Library Special Collections Blog
Visualizing the "Friends of the Los Angeles River" Collection
This week, UCLA Library Special Collections wrapped up a months-long project to digitize the administrative records of Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR), a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring the LA River as a natural habitat and a place for recreation. Over the course of the project, not only have we made the fascinating contents of this archive available online, but we have completed a tour of the collection, which can be viewed here.
Back to the Future: The Aesthetics of Digitization vs. the Aesthetics of Administration
The Los Angeles Aqueduct Digital Platform (LAADP) is situated within larger efforts, both at UCLA and beyond, to develop digitally-based means of organizing, presenting, and analyzing historical source material. These strategies go by many names - digital humanities, digital collections, OpenCourseWare, etc. - but they share the aim of developing a new informational aesthetic with equal emphases on dynamism, engagement, and centralization.
LA Aqueduct Digital Platform series: FoLAR: Creativity Conquers Concrete
Having been involved for many years with communities of artists in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and New York City, I am currently working toward a PhD in Geography here at UCLA. My master's thesis was about artist organizations in Los Angeles, looking at their place-making activities and whether these activities align with a creative cities approach to urban planning and development. My dissertation will extend these ideas to encompass environmental advocacy alongside artists' cultural and civic work.
LA Aqueduct Digital Platform series - The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number: A Social History of the Los Angeles Aqueduct
On July 29, 2014, a water main burst under Sunset Boulevard in Westwood, pouring forth nearly 10 million gallons of water into neighboring streets, parking garages, and athletic venues. Amid a state-wide drought, the explosion of the nearly century old main provided another reminder of the sensitive relationship between Los Angeles and its water. Yet I'm sure if you asked most Angelenos where their water comes from, chances are they have no clue. That Angeleno resident used to be me.
LA Aqueduct Digital Platform series: 100 mules will make you mull over Los Angeles' past, present, and future
What’s the difference between a mule and a donkey? That was the first question I asked myself when I started working as an oral interview scholar at the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT). You see, I am very much the urban dweller. Born and raised in Los Angeles, the only animal I had ever ridden was a wooden horse on the carousel at the Santa Monica pier.
LA Aqueduct Digital Platform series: Digging into the Friends of the LA River archive
I’m a processing assistant for the Los Angeles Aqueduct Digital Platform project at UCLA Library Special Collections’ Center for Primary Research and Training. Over the summer, I’ll be working with Diane Ward, a graduate student in Geography who will process and create description for the Friends of the Los Angeles River records. FoLAR is an environmental organization working to restore the LA River and its habitat and educate people about the river’s importance.
Center for Research Libraries 2014 Primary Source Award for Research Awarded to Christian Reed
The Center for Primary Research and Training is thrilled to announce that Christian Reed, CFPRT scholar and Ph.D. candidate in English, is this year's recipient of the Center for Research Libraries 2014 Primary Source Award for Research.
Aquatico-Archival Poetry Exhibit
Poetry, art, and Los Angeles Aqueduct-related primary sources on exhibit in front of UCLA Library Special Collections through March 18, 2014