The Center for Applied Linguistics Collection contains 118 hours of recordings documenting North American English dialects. The collection debuted September 10 on the Library of Congress American Memory website. The recordings include speech samples, linguistic interviews, oral histories, conversations, and excerpts from public speeches. They were drawn from various archives, and from the private collections of 50 collectors, including linguists and folklorists. The collection includes recordings from 43 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and parts of Canada. They were made from 1941 to 1984, with the bulk being recorded between 1968 and 1982. Some of the recordings are by famous Americans (such as aviator Amelia Earhart, above), but most are the voices of people whose specific identities are unknown, but whose comments represent the richness of the American experience. There are Gullah speakers from coastal South Carolina, sharecroppers from Arkansas, Puerto Rican teenagers in New York City, Basque sheepherders from Colorado, Chesapeake Bay watermen, Vietnamese immigrants from Northern Virginia, and many others. 350 of the collection’s 405 recordings are available on this website; of these, 148 have accompanying transcriptions. The remaining recordings, which could not be posted due to copyright issues and other restrictions, may be heard in the American Folklife Center Reading Room in Washington, D.C.

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature?

Tell us about it.

The Hooked on Los Gatos digital database is a collaborative effort between Los Gatos (Calif.) Public Library and the Museums of Los Gatos, with collections of the two institutions forming the core of the project. Many individuals, families, and organizations have also shared their photo archives. Collections are primarily composed of photographs, but also include maps, letters, postcards, scrapbooks, programs from events, and other materials of historic interest. Included is the Hamsher Collection of approximately 100 historic photographs, many currently hanging on the walls of Los Gatos Library. Most were copied from original images taken between the late 1860s and 1920. Clarence Hamsher was a Los Gatos banker who collected the images in the 1920s. Some images in Hooked on Los Gatos are unidentified. Research is ongoing to create accurate metadata to accompany each image as it is added to the database. Can you help identify or date any of these mystery photographs? Send an email with your facts or suggestions.

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature? Tell us about it.

The Joyner Library Digital Collections at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, support the research and teaching mission of the university and preserve the cultural heritage of the eastern North Carolina community. The library was launched in February 2009 and now contains nearly 11,000 digital objects including image, text, audio, and video. The largest collection of materials within the library is a set of 7,000 images digitized from the photo collection of the local newspaper The Daily Reflector. Focusing on the mid-1950s to the late 1960s, the collection covers a period of dramatic social, technological, and economic change in the South as well as in the world in general. Other significant concentrations of material focus on the history of the university, naval and maritime studies, the history of agriculture in the south (particularly tobacco), and the paintings of watercolorist and poet A. R. Ammons.

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature? Tell us about it.

Perseus Digital Library at Tufts Univeristy, Boston. Since initial planning in 1985, the Perseus Digital Library Project has explored what happens when libraries move online. Over two decades later, as new forms of publication emerge and millions of books become digital, this question is more pressing than ever. Perseus is a practical experiment in which users explore possibilities and challenges of digital collections in a networked world. Perseus’ flagship collection, under development since 1987, covers the history, literature, and culture of the Greco-Roman world. Perseus’ mission is to help make the full record of humanity as intellectually accessible as possible to every human being, providing information adapted to as many linguistic and cultural backgrounds as possible. The website showcases collections and services developed as a part of Tufts University research efforts over the years. The code for the digital library system and many of the collections are available for other institutions to use, mirror, and develop….

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature?

Minnesota Reflections is the first online project of the Minnesota Digital Library Coalition. MDLC, which is comprised of professionals from libraries, archives, historical societies, and museums across Minnesota, is creating a digital collection of the state’s unique resources and special collections. Minnesota Reflections is a collection of more than 40,000 images and documents depicting the history of Minnesota. More than 100 institutions including historical societies, public libraries, special archives, universities, and colleges have shared their original materials with the Minnesota Digital Library. The collection is funded by an LSTA grant through the State Library Services and School Technology division of the Minnesota Department of Education, and by the time and talent of the participants in the Minnesota Digital Library Coalition.

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature? Tell us about it.

The National Science Digital Library was created in 2000 by the National Science Foundation to provide organized access to high-quality resources and tools that support innovations in teaching and learning at all levels of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. As a national network of learning environments, resources, and partnerships, NSDL seeks to serve a vital role as STEM educational cyberlearning for the nation, meeting the informational and technological needs of educators and learners at all levels. NSDL is designed primarily for K-16 educators, but anyone can access NSDL.org and search the library at no cost. Access to most resources discovered through NSDL is free; however, some content providers may require a login, or a nominal fee or subscription to retrieve their specific resources. In October 2008, management and coordination of the NSDL through 2012 was granted to the NSDL Resource Center at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research; and Technical Network Services, a collaborative effort between Cornell University, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature?

The Scottsdale (Ariz.) Public Library digital collection offers access to digital images of cultural and historical interest to Scottsdale residents as well as to students and researchers. The collection showcases the history and growth of what has changed from a small farming community into a world-class city. At present, the collection’s time period spans the late 1800s to the mid-20th century and contains digital versions of increasingly valuable, fragile, and hard-to-use originals of people, places, and things pertaining to the city of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature? Tell us about it.

The Louisiana Digital Library is an online library containing photographs, maps, manuscript materials, books, oral histories, and more that document Louisiana’s history and culture. There are currently 19 participating libraries, archives, museums, and historical centers participating in the LDL. Each institution contributes the digital items and descriptive text for its collections. Selected collections include Louisiana Hurricane Resources, Louisiana State Museum Jazz Collection, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Jesuit Scrapbooks from the New Orleans Province, Louisiana Purchase and Louisiana Colonial History, and Mississippi River Flood of 1927 Photographs. The library can be browsed by subject, institution, media format, geographic focus, time period, and collection name. LOUIS: the Louisiana Library Network, provides technological support for the institutions who participate.

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature? Tell us about it.

On the Edge: The Hidden Art of Fore-Edge Book Painting highlights a special collection of more than 200 high-resolution images of fore-edge paintings housed in the Rare Books Department of the Boston Public Library. The books and images on the site can be explored in a variety of ways, either by wandering through the main gallery, or browsing the works by subject, book title, or painting title. The featured works section provides additional information about selected books, including detail shots and a video of the book as it is fanned to display the hidden artwork. Anywhere on the site, you may click on an image to view a larger version. A series of articles, written by leading experts in the field, provide historical and curatorial insight into fore-edge painting. A full-text search feature is also provided. This online collection was made possible by a generous gift from Anne and David Bromer. The website concept was developed by Tom Blake and Scot Colford. Website programming and design by Josh Boughey. High-resolution photography was done at the Boston Public Library’s digital-imaging studio. Descriptive information was captured and created by Jay Campbell and Leslie Burmeister.

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature? Tell us about it.

The Brown University Library’s Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection is the foremost American collection of material devoted to the history and iconography of soldiers and soldiering, and is one of the world’s largest collections devoted to the study of military and naval uniforms. Brown’s Center for Digital Initiatives is digitizing 15,000 individual prints, drawings, and watercolors from the collection, including works by William Hogarth, Sir John Millais, Jean Baptiste Antoine de Verger, and many others. Treasures include one of the earliest depictions of an African-American soldier, painted by de Verger circa 1780, and sepia images of veterans of Napoleon’s Grande Armée in their original uniforms and insignia. The earliest pictures in the collection date from the 16th century, and the most recent items include over 1,600 paintings, drawings, and watercolors depicting World War II by artists who served in the United States armed forces.

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature? Tell us about it.