Boise San Inazio Festival

Photo by Joel Mann

The San Inazio Festival begins this week in Boise. This annual event honors the patron saint of the Basques, St. Ignatius of Loyola, with dancers and musicians, picnics, and games of paleta goma. For information about the event, check out the Basque Center of Boise's website, or check out the full schedule of events at http://www.basquecenter.com/San_Inazio_schedule_2013.pdf

If you'll spend some time indoors (to get away from the heat!), the Albertsons Library maintains a Basque Studies library guide at http://guides.boisestate.edu/basque. Here you will find access to article databases, websites, news, and research resources related to the Basque culture in Boise and throughout the world.

Enjoy the festivities! 

New Exhibit: A Look at 40 Years of Special Collections, 1973-2013



A new exhibit in Special Collections & Archives explores the history of the department since its creation in 1973.

Originally a set of rare books kept in a wooden cabinet behind the library's circulation desk, Special Collections & Archives has grown to house more than 300 manuscript collections, the university archives, and a book collection of first editions and signed copies, on state and local history and by Idaho authors, and the oldest book housed by a public institutions in the state, 15th century Historia Scholastica.

A monumental event for Special Collections & Archives was the acquisition of the Frank Church collection in the 1980s. Originally at Stanford University, the collection was transferred to Boise State at the request of Church, a former Senator from Idaho.

The picture above shows the processing team in 1988 that worked to arrange the collection consisting of hundreds of boxes. The collection today has over 800 boxes making it the largest collection in Special Collections & Archives and also the one most frequently used. The exhibit also looks at the history of the library, going back to its beginnings when the university was founded in 1932. The library was first located in the college buildings in downtown Boise, then moved to the Administration building before receiving its own building in 1964.

The library at that time included a smoking room and a typing room where typewriters were available or students could bring in their own. The library was expanded and renamed Albertsons Library in 1995. As the 1965 library handbook states, “Ask questions then. It is the only way to acquire a real education. A good place to start asking questions is the library.” The exhibit will be up through December.

Julia Stringfellow,
Archivist/Librarian and Assistant Professor

So, the library, huh?

New to the Boise State campus community? Want to get a feel for what the library offers? Here's a taste:

• Bring your laptop or mobile device--the whole building is Wi-Fi enabled.
• Access thousands of articles from journals and magazines from the A-Z list of databases. You will find that more and more of our databases are mobile-friendly, too. 
• There are over 110 computers with Microsoft Office 2010, Mac and PC laptops and notebooks for checkout.
• A Starbucks coffee shop on the first floor.
• Scanners, microform readers, and multiple BroncoPrint stations (including color printing) in the first and second floors--all wired to include wireless printing from your laptop.
• Check out iPads at the Circulation desk, each with tons of helpful apps.
• A growing collection of streaming video and music databases on a wide range of subjects--watch online or on your portable device. 
• Find an extensive list of subject guides via the library's LibGuides system.
• Find library hours at our nifty calendar page at http://library.boisestate.edu/about/hours.php 

There are way more resources available to you than we can list here, but if you're curious or want research help, stop by Circulation or the Reference Desk and we'll be glad to answer any questions you may have about us (or the campus!).

UFO Festival & Space

Photo by Cassie

If you look up at the stars and wonder, are we alone in the universe? Chances are you'd like the UFO Festival in Roswell, New Mexico this weekend. How did "The Roswell Incident" begin? From the website:

In early July, 1947, a mysterious object crashed on a ranch 30 miles north of Roswell.  The Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) issued a statement claiming to have recovered a crashed "flying disk."  An article ran on the front page of the Roswell Daily Record and the next day, RAAF changed its statement to say that the object was a weather balloon, not a flying disk as they previously reported.  This revised statement sparked immediate controversy and has continued to be a topic of debate more than 60 years later.

The website Offbeat New Mexico describes the event as an annual gathering "that attracts thousands of doubters, believers, scholars, scientists, authors, astronauts, tourists and children of all ages – from this world and beyond - to this small Southeastern New Mexico city in search of a little truth and a whole lot of fun, foolishness and entertainment during the UFO Festival."

If the vastness of space is more appealing, then set your course to the official NASA website for links to its massive multimedia archive, a consolidated launch schedule, and mind-blowing photos from the Hubble Space Telescope. You can also get your daily dose of Astronomy by following the always-fascinating Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD).

Library closed for 4th of July

The Boise State campus & Albertsons Library will be closed on Thursday, July 4th for Independence Day. Regular library summer hours resume on Friday, July 5th.

Library hours are listed at http://library.boisestate.edu/about/hours.php

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

A Look at a Fourth of July Speech Given by Senator Frank Church

Frank Church at a fair during his campaign for reelection as Senator in 1962.

“More Than They Took:” A Look at a Fourth of July Speech Given by Senator Frank Church

Frank Church was a senator from Idaho who served four consecutive terms in Congress from 1956-1980. His collection in Special Collections spans over 800 boxes and is the largest collection in Special Collections as well as the most heavily used. During his 1962 campaign for reelection to the Senate, Church delivered a speech on July 4 in Grangeville, Idaho. The speech titled “More Than They Took” was given as part of the Fourth of July Centennial Program of the Idaho County Historical Society.

The speech covered the historic event of pioneers coming to the Idaho County area in 1862, and Church shared several stories about the pioneers. The early settlers worked in the mining camps and faced many hardships – lack of food and supplies and disease. The village of Florence was hit by a severe snowstorm on July 3, 1862. Trains often could not get to the area until May, and men would often carry packs of provisions weighing 60-75 pounds to the villages in the area. There were also many unique characters in Idaho County in its early days, including a poet called “Pine Tree Johnson” who lived under a pine tree rather than living in a house and ran for the Idaho legislature and won.

Church also shared the legend that it was in Idaho County where the state got its name. Joaquin Miller, the “Poet of the Sierras,” was a pony express rider for the mines of Idaho. According to Miller, “Ee-dah-how” meant the “Gem of the Mountains.” In speaking of the Fourth of July holiday, Church said,

“It is our most truly American holiday. And it is also more lively, joyous, and patriotic than any other holiday.”

To view the full speech and other materials in the Frank Church Collection, visit Special Collections on the second floor of the library or send an email to archives@boisestate.edu. The guide to the collection can be viewed here.

Julia Stringfellow,
Archivist/Librarian and Assistant Professor