Special Collections & Archives is currently under way with a bold new plan to barcode all of our materials (as the main library did in 1977). This project will ultimately give us greater control over our holdings both in terms of space available for new collections and also in terms of allowing us to better track the use of our collections.
While this is exciting enough on its own, co-op student Eva Lau discovered some material in an archival box that had been uncatalogued.
We are therefore pleased to welcome the Alexander McNeill fonds back into the collection. The fonds consists of 4 letters to the editor, including one about the first five-year plan; this is especially interesting because Eva also just completed a digital exhibit for us, dealing largely with that topic.
First page of Alexander McNeill's letter to the Mail & Empire newspaper in Toronto, entitled The Rich Blessings of the Five Year Plan.
And here are two snapshots from the original barcoding project:
Baiba Gomes, Else Riedel, Kathryn Ryans, and a partially hidden fourth staff member apply barcodes to books in the Dana Porter stacks.
Rose Schilling uses some high tech gadgetry to sign a book out.
Next post: Ghosts in Special Collections & Archives
Previous post: H. Spencer Clark, first aid certificates
Dana Porter Library, first floor
University of Waterloo Library
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
519-888-4567 x42619 or x42445
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.