The Archivist’s Nook: A Knute Rockne Protégé at CUA

Posted on July 30, 2015December 18, 2025 by Chris Burroughs

Left to right, CUA Football Coach Arthur J. “Dutch” Bergman, NFL Hall of Famer and Redskins great Sammy Baugh, and assistant coaches Wayne Millner and Forrest Cotton, 1939

As I mentioned in a previous post in June, I am currently attempting to make heads or tails of the university’s athletic collection (not an easy task, when you have material related to basketball mixed in with field hockey). During a recent adventure in the collection’s voluminous news clippings, I stumbled upon a connection between the CUA football program and legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne. A brief clipping taken from the San Francisco Examiner c.1935 described the November 28, 1935, contest between CUA and North Carolina State. This game would feature CUA head coach Arthur J. “Dutch” Bergman and NC State coach Heartley “Hunk” Anderson (I think Coach Bergman won the better nickname category).

Ronald Reagan as George “The Gipper” Gipp in Knute Rockne, All American (Warner Bros., 1940)

What does this have to do with Rockne? The article notes, and Internet research confirms, that both coaches played together on the same Notre Dame team led by Rockne in 1919 (click here for more on that team), when Bergman was a senior halfback and Anderson a sophomore guard. Even more amazing, an article written by former CUA sports information director Chris McManes notes that during Bergman’s senior year at Notre Dame, he was the roommate of none other than George Gipp (the real guy, not Ronald Reagan), of “win one for the Gipper” fame (which leads one to wonder if during their time together Gipp ever asked Bergman to wash the dishes just once for the Gipper). Continue reading “The Archivist’s Nook: A Knute Rockne Protégé at CUA” →

Appy Hour: PadMapper

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Library Staff

App:	PadMapper Apartments and Homes for Rent
By:	PadMapper, Inc.
Price:	Free
Device:	Reviewed on an iPhone

Headed back to campus and looking for an apartment? You may have heard of the popular website Padmapper, which puts available apartments right on a Google Map for you to search. The website’s free app, available for iPhone and Android, is a great way to find apartments on the go!

Using Padmapper’s app, you can filter rentals by rent, number of bedrooms, or even if the apartment allows your furry friends! If you’re looking for a pool or laundry on-site, try using the keyword search. You can refine your results until you find exactly what you want, then view the units in either a map or a list. Selecting an apartment gives you contact information, pictures, and a link to the original listing. You can even save your favorites if you make an account! Whether you’re looking for a three bedroom house or a studio apartment, Padmapper is a great place to find relevant leads.

While finding an awesome apartment for an awesome school year at CUA is…well…awesome, there’s something even more awesome to consider. This app was originally just a mashup of Craigslist and Google Maps (which, incidentally, resulted in a lawsuit against Padmapper that was only recently settled). Putting information of two different types together can yield incredibly useful results: Map + Craigslist = MAGIC. Padmapper’s slogan is “We make apartment hunting suck less.” And, I have to say, I think they’ve succeeded!

So, if you have an idea to make something suck less, get out there and make it! We’ve got lots of Lynda classes to get you started!

Digital Scholarship @ CUA: Impact Summer

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Library Staff

Research metrics in the news!

In June 2015 Thomson Reuters Breaks New Ground in Journal Evaluation with Release of 40th Annual Journal Citation Reports.

In July 2015 JISC published a report The Metric Tide: Report of the Independent Review of the Role of Metrics in Research Assessment and Management with key details reported in Data infrastructure key to the quality and impact of UK research.

This led to a review of the report with accompanying video here: Independent review of the role of metrics in research assessment.

This report has garnered a high level of interest and commentary, including this quote from Metrics: how to handle them responsibly:

According to the report, responsible metric use involves being transparent about the use of a range of robust metrics that are inclusive of all fields, while bearing in mind the potential wider effects of their use and “updating them in response”. Curry admits that this notion of responsibility is not a new one: it has already been pushed in recent declarations against the misuse of metrics, such as 2013’s San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and 2015’s Leiden Manifesto for Research Metrics.

How do you really measure impact?

And researchers this email seems to be making the rounds again this summer – Beware of Spam Email With Offers to Promote Your Research.

News & Events: July 27, 2015

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Thad Garrett

WRLC Newsletter – The July edition of the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) Newsletter is available, featuring an article about the recent uploading of 113,000 records to the catalog from the Hathi Trust. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit this page.

Semitics Exhibit Receives Press Coverage – The current May Gallery exhibit, “A Visit to Urmia, Van, and Mosul,” has been featured in reports by EWTN ,The Pilot, and the Arlington Catholic Herald. Curated by the Semitics Department and Institute of Christian Oriental Research Library, the exhibit features the travels of Henri Hyvernat and Paul Müller Simonis in 1888-1889 and includes a slideshow of photographs, photostats, and postcards.

The Archivist’s Nook: Roving Students Save Rector from Wreck

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Dr. Maria Mazzenga

Brookland Streetcar — Let’s face it. That night, the trolley would have been the better choice for Rector Denis O’Connell.

Catholic University, Fall 1904: Unpaved roads. No streetlights. A moonless November evening. A horse and buggy, and a wobbly trolley car. A formula for disaster? As it turns out, that night it was. But guess what? A fearless group of wandering CUA undergrads saved the day!

The first thing you need to know about this tale is that Trinity College was established across the street from Catholic University in 1897 to educate young women. At that time, CUA educated only men, and these were mostly diocesan priests and members of religious orders. In fact, many faculty members walked back and forth across Michigan Avenue, teaching at both CUA and Trinity. But the dynamic changed when CUA’s first male undergrads arrived in 1904. There was all manner of fretting over these young men fraternizing inappropriately with Trinity women (and vice-versa). One night, a group of men could be heard serenading the girls at Trinity outside their windows. No one ‘fessed up to the crime and the perps managed to escape with their pipes intact, but Rector Denis O’Connell (1903-1909) let it be known that no CUA men were allowed outside the dorm after 10 p.m. at night. Continue reading “The Archivist’s Nook: Roving Students Save Rector from Wreck” →

Digital Scholarship @ CUA: Summertime Learning

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Library Staff

Where do you find your learning opportunities this summer? Online learning in the form of webinars, university courses, educational platforms or subscription services provide a myriad of ways to learn new skills and keep up with advances in software and digital tools.

Professional organizations and universities

The State of E-Learning in Higher Education: An Eye Toward Growth and Increased Access

Webinars in Higher Education

Coursera Courses

lynda.com

Why not take advantage of the online learning video library at lynda.com during the summer break? Hit the ground running in the fall with courses on graphic design, time management, presentation skills, and so much more. Visit our lynda.com page to get started! Check out their Playlist Center, or view all subjects.

The Archivist’s Nook: On McMahon’s Oldest Resident

Posted on July 16, 2015December 18, 2025 by Dr. Maria Mazzenga

McMahon Hall, undated photo — McMahon Hall, looking pretty timeless in this undated photo.

Good Old McMahon Hall. Built in 1892 to house the school of philosophy, arts and sciences, and the school of social sciences, this Romanesque structure has had many occupants across the last 123 years. Sociology, biology, languages, math, a plethora of administrative offices—all have been in, out, and back again across the decades. The second building erected as part of CUA’s young campus, McMahon was made possible by a $400,000 (yes, buildings were a lot cheaper way back then) donation by Monsignor James McMahon, an Irish-born priest who had served as a New York pastor. The Monsignor lived in the building in his retirement, passing his final days there until his death in 1901 at the age of eighty-four.

McMahon would surely have had good company there, not only with the professors and students who roamed the halls and occupied the classrooms, but with Giuseppe Luchetti’s imposing Leo XIII, a 12-foot high marble statue with which Theodore Roosevelt explicitly requested an audience. Continue reading “The Archivist’s Nook: On McMahon’s Oldest Resident” →

Digital Scholarship @ CUA: Learning Digitally

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Library Staff

Next week we will share some ways we collaborate and learn digitally. Learning now happens at the desktop – even mobile – level with the use of webinars, MOOC’s and video tutorials.

This week, we suggest you try a podcast. This American Life and Chicago Public Media debuted the podcast in Serial with 12 episodes in the Fall of 2014 and reached a global audience. A podcast can breathe life into a subject as a passionate researcher explains and clarifies and tells a good story.

This podcast by David Weinberger, based on his paper The Rise, Fall, and Possible Rise of Open News Platforms: The Twisty Path towards a Net Ecosystem That Makes News More Discoverable, Reusable, and Relevant explores the news industry and the use of digital tools, API’s.

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If you are interested in more on podcasts and higher education you might read: Lonn, S., & Teasley, S. D. (2009). Podcasting in higher education: what are the implications for teaching and learning?. The Internet and Higher Education, 12(2), 88-92.

News & Events: July 13, 2015

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Thad Garrett

New Exhibit by Semitics/ICOR Library – A new exhibition, “A Visit to Urmia, Van, and Mosul,” is on display in the May Gallery. Curated by the Semitics Department and Institute of Christian Oriental Research Library, the exhibit features the travels of Henri Hyvernat and Paul Müller Simonis in 1888-1889 and includes a slideshow of photographs, photostats, and postcards.

Washington Business Journal – The Washington Business Journal is major weekly newspaper for business, real estate, and industry news for the Washington D.C. area. The portal provides access to its sister publications in 42 other metropolitan markets in the United States. It may be especially helpful to students looking for jobs, internships, or local business opportunities in those areas. Login required for off-campus access.

CQ Researcher – CQ Researcher provides award winning in-depth coverage of the most important issues of the day. Reports are written by experienced journalists, footnoted and professionally fact-checked. Full-length articles include an overview, historical background, chronology, pro/con feature, plus resources for additional research. Graphics, photos and short “sidebar” features round out the reports. Shorter “Hot Topics” articles provide a solid introduction to subjects most in demand by students. Login required for off-campus access.

Possible Network Outages

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Thad Garrett

Due to ongoing network maintenance on campus, it is possible that some of the University’s websites may become periodically unavailable. Should the University Libraries website be down, these links will connect you to our online content.

SearchBox for articles, books and more: http://cua.summon.serialssolutions.com
WRLC Classic Catalog: http://catalog.wrlc.org/search/index.php
Database lists: http://guides.lib.cua.edu/databasecategory
Research guides: http://guides.lib.cua.edu/
My Library Account: http://www.aladin.wrlc.org/Z-WEB/PATPage?req=main