The historic Webster Auditorium building at the Desert Botanical Gardens. This painting by Su Douglas hangs in the Library Archive.

Each digitization class brings the opportunity to get behind-the-scenes of at least one institution in town. Bethany Hawkins, program associate for AASLH and I got a quick tour of the Desert Botanical Gardens library and grounds in Phoenix on Thursday evening, March 19th. The tour was courtesy of Beth Brand, Librarian. The Botanical Gardens Library Archive has a few collections that would be great candidates for a digitization project. There are more than 600 hand-colored Botanical illustrations that are quite lovely — my Blackberry doesn’t do justice to them at all!

I learned the oldest prints date to 1737 and the oldest book 1556. Featuring many illustrations of cacti and succulents, the collection contains works by such artists as Georg Dionysius Ehret (German Painter and Illustrator, 1710-1770,) and Pierre-Joseph Redouté (July 10, 1759 – June 20, 1840.) Redouté was a Belgian painter and botanist, known for his paintings of the roses, lilies and other flowers at the Château de Malmaison — a country house in the city of Rueil-Malmaison just outside Paris. According to Beth “These artists and others in the collection represent the great years of European botanical illustration.”

Another collection perfect for a digitization project includes more than 3,000 slides that focus on the cacti of the world. The images were photographed by Dr. Edward Anderson and are featured in his comprehensive book, “The Cactus Family” published in 2001. While working on the book, Dr. Anderson was the Garden’s senior research botanist. The slide collection was given to the Garden Library shortly after the author’s passing — just after the book went to print.

Oputnia species from Desfontaines, Flora Atlantica (1798-1800) Paris, France. Artist: L. Fossier.

The Nature of Glass: Blue and Purple Boat, Dale Chihuly, 2008. Taken at the Desert Botanical Gardens. The Nature of Glass exhibit runs through May 31, 2009

The Arizona Historical Society was the host institution for the AASLH Digitizing Historic Collections workshop. They have a huge facility located right in Papapo Park, which was quite lovely.

We wound up with a good-sized class of 25 and had attendees from all over AZ, which was to be expected. But we also had professional staff members, volunteers and Board Members from New Mexico State University, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Michigan and Florida. I am constantly amazed at the distances that attendees will travel and the wonderful questions that come up over the three days.

Each class seems to develop a theme in some way and this class was most concerned about issues of copyright. We spent more time on that issue than I ever have before and it started me thinking that perhaps one of the next online classes I create should be an introduction to copyright for cultural heritage practitioners. Some colleagues and I are thinking about published and unpublished materials, three-dimensional collections, sound materials and Fair Use. If you’d be interested—let me know what you think

Photo courtesy of the Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park