25 January 2008

Nice an' Easy Does it....

For all you Rat Pack fans, Sinatra swooners, and Big Band lovers, get ready! I just stumbled across the USPS site and found out that a Sinatra stamp is coming out in the spring of 2008.

Here's a quote:

"..Art director Richard Sheaff of Scottsdale, AZ, worked with stamp artist Kazuhiko Sano of Mill Valley, CA, to create the image based on a 1950s photograph of the entertainment icon. The stamp depicts Sinatra’s charismatic smile, trademark fedora and cobalt blue eyes that earned him the nickname “Ol’ Blue Eyes.” Sinatra’s autograph also appears on the stamp..."

Source: USPS Postal News

Here's the link to get a high dpi version of the stamp:

Image Download Center

(note restrictions on reproduction of stamp images)

So now all I have to do is check to see if they have stamps for Dino and Sammy D.

Here's one for the road:



Source: NARA, Keyword Sinatra

Have a great weekend!

Drop the horn Eddie, it's the G-Men!

Talking with a family friend the other day and the subject of "Louie Louie" came up. One of the instantly known and very familiar songs from the sixties and still quite popular today, this amazing tune (the cover by the Kingsmen) is best known for the "wild" lyrics that are at times completely unintelligable. Because of this, the song has been claimed to be full of profanity, double-speak, and a whole lot more.

In his book, Blinded by the Lyrics; Behind the Lines of Rock & Roll's Most Baffling Songs, Brent Mann talks about the lyrics behind the song and the subsequent investigation by the FBI. FBI? Yes, it's true! There was a a complete case on the song, due to the supposedly obscene lyrics, causing the Interstate Transportation of Obscene Material Act to be invoked. However,nothing came of the investigation, because according to the sources, there wasn't anything there!

Check the links below for copies of the FBI report, other sites and book exerpts. Warning though, some of the sites can be off-color, so be careful.

Wikipedia entry
Urban Legends page
Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay: An Anthology
LouieLouie.net
The Smoking Gun entry for Louie Louie
Blinded by the Lyrics: Behind the Lines of Rock and Roll's Most Baffling Songs

24 January 2008

Netflix at your library? Why not, it's your money!

Let's face facts: Video is HOT at your library. VHS, DVD, whatever, my local branch library is always triple-packed on Fridays with folks loading up on videos for the weekend. Weekdays are busy as well. For libraries, this is a good thing. Circ. counts up, traffic up, it all looks good on the reports. For patrons, it's also a good deal. Where else can you see first run movies essentially free?

However, why stop at DVD's?

I would argue that your library should offer Netflix for your home...and here's why:

Reading the WSJ this morning, I stumbled across a facinating column by Lee Gomes in which he discusses the merits and the challenges of the Netflix download service. In case you have not heard about this, Netflix offers an option to basically stream first run movies to your PC instead of physically shipping you the disc. Lee goes on to talk about setting up a PC, connecting it to his TV and enjoying the benefits from his couch.

So why can't libraries offer this for their patrons? Why stick with old media to buy, catalog, store, circulate, repair....all of which takes staff time and money. Libraries sign database deals all the time with major vendors...why not Netflix? Restrict access via proxy server and or gateways that are already set up to handle DB traffic that may be in place. Libraries are always talking about the future and Web 2.0 offerings to their patrons, right?

I say...Let's give'em Netflix...and watch the stats soar!


Links:

WSJ

Lee's Column: Think of an Old Film...

Netflix

23 January 2008

The Great Florida Land Boom of the 1920's Revisited Today?

I was reading today in the NY Times trying to catch up with the great mortgage debacle going on and was reminded of studying about a similar event in Florida in the 1920's which predated the Depression for a few years. Along with the booming US economy during this time, Florida became basically awash in money, deals and land speculation...similar yet different to today's deals, speculation and money-making in the subprime mortgage market. History will repeat folks...not exactly the same, but in many ways different. Times change, events change, but people's motivations (greed?) and speculative assumptions will always be around. Not trying to paint everyone and everything with a big brush of dishonesty, I'm just struck by many parallels. Follow the links below for some great background and resources to help you learn more.

Link: Only Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen

Link: Short Background on the 1920's boom

Link: Wikipedia's entry for the Florida Land Boom

I'm all shook up! That "Sexhibitionist"* Elvis Presley and NARA?

My detective work in NARA continues! Today I have stumbled across a most amazing find. I never dreamed that these things would show up in the official archives, but in a sense I'm glad they do, only because as a historical sleuth, this gives additional insight into American society.

As you know, unlike many of today's figures in popular music, Elvis Presley was drafted into the army and indeed, willingly went. While we can only suppose the impact he truly felt, we can know for certain the impact felt by many who admired him, his work and songs. Truly, it was the teenager who probably felt this most.

Here you will see a letter written to then President Eisenhower by three of Elvis's fans begging Ike to release Elvis from his duties:



To find a readable copy of this letter, hit the ARC search engine. Keyword Elvis followed by a revised search for digital items. There are lots more goodies here, especially if you are a Elvis and Nixon fan.

ARC Search Link: http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/

Wikipedia Search Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley

*Note the "Sexhibitionist Elvis Presley" part of the title I came across by searching the Time archive around the time Elvis was drafted...searching for popular reaction. A quick search showed some articles but not too many other than the wacky title above. Maybe I just need to dig more.....here's the link if you have time:

Warning! Many ads!
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,824916,00.html

22 January 2008

Controversial....but very, very useful!

Some folks feel threatened, others are glad. As a librarian and historian, access to history is always important. I guess that's why I absolutely love Google Books. In fact, it's one of the few places that heads the top of my list when doing historical research.

For example, I was doing some research on Ernie Pyle recently and just flipped to Google books and started looking up World War II themes, just to see what was there. Here's a short list (with links) of some of the good stuff I found:

"Okay Girls, Man Your Bunks"

Personal biography about life in the WAVES during WW II.

Green Light!: Men of the 81st Troop Carrier Squadron Tell Their Story

Lots have been written about the paratroopers themselves, what with Band of Brothers, etc. However, they did have to get to the drop zone somehow. This book tells you how.

Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team

Written by the great author Steinbeck, this books details the trials and tribulations of flying the heavies during WW II.


Now some of the books are previews but many are the entire book. With the option to create your own personal library as well as links to where the books can be bought, this historical research options cannot be overlooked.

Here's the link directly to Google Books as well as the post about it on Wikipedia. Have Fun!!

Google Books

Wikipedia's entry

The Judy Garland Telegrams!

I've entitled this post "The Judy Garland Telegrams" in reference to an amazing find while searching NARA tonight. I've just barely scratched the surface here, but evidently 1964 was a pretty traumatic year for Judy Garland as evidenced by this quote from Wikipedia:

"...was largely disastrous. Garland's first concert in Sydney, held in Sydney Stadium because no concert hall could accommodate the crowds who wanted to see her, went well and received positive reviews. Her second performance, in Melbourne, started an hour late. The crowd of 70,000, angered by her tardiness and believing her to be drunk, booed and heckled. Finally Garland fled the stage after just 45 minutes....She would later characterize the Melbourne crowd as 'brutish.'..."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Garland

With the year in mind, the following telegrams seem to indicate that she was feeling better at some point and felt encouraged by the support from Robert Kennedy and his wife.

Here's the source article from NARA:

http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/

Search for "Judy Garland Robert Kennedy"

You cannot bookmark the results, but by searching the phrase above, should pull the record down ok. Here's a small picture of one of the telegrams:


























Source link: http://media.nara.gov/media/images/40/13/40-1287t.gif

Try hitting the main search page and doing the search. You should be able to pull the small link as well as temporary links for the big pictures. A facinating glimpse both of NARA as well as Judy Garland and Robert Kennedy and their families.

21 January 2008

EZProxy...alas is gone...long live EZProxy!

Today, I found out EZproxy has been bought out by the library giant OCLC.

For those of you who might have never worked behind the scenes in the library world, you might wonder about this post. For those of you who have, then this might be old news or new news, depending on your situation.So what? Big deal, right? Well, first a little background....

Access to databases is not cheap. Someone has to pay and as a result, databases are usually restricted to those who carry a library card or pay the subscription fee. For library patrons, these costs are paid for by your library. A question remains however:

How do they provide access yet restrict it so that only patrons can use it?

There's a variety of ways, each of which has good and bad points. EZproxy was a good point. As a professional library support person, I worked quite extensively with this software and its creator. It was the best in class and quite easy to configure and use....especially on Linux. Quite stable, I was able to run multiple instances of it on a single Linux box.

I hear this morning from the Dispatch that EZproxy and its author have been acquired by OCLC. I guess that's a pretty good thing as OCLC I'm sure has the resources and personnel to improve the software quite a bit. I hope, however, that it does not lose it's quaint (?) charm as well as easy access to its creator. OCLC seems to think:

"...OCLC will also continue to develop and support EZproxy by working with commercial vendors to create new connectors to authentication systems and online content resources to libraries...."

Source: http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200690.htm


I'm curious to see how this platform-agnostic (runs on Win and Lin) will be intermeshed into the OCLC software world, which uses Win quite extensively. Let's hope to continue to hear good things about this.

Talk to you later. Look below for some links for more information. Long live EZProxy!!!!

OCLC

EZProxy

There's Gold In Them There Hills

Not being an original native of Ohio, I've come to love Ohio for the good things it has, including extensive library support, lots of historical places and, well, the Buckeyes! However, there is a treasure located in Columbus, that Joe Blundo wrote about in last week's Dispatch. That is the OSU archives.

Being a history major as well a librarian, the thought of archives and being able to explore the material inside, makes for an exciting day. Joe, in particular, points out one thing besides library materials that they do have:

"...The splintered piece of goal post from the 1955 Rose Bowl? That was a keeper...."

For more details, here's some links:

Dispatch article

OSU Archives site

I'll be writing more about these archives soon....there's lots more good information, including John Glenn and the Byrd Polar Archives.

See kids, there are some things you just can't do online! :)

Stay Tuned!

20 January 2008

USS Frederick: Picture of the Month Detail

It's cold in Ohio tonight! However, it doesn't really compare to our picture of the month you see on the right. The ice on the Frederick really is massive. For a little bit more about this photo, check the link at the end of the post. I did some digging on the Frederick and came across some interesting details:

Originally named the Maryland and built just over the turn of the century as a Pennsylvania class armored cruiser, she ended up spending most of her service life with the Pacific and Asiatic fleets. Weighing in at a little over 13 tons, she saw both extensive combat and training missions. One notable dispatch in 1912 was to carry the then Secretary of State Frank Knox to Japan for the funeral of the emperor of Japan. For more details, check the history links below.

History:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Maryland_%28ACR-8%29
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-m/acr8.htm

Frederick Picture Link
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h50000/h50357c.htm)