UW Libraries Blog

digital public history


March 21, 2022

UW Libraries in the Classroom: Looted? Ethnomusicology, Archives & Colonial Legacies

UW Libraries

Inside the echoing walls of the Smith Room* within the Suzzallo and Allen Libraries, John Vallier, Ethnomusicology Curator for UW Libraries, presses “play”.  Students listen intently to the scratchy recording of a so-called “war chant”. Vallier explains that it was recorded in 1906 near Mount Kilimanjaro by an officer in Germany’s colonial force. “The singers…


February 10, 2022

Entanglements: Mapping the History of Asian Migration onto Coast Salish Lands 

UW Libraries

UW doctoral candidate Anna Nguyen is an Asian American historian who is passionate about documenting, preserving and sharing the histories of Asian Americans. Through the Simpson Center’s 2021 Mellon Summer Fellowship for Public Projects in the Humanities, Nguyen and fellow UW doctorate candidate Madison Heslop began their collaboration to create Entanglements: Mapping the History of…


September 7, 2021

Words Matter: Critical Cataloging and Archival Description at the University of Washington Libraries 

UW Libraries

Authors: Conor M. Casey, Erin Grant, Keiko Hill, Kat Lewis, Crystal Rodgers  In August of 2021, catalogers, metadata specialists, and archivists at the University of Washington Libraries published a statement on Critical Cataloging and Archival Description to the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism hub on the UW Libraries website. This statement is a road map…


June 8, 2021

June Update

UW Libraries

News New Dean Announced: On behalf of the office of the Provost, we are happy to announce that Simon Neame (currently the dean of Libraries at the University of Massachusetts Amherst) has been appointed the new dean of University Libraries. The appointment, pending approval by the UW Board of Regents, is set to begin Sept….


April 26, 2020

Libraries’ Installation The Age of the Kampuchea Picture Wins a Center for Research Libraries Primary Source Award

Judith Henchy, Ph.D., MLIS Head, Southeast Asia Section, Special Assistant to the Dean of University Libraries for international Programs; Affiliate Faculty, Jackson School of International Studies University of Washington Libraries

“Every time I remember Elizabeth Becker’s pictures, I cannot help but see Pol Pot’s total control of the production and consumption of these images; his vision of Kampuchea saturates them all.  I cannot see beyond it.” –Adrian Alarilla The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) has awarded the 2020 Primary Source Award in the Research category…


April 6, 2020

Documenting COVID-19 – A Service of UW Libraries Special Collections

Ann Lally, Digital Collections Curator for Special Collections

The University of Washington Libraries Special Collections brings together the most rare and unique resources held by the larger University of Washington Library community. From papyrus to born digital, our holdings span history and the globe and offer boundless opportunities for exploration and discovery. While many people associate our work with physical materials—our digital archives…


October 17, 2019

UW Tacoma Library Welcomes Oral History Project Manager

Justin Wadland

Reposted from UW Tacoma Libraries Blog by Justin Wadland 10/14/2019 The Library is pleased to announce that Joan Hua joined its staff this autumn as the Oral History Project Manager. In the next 12 months, she will be working to develop a new collection of digital oral histories for the UW Tacoma Oral History: Founding…