campaign buttons, 1908-2008

The Philip & Rosamund Davies US Elections Campaigns Archive, which was donated to the VHL by Professor Philip Davies (Director, Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library), has now been fully catalogued and can be made available to researchers. The archive is an extensive collection of campaign ephemera from US elections at all levels, and comprises a wide range of material, from buttons, posters, bumper stickers, flyers and leaflets to more unusual examples of campaign ephemera such as t-shirts, caps, dolls, rain bonnets, jewellery, bars of soap, playing cards and commemorative plates. The majority of the material dates from the later 20th century onwards, but there are examples of older items such as 19th and early 20th century campaign buttons, and ballots from the Civil War era. The archive continues to grow as Professor Davies actively collects and donates material from each round of elections in the United States.

The archive catalogue can now be viewed online. If you are interested in consulting material from this collection please contact jane.rawson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

For more information about the archive, as well as links to images and a video of Professor Davies discussing the role of campaign ephemera, please see http://vhlresources.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-philip-rosamund-davies-us-elections.html

Selected items from the archive are on display in the library until after the November 6th elections.

Research Skills Toolkit and WISER coming up: Finding stuff and Theses

Next week Bodleian Libraries will be running workshops on finding conferences, theses and dissertations. In addition our workshop “your thesis, copyright and ORA” covers everything Oxford DPhils need to know about preparing your thesis for ORA.   

This bulletin also includes details of this year’s Research Skills Toolkits.

WISER: Finding Stuff – Conferences (Tues 23 Oct 3.30 – 4.30) (wk 3)
Conference papers can be tricky to find but are very valuable because they describe cutting-edge research. This session will enable you to find forthcoming conferences in your field and also to locate the published papers of proceedings which have taken place.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics.
Presenters: James Shaw and Sue Bird > Book Now

WISER: Your thesis, copyright and ORA (Wed 24 Oct 3.45 – 5.00) (wk 3)
Repeated Mon 29 Oct 12.30 – 13.30 (week 4)
Oxford DPhil students are required to deposit a copy of their thesis in ORA (Oxford University Research Archive). This session will focus on copyright and other issues that DPhil students need to take into account when preparing and writing their thesis so that they do not encounter problems when they deposit.  DPhils are encouraged to attend this session early so that they can make sensible decisions regarding rights from the start of their research.
Who is this session for? Research Postgraduates who are required to write a thesis
Presenter: Catherine Goudie > Book Now

WISER: Finding Stuff – Theses and Dissertations (Fri 26 Oct 10.45 – 12.00) (wk 3)
This session will help you to find theses submitted at Oxford and in other institutions in the UK and overseas.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics.
Presenter: Angela Carritt and Craig Finlay > Book Now

Research Skills Toolkit
An introduction to 10 key IT and information tools and skills for research students in a hands on workshop run jointly by IT Services and Bodleian Libraries. Sample topics include: reference management, keeping up to date, finding articles and papers, Excel pivot tables, finding and managing images,  podcasting, Word for your thesis and measuring research impact.   
Who is this session for? Postgraduates
Check dates for your subject and book your place

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not follow join our mailing list by sending an empty email to wiser-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oxwiser or visit the BodWiser blog at http://bodwiser.wordpress.com.

Not a member of Oxford University? - If you are not a current member of Oxford University but would like to attend a workshop please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Please quote your Bodleian readers card barcode number.

Questions? - Please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Two seminars on the Presidential Libraries next week

The Rothermere American Institute is hosting two seminars on the Presidential Library system on Tuesday 16th October, to which VHL readers are warmly invited. Both are being given by Nancy Smith, the Director of the Presidential Materials Division at the US National Archives.

Informal Postgraduate Seminar: Access to Presidential Papers and Records in the Presidential Libraries
Tuesday 16th October, 11.30am-12.30pm

American History Research Seminar: Escorting a Presidency into History: The National Archives and Presidential Transitions
Tuesday 16th October, 4.00pm-6.00pm
 

WISER coming up: Finding stuff

Next week Bodleian Libraries will be running workshops on finding journal articles for your research and using SOLO to locate library items in print and online. More details below:

WISER: Finding Stuff - Books etc on SOLO (Wed 17 Oct 2.00 - 3.00) (wk 2)
An introduction to SOLO for finding books, journal titles and other materials in Oxford libraries. The session will cover effective search techniques, placing hold requests for items in the stacks, reservations and using the SOLO eshelf and saved searches.
Who is this session for? All members of Oxford University and other Bodleian Libraries readers.
Please book your place online at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZWA
This session will be repeated Tues 23 Oct 2.00 - 3.00 (wk 3)

WISER: Finding Stuff - Journal Articles (Wed 17 Oct 3.00 - 4.15) (wk 2)
This session will focus on finding journal articles for your research using a wide range of databases as well as developing effective search strategies. There will be plenty of time for participants to try out their own searches using databases for their subject.
Who is this session for? Postgraduates, researchers and academics.
Please book your place online at http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/TZW3
This session will be repeated: Friday 26 October 9.30 - 10.45 (wk 3)

Want to see the full workshops timetable? See http://www.libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/workshops

Keeping up with Bodleian Libraries training opportunities: Why not join our mailing list by sending an empty email towiser-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oxwiser or visit the BodWiser blog at http://bodwiser.wordpress.com

Not a member of Oxford University? - If you are not a current member of Oxford University but would like to attend a workshop please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk Please quote your Bodleian readers card barcode number.

Questions? - Please contact usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Induction tour for new graduates - Thursday 11th October, 10am

We'll be offering a tour of the library for new graduates at 10am on Thursday 11th October. If you are a new DPhil or Masters student working on US history or politics, do come along and find out more about the VHL.

Scan & deliver

The Bodleian Libraries' new Scan & Deliver service allows you to request scans of sections (eg, articles/chapters) from items located in our Book Storage Facility; the scanned sections are then emailed directly to you.

Who can use the service?
All current University of Oxford academics, students and staff. At the moment the service is not open to external readers (library card holders).

How much does it cost?
£4.75 per request, payable via your PCAS account.

How long will it take for my scanning request to arrive?
Usually within 24 hours, excluding weekends and University closed days.

How do I use the service?

1. Sign on to SOLO with your single sign-on
2. Find the item that you want scanned
3. Click on 'Location' then 'Scan & Deliver' which appears under 'Request Options'
4. Your request will be processed and your item will be emailed to you within 24 hours

For further information ask a member of library staff or visit: http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/scan-and-deliver.

New term news round-up

Welcome back to those returning after the summer, and a warm welcome too to new students!  Our term time hours start today (Monday-Friday, 9am-7pm; Saturday, 10am-2pm), and we look forward to seeing you all in the library soon.

Here's a round-up of various bits of news from over the summer that you may have missed:

New electronic resources
We have been able to acquire (or contribute to the acquisition of) four major new electronic resources for US studies this summer, as follows:

• The Congressional Record (and predecessors), 1789-1999
• The American West: Sources from the Everett D. Graff Collection at the Newberry Library, Chicago
• Virginia Company Archives: The Ferrar Papers, 1590-1790
• Rock & Roll, Counterculture, Peace & Protest: Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975

All are now available through SOLO/OxLIP+ and listed in our online guide. Click on the links above for more information.

Improvements to SOLO: clustering, display of locations
Various changes were implemented to SOLO over the summer, as follows:

• Clustering and default sort order
• Physical resources search limit
• Display of locations and request options
• Display of shelfmark information
• Display of reading room locations

Click on the links above to learn more. 

History Faculty Library move
The move of the History Faculty Library to the Radcliffe Camera and Gladstone Link took place as planned over the summer vacation. The old HFL on the corner of Catte St and Holywell St has now closed. All the details, including information on where and how to access HFL books now, can be found on the HFL website and blog. HFL staff are also offering tours throughout 0th and 1st weeks for returning tutors and students.

Less directly relevant to VHL readers, the Philosophy and Theology Faculties Library has also moved this summer, and is now open in its new location in the Radcliffe Humanities Building on Woodstock Road.

Annual ILL price rise
Charges for inter-library loans increased by 25p per request on 1st August.


RAI Elections 2012 blog
If you are avidly following the US elections, you may be interested to know that the Rothermere American Institute has launched a blog in partnership with Politics in Spires, designed to bring together contributions from scholars from a range of different fields to discuss the upcoming elections. The blog can be read on the RAI website and will run until mid-November.