Reminder: Mezzanine closed and Donor Board Ceremony taking place tomorrow afternoon

A reminder that the mezzanine floor will be closed to readers tomorrow afternoon for a ceremony to unveil the new Donor Board at the RAI. The ceremony will take place between 4 and 5pm. Readers are welcome to remain in the library on the upper floors throughout but please note that there will be some noise while the ceremony takes place.

Mezzanine closed Tuesday 12th June for Donor Board unveiling

The mezzanine floor of the library will be closed to readers on the afternoon of Tuesday 12th June as it will be used for a ceremony to unveil a new Donor Board at the RAI. The ceremony will begin at 4pm and last no more than an hour. Readers are welcome to remain in the library on the upper floors throughout, but please note that there will be some noise while the ceremony takes place.

Events in RAI garden, Thursday 10th and Saturday 12th May

Mansfield College will be using the RAI's garden as part of an arts festival on two occasions this week, and it's possible that this may cause a small amount of noise disruption in the library. The garden will be in use in the afternoons of Thursday 10th May between 3.30pm and 5.30pm, and Saturday 12th May after 12 noon.

RAI Seminar - Inside the Workings of the American Historical Review

VHL readers may be interested in the following Special Seminar, to be held on Wednesday 22 February (16.00-17.30) at the Rothermere American Institute.

Inside the Workings of the American Historical Review

The American Historical Review (AHR) is often regarded as the leading history journal of the Anglophone world. Certainly it has the highest 'impact factor' among history journals, according to the Journal Citation Reports from Thomson Reuters, which measure how often articles are peer-cited. As the official publication of the American Historical Association, since 1895 it has been the journal of record for the history profession in the United States - the only journal that brings together scholarship from every major field of historical study. The most recent issue, for example, includes articles on piracy in the Indian Ocean, colonial governance in three frontiers of the British Empire, the understanding of 'freedom' in nineteenth-century Japan, and US imperialism, and an AHR Conversation on the circulation of information across time and space.

Former editors Konstantin Dierks and Sarah Knott (RAI Senior Visiting Research Fellows) will lead an informal discussion about the inner workings of the AHR, from the journal's ambitions to its article review process to its book review practices. All are welcome.

US Elections Campaigns Archive exhibition

To tie in with the annual Congress to Campus event being held at the Rothermere American Institute on Monday 6th February, we are displaying a selection of items from the Philip & Rosamund Davies US Elections Campaigns Archive until next Friday. 

This archive, donated to the VHL by Professor Philip Davies (Eccles Centre, British Library), contains campaign materials collected from US elections at all levels. The majority of the material dates from the later 20th century, but there are many examples of older items, some of which we have included in this exhibition, such as 19th and early 20th century campaign buttons and ballots from the Civil War era. As well as buttons, posters, bumper stickers, flyers and leaflets, the collection contains many other examples of campaign ephemera - t-shirts, caps, dolls, rain bonnets, jewellry, bars of soap, rain bonnets, playing cards and commemorative plates. Professor Davies continues to add to the archive with each election, and an archivist is currently in the process of cataloguing it in full so that it can be made available to researchers.

Congress to Campus runs throughout the US and UK and brings bipartisan pairs of former Congressmen to colleges and universities to talk to students and impart their insights into the inner workings of US politics. The RAI has hosted the Oxford event for the past few years, offering the opportunity to local sixth form students as well as those studying at the University.

Talk on Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers from the Library of Congress

Chronicling America provides access to thousands of digitised pages from historic American newspapers covering 1836-1922, as well as comprehensive bibliographic information about newspapers published in the United States from 1690 to the present. Come along and learn more about the project and how to make the best use of the site to support your studies or research.

Date: Thursday 27th October, 2.00pm.
Location: Rothermere American Institute, Seminar Room 2/3.
Presenter: Deborah Thomas, Coordinator, National Digital Newspaper Program, Library of Congress.

No need to book, just turn up!

American Literature exhibition: Marilynne Robinson and the American Family Home

To accompany the Esmond Harmsworth Annual Lecture, which will be given by Marilynne Robinson at the Rothermere American Institute on Monday 23rd May, we have set up a small exhibition in the library. The exhibition places Robinson's work in the context of the American literary and artistic tradition, and includes works by John Steinbeck, Tennessee Williams, Erskine Caldwell, Edward Hopper and Dorothea Lange, as well as Robinson's major novels.

The exhibition will remain in place until the end of next week (27th May). Thanks to Dr. Sally Bayley for her help in selecting material and writing the text.

Reminder: Talks on Serial Set and FBIS, Friday 28th January

August Imholtz (Vice President, Government Publications, Readex) will be in Oxford on Friday 28th January, and will be giving two talks on Readex library resources available to Oxford users.   At 3pm he will be speaking about the US Congressional Serial Set, followed by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports at 3.45pm.  Both talks will take place in Seminar Room 2 at the Rothermere American Institute.

The US Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 is a rich collection of primary source material detailing all aspects of American history. It contains all the reports and documents submitted to Congress, as well as the House & Senate Journals, and is a vast resource of over 415,000 documents, including over 70,000 maps.

The Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports include translated broadcasts and print media publications from all around the world, providing a commentary on many major world events from the second half of the 20th century.   Please note we do not have access to the full resource here in Oxford, but only certain regions from 1974-1996 (Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Soviet Union).

Both resources are available via OxLIP+.

All welcome!

Talks on Serial Set and FBIS, Friday 28th January

August Imholtz (Vice President, Government Publications, Readex) will be in Oxford on Friday 28th January, and will be giving two talks on Readex library resources available to Oxford users.   At 3pm he will be speaking about the US Congressional Serial Set, followed by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports at 3.45pm.  Both talks will take place in Seminar Room 2 at the Rothermere American Institute.

The US Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 is a rich collection of primary source material detailing all aspects of American history. It contains all the reports and documents submitted to Congress, as well as the House & Senate Journals, and is a vast resource of over 415,000 documents, including over 70,000 maps.

The Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports include translated broadcasts and print media publications from all around the world, providing a commentary on many major world events from the second half of the 20th century.   Please note we do not have access to the full resource here in Oxford, but only certain regions from 1974-1996 (Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Soviet Union).

Both resources are available via OxLIP+.

All welcome!

US Elections Campaigns Archive: Exhibition and Event

Starting today, there is an exhibition in the library of selected material from the Philip & Rosamund Davies US Election Campaigns Archive. This archive has been donated to the library over many years by Professor Philip Davies, and includes all sorts of ephemera and memorabilia from American election campaigns of all levels. Material on display now includes buttons from the 19th century to the present, leaflets, bumper stickers, commemorative plates, and some more unusal items like a Reagan cigar, a book of matches, rain bonnets, a cap, mug, Obama doll, a 1976 edition of Playboy and a 1952 bar of soap!

The exhibition has been set up to accompany the forthcoming visit of Professor Davies to the RAI. He will be speaking about the archive, and what campaign material can tell us about elections in the US and the wider political climate, this Thursday at 4.30pm. All welcome to come along to hear about this fascinating collection.

Special seminars in US politics at the RAI

(posted on behalf of the RAI)

The Rothermere American Institute is holding three special seminars in US politics during seventh week:

Senator Russ Feingold: The Politics of Healthcare Reform
Tuesday 24th November, 11.30-12.30

Professor Philip Davies (The Eccles Centre, British Library), with materials from the Philip & Rosamund Davies US Elections Archive of campaign memorabilia
Thursday 26th November, 16.30-17.15

Professor Byron Shafer (University of Wisconsin, Madison): The American Public Mind
Thursday 26th November, 17.15-19.00

Professor Shafer will also be speaking at the American History Research Seminar on Wednesday 25th November, 16.00-18.00, on The End of Southern Exceptionalism: Class, Race, and Partisan Change in the Post-War American South.

All welcome.

The Annual Esmond Harmsworth Lecture in Arts and Letters at the RAI, 21st May 2009

The Annual Esmond Harmsworth Lecture in American Arts and Letters will be given this year by Christopher Bigsby, Professor of American Studies at the University of East Anglia. Professor Bigsby has published numerous books on aspects of English and American culture, including the acclaimed Arthur Miller: the Definitive Biography.

The title of the lecture will be “Arthur Miller: Un-American”. It will take place at the RAI on Thursday, May 21st 2009 at 5pm, and be followed by a wine reception.

Places are free but must be reserved. Please contact Lucy Dugmore, Academic Programme Administrator, to make a reservation, by email at academic.programme@rai.ox.ac.uk or by telephone on 01865 282 711.

Watch the Inauguration at the RAI

The RAI will be hosting a party to mark (and watch) the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States tomorrow from 4.30pm in seminar room 2. Wine and soft drinks will be provided. The President will take the oath of office at 12 noon EST (5pm GMT).

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Barton Gellman at the RAI

UPDATE: Due to the popularity of this event, registration has now closed.

Barton Gellman, Pulitzer prize winner and a distinguished journalist on The Washington Post, will be speaking at the Rothermere American Institute at lunch on Tuesday, 28th October at 12.30pm.

Mr. Gellman's subject is that of his recently published book: Dick Cheney's Vice-Presidency.

A sandwich lunch will be provided for the first thirty people who confirm their attendance.

Confirmation to enquiries@rai.ox.ac.uk