Turn of the Century French Postcard Collection

Dijon – Le Musée. Cheminée gothique.

Copley Library Special Collections is excited to announce the launch of a new digital collection, available through the library catalog.  The new semester brings students and faculty access to the “Turn of the Century French Postcard Collection” which includes almost 600 postcards from all over France, published between 1900 and 1907.  Not only are the beautiful images of well-known landmarks and the beautiful French countryside available to view, but details, like printing processes, detailed locations and publishers have been added to all of the records.  The postcards have also been indexed and can be searched by keyword and location.

Chère mademoiselle, merci de vos très jolies cartes,

elles m’ont fait grand plaisir. 

Many of the messages on the postcards were written in French.  Though the handwriting can be difficult to read, the students of FRENCH 301, Advanced Composition, enjoyed spending time with the unique and treasured materials from Copley Library.  Professor Michèle Magnin utilized the materials in a writing exercise last semester.  Her students created avatars, including jobs, names and identities and assumed the roles, living together in a Parisian apartment block.  The postcards were then hidden and discovered by the students wherein they were tasked with deciphering the handwriting and inventing a story around the writer of the cards and its recipient.  Though an arduous task, much fun was had by all.

Langres – Cathédrale St. Mammés

Time Saving Services from Copley Library

iPhone battery almost dead and you left your charger at home again? Need to watch a VHS for a class and haven’t seen a VCR since you left your parent’s house? Found a book in our online catalog, but don’t have time to come get it today?

Don’t worry, Copley Library has you covered for these issues and a myriad of other services that make your life just a little bit better.

We check out iPhone 4 and 5 and MacBook Pro chargers for four hours at a time to any currently enrolled student.

VCR Tape

We also have a bank of VHS viewing stations to the right of the Circulation Desk, right next to our extensive DVD collection. We also lend out headphones, whiteboard markers, scissors, flash drives, and VGA adapters.

Express Books is our newest service to help you get the library items you need. Simply click on the Request It link next to any item in our online catalog and we will retrieve the item for you from the shelf within 24-72 hours.

We are constantly seeking to improve, so if there is a service you would like us to provide, but we currently don’t, please fill out a card and drop it in the Suggestion Box.