Author Archives: kgmatheny

Campus Rewind: Woods Hall

Woods Hall has a long history on the UA campus, longer than most other buildings. Built right after the Civil War, it was still a landmark over a hundred years later, when student protests halted its demolition. It was renovated … Continue reading

James Hood

On any given weekday, you will see a variety of students from different ethnicities, religions and socioeconomic classes wandering the quad, dorms, and halls. As an institution, we have come to reflect and embrace these differences, but the University of … Continue reading

When patterns attack

Up until about a month ago, I’d never heard the term moiré pattern, but I’d definitely seen them in action. You probably have, too. It might’ve looked something like this… …or maybe this… A moiré pattern, which may appear as … Continue reading

The Other Black Art

Since we are two days away from Valentine’s Day, you’re probably expecting a blog about love and romance. Close, this blog is about the automation of repetitive tasks through the use of a scripting language, and who doesn’t love that? Perhaps you … Continue reading

Please Write Soon

We often think of Valentine’s Day when we think of February, but that month can be hard for people separated from their loved ones. Whether at home or abroad, soldiers have always found it difficult to be days, weeks, months … Continue reading

Invisible Digitization?

Sometimes Digital Services captures “Oddities,” which is content that can’t be uploaded into Acumen. This may be content digitized for patrons, donors, and other institutions; or it might be tiff image files that have already been placed online or archived … Continue reading

Lasting Impressions

What do pamphlets from the late 18th c. French Revolution and fliers in support of a radical professor in the 1960s and 70s have in common? They were printed and handed out by people supporting radical causes, and they are … Continue reading

Advanced Acumen Searching

Acumen is big. Very big. And it’s getting bigger.  I’m pointing this out because when databases like Acumen get big, they become impossible to search through manually. Generally speaking, one can’t just browse casually through thousands and thousands of folder directories and … Continue reading

Football Champs Again!

To celebrate UA Football’s 15th national championship, we share these scenes of championship football past and the faithful support of Tide fans throughout the years! January 1926. Running back Johnny Mack Brown takes a break on the sidelines during the … Continue reading

Hidden Gem: comedian Dick Gregory at Emphasis ’70

When he took the stage at UA in October 1969, African-American comedian Dick Gregory joked that he’d meant to be there six months before, for the previous Emphasis program, but he’d been in jail at the time and couldn’t make … Continue reading