Blogs and Podcasts
150 Best Minnesota Books blog
Patrick Coleman, the Society’s acquisitions librarian, will over the course of this sesquicentennial year designate the greatest 150 Minnesota books. He will anoint these books twice a month (currently he is on number 21). We realize that any such list is subjective and open to other opinions which we strongly encourage. Readers, please feel free to both add to and take issue with Coleman’s growing list!
Come See It blog
"'Thank God and FDR': New Deal Art" exhibit
An exhibition of paintings, prints, and sculptures from the 1930s and 1940s by Minnesota artists is on view at the James J. Hill House through November 2, 2008.
Our Favorite Things blog
"'Value Added' Books"
No two books are alike. Not even within the same printing of the same title. There may even be an ultimate copy of every book. Outrageous statements? Perhaps, but hidden in the stacks of the MHS library are unique copies of books and perhaps some of those ultimate copies.
Podcasts
"Suburban Richfield"
We take a look at Richfield, a classic Minnesota postwar suburb. Excerpts from oral histories with long-time Richfield residents are featured, along with historic photos and documents from the community. (5 min. 8 sec. / 3.91 MB)
Researchers Notebook blog
Welcome to a forum for historical researchers at work on topics in Minnesota and Midwestern history. Blog posts might include announcements of upcoming meetings, conferences, or seminars; discussions of historical topics; reviews of websites; continuation of discussions begun at the monthly researcher meetings held at the Minnesota Historical Society, and similar things.
What's New blog
A recent and most generous gift from a long-time donor has greatly increased our holdings of early and rare Red Wing art pottery with 9 examples of the vessels in the Nokomis line.
Produced circa 1926 -1929 and likely sold into the 1930s, Nokomis vessels were slip-cast in plaster molds. The glaze was described by the company as “a metallic finish in gray and tan with a tint of copper;” and collectors today agree that the 18 classic shapes decorated in this impressionistic hand-applied glaze were marketed ahead of their time....
NEW ACQUISITIONS
Archives
Highlights of the April-May Acquisitions
Minnesota state and local government records are added frequently to the State Archives collection. Although the records were recently acquired, they may not be available yet in the MHS Library catalog. For assistance using these records, please contact the Minnesota Historical Society's Reference Department by telephone, 651-259-3300, or email, reference@mnhs.org.
Books
Highlights of some of the new books now available in the reading rooms. Featured new books can be found in the Weyerhaeuser Reading Room on the top of the book shelves under the Betsy-Tacy poster.
NEW RESOURCES
True North
True North offers tools, content, and lesson plans for 5-12 grade social studies teachers and students that supports teaching of geography and history standards and encourages further exploration of the themes and resources. True North:
- Simplifies the search for all significant maps
- Allows for easy manipulation of those maps (zoom, color, etc)
- Connects these maps to useful historic information
- Provides step-by-step help manual
- Offers a library of teacher-submitted lesson plans
Geographic Maps includes over two hundred digital maps, both pre-existing as well as newly-created maps. Maps can be overlayed, color-altered, saved, and printed.
Historic Links connect to external sources such as tribal websites, academic resources, and research agencies, as well as valuable preexisting content on the MHS website, including:
Curriculum Materials includes all the materials developed to support teacher instruction. The Curriculum includes the following components:
- Lesson Plans
- Guided Worksheets
- Teacher Submitted Lessons Library
TIP OF THE MONTH
The MnPALS catalog recently was upgraded to Aleph 18 and you will notice some interesting changes. When you search for a recently-published book, an image of its cover will appear to the far right of the catalog information, along with caption "More about this book from Google Books." If you click on the "More about this book ..." link it takes you to Google Books where you get a nice summary of the book, links to webpages that mention the book, and links to online services that will sell you the book (such as Amazon.com).
The interesting thing is that the "More about this book ..." link appears on all catalog entries, even if it is a really old book that is not in Google's system and even if it is an archival collection. The default "book" that the link goes to in those cases is "AIDS in Gynecology." Not the most appropriate book they could have chosen! We are looking into whether or not we can change that default link or even have the link go somewhere else.
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