Monthly Archives: October 2008

New Collection Descriptions for the Month!

The following 12 finding aids were prepared during Oct 2008 and loaded to NWDA (with PDFs on our website). All have MARC catalog records in the OSU Libraries catalog, Summit, and Worldcat – or will have them very shortly.

Agricultural Research Foundation Records, 1936-2007

Anderson, Roberta Frasier, Papers, 1959-1974

Athenian Literary Society Records, 1892-1895

Chemistry Department Records, 1937-1997 (RG 098)

Cutler, Melvin, Papers, 1951-1958

Dean of Women’s Office Photographs, 1941-1916 (P 097)

Education, School of, Photographs, 1962-1967 (P 108)

Finance and Administration Videotapes, 1997 (FV P 247)

Human Resources Videotapes, 1992 (FV P 223)

Rice, Charles M., Papers, 1977

Rice Family Photograph Album, 1935-1947 (P 272)

University Archives Videotapes (FV P 169)

Other notes: 10 are new finding aids and 2 are updates of existing finding aids (Chemistry Department Records and Human Resources Videotapes), 11 are collection-level finding aids and one (Chemistry Department Records) is a full finding aid with a folder-level inventory, and 5 are for collections for which we previously had no information available online other than a title (Rice Papers; P 097; P 108; P272; RG 061).

We now have 343 finding aids in NWDA.

Thanks for the memories!

Putting meringue on lemon piesThis is the last recipe for Oregon Archives Month … We hope you’ve enjoyed all these delights, and have even tried your hand cooking a few of them. They represent a small slice of what is in our collection, so if you have a hankering for some more, please contact us and we can set you up with more than you bargained for!

Pumpkin-Corn Meal Dodgers

Based on an old southern recipe handed down through several generations.

  • 1½ cups cooked pumpkin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1½ cups corn meal
  • 3 tablespoons shortening
  • 2 tablespoons syrup
  1. To the pumpkin, which has been cooked very tender and mashed free from lumps, add the salt, syrup, melted shortening, and corn meal and mix thoroughly.
  2. Have mixture just soft enough to take up by spoonfuls and pat into flat cakes in the hand.
  3. Place on a griddle or greased baking sheet and bake about 20 min. in a hot oven.
  4. If desired, the corn meal may be added to the hot pumpkin and allowed to steam with it for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients.
  5. Also cooked or baked sweet potato may be used as a substitute for pumpkin.

Farmers’ Bulletin 955 Use of Wheat-Flour Substitutes in Baking March 1918

“Keeping the User in Mind: User Experience and the Modern Library” takeaways

Keep it simple, usable, useful, desirable, valuable, findable, credible, and accessible.

We can learn from the Google User Experience Team:

  • focus on people
  • every millisecond counts
  • simplicity matters
  • engage, beg, and attract experts
  • dare to innovate
  • design for the world
  • plan for today and tomorrow’s biz
  • delight eye without distracting mind
  • be worthy of people’s trust
  • add a human touch

For the virtual users, aim for simplicity and convenience. In our physical spaces, aim for comfortable and productive environments.

Users are more interested in shared experiences and less interested in material stuff/products (not sure I agree with this one!)

If you’d like to know more, included how to learn more, check here:

  • Sadeh, T (2008) “User Experience in the Library: a Case Study” New Library World 109 (1/2)
  • Usability Professionals Association
  • The Interaction Design Association
  • The User Experience Network
  • Bell & Shank (2007): Academic Librarianship by design: a blended librarian’s guide to the tools & techniques
  • Kunlavsky, M (2003). Observing the User Experience: a Practitioner’s Guide to User Research

Heard of P, B, & J?

Corvallis BakeryHow about baking up a P, B, & Cake?

Peanut Butter Cake

  • ½ cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 cups flour
  • 6 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 eggs, separated and beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream peanut butter and sugar; add egg yolks, water and vanilla, then flour and baking powder sifted together, lastly the beaten egg whites. Bake in a loaf.

More Comfort Food for a Cold, Foggy Morning in the Valley!

Ferry on Willamette RiverCheese with Potato Puffs

  • 1 cup mashed potatoes
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup grated cheese
  1. Beat the potatoes and milk together until thoroughly mixed.
  2. Add the egg and the salt and beat thoroughly.
  3. Add the cheese.
  4. Bake in muffin tins in a slow oven for 10-15 minutes.

Farmers’ Bulletin 487 Cheese and Its Economical Uses in the Diet February 1912

Got Pumpkins and a Craving for a Pie? We’ve Got an Idea for Your Crust!

SquashGraham or Whole Wheat Pie Crust

  • 1½ cups Graham flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 2½ tablespoons shortening
  • Cold water to mix
  • (1 teaspoon of sweetening is an improvement)
  1. Sift together the dry ingredients.
  2. Mix sifted dry ingredients with shortening.
  3. Mix to dough of proper consistency with cold water in which has the dissolved sweetening.
  4. Roll, cut, and bake as usual.

Farmers’ Bulletin 955 Use of Wheat-Flour Substitutes in Baking March 1918

Recipe for the day: The Alternative to “Traditional” Chips

CCC camp kitchen crew Dasheen Chips

    1. Pare raw dasheens without wetting them.
    2. Slice evenly about one-sixteenth of an inch thick and soak in plenty of water for one to two hours, changing the water at least once.
    3. Dry the slices between cloths and fry in deep fat to a straw color.
    4. Place some chips on paper so that the excess fat may be drawn from them.
    5. Salt immediately when taken from the hot fat.

      Dasheen is a common tuber found all over the world. The root can be used in many foods and was promoted as a crop by the Florida Department of Agriculture and is also known as Taro.

      Farmers’ Bulletin 1396 Dasheen, a Southern Root Crop June 1924

      Recipe for the day: Start your day off right — eggs & greens!

      lettuceBaked Omelet with Greens

      • 1 quart or ½ lb. spinach, kale, Swiss chard, or other greens
      • 1/4 cup butter
      • 1/3 cup flour
      • 1 teaspoon salt
      • 1/8 teaspoon pepper (pinch)
      • ¾ cup liquid (milk, cream, water, soup stock, vegetable juice, or a mixture of two or more of these)
      • 4 eggs
      • 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar
      1. Wash the greens with great care, boil until tender (20 – 25 min.) in the least possible amount of water; drain and chop fine.
      2. Melt the butter, add the flour, and cook for one minute.
      3. Add the milk, stirring constantly, and cook until the mixture is smooth and thick.
      4. Add the chopped greens and the egg yolks, unbeaten.
      5. Beat the whites of the eggs stiff and add them to the other mixture by the cutting and folding process.
      6. Pour into a buttered baking dish and cook in a slow oven for 30 minutes, or until firm and brown.
      7. Serve at once.

      Farmers’ Bulletin 712 School Lunches March 1916

      Recipe for the day: Spice up the comfort food with cayenne pepper!

      whiddy-kitchen1860Macaroni and Cheese

      • 1 cup macaroni, broken into small pieces
      • 2 quarts boiling salted water
      • 1 cup milk
      • 2 tablespoons flour
      • ¼ to ½ pound of cheese
      • ½ teaspoon salt
      • Pinch of cayenne pepper
      1. Cook the macaroni in the boiling salted water, drain in a strainer, and pour cold water over it to prevent the pieces from adhering to each other.
      2. Make sauce with flour, milk, and cheese by thickening the milk with the flour and adding the cheese just before serving, stirring until it is melted.
      3. Put the sauce and macaroni in alternate layers in a buttered baking dish.
      4. Cover with buttered crumbs and heat in oven until crumbs are brown.

      Farmers’ Bulletin 487 Cheese and Its Economical Uses in the Diet February 1912