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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Scholarly Favourites. Researching in Special Collections. Online exhibition
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
18th May 2016
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Special Collections, University of Otago
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Special Collections, University of Otago
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
Who uses Special Collections? And why? And what research results emanate from physically examining books and manuscripts? It was these questions that prompted the development of this ‘engagement’ exhibition, now called <em>Scholarly Favourites. Researching in Special Collections</em>. We certainly have a wide variety of readers. After filling out the appropriate registration forms, they settle into our Reading Room. A brief wait and they get the requested item. The type of materials used is equally varied, ranging from a single sheet Medieval manuscript and a 17th century herbal, to an issue of the Gentleman’s Magazine or a Pulp Fiction book. The actual research and the publication of the end-result can often take a long time; indeed sometimes years. It can be circuitous. The time spent poring over the books also varies: three hours to three weeks, and sometimes more. And importantly, it is just not about research. Many readers use a particular book or manuscript because it is a favourite; a work that resonates with their sense of being. It has become important to them. Readers from inside and outside the University of Otago were contacted to choose a Special Collections item. They were each asked to write 150 words on ‘their’ chosen book; their favourite, or that one item that assisted their research. <em>Scholarly Favourites. Researching in Special Collections</em> is the result. In most cases, it meant a re-engagement with the item. A new handling of an old friend. The exhibition offers true variety, with items selected from the diverse collections within Special Collections: Brasch, de Beer, Shoults, Truby King, Pulp & Science Fiction, Monro, Stack. Items on display range from Albinus’s spectacular <em>Tabulae Sceleti et Musculorum Corporis Humani</em> (1747); Augustus Hamilton’s <em>The Art Workmanship of the Maori Race in New Zealand</em> (1901); and Johannes Wolleb’s <em>Compendium Theologiae Christianae</em> (1642); to Gregory M. Mathews’s <em>Supplement to The Birds of Norfolk & Lord Howe Islands and the Australasian South Polar Quadrant</em> (1928); the scurrilous <em>Alvin Purple</em> (1974); and <em>Egypt and the Sudan: Handbook for Travellers</em> (1929). Please enjoy what others have researched and enjoyed.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Gentleman’s Magazine. Vol. I
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Sylvanus Urban
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
de Beer Eb 1731 G
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Magazines
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
London: Printed for D. Henry by John Nichols
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
<em>The Gentleman’s Magazine</em> was the first publication to use the term ‘magazine’ (‘a storehouse, commonly an arsenal or armoury’: Samuel Johnson’s <em>Dictionary</em>, 1755) in its now customary sense of ‘a miscellaneous pamphlet’. It was first published in 1731 by the printer Edward Cave (who edited it under the name Sylvanus Urban, i.e., ‘town and country’) and it came out monthly. It evolved from being a digest of news from European papers, to being a trusted and original source of news and features on politics, science, the arts, society, the stock market, and scholarship. It was immediately much-imitated. It included poetry and accounts of the proceedings of parliament, which from 1741 were written by Samuel Johnson, a regular contributor. It ended publication in 1922. Special Collections has a full run of the journal from 1731 to 1866. Even now, this unique resource has only been haphazardly digitised, so the best way to use it is to come and look at the real thing. Every page has something interesting or curious, and once you start browsing, it’s very hard to stop…<br /><strong>(Chosen by Dr Paul Tankard, Department of English and Linguistics, Otago)</strong>
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
March 1791