Dallas Public Library and the Texas/Dallas History & Archives

The Dallas Public Library is a system of many branches.  The Texas/Dallas History & Archives Division is located at the Central branch in downtown Dallas, TX. 

 



 

 These pictures show the building and the model of the building.  The Dallas Public Library (DPL) has 8 floors and 2 sub floors. 

The Texas/Dallas History & Archives is located on the 7th floor of the Central branch.  This is also where Fine Books are held.  The collections held here all relate to the history of Dallas and/or Texas. 

I worked on 3 manuscript collections and 1 photo collection during my internship.  I was able to work on a couple of different types of collections to gain an understanding of the types of collections this division takes in.  If the collection had a significant part in Dallas or Texas history, it is in the collection. 

The Fine Books area houses many interesting finds such as Shakespeare's First Folio which is on display.  There is also a Fourth Folio held in the vault along with many first editions of famous and popular titles.  Fine books also maintains a sheet from the Gutenberg Bible as well as many other finds.  There is also a copy of the Declaration of Independence on display on this floor of the library.

EAD

July 29

I spent my entire day today on the computer.  I worked on the J. Lawrence Jones finding guide in NoteTab.  When that was done, I worked on copying the Frank Oliver finding guide from Word into EAD.  I also made labels for the architectural boxes for the J. Lawrence Jones Collection. 

J. Lawrence Jones Collection

Frank Oliver Collection

July 30

I completed all projects I have been working on during my internship at the Dallas Public Library.  I made some small corrections in the finding guide for J. Lawrence Jones.  I also was able to finish copying the rest of the Frank Oliver collection into EAD.  I printed out both finding guides and placed the Oliver finding guide in Box 1 of the collection.  With the Jones collection I had to place the printed copy of the finding guide in the accession folder.  With the odd shape and set up of the architectural boxes, it made the most sense to place this one in the accession folder rather than with the collection itself. 

I also spent some time filing away the photo negatives I had sleeved a while back.  This completed the additions to the Dallas Times Herald project I worked on. 

July 31

This was my last day during my internship at the Dallas Public Library n the Texas/Dallas History & Archives.  I spent some time walking through the library on each floor and taking pictures.  I also walked around with my supervisor and showed him the different collections I had completed.  I then spent the last of my short time there at the reference desk.