Things You Should Do In California

Things You Should Do In California

Trial Run

If you glance over to the right hand sidebar you'll notice a new link entitled "Maritime Events Calendar". This is a google enabled calendar through which I'd like to keep track of various events. So far I've entered some CFPs and Conferences. If you get a moment to click through and click around, please let me know if it's useful, or if not, what would make it more workable.
Thanks

San Francisco Maritime Changes to Appointment Only

San Francisco Maritime News Release


For Immediate Release
Contact: John Cunnane, Supervisory Park Ranger, 415-561-7123

Maritime Library Updates Access to Aid Researchers J. Porter Shaw Library will change to appointment only hours on Monday, October 2, 2006.

Libraries and the way people use them are changing in the technological 21st Century. More people are accessing information from the comfort of their own homes or from office computers, while fewer make visiting the library their first stop. In order to aid the remote researcher by increasing digital access to the vast array of maritime information in the Park collections, and to improve services provided to those who visit the library, the J. Porter Shaw Library of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park will be moving to appointment only hours beginning on Monday, October 2, 2006. The regular appointment hours will be Monday through Friday from 1 to 4pm (the library closes at 5pm).

Library reference staff is available to provide assistance with research in the Park’s collections (including printed, archival & photographic resources); reproduction requests and notices of intent to publish from park collections; referrals to other professionals within the Park for further research in the Park’s collections; and referrals to other organizations and research resources. These services are available on location, through email, telephone, FAX, or mailed in requests.

For more information, or to make an appointment, please call 415-561-7080 (recorded information) or 415-561-7030 during business hours to reach a Library staff member.

Appointments can also be made, and the Reference staff may be contacted through our website at http://www.nps.gov/safr/historyculture/researchcontact.htm, by fax at 415-556-3540, or by mail:

Reference Librarian
SF Maritime NHP Library
Bldg. E, Fort Mason Center
San Francisco, CA 94123
USA

New (to me) Blog of Interest

The American Sail Training Association has a very informative Blog. Tall Ships Today!

According to ASTA the blog "will try to provide you with an insider's view the world of sail training, tall ships, experiential shipboard education and other interesting stuff. Most of the posts will be by me, Peter Mello, ASTA executive director; however, from time to time we will invite others to contribute. Your comments, suggestions, ideas and contributions are welcome."

The American Sail Training Association is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization focused on youth education, leadership development and the preservation of North America’s rich maritime heritage. Founded in 1973 in Newport, RI, the ASTA member fleet has over 200 tall ships and sail training vessels from 26 states and 30 countries that deliver life changing experiences for “youth” of all ages.

The 2006 Conference on Sail Training and Tall Ships is being held 11/6 - 11/7 in Charleston, South Carolina.

Notice of Temporary Closing/Moving

Sometime within the next 3 to 6 months Mystic Seaport's G. W. Blunt White Library will moving across the street to its new home in the Collections Research Center. During this time the Library, Manuscript, Maps, Charts, and Periodical Collections will be unavailable. Please plan accordingly.

Editors note: Donations of alcholic beverages to aid in the accomplishment of this move will be gladly accepted.

Maritime Museum in the News

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic was closed yesterday, Sept. 11th. It also made the news as the backdrop for a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and about 200 protesters.

Full story

Online Maritime Book Club!

Life is funny. This morning while looking through the maritime news I was thinking how I had dropped the ball on book reviews. (There hasn't been one on the "Compass" in a long time.) Then I went to check my Seaport mail and there was an email from Heather Hernandez announcing her online maritime book club.

According to Heather:

------


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marbkclub/

Reviews and discussions of maritime books--fiction and non-fiction,old and new, and about maritime aspects of more general books. "Maritime" is understood in its broadest sense--the sea, ships, boats, rivers--if the book has something to do with something that floats, here's the place to talk about it.

We're just getting it off the ground, but we're hoping it will develop into a fun place to chat! Our members include a maritime librarian(me), a historian, and we've got a few enthusasists coming on board.

-----

I've signed on - my yahoo name is zaimmaa. Looking forward to talking 'maritime' with everyone.

One Year Anniversary

It's been one year now since the Maritime Compass first hit the internet.

And how, you ask, do I know that?

Do I have a photographic memory, keep meticulous records, or ... is International Talk Like a Pirate Day coming around again?

Yup, its number 3. On September 19th the world will again celebrate this uniquely maritime holiday - the subject of one of the Compasses very first posts.

For this years events check out the offical site.

Pensacola Developments

It's been coming across the news feeds on and off for the last year - Pensacola, FL has been seeking to become the home of the offical state maritime museum. But now its official, the Maritime Park has been approved and donations are pouring in for the Admiral John H. Fetterman State of Florida Maritime Museum and Research Center.

For more info check out the article in the Penscacola News Journal.

Job Posting

Old Dominion University Department of History invites applications for a
tenure-track position in economic or environmental history with research
specialization in maritime activities, maritime cultures or oceanic
systems. Appointment will be at the assistant or associate rank. Ph.D.
in History required. Teaching experience and relevant publications
preferred. Position begins July 2007. Submit letter of application,
c.v.,
three letters of recommendation and sample of publication to Dr. Jane T.
Merritt, Department of History, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
23529-0091. Screening of applicants will begin November 1, 2006 and
continue until position is filled. Old Dominion University, an equal
opportunity, affirmative action institution, requires compliance with
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

Job Listing

The MHN Blog: Seattle Firm May Have Found Lost WWII Sub

The MHN Blog: Seattle Firm May Have Found Lost WWII Sub

31st Annual Whaling History Symposium

The New Bedford Whaling Museum will be hosting its annual symposium from Oct 14-15, this year.

Sessions include:

"Yankee Whaling in the Caribbean and its Impact in Local culture: The Logbooks Speak" with Aldermaro Romero, "Sails, False Flags, and Paper Chases: Recovering the Cruise of hte CSS Shenandoah" with Tom Chaffin, and "All About Woggins" with Storrs L. Olson on the Smithsonian Insitution.

October 14-15, 2006
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
$100 members, $120 non-members
For more information or to register, call 508-997-0046 ext. 101

Not sure what to do with this one

...but thought it would be of enough interest that I should post it.

A recent post on boardgamegeek.com reads as follows:

For all you wargamers and geeks in general.

I work for Jane's Information in the UK and we just unearthed the original Naval wargame designed by Fred T. Jane (late 1800's), our founder. It comes in a 4x4x2 (approx) crate!!! We now have to decide what to do to get it valued or whatever. Quite exciting stuff.

A link to Fred's story is here including a photo sitting with the game set up:

http://www.janes.com/company/about/whoisjane.shtml

Cheers,

Mark

News From Mariners Museum

Timothy Sullivan, late president of the College of William and Mary, will succeed John Hightower as president and CEO of The Mariners' Museum in November of this year.

Daily Press Story

William and Mary News
HamptonRoads.com

Position Announcement

Executive Director: Maritime & Yachting Museum

The Maritime & Yachting Museum of the Treasure Coast, a twelve-year-old, small museum with plans for significant expansion, seeks its first Executive Director. Unified Board will sell current property to renovate County buildings and move to busy park setting. Serious fundraising, programming and leadership duties lie ahead for enthusiastic individual.

Call for Papers and Workshops

Teaching and Learning in the Maritime Environment:
A Conference on Pedagogy & Scholarship

March 28-30, 2007 at The California Maritime Academy

The rich experience of teaching and learning in the maritime environment suggests that maritime educators are in a unique position to guide advances in experiential and learner centered higher education. The challenges and opportunities associated with maritime education are the foci of this conference, which will

· Establish a mechanism to recognize the contributions of all types of maritime faculty to the body of knowledge that is “maritime education.”
· Introduce maritime educators, newer to the “faculty” role, to the basics of contemporary pedagogy and scholarship.
· Provide an opportunity for the juried presentation (including “Proceedings” publication) of best “learner centered” practices in maritime education.
· Strengthen the grass roots, connectivity and resource network for campuses with a maritime mission.
· Enhance maritime campuses’ ability to relate to more comprehensive universities without lessening the unique culture that binds them to the sea.
· Chart the course for maritime education to serve as an exemplar for new directions in higher ed.

This conference is ideal for faculty on the professorial and vocational (a.k.a. “practice”) tracks in collegiate maritime academies, faculty working in both practical and theoretical aspects of maritime related disciplines (e.g., oceanography, naval architecture, marine biology and
other disciplines which may utilize research vessels, etc.), faculty in a wide variety of other arts and sciences areas with interest and expertise in subjects of a maritime nature (e.g., maritime historians, ocean engineers, etc.) and graduate students seeking careers in the above or
related areas.

With this call for papers and workshops, the program committee is looking for faculty working in the maritime milieu, and/or with maritime subject matter, to propose presentation of their best teaching and experiential learning practices as well as research findings, and exemplars of integrative undertakings including those in curriculum development, enrollment management, simulation (deck, engine, crisis management, etc.), and “semester-at-sea” or other “sea term” operations. Using the Carnegie Foundation’s Reconsidered Scholarship categories of teaching,
discovery, application and integration, the conference program, as currently envisioned, will include one all-day format of “how to” and “exemplar sharing” workshops and presentations in each category during 60 to 100 minute time slots and a second day format of 45 minute traditional academic paper/lecture presentations in the same categories. Both formal and informal opportunities for collegial discussion on specific maritime issues will also be provided.

To have your workshop or paper/lecture presentation considered for inclusion in the program, please prepare a detailed proposal or abstract describing the work to be shared and identifying which category (teaching, discovery, application, integration) will be addressed as well as which format (workshop [at 60 or 100 minutes] or 45 minute paper lecture presentation) the proposal would utilize. Identify a main presenter and supply all appropriate contact information. Submit your proposal, by Sept. 25, 2006, to

Teaching and Learning Program Committee
c/o Vice President for Academic Affairs
Cal Maritime, 200 Maritime Academy Drive
Vallejo, CA 94590.

Electronic submissions should be Microsoft Word Documents and should be sent to the program committee via email address T_L_conference_papers@csum.edu. Selected entries will be notified by October 23. Presenters must register for the conference (“early bird” deadline is November 1). For the “Proceedings”, presenters will need to submit final documents in a simple but “camera-ready” template format to be supplied at the time of proposal acceptance.

Conference registration and lodging information will be available during the early fall. Save the dates: March 28-30, 2007. Bookmark www.csum.edu.

140 Years Ago Today...

...the crew of the steamship GREAT EASTERN spliced the final link in the first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable. The 2,500 mile long cable ran from Newfoundland to Ireland.

(Smithsonian Magazine Photograph)

Maritime Museum of San Diego Receives $500,000

Congrats to San Diego! According to a story published today in The San Diego Union-Tribune :

A Point Loma couple has donated $500,000 to the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The gift from Bob and Laura Kyle will support scholars' research, publication and exhibit design.

The museum hopes the Bob and Laura Kyle Endowed Chair in Maritime History will attract prominent researchers and curators, and serve as a catalyst for future donors.

Museum of Underwater Archaeology

The online Museum of Underwater Archaeology has recently been redesigned and now contains not only exhibits on underwater projects, a children's introduction to underwater archaeology, but two new sections as well. "In The Field" is a new section where researchers can post brief updates on their current field work. Our first two entries include a project that is inventorying shipwreck sites throughout Chesapeake Bay. The other entry discusses archaeological work on a Civil War site on the Pamunkey River in Virginia that may contain numerous wrecks. The other new addition to the site is a blog component that discusses archaeological and historical website creation. Various issues from accessibility for the handicapped to online resources will be discussed. You can reach them all here:

http://www.uri.edu/mua

Digital Lighthouses

AIS or Automatic Identification Systems are being used and developed for a number of maritime functions including ship identification. The Chinese have also recently reported its succesful use as a "lighthouse".

Liu Gongchen, China's Maritime Safety Administration executive director-general recently told the ongoing 16th Conference of the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) that the AIS had given advance warning to vessels in the path of Chanchu and as a result no lives were lost.

Using digital communication technology the AIS records and reports information on vessels, including speed, location and course and receives other maritime information from onshore control stations and vessels linked to the AIS network.

The US Coast Guard is also working with AIS systems and provides a good deal of explanation on how they work.


How are we ever going to archive this?