Library News

You might have noticed that the UC Libraries are moving to a new platform, UC Library Search. There will be some slight service interruptions during this time. Specifically, we are going to have to reconfigure our interlibrary loan (ILL) system to work with the new system. We will also have to do some testing and training once that process is complete.

During this time you will not be able to place ILL requests as you normally would. We ask that you use this form to place urgent requests during this time. You can also e-mail ucmill@ucmerced.edu if you have any questions.

This past month, the UC Merced Library made 2,898 digitized items from the UC Cooperative Extension, Fresno County archive available online. It is our newest collection made publicly available as part of the UC Cooperative Extension Archive and CARA project. The collection represents extension work in Fresno County over the twentieth century and provides a fascinating angle on agriculture in the Valley. Many of the items are from the files of farm advisors and the historical records they inherited from their predecessors. Reports reveal the cumulative results of crop trials that, for example, examined the effects of fungicides and growth regulators. There are newsletters such as Forage Queen, Tree Topics, In-a-Nutshell and other communication materials that imparted information to growers and families in the Valley. There is also a substantial amount of material related to the 4-H youth development program and CalFresh,a statewide program that provides food benefits to low-income families and individuals. These documents demonstrate Cooperative Extension’s reach throughout the community.

Visit Calisphere to see the entire digitized archive: https://calisphere.org/collections/27767/. Topics include growing and harvesting of almonds, pistachios, grapes, alfalfa, and cotton among other crops. Other sets of records are categorized by processes such as irrigation, fumigation, soil formation, and fertilization. Some interesting highlights are below and make sure to click on each item for more information:

The grapevine: gibberellin - 1967 results, 1968

Herbicide sprayer, 1971

Forage queen, 1965

Basic soil surveys, 1954

  Gibberellin in grapes, 1968

Correspondence regarding 4-H club work, 1943

  Wetting agent study, 1991

Progress report - field comparisons of several on farm tile drainage installations, 1970

Last month, UC Merced Library and Merced County 4-H concluded an inaugural StoryMapping Project for students in grades 9-12. Designed to encourage participants to discover the value of historical archives, the project introduced young people to UC Merced’s University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) archive. Comprised of nearly 10,000 documents, booklets, letters, and photographs from the past 100+ years, the archive covers the range of research produced by UCCE and features documents about dairy, almonds, livestock, crop trials, youth development, nutrition, family consumer sciences, and much more. 

Over the course of twelve weeks, participants formed questions based on their findings in the archive and learned how to conduct research using primary and secondary source materials. Project meetings also focused on ways students would apply their research results in the form of presentations. To do this, ArcGIS and StoryMap experts trained students on how to use these digital tools for creating and visually presenting maps and historical narratives. This process encouragedparticipants to exhibit digitized archival materials alongside their observations and analysis.

On May 12th, 4-H Ambassador Melanie P. presented her StoryMap to local stakeholders, family, and community members. Titled DHIA Records: A Brief History and what DHIA Records Are, Melanie’s project traces the Dairy Herd Improvement Association’s (DHIA) use of records to improve efficiency and management by tracking milk production, herd size, and breeding and feed records. 

Her research uncovered information about early record keeping systems used by the Ferndale Cow Testing Association in Humboldt County and Melanie was able to compare them to contemporary DHIA records, including documents she used when purchasing her own heifers. The project serves as an excellent example of the ways in which archival materials not only represent the past, but inform our present. We thank Melanie and our other participants, teachers, and facilitators for their amazing work!

Check out Melanie’s StoryMap here!

Beginning Saturday, June 19th from 11pm through Sunday, June 20th at 2:30am Pacific Time, OCLC will be performing systems maintenance which may cause sporadic interruptions and delayed response times for online catalog services. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope this interruption will create minimal disruption to our users’ research.