Finding your way around the shutdown and to useful statistical and data sources

PHOTO BY CHRIS DLUGOSZ

PHOTO BY CHRIS DLUGOSZ

We’re entering the second week of the federal government shutdown that’s a result of the lack of a federal budget. While critical services such as Social Security benefits, the Postal Service, the military, and air traffic control continue functioning, many other government services deemed non-essential have ceased. Media coverage is full of stories about ruined National Park family vacations and the National Zoo’s now dark Panda Cam, but scores of less visible federal agencies have been had to reduce or eliminate their services and furlough employees (see their contingency plans).

The impact of the shutdown can be felt at Puget Sound. In particular, many federal statistical and data sources that are relied upon by economics, sociology, business, and other social science students are currently unavailable.

Here are just a few examples of currently unavailable resources:

Finance students are fortunate that the Securities & Exchange Commission continues to support Next-Generation EDGAR, which provides access to public companies’ recent financial filings.

While federal sites are down, Collins isn’t completely bereft of statistical and data sources. Data-Planet Statistical Ready Reference, a subscription service, provides access to thousands of datasets including many federal sources like the census, in addition to international and proprietary data. ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research), a social science data repository, also provides a large swath of data including some federal datasets.

By Ben Tucker, Social Sciences Liaison Librarian

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Did You Know? Carletta Carrington Wilson Lecture, October 10, 4 p.m.

"Abduction": http://www.carlettacarringtonwilson.com/gallery

“Abduction”: http://www.carlettacarringtonwilson.com/gallery

On October 10, Carletta Carrington Wilson will be visiting Grace Livingston’s class in the early afternoon and presenting in the Archives space at 4:00 p.m.. Coffee and conversation from 3:30-4:00 p.m.

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Friday Fun! Recommended Film – “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter — and Spring”

FILM_SpringSumYou’ll enjoy Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter– and Spring a chronicle of the life of a Buddhist monk from childhood to the end of his days.

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Government shutdown curbs academic research at many levels

shutdown

Locked out of the Library of Congress by the government shutdown, Torsten Kathke, a postdoctoral researcher from Germany, works at Starbucks in Washington, D.C.

A wide range of academic research across the country was being interrupted Wednesday as the federal government shutdown continued for a second day — with no clear path to a resolution. Read more in the Inside Higher Ed article, Locked Out of the Library.

 

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From the Archives: Featuring the Douglas Edwards papers

DouglasAs was mentioned earlier this week, October is Archives month; it also happens to be Archaeology Month.  To celebrate Maya Steinborn ’14 and Morgan Ford ’17 put together a small display of notebooks, photographs, and artifacts from the Douglas Edwards papers.

Featured is the work of Professor Douglas Edwards from his early excavations in Khirbet Qana: his journals, a map of where Khirbet Qana can be geographically found, photographs of the dig site, and artifacts discovered there.  Edwards was a distinguished professor of Religion at the University of Puget Sound from 1987 until 2008.  He initiated the excavations at Khirbet Qana in 1998 and went on to confirm the site as the location of biblical Cana (where the Gospel of John says Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine).  The full Douglas Edwards collection includes much more information about the project, such as slides of photographs, detailed lists of findings, and elaborately hand-drawn diagrams of the areas being excavated.

The exhibit is located on the wall near the circulation desk in the library.  It will be on display through October.

Stop in and see what else you might be able to find!

Archives & Special Collections Open Hours:
Wednesdays      1:00-7:00 p.m.
Thursdays           9:00-11:30 a.m.

By Morgan Ford

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Recommended Reading – American Gods: A Novel

AmGodsGaiman, Neil. 2001. American Gods: A Novel. New York: W. Morrow.

Brought to you by the twisted imagination of Neil Gaiman, this tale draws from old world mythology and pits it against new gods in a modern world, all taking place on a road trip through the American Midwest.  It’s delightful, if only a little bloodthirsty.

-Library staff

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From the Archives: Celebrating Archives Month!

OctOctober is Archives Month and the Archives & Special Collections are celebrating!

We continue our Behind the Archives Door series with talks on October 1st and 15th by Amy Fisher, Professor of Science, Technology and Society who will discuss our 18th century rare books on electricity and Beau Beausoleil, curator and poet of The Al-Mutanabbi Book Arts Exhibit.  All talks begin at 4:00 p.m. outside of the Archives & Special Collections on the second floor of the Collins Library.

On October 25th from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. the Archives & Special Collections will hold an Open House, feel free to stop by and browse the collections!  At the end of the Open House we will formally “seal” our 125th Anniversary time capsule!

Finally, we have a small exhibit featuring material from the Doug Edwards papers on display near the circulation desk (check back Thursday for more details)!  This exhibit was curated by student archivists Maya Steinborn ’14 and Morgan Ford ’17.

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You’ll Like Tacoma!

youllLikeTacomaSo many people have expressed interest in the You’ll Like Tacoma poster so we wanted to provide a bit more information!

The Tacoma Public Library has a postcard of the iconic image in their collection and you can find it online at:
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/postcard/postcardfull.asp?db=1426

The  Washington State Historical Society has a copy negative from what looks to be another copy of the same postcard: http://collections.washingtonhistory.org/details.aspx?id=111866

We have checked with the Public Library and none has found who owns the original photo or negative.

This Tacoma promotion was seen on the lake shore at the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition (AYPE) in Seattle. This fair took place from June to October, 1909 at the site of the present-day University of Washington campus. It featured the commerce and culture of the Pacific Northwest, Alaska/Yukon, and the Pacific Rim regions, and was meant to be both edifying and entertaining.

In November of 2012, Jessica Spring, designed and printed the modern rendition of the You’ll Like Tacoma poster in her studio on Yakima Avenue.

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Did You Know? The sculpture in the study commons

blog_SuspensionThe sculpture in the Study Commons is this year’s Library Art Award winner!

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From the Archives: It’s the Anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s Historic Visit to Tacoma

Kennedy1On September 27, 1963 President John F. Kennedy visited Tacoma and gave a speech on education and conservation at a joint convocation held by Presidents R. Franklin Thompson of the University of Puget Sound and Robert Nortvedt of Pacific Lutheran University. Speaking to a crowd of 20,000 that included students, faculty, and politicians, President Kennedy stated, “Those of you now in school must prepare for leadership. You must make sure the United States maintains its responsibilities. We all want to see this country continue to grow.”

Among those at the event was The Trail’s editor, who went on to become mayor of Kennedy2Tacoma, Bill Baarsma. Our Summer Research Fellow interviewed Bill this summer about President Kennedy’s visit and the recording is in the Archives & Special Collections.

To see more of President Kennedy’s visit to Tacoma, visit:

The Trail’s coverage of Kennedy in Tacoma

Photographs of Kennedy in A Sound Past

Kennedy’s speech from the JFK Presidential Library and Museum

Press copy of Kennedy’s speech from the JFK Presidential Library and Museum

A story from The News Tribune: The day President Kennedy came to Tacoma

Pacific Lutheran University’s Guide to President Kennedy’s visit

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