April 26, 2013

Today is the last day of my internship at the Pritzker Military Library. Over the course of the last few months, I really enjoyed learning outside of the classroom. In doing research for my PDPs on Nuclear Weapons, Artillery and Heavy Weapons, Wars of the Ancient Greeks, and Wars of the Roman Empire I learned the “talking points” of four subjects of historical significance. I also learned the ropes of the circulation desk and became familiar with the Library of Congress Classification System… Knowledge I was recently glad to have gained as I scoured the stacks at Cudahy. Opportunities were plentiful during my internship, including book readings and signings, author talks in the auditorium, and meetings and dinners where I met contacts for the future and learned of new veterans organizations. Just like on my first day at the library, today there was a book presentation—not a bad way to go out… Author Kathleen Cox discussed and read experts from her new release Destination Unknown: Adventures of a WWII American Red Cross Girl, a story captured from more than 200 original letters written to family and friends.

Wars of the Roman Empire

Wars of the Roman Empire were fought from its birth in 27 BC to the fall of the Western Roman Empire sometime around 476 AD. Following the Roman Empire’s defeat of Germanic tribes to the north and East, Rome launched the Conquest of Britain in 43 when it pushed north into central Scotland. Tribes in modern-day Scotland and Northern England rebelled against Roman rule and established two military bases to protect against rebellion and incursions from the north, where Roman troops built and manned Hadrian's Wall in 122. The Jewish Wars were fought from 66 – 135 between the Jews of Judaea Province and the Roman Empire following robberies from their temples and Roman insensitivity. Early successes, including the repulse of the First Siege of Jerusalem and the Battle of Beth-Horon attracted attention from Rome and Emperor Nero ordered troops to crush the rebellion. By the year 68, Jewish resistance in the North had been eliminated. A few areas managed to hold out, but by 132 all Jewish revolts had been quelled by the Roman Empire. The Parthian Wars were fought sporadically between the Roman armies and Armenia and Syria from 161 – 217, mainly over territorial expansion. Control of Mesopotamia changed hands between the Romans and the Parthians until Parthia’s defeat by the Persians in 224, when Persia replaced Parthia as Rome’s rival to the East. Following the murder of Emperor Alexander Severus in 235, the turmoil and civil war that marked the third century was the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. Roman on Roman violence weakened armies leaving the empire open to invasion. Militarily, the empire fell after Rome was overrun by Germanic troops sometime around 476. The exact date of the fall of the Roman Empire is contested, ranging from the onset of its decline in the third century to the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Nuclear Weapons

Also, here is the Nuclear Weapons write-up...  

Beginning with the Manhattan Project’s scientific breakthrough in the 1930s and the first nuclear detonation in July 1945, the two atomic bombs detonated over Japan in August 1945 ended the war in the Pacific and helped shape the modern nuclear age. Further developments led to the hydrogen bomb and thermonuclear weapons -- theoretically thousands of times more powerful than the atomic bombs of 1945. Subsequent tests uncovered the devastating effects of nuclear fallout and led to the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963, which banned testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in outer space. Throughout the 50s and 60s, competition in the race for nuclear technology resulted in political and cultural tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. In 1962, the U.S.S.R. stationed nuclear ballistic missiles in Cuba, and the Cold War culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis. The proliferation of nuclear weapons in the modern era has become known as the “second nuclear age.” The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty officially recognizes states in possession of nuclear weapons technology and serves to monitor and set standards for development and use of nuclear technology on a global scale.

April 19, 2013

Today I continued researching Wars of the Roman Empire for the Patron Discovery Page I’ve been working on. The Roman Empire is marked by dictators and an autocratic government, in contrast to the more democratic Republican era of Ancient Rome. The 500-year-old Roman Republic was destabilized by civil war, and the appointment of Julius Caesar as dictator solidified Rome’s transition from Republic to Empire in 44 BC. The Roman Empire declined over the next four centuries until Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was defeated in 476 by Germanic tribes -- the Eastern Roman Empire lasted until Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453. The library has a vast amount of resources on everything from the reign of Julius Caesar to the uniforms and weaponry of the Roman Legions. The most challenging part of creating PDPs has always been choosing from the abundance of resources and summarizing the topic (400 years in the case of the Roman Empire) into a paragraph or two.

April 12, 2013

Today I attended the monthly meeting of veterans organizations at the Pritzker Military Library, unofficially called the "Circle of Friends." Among them, Veterans Upward Bound aids those recently separated from military service in starting or finishing their education. Arab American Family Services aims to use veterans to tutor children in the Bridgeview community. A Resource Coordinator from Easter Seals was also in attendance speaking of the organization’s need for veterans, specifically for their understanding of issues veterans face upon separation from service and military terminology. The meeting was a good example of the information the library's Veterans Resource Center has to offer. It's a consolidation of information and services offered by organizations to veterans -- books on tailoring military resumes to the civilian world and support and education services available to veterans and their families. I also learned of some future career fairs and potential job opportunities.

Wars of the Ancient Greeks

Today I finished my PDP on Wars of the Ancient Greeks, here's the summary:

Mountainous terrain made travel and communication difficult throughout Greece and led to the creation of isolated city-states. These civilizations’ Independent development and differing organizational structures resulted in opposing ideology exemplified by democratic Athens and the military oligarchy of Sparta. From the writings of Homer, Thucydides, and other ancient Greek scholars it is apparent that ancient Greece is marked by war between city-states and invaders alike. Greek warfare was dominated by the “hoplite” -- the Greek infantryman armed with a spear (doru) and shield (aspis). Hoplites would form ranks, lock shields, and project spears out through the first rank as they advanced. This “phalanx” formation made a frontal assault by the enemy nearly impossible. The hoplite phalanx was a dominant military formation as long as all the soldiers were well trained and willing to hold the line.

Some of the major wars, battles, and conflicts fought by the ancient Greek are as follows. The Trojan War (1250 B.C.) was waged on the city of Troy after Helen of Sparta was kidnapped and is among the most important in Greek mythology. The Persian Wars (490-480 B.C.) were a series of conflicts between the Greek world and the Persian Empire that culminated in the Athenian and Plataean defeat of the Persians in the Battle of Marathon. The Peloponnesian War (441-404 B.C.) was fought between the Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian League, which included Sparta and Corinth. The 27-year-long war had a six year truce in the middle and ended with Athens’ surrender. The campaigns of Alexander the Great (331-323 B.C.) conquered much of the world known to the ancient Greeks including Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire.

March 29, 2013

I started research today on Wars of Ancient Greece. 5th century B.C. Greece was marked by conflict between Greek city-states and Persian invasion. The Peloponnesian War was fought between the Athenian empire and Peloponnesian league lead by the Spartans from 431 - 404 B.C. The First Persian War began with the Persian invasion of Greece in 492 B.C. and ended with a decisive Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. Greek warfare was dominated by the “hoplite” -- the classical Greek infantryman armed with a spear (doru) and shield (aspis). Hoplites would form ranks, lock shields, and project spears out through the first ranks as they advanced. This “phalanx” formation made a frontal assault by the enemy nearly impossible.

Artillery and Heavy Weapons

I finished my PDP on Artillery and Heavy Weapons today:

The term “artillery” is used to describe mounted and self-propelled explosive weapons that reach beyond the effective range of and are larger than light weapons carried by personnel. Not long after the invention of gunpowder, cannons were first used by the Chinese in defense of Mongol invasion. The artillery revolution soon hit Europe as cannons were used to defend castles during the Hundred Years’ War. In the 15th century cannons evolved into mobile field pieces. Eventual standardizations in the manufacturing process and improvements in firing mechanisms and munitions helped prove cannons decisive in Napoleon’s conquests and the American Civil War. Indirect fire was the defining characteristic of 20th century artillery, and the developments of predicted fire techniques and battlefield adjustments of fire led to near precision weapons, mass casualties, and artillery as it is known today. Modern and precision artillery includes howitzers and rockets as well as surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles. Technological advances in guidance systems have blurred the lines between missilery, artillery, and heavy weapons.

March 1, 2013

I continued with my research today for the Artillery and Heavy Weapons Patron Discovery Page I am creating. I have located many interesting resources in the main stacks at the library, including sources on Napoleon’s artillery, WWI & WWII artillery, German artillery, Civil War tactics, and Mortar tactics -- just to name a few. There are also a couple of Russian artillery resources written in Russian (I’m assuming) -- unfortunately the diagrams are all I can decipher. Long story short, the evolution of artillery from the civil war cannons of the 1860s to the precision smart-munitions used by today’s military is quite impressive. PML is really a goldmine of primary sources for military history and I enjoy wandering through the stacks. I’m used to searching for online resources in JSTOR and Pegasus -- maybe occasionally placing a book on reserve to pick up at the Cudahy Library circulation desk. Exploring the shelves is an entirely different experience, the sources seem more tangible when you can page through them.

February 22, 2013

Thursday night I attended General Stanley McChrystal’s presentation of his memoirs, My Share of the Task, at PML. He gave a summary of his experiences and spoke specifically about the events leading to the 2006 targeted killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. McChrystal spoke of his military career in general and how, with hindsight, it is clear how the hunt for al-Zarqawi forced him to adapt his leadership style. McChrystal mentioned how difficult the transition was from Cold-War to Counterinsurgency tactics. Then Friday night I was asked to attend the “125th Annual George Washington's Birthday Celebration” at the Union League Club featuring General McChrystal as the keynote speaker with some of the staff, volunteers, and interns from the Library. It was a great opportunity to network and make contacts for the future... And the free drinks and steak and salmon dinner weren’t bad either. It was as “fancy” an event as I have ever attended, complete with a Jazz Ensemble from the Illinois Army National Guard’s 144th Army Band. I sat at the table with the President of PML and even met some board members... I feel very fortunate to have been at the right place at the right time to get invited.

February 15, 2013

I finished my PDP on nuclear weapons today, learning much about a topic of interest to me along the way... Now it's on to artillery and heavy weapons. I already discovered a few interesting sources in the stacks this afternoon including a field artillery manual from the Civil War. Also, I got on the list for Thursday's General McChrystal appearance at the library... Pretty thrilled about that. Finally, here are some pictures from the third floor of the Monroe Building looking east across Michigan Ave. from inside the Pritzker Military Library. The Art Institute, Millennium Park, Cloud Gate, and the Aon Center are all hopefully visible despite some afternoon shadows.

February 8, 2013

Today I continued finding sources and references for the Patron Discovery Page I am creating on nuclear weapons. I learned much about nuclear weapons states (NWS) recognized by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and NWS not recognized by the NPT. Those recognized agree to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and use existing nuclear technology responsibly. Furthermore, NWS recognized by the NPT agree to disclose a certain amount of information about their nuclear arsenals including number and type of warheads and delivery technology. NWS not recognized by the NPT do not divulge this information... Only estimates of their arsenals exist. Just in case you were wondering.

February 1, 2013

Today I began locating sources in the library for the Patron Discovery Page on nuclear weapons I will be creating. A Patron Discovery Page is a short description of a topic and a list of works available in the library as well as from outside sources. The pages are located on the Pritzker Military Library website to aid patrons who wish to research specific topics. As usual, there are books to be shelved and patrons in need of assistance locating material on specific subjects. Additionally, I am looking forward to February 21st when Retired General Stanley McChrystal will appear at the library to promote My Share of the Task, his recently published memoir on his military career.

January 25, 2013

I began today by shelving some books and continuing to familiarize myself with the Library of Congress Classification System... A task that can take longer than you would think with all of the decimal points. I also worked on circulation desk duties such as answering phones, checking in and out books, and using the Work Flow program to verify what is currently in the collection. Also noteworthy is the view from the circulation desk on the third floor of the Monroe Building – It looks east across Michigan Avenue towards the Art Institute and Millennium Park. Finally, I met with my supervisor to discuss possible topics for the Patron Discovery Page I will be creating during my internship at the Pritzker Military Library.

January 18, 2013

I started my internship today at the Pritzker Military Library in downtown Chicago, IL. The first thing I did was tour the main collection and the rare books room, both on the third floor. With assistance from my supervisor, I shelved some returns and began to familiarize myself with the Library of Congress Classification System (similar to the Dewey Decimal System), a series of letters and numbers assigned to books, periodicals, and DVDs that determine their place in the collection. I was also fortunate enough to watch author Lois Leveen present her new release Secrets of Mary Bowser, a work of historical fiction, on my first day at the library.