World War II photographer Melvin C. Shaffer arrived in Naples, Italy, in 1944, to document medical care at the 8th Evacuation Hospital and on hospital ships docked in the Port of Naples. His work was interrupted March 18 when Mount Vesuvius erupted, beginning 14 days of lava flow that destroyed four villages.
Shaffer’s 19 photographs of ash clouds and village streets filled to the rooftops with smoking black lava are among the most popular images in SMU libraries’ 30 digital collections.
Lava flow engulfing a village to the west of Vesuvius, Melvin C. Shaffer, 1944
More than 5,000 images ranging from ancient Babylonian stone tablets to medieval manuscripts to Civil War photographs to Texas artists’ sketchbooks can be viewed on the SMU libraries’ digital collections website. The images represent items in special collections at Bridwell Library, DeGolyer Library, Hamon Arts Library and Underwood Law Library.
Special collections have long been a destination for scholars seeking primary materials for research. But the value and fragile condition of items such as historic Texas currency or ancient Egyptian papyrus fragments require limited access. These items can be studied only by appointment and under library staff supervision.
For the past 10 years, however, SMU libraries have been scanning and cataloging special collections to be placed online, making them available to anyone through the library website.
“Electronic collections have revolutionized scholarship and teaching,” says Patricia Van Zandt, Central University Libraries’ director of scholarly resources and research services. “Students can use primary resources they may never have had an opportunity to see before. Professors can study items online that once required a trip to the British Museum in London.”
Students in “The Greater Dallas Experience” course are using a digitized collection to study the role of media in Dallas history. Longtime Dallas journalist Lee Cullum ’74 spoke to the class, but students also reviewed her work and personal papers online, part of Archives of Women of the Southwest at DeGolyer Library.
Visits to SMU digital collections nearly doubled from 2009 to 2010, partly because of the libraries’ invitation to join The Commons on Flickr, the popular image-hosting website. Flickr launched The Commons in 2008 to provide easy access to publicly held photography collections. The Library of Congress and the National Archives UK are among the 44 institutions included in the consortium.
Highlights of SMU Digital Collections
Taos Sketchbook: 127; watercolor, ink, crayon; DeForrest Judd, 1967
SMU Campus Memories
SMU founders, Dallas Hall under construction, the Mustang Band and campus life are among the 200 historic photos in this collection.
World War II Historic Government Documents
The collection of 343 pamphlets, reports and pocket guides include the most popular image in SMU’s digital collections – A Graphic History of the War: September 1, 1939 to May 10, 1942.
Lawrence T. Jones III Texas Photographs
This collection spans 100 years of Texas history and includes rare images of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and Comanche Chief Quanah Parker.
DeForrest Judd Sketchbooks
Texas regionalist artist DeForrest Judd is best known for his keen observation of nature and everyday life. More than 100 sketches in watercolor, ink and crayon from nine sketchbooks can be viewed on this site.
Rare Books And All Things Wesley
Bridwell Library’s special collections of Bibles, incunabula, devotional literature and prayer books, John and Charles Wesley materials, Methodist church history and archival documents often appear in exhibitions that are open to the public and remain online.
– Nancy Lowell George ’79