Special Collections Research Center

By Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was a Japanese painter and ukiyo-e printmaker whose Great Wave off Kanagawa print (pictured above) from his series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji (1829-1833) is one of the most recognizable Japanese works of art around the world. While Hokusai’s paintings and full color prints are collected in art museums, Hokusai ...

By Aisha Pierre, Reference Assistant As students in the museum studies program, we are trained daily to recognize how to handle any object in a museum collection. Watching us examine how to pick up an object makes me think of those robots in car factories, constantly swiveling their heads. When I began working at SCRC, I was ...

By Sabrina Unrein, Plastics Processing Intern I like to describe my internship as a quotidian treasure hunt. Not all of the items I find are very exciting in isolation, but part of the thrill comes from not knowing what I am going to find next. When going through a box, there is an exciting feeling of ...

By Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator October always comes to a close with Remembrance Week, the annual weeklong series of events planned by the Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars, which was held Sunday, Oct. 20 through Saturday, Oct. 26. Remembrance Week events are meant to honor the victims and further educate the campus community about terrorism – both ...

Happy Halloween from SCRC! In anticipation of the upcoming holiday, here are some staff selected spooky materials from SCRC’s collections: Phobia by John Vassos. Paul Barfoot, Library Technician The cover of Vassos’ Phobia. The illustration for Necrophobia, or “fear of the dead” in Phobia. John Vassos (1898-1985) was an American illustrator and industrial designer whose style influenced cinema, theater and advertising. ...

By Nora Ramsey, Reference Assistant I work as a reference assistant in the Special Collections Research Center on the 6th floor of Bird Library. If you have ever met me, I talk a little too much about how much I love my job. As a reference assistant, I am able to help people from all around ...

By Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor Every year, Special Collections incorporates new books featuring research and materials from SCRC collections into its own collections. This past year, author publications touched on a number of different subjects, ranging from illuminated manuscripts to a biography of the art collector and businessman Archer Milton Huntington. One of the books ...

By Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator September and October are the busiest months of the year for classroom visits in the Special Collections Research Center. Pictured above, a group of students from James Watts’ HNR 340 class taking a look at plates from Description de l’Egypte, printed from 1808-1829, which is one of the largest books ...

By Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator The Special Collections Research Center is excited to announce the acquisition of a 1963 copy of The Interaction of Color by Josef Albers.  The set was originally a limited run of 2000 sets of prints with an accompanying book that outlines a sequence of color exercises. The work comprises 80 silk screened ...

By Jim Meade, Audio Engineer What sound disc is 5 inches in diameter and carries sound on one side only? A compact disc, or CD, would be a good answer, but not quite what we’re thinking of. Here we look into one of the more curious corners of the Belfer 78rpm Collection: Little Wonder discs. Belfer ...