Train timetables from the Abele collection. These documents have been rehoused in lignin-free boxes.
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Train timetables from the Abele collection. These documents have been rehoused in lignin-free boxes.
August 2007 Feature
This site presents a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of the processing of a recently acquired collection. It shows State Library staff working on a collection of 38 cubic feet of photographs, prints, postcards and other ephemera so that researchers can use it.
The print collection includes thousands of photographs and slides of trains, trolleys, buses, and steamboats, as well as many, if not most, of the negatives from which they were made. Especially important to researchers is the fact that Mr. Abele meticulously labeled and indexed large portions of the collection and the indexes were part of the donation.
Also included are ticket stubs, postcards, timetables and even a few blueprints for railroad stations, stock certificates as well as some illustrations drawn by Mr. Abele, and his research notes.
The collection also includes a number of artifacts such as signs which were posted in trolleys or buses, destination signs, calendars, signal flags and a box of tools that probably was used to repair trolleys or buses. The artifacts are housed in the New York State Museum.
This virtual tour includes photographs showing some of the work that goes into the processing of a special collection.
Previously Featured: |
| July 2007: The New York State Summer Reading Program is a free public library reading program for children and teens. Children who join the summer reading program at their local public library have the opportunity to read and share books with others and to join in activities, events and celebrations related to the reading program theme. |
| June 2007: - The New York State Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) made their catalog of books available online in January 2007. Anyone can search the catalog, but those who are registered to borrow books from TBBL can also use this online catalog to add books directly to their request list. |
| May 2007: Librarycareersny.org -- Librarycareersny.org is a new Web site for people interested in pursuing a library and information science career, with a particular focus on New York State. The site includes five informational areas: career information; education requirements and opportunities; job search information; career growth involving continuing education, professional organizations, conference attendance, and staying current in the profession; and profiles of librarians currently on the job and recent graduates. |
April 2007: Selected county and town histories from the State Library's collection have been digitized. This group, online in PDF, were recently indexed and are now searchable. The titles include: Annals of Albany; compiled by Joel Munsell; Pioneer Days and Later Times In Corning and Vicinity 1789-1920, by Uri Mulford; Centennial History of the Town of Dryden 1797-1897, compiled and edited by Geo. E. Goodrich; Schuylerville, New York, "The Historical Village," Official Souvenir Book; Portrait and Biographical Record of Orange County, New York; Troy and Rensselaer County, New York, a History; by Rutherford Hayner. Published in 1925; Stony Point Illustrated, an Account of the Early Settlement on the Hudson with Traditions and Relics of the Revolution; and History of Herkimer County, NY. |
| March 2007: Selected Women's History Collections held by the New York State Library: In honor of Women's History Month, in March the Library featured collections from our Manuscripts and Special Collections division that are related to women's history, particularly those listed in the finding aid, or guide, to Selected Women's History Collections. The finding aid is arranged alphabetically, with a brief description of each collection. Browsing the list will give you a taste of the size and scope of our collections, which may be as small as individual letters and diaries or as large as the 60 boxes of records from the Adirondack Forty-Sixers Club (60 boxes) or the 43 boxes from the Gilead Evangelical Lutheran Church. |
| February 2007: Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation: On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that "all persons held as slaves...shall be free." The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation is an earlier version which Lincoln read to his Cabinet on September 22, 1862. Handwritten by President Lincoln, it also contains annotations by Secretary of State (and former Governor of New York) William Seward. One of the nation's greatest documentary treasures, the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation has been part of the New York State Library's collection since 1865. |
| January 2007: Final Report on the Battlefield of Gettysburg - This three-volume set contains New York at Gettysburg by William F. Fox and includes regimental histories of the numerous New York State regiments that fought at Gettysburg. The report also includes information about the monuments erected in honor of the New York regiments at Gettysburg. (The scanned document opens in a new window.) |
| (Note: Beginning in January 2007, the Library's Web Team began to feature NYSL resources or services of interest to New Yorkers.) |
Archives of Previously Featured Sites
2006 Features | 2005 Features | 2004 Features | 2003 Features
2002 Features: Web Sites | Documents
2001 Features: Web Sites | Documents
2000 Features: Web Sites | Documents