Last Week

I just finished up my last week of internship hours.  That's right, 180 hours just flew by!  I spent the week wrapping up projects and almost made it.  There is still a bit more of Briscoe to clean-up, but I've been asked if I want to work on some archives hours to finish it if there are any available!  I've really enjoyed my internship and all of the support I've had in making me more prepared to be a real archivist.

Last week I mentioned that I was looking through the chronological files in Briscoe's Dean of Faculties Papers.  I went through about eight of the larger folders in a box and about half had one sensitive document.  The call was made to go ahead and restrict these in the same manner as the subject files.  I wrote up a little thing in the scope and content note. 

Several files have been restricted, including lettered files in the subject files and the chronological files series.  These files were restricted because of a few sensitive documents; however, there are other materials in the folders that are not restricted and are of research value.  Materials include correspondence about students, faculty and the university during World War II and about university events, research, and daily life during Briscoe’s tenure as Dean of Faculties.  These files can still be requested for use and the restricted materials will be removed at that time.

I really hope that researchers aren't detered if they need the files because there is some really good stuff in there!  It is just too much to go through at this time.  It will be better to just do small amounts as needed.

I also got a new box of Briscoe files to be interfiled in with the rest!  They were files kept by the old archives in the President's office.  As papers came in they would be collected and labeled by the date that the folder was created.  Now I had to take these the old archival files and mix them with the new.  Keeping them together wasn't as important because their order was artificially created by the archives at a later date.

Most contents of the old folders were absorbed by folders that already existed in the chronological files.  The ones that filled in holes I went ahead and put into new folders.  The older folders were few in number and looked out of place next to the new folders.  It wasn't too much more processing.

 I also went over the Bureau of Public Discussion finding aid that Carrie had made notes on for me.  I did some editing and it is now off to Phil for review!  There were a few files that could have been removed earlier because they were just telephone records and financial statements.  These were things Carrie said shouldn't have gotten to the archives anyway.  I also put labels on all of the boxes in both the Bureau of Public Discussion Records and the Briscoe Papers.  I really like the look of boxes with new labels. 

It was a great semester and I'm looking forward to more time in the archives.  I still have to do a presentation about my internship on Monday, so maybe if I go through blog withdraw I can blog about that.  Thank you to Carrie, Dina, Phil, Kate, and Brad for sharing their expertise with me and giving me a great archival experience!  Now for one last semester and job hunting.

Reading Response Nine: Digital Considerations

College and University Archives: Readings in Theory and Practice

Chapter 2- “The Impact of Information Technology on Academic Archives in the Twenty-first Century”

By Helen R. Tibbo

As the title suggests, this chapter is about how personal computers and network technologies have transformed society and has given users heightened expectations for instant and highly personalized products.  This chapter focuses on the growing need to collect and preserve digital materials, increasing user expectations regarding access to digital resources and the changing landscape of public service, and the demand for digital projects, digital preservation, and digital curation.

Tibbo points out that archivists have the important question of how to ensure the authenticity of records in digital form.  However, she continues, there is a lack of discussion on the subject right now and few repositories included digital formats in mission statements and collection development policies.  It is important that archivists be involved in digital preservation research and the building of preservation systems to ensure that archival perspectives and priorities are addressed.

Themes that ran throughout this chapter, and many of the readings for this semester, are that archivists need to work with other professionals to obtain their goals and they need to expand their skills.  Partnerships with information scientists and technologists building the systems are important in this context to ensure that the systems meet archival needs.  At the same time, archivists need to be able to understand the systems and the considerations of undertaking digitization projects and providing remote access.  Therefore, archivists need to be equipped with a high level of information technology skills and a deep understanding of archival principles. 

I am glad that I am taking both digital curation and electronic records management next semester after reading this chapter!  These skills are essential and will add to my experience working with technology in archives, other technology classes, and my archival principle courses.  My professor and the archives director, Phil Bantin, was actually mentioned in this article for his work in electronic records management, so I feel like I will be in good hands.

Tibbo,, Helen R. “The Impact of Information Technology on Academic Archives in the Twenty-first Century.” In College and University Archives: Readings in Theory and Practice, edited by Christopher J. Prom and Ellen D. Swain. Chicago : Society of American Archivists, 2008.

Reading Response Eight: Outreach at College and University Archives

College and University Archives: Readings in Theory and Practice

Chapter 7- “Perspectives on Outreach at College and University Archives.”

By Tamar G. Chute

The concept of outreach is quite broad, but it is essential to the survival of the archives for both use and funding.    There can be direct outreach in the form of activities and programs sponsored or indirect outreach in the form of word of mouth and praise.  This chapter covers different types of outreach that college and university archives have or can attempt.  The chapter contains a great deal of information to take in and refer back to.

One of my favorite suggestions was using the alumni magazine.  The archives could sponsor an “ask the archivist” section in which an archivist could answer questions, write a short article about some of the history of the university, or highlight a collection.  This could help to gain wider interest and illicit donations from alumni who may have similar materials to those highlighted.   The basis of the suggestions outlined seem to be that highlighting archival materials in a variety of ways from tours, exhibits, brochures, and aiding anniversary celebrations is a great way to gain new interest and new materials.  A tour of the archives for a class in undergrad is actually how I initially discovered the archives and began using it.  This was a history class, though, and this chapter actually encourages archives to reach out to disciplines less likely to hear about the archives, such as English, architecture, speech, and journalism classes.  It is important to think of the wide variety of audiences who could utilize the archives.

The chapter also discussed target audiences, including students, alumni, faculty, administration and staff, and the local public.  The faculty stay longer than students and are also a direct link to students, so it is important to make them aware of archival resources.   Outreach to administration is also important as they are the ones who allocate the funds.   Something I had not thought about as much, however, was outreach to staff.  Chute points out that the staff is usually responsible for the transfer of records and therefore should be informed of what is important to transfer.

To wrap up, Chute discusses evaluating outreach and the importance of setting obtainable goals.  Possible conflicts are also discussed, such as budgeting and staffing.  Outreach has to be balanced with other activities going on in the archives.  However, it also includes other activities, such as reference, exhibits, and teaching, and is essential for obtaining funds and new materials.

Chute, Tamar G. “Perspectives on Outreach at College and University Archives.” In College and University Archives: Readings in Theory and Practice, edited by Christopher J. Prom and Ellen D. Swain. Chicago : Society of American Archivists, 2008.

It's Christmas Time in the Archives!

The songs have been being hummed and sung by Phil since early October (and occasionally other staff accidentally), so it's felt a bit like Christmas for a while, but now the decorations are up too!  I was working at the desk on Monday while Phil happily put the decorations up in the entry area.  We have the beloved President Herman B Wells as Santa and a Christmas Tree on the table.  It's very festive!













In actual archival work, the Newell and Eleanor Long Papers finding aid been approved!  I had to go back and fix a few little things.  There was a question about a course that I noted Newell Long as teaching, so I went into the course catalogs and got more information on that.  I also added a couple of missing dates.  It's exciting to see things getting wrapped up.  I'm glad that I was able to complete it and see the end result. 

Carrie and I talked to Phil about my clean-up on the Briscoe Collection this week, as well.  We talked about how I was finding letters of recommendation and if they were still covered under FERPA.  Apparently FERPA protection ends at the death of the individual, but IU counsel interprets the law as never expiring.  Therefore, grades and letters of recommendation, etc., should always be protected.  Even if we were to only do the lifetime rule, that would have to account for a life of 120 years, just to be sure, so these documents would still be young, only being 70 years old.  So if you accounted for people being 20 or 30 year old students they would only be 90 to 100 now.  Although the risk is minimal, we have to do the right thing still.  I surveyed eight boxes and most of the problem documents were in the folders with correspondence designated by the senders last name.  It was decided that these would all just be restricted.  I was concerned about the good content in these folders not being seen, though.  We're going to attempt to remedy this by giving good description about why the folders are restricted and make sure that people aren't scared away.  If the folders are ever requested they will be gone through at that time.  This saves me time now not having to go through every lettered folder in every box.  It has been very time consuming thus far.

I also encountered a similar issue with the chronological files of correspondence in the same collection.  There are about 5 boxes with these files divided by month.  I really didn't want to have to restricted these all, so I began sampling a few folders to see if there was anything of concern.  Thus far I've only found one document and it seems to be an anomaly.  I may check a bit more, then I'll finish going through and pulling folders and shifting. 

Reflecting on Reference

I feel like I did a variety of tasks again last week. I finished interfiling the additional accessions into the Bureau of Public Discussion Collection and rearranged the folders into new subseries in the Program Records.  I also remembered to go back and edit the scope and content note to reflect the new order.  I took some time to look through some of the folders in Briscoe for sensitive materials again.  I have discovered that it is the folders with correspondence with names or letters on them that need to be looked at more thoroughly.  Additionally I did some reference, which is always fun.

I helped Dina look through folders for a reference question and I pulled audio tapes from a collection for another reference question.  I recently read a chapter about outreach (reading response to come) which discussed reference as a form of outreach.  While I was performing those tasks for those reference requests I thought about how that is really true.  The patron who gets a full and quick response is going to be satisfied with their experience.  I find that a lot of times people are even surprised by the amount of information that they can obtain from the archives.  A satisfied user is not only more likely to use the archives again but also more likely to tell others about their positive experience.  Good reference services can therefore play an important role in increasing usage and aiding more people in research.

There was another instance this week when a student wandered into the archives.  The archives are located on the 4th floor of the library, off of the stacks.  This girl was trying to find a book but couldn't and wondered if we could help her.  I was watching the desk and couldn't leave, but my fellow intern Mike was in the reading room, so I sent him to help her.  It turned out that she was reading the call number wrong, so it became an educational opportunity.  Hopefully she will now have a positive view of at least the library and its services.  It also underscores the fact that archivists still serve an instructional role in the archives.  It may be talking about the services, educating students on how to use primary documents for research, of just helping people find their way around the library.

Reading Response Seven: Documenting Diverse Populations

College and University Archives: Readings in Theory and Practice

Chapter 5- “Giving It More Than the Old College Try: Documenting Diverse Populations in College and University Archives.”

By Kathryn M. Neal

This chapter is about documenting those who are traditionally underrepresented in archival repositories, focusing in on university archives.  Neal states that it is the university’s responsibility to attempt to interpret the times to meet the developing needs of society.  In order to do this the archives should also attempt to collect materials for diverse groups.  Citing Elizabeth Kaplan, however, best efforts cannot fully capture a collective identity of a group because there are individuals within the group with different identities.  Therefore, collecting materials does not guarantee the documentation of the true of full collective experience.  Archivists should attempt to document and represent several aspects of campus life.

The point that stood out to me the most is that archivists cannot simply wait for records documenting the lives of the traditionally underrepresented people to come into the archives.  Instead archivists need to be proactive in seeking these out.  They need to learn where to look and who to ask.  Forming relationships and establishing trust is also important.  Some groups may be distrustful, so first developing a relationship and understanding can help both the archives and that group document their history.  Cultivating allies such as subject specialists and professors can also help in gaining records.  Outreach is also an important tool.  Specialized subject guides and exhibits can build awareness.  Showing what the currently held at the archives demonstrates to others who may have similar materials that what they have is historically significant and could be donated.  I feel like people do not always understand what archives have and that the diary that they have from his or her time at the university would be a treasure to the archives. 

Another good point raised is that oral history projects can be a good way to fill gaps in the collection.  While I was at Ball State they digitized the Other Side of Middle Town Oral History Project which documented the African-American Community in Muncie.  Currently IU is working on a project to collect oral histories from alumni.  Hopefully this project will be able to collect from students of different backgrounds to gain a full, rich history of Indiana University.  Neal ends by saying that pursuing additional collections and projects may seem daunting, but it is important to stay viable and to fulfill the mission of the university archives.

Neal, Kathryn. “Giving It More Than the Old College Try: Documenting Diverse Populations in College and University Archives.” In College and University Archives: Readings in Theory and Practice, edited by Christopher J. Prom and Ellen D. Swain. Chicago : Society of American Archivists, 2008.

Between the Bureau and Briscoe

I worked on the Bureau of Public Discussion again this week.  I fixed some missing dates on the finding aid and ended up moving some things around again.  Items such as cash vouchers and requisitions were also deemed unnecessary to keep.  After looking through quickly to make sure, those items were removed.  I also found out that there is more stuff to be added.  One box is from a program the Bureau worked on jointly with the League of Women Voters.  I've decided to make this a subseries within the project files.  With that will also be subseries for the Package Library Service, reference requests, and a general one.  There are also other boxes which have some Package Library Briefs.  Neither sets seem to be complete runs, but by combining the two I think we will have everything.  There are more copies of some of the briefs than what we need though, so those will be discarded.  All of the adding and subtracting is going to take some shifting, so there's that to look forward too!

I also continued to look through Briscoe for sensitive materials.  It's really a lot of fun to look through because it's World War II era.  There is a lot of correspondence regarding professors and students leaving for the service and how to handle this.  There was also discussion about which nationalities should be allowed to attend the university and who should get financial help.  It is really interesting to see the decisions made and the thoughts behind them.  It's also exciting when you can flip through a folder and find correspondence from Alfred Kinsey sending along his studies in human sex behaviors to Briscoe to send to Herman Wells.  I try not to get to involved and read too much, but I do have to read enough to make a privacy call.  Also, it is good to get to know the collection better, at least when I am in my permanent job.  That will enable me to better help patrons. 

It seems like a lot of letters of recommendations for former students of Briscoe when he was a chemistry professor are in his dean of faculties papers, but since he doesn't have personal papers there they will stay.  They are 70 years old, so I'm not sure if a restriction is necessary, but I'm flagging them for now until I get the final word.  Even though it's before FERPA, there is an ethical obligation to protect people.  Carrie told me to think about what I would and would not want people to see.  On the other side of that, though, many of these people are likely deceased and it is interesting to see where people are applying and how they were judged at that time.  I feel like Briscoe's considerations about what are important qualities could possibly have research value.  He was a bit harsh...

Exciting News!

The Borns Jewish Studies Program Collection, my first collection of my internship, has been approved!  I just had to add a couple of dates and it was ready to be cataloged.  Today while I was working on my new collection I heard Dina going through the steps of cataloging it.  I just looked and it's in IUCAT, IU's online card catalog, and it's there ready to be used!  The five boxes with just paper got sent out to the ALF.  The box with VHS tapes is still in the archives for now, but the new ALF has a lovely area for films to be stored.  Someday that box can move there, perhaps.  The new area is temperature and humidity controlled ideally for materials on film, instead of paper.

Today I also got to help with a reference question.  It involved going through President William Lowe Bryan's correspondence and pulling out letters to or from K.P. Williams.  I learned that Bryan's papers are actually divided into two collections, covering the first and last part of his presidency.  Bryan was president from 1902 to 1937, so that is a very large span.  The first collection has correspondence organized by sender.  Carrie noted that had to have taken dedication and a lot of time.  I was working with the second collection.  It was divided into sections such has "Willi" which contains correspondence from people with the last name Willis, Williams, Williamson, etc.  They are then divided chronologically, but individuals are not separated.  I took all of K.P. Williams out and he will now have his own folder, as a few others already do.  In theory if this process is repeated for all the individuals it could eventually match the first collection.  But for now researchers looking for correspondence between K.P. Williams and Bryan can have it all in one convenient folder!  I found it fun to look over this correspondence because Bryan began each letter, "My dear ...." and ended them, "yours truly."  We should bring that kind of language back, my dear readers.

I also dove into a new collection.  It is the papers of Herman T. Briscoe, Dean of Faculties from 1940-1957.  The collection is already processed and has an html finding aid the archives website.  My job is to clean it up.  I'm surveying the folders to make sure that there isn't anything that should be restricted, such as tenure discussion.  Hopefully this helps to hone my privacy skills.  Also, the html finding aids tend to get forgotten, so it would be great to get it prepped to become and EAD finding aid, which are kept in a separate place.  There are 23 boxes, though, so I am now surrounded.

Reading Response Six: Pyatt and Privacy

College and University Archives: Readings in Theory and Practice

Chapter 10 – “Balancing Issues of Privacy and Confidentiality in College and University Archives”

By Tim Pyatt

I thought this book would be of particular interest to learning about university archives and with all my prior posts about privacy I decided that the chapter on privacy would be appropriate.

Privacy, Pyatt begins is driven by institutional fear of litigation, but it is impossible to screen or redact everything.  In the chapter Pyatt discusses issues with FERPA, HIPPA, electronic records, public records laws, and sensitive faculty papers.

FERPA and HIPPA are both federal laws that archivists need to understand.  FERPA, or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, has significantly changed the way that student records are handled.  A 2004 study showed that archivists tend to act conservatively when it comes to student records.  The same study also found that there was confusion regarding what constitute student records due to FERPA’s ambiguous definition and lack of guidance.  The challenge with student records is that they can be hidden in unrestricted administrative or faculty papers, such as a graded paper or letter of recommendation.  Materials in faculty papers before IRBs are also an issue.  The task of handling these records if they are in large amounts can influence accepting a collection, despite potential research value.  A solution offered is to inform the research of possibility of sensitive material and place the burden on them.  The issue I see with this is that the researcher would not know the guidelines for what is sensitive the way that an archivist should and may have different definitions of what is sensitive, however it would save archivists the time of checking everything. 

HIPPA is protected patient privacy which applies to “covered entities.”  Although general university archives are not cover entities, which include health care providers and plans, archivists still have an ethical obligation to protect those records containing protected health information.

Archivists need to be familiar with state statutes for guidance in complying with public/open record laws.  Policies and procedures should then be made to handle requests made for records created under those laws.  Federal law still takes precedent of state, though, so FERPA still applies.  It is also important to note that the Freedom of Information Act only applies to federal agencies and does not create a right to access of college and university archives. 

Electronic records have made the entire process more challenging because it is harder to isolate sensitive materials.  Archivists have to rely on individuals to appraise and manage their emails and trust that guidelines and training are provided and enable employees to make correct decisions. 

Overall, with privacy issues it is important to be educated about laws and gain a better understanding through contact with legal counsel.  Education of patrons and donors can also help in lightening the load placed upon archivists.

Pyatt, Tim. “Balancing Issues of Privacy and Confidentiality in College and University Archives.” In College and University Archives: Readings in Theory and Practice, edited by Christopher J. Prom and Ellen D. Swain. Chicago : Society of American Archivists, 2008.

Midterm Report and Bureau Updates

I can't believe how fast time is going!  My internship is halfway over already.  I have been able to get a great deal of processing experience.  This is good because I’ve been able to get hands on experience with different kinds of collections.  I have worked my way up to a larger collection which has given me more challenges, but has also reinforced the skills that I learned on the smaller two.  I have also had the opportunity to answer more reference questions and learn different resources to go to find answers.  I’ve had to do a great deal of research to find out more about my collections I’m processing, as well which I wasn’t expecting.  Another unexpected learning experience has been what is considered private and what needs to be restricted.  I now feel more comfortable about where to look for sensitive materials and what is to be considered sensitive.  We decided that I wouldn’t work with EAD in my internship since I’m doing that in my job now.  Instead I may have the opportunity to create a small exhibit out of my current collection. 

This last week I spent a lot of time separating the sensitive personnel files from the those not sensitive.  This required making new folders.  In preparation for needing to add file to the beginning of my boxes I had left space.  I went head and shifted things up after this, though, so that I was able to empty a whole box.  The entire collection is now in 12 records boxes and 1 document box.  This is down from 15 originally.  I also typed up a scope and content note and began an administrative history.  I'm feeling increasingly better about this collection and I think I can finish up a good administrative history on Monday.  I just need to do a little more research and tweak things here and there.

Research Value

Today I was working on organizing the personnel files in the Bureau of Public Discussion Records.  I was planning on just restricting the whole subseries.  I thought this would be a good choice since each folder seemed to contain a great deal of sensitive employment information and job recommendations.  Also, this way I could just restrict the entire subseries and not have to worry about marking each folder on the finding aid.  However, as I was leafing through a folder to find dates for the file I realized that there didn't seem to be any sensitive information.  In fact everything in the file was from after the woman retired and was mainly about her retirement and memorializing her after her death.  I recognized her name, Mary Anderson, and knew that she had been an integral part of the restructuring of the Bureau in 1949.  The materials in this file, therefore, had important research value, so I began questioning whether all of the records should be restricted. 

In other folders I found additional mixed folders.  There would be sensitive information, but also a reading course that that individual had edited or correspondence regarding a program that they were involved in.  Researchers should be able to access that sort of material.  I talked to Carrie and Dina and we decided that since it was only about a box (a little less) that I could go through and separate the sensitive materials from those that don't need to be restricted and shouldn't be isolated since they do have good research value.  Research value is somewhat subjective, so basically anything that doesn't need to be restricted.  Some folders may be entirely restricted and others will be split into restricted and unrestricted folders.  In this process I'm also removing performance reviews, recommendations for employee action, and other materials that do not need to be included in the collection at all.  I sort of feel like I'm reading people's mail as I attempt to separate the confidential from the benign.

I also removed a few personnel folders that seemed to be from instructors teaching classes under Dr. Hattery, the Director of the Bureau of Public Discussion in the 1970s,  but he was also a government professor.  These materials seemed to have more to do with Hattery's teaching career rather than the Bureau, though.  We're going to talk to Phil about these, but they will likely not be included in the collection since they really don't belong with the Bureau of Public Discussion Records.

All in all a productive week.  The collection is arranged (for the most part) and the finding aid is coming together.  Also, not internship related but work related, I learned how to hyperlink in EAD today, so good day!

Reading Response Five: Fundamentals

The Management of College and University Archives chapter on “Fundamentals of Academic Archives”

William J. Maher

I decided that with the goal of a gaining a better understanding of university archives I should read about the fundamentals.  Although it was published in 1992 it is still a valid and relevant source for the management of university archives.  Phil, the director of IU’s archives told me that he still consulted it, so I read on.

Maher began the chapter by setting forth the basic goal of the academic archives being, “to aid the institution in its survival and growth, especially by making sure that the roots to the past are intact.”  I like this description.  Many of the records are important or kept for legal reasons, others are useful for publicity or advertising, but many also are important to remind those associated with the institution of their history.  After seeing historical images of the campus and learning more about the university’s history I really do feel more connected to the school than I did before I began at the archives.   Next Maher outlined the fundamentals needed to be an academic archive.  These are mission and establishment, administrative location, holdings, personnel, space and facilities, and service goals.  It may seem a bit like common sense, but it was helpful to see them all laid out.  He then went into more detail about each one.

First and most fundamental is a clear statement of purpose.  Maher states that these will vary, but outlines the “Guidelines for College and University Archives,” and suggests developing a mission tailoring these elements to the individual institution.  An authorizing document is also necessary to provide continuity, direction, and protection, as well as a rationale for the program.   

As far as administrative location, I had never really thought of the archives being outside of the library.  I realize that IU’s used to be part of the president’s office, but the library just makes sense to me.  When talking to Phil he challenged me to think of reasons why archives would be placed in different places.  The location in the hierarchy can affect authority and visibility, so being part of the central administration can make the archives more visible to those in the central administration, as well as perhaps giving them more authority.  The library is a more central location for use and research by other users, though.  Really no location is perfect, so it’s important for archivists to have strong relationships across campus.

Holding can vary, but there are a number of core documents that Maher outlines in detail.  Common files for archival retention are subject files, project files, case files, and summary financial records.  A major effort is put into acquiring personal papers from faculty and administration.  Archival work is a distinct profession and the archives should have at least one full-time permanent staff member with the same employment status as other non-teaching professionals.  There is also the need for support staff and students workers, but there are no clear guidelines for staff to holdings ratio.

There are three components to space and facilities, storage, staff, and public.  These three seem to get juggled.  Storage space is important and needs to be adequate.  Processing takes a lot of space, though, and you need room for people to work.  At the same time you need enough space for researchers to work and for exhibits to provide outreach.  It seems like there is never enough space for any of these, however, but it’s important to keep them in mind.  It is also important to know your service goals and meet them.  This involves juggling the constituency needs for students, faculty, and administrators.

Maher, William J.  (1992). The Management of College and University Archives.  Society of American Archivists and Scarecrow Press, Inc.  

Arrangement

I ended last week with thinking about the arrangement of my collection on paper.  I actually looked up some different series possibilities in the SAA Glossary and by reading some completed finding aids.  I decided that there were items in the administrative files series that didn't quite belong.  I then discovered program files.  This series worked well for some floating files that didn't quite fit where they were.  This series particularly worked well for the Package Library materials, which make up a large chunk.  I felt like I had a better handle on the what the arrangement should be after doing some research and creating the new series.

Once I was satisfied with my arrangement on paper (or Word), it was time to tackle physical arrangement.  This was a daunting task.  Materials were scattered throughout the boxes so I had to spread out.  Lesson learned, arrangement can require a lot of space.  Luckily I was able to steal a cleared table next to mine and then clear it again when I was done for the day.  IU is fortunate to have the processing space that they have, but I really think that any archival institution could always use more.

There was a whole box of personnel records (and a few more files scattered about).  They are arranged where they would be intellectually in the finding aid.  That is to say, if they were not restricted that is where it would make sense to find them.  They are currently not in my equation for physical arrangement, though.  They are sorted into a box that I'm keeping under the table to give me more space.  When I'm finished arranging they will be the last box.  In the finding aid, as always, they are marked in bold, "Restricted" denoting to the archivist that they are at the end of the collection and not in the box with the other files that it is described with.

We also questioned whether or not the reference requests should be restricted.  Now library records are considered private because what people read and research could potentially be used to cause harm to that person.  Carrie and I talked to Phil and it was decided that these records from the 1960s were okay, though.  Restricting them would be acting over-sensitively.  The question then became do we need two boxes of these reference requests or could we sample them, or only keep some to represent the whole.  I thought that they could definitely have research value in that you can see what people in a certain area were researching and asking for in that time period.  It was decided that since it was just two boxes and not twelve that it would be okay to just go ahead and keep them all.  This means less work for me, even though we could potentially save a little space by only keeping a sample.

Arranging this collection is taking longer not only because the size, but also because I have had to put a lot of things into new folders or into folders at all.  This is more time consuming than what you would initially think, especially when you have a few boxes worth of folders to create.  I can see how not refoldering if you don't have to can save time, but also how it is necessary at times.  Even though I had it arranged on paper beforehand I still made a few slight changes as I went.  Actually looking what was in the folder again instead of at just the folder name gave me a different perspective on some files.  The process is coming along, though.

Reading Response Four: Institutional Repositories

“Institutional Repositories and the Institutional Repository: College and University Archives and Special Collections in an Era of Change”

Elizabeth Yakel, Soo Young Rieh, Beth St. Jean, Karen Markey, and Jihyun Kim

The title of this article confused me initially.  My first thought was, isn’t that the same thing.  Luckily the authors explained it quite well!  Basically institutional repositories (IRs) are becoming an extension of the intuitional repository, or archives.  This article served to report on the 2006 Census of Institutional Repositories in the United States. 

The article quoted Clifford Lynch’s definition of institutional repositories as being “a set of services that a university offers to the members of its community for the management and dissemination of digital materials created by the institution and its community members.”  After reading this definition I thought of Ball State’s Cardinal Scholar and IU’s ScholarWorks, which contain materials produced by the those communities to promote open scholarly communication. 

The questions asked were if institutional repositories could be an opportunity to improve the management of digital data and if they are a sign that archivists are losing control of electronic institutional records.  The major issues looked at were the role of archivists in the development of institutional repositories, content recruitment, and preservation of materials. 

The results of the study should that 75% of respondents considered archivists to be engaged in the institutional repository process.  This presence increased as the institutional repository progressed.  When discussing content recruitment, thirty-seven digital documents types were identified, thirty of these could be considered archival.  A majority of the archival materials in IRs are theses and dissertations.  With theses and dissertations included in the equation archival materials make up 70.6% of IRs holdings, seemingly making it necessary for at least some level of input and control from archivists.  There is also the importance of archivists in recruitment of materials because they have had the most experience interacting with faculty and different departments for collection development.

Preservation is seen as somewhat or very important, but according to this study the archives role shows little difference on the importance of preservation.  It seems as though the expertise for this is seen to be elsewhere.  There is also uncertainty regarding digital preservation as it is still an unknown in many ways.  A call for trusted digital repositories is also heard, with the need for bench marking guidelines and certification requirements.  This raises the question of if the role of the archivist will need to evolve so that they can position themselves as digital preservation experts and if that a positive or negative thing.  Are IRs really even the most compatible access tool for archives?  After all, they cannot provide a hierarchical display and they require item-level description.  I believe they can be used as an access tool, but definitely not to replace existing tools.

Yakel, Elizabeth, et al. “Institutional Repositories and the Institutional Repository: College and University Archives and Special Collections in an Era of Change,” The American Archivist , Vol. 71 (Fall/Winter 2008): 323-349.

Bureau of Public Discussion and Some Lee Hamilton

This week I finished going through the boxes from the Bureau of Public Discussion.  Today I finished typing up a rough container list based on where things are now.  I then stared at this for a little bit.  This collection is larger than my last two and it's taking me a bit longer to wrap my head around what the best series would be.  It's also from five different accessions with files that will need to be put together.  Additionally I believe that things are not in there original order since even files that should be in alphabetical or chronological order are all over the place.  After taking a lunch break and re-examining what I had in front of me I made some decisions.  There will clearly be administrative files, correspondence, one for the conferences and seminars, and probably a publications one.  The administrative files will have the personnel records and other working documents.  The publications will likely contain the reading courses and possibly the Package Library Briefs.  This is where I may do some rethinking tomorrow.  There is also a lot of other information about the Package Library service in the other series I have thought about.  If I find that there is evidence that this was it's own office it may merit it's own series.  That will take some digging tomorrow. 

While checking one folder to make sure that it belonged in the conferences/seminars series I discovered a photograph.  I instinctively made note of this so that it could be pulled and placed in the photograph collection.  Then on the back it said "Lee Hamilton."  Lee Hamilton was a congressman from Indiana and he had apparently been a speaker at this conference on U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Southeast Asia in 1965.

It was like two worlds intersected.  In my job at the archives I work for Kate, the Political Papers Archivist.  It really hasn't been difficult separating the job and internship because I am doing very different things for two different people.  But today the met for a bit.  In my job I have been doing item level description of some of Lee Hamilton's papers in EAD.  Gaining EAD experience has been great and by doing item level description (so that it can be fully digitized) I have learned a lot.  Part of what I like about working in archives is all the new things that you learn that you never even thought you'd need to know.  Since I've been learning so much about Lee Hamilton (and feeling like I'm getting to know him) it was exciting to make a connection to him in another collection.  And Kate was excited because she didn't have that photograph of him, so now she can have a scan for her records.  It made my day, so I felt like I should write about it! 

To wrap up, I'm glad that I'm getting experience with this collection that is a bit bigger.  It is causing me to think more about the best way to arrange it.

Some Finishing Touches and New Finds

I worked on all three collections today!  Monday I spent some time trying to find more information on Eleanor Long for the biography in the finding aid.  I had quite a bit on her husband, but the reference files contained very little on her.  After searching catalogs and bulletins and years she might have taught and searching online for obituaries I had to give up for the day without finding out much more.  This morning I came in to find an obituary sitting on the processing table.  Dina had the idea to try the Monroe County Public Library and their resource of providing the Herald Times obituaries.  I felt like I had failed a bit as a library student by not finding this, but this is why it's important to reach out for help when you cannot find something. Using the obituary I was able to add a lot to Eleanor Long's biographical information, providing a much better description.  I was a bit said to learn that she had died, though.  She seemed like a really amazing woman!  She had a Ph.D. I guess (I just learned that today), taught English, raised a son, wrote musicals and pageants with her husband, participated in numerous university groups, founded a girl's club in Monroe County, and wrote a young adult book.

I then moved on the the Jewish Studies Collection for a bit.  Last week I flagged some potentially sensitive materials.  It was decided that we probably didn't need to be that careful.  Some things could just be thrown out if they had sensitive information but contained no real research value.  This is somewhat subjective.  Carrie told me that I could just separate everything that I had flagged into new folders with the same name as the originals only with the note "RESTRICTED."  I then reflected in the finding aid the folders in which restricted materials had been removed and shifted the folders to make room for the new folders at the end of the collection.

Finally I returned to the Bureau of Public Discussion.  I'm still just going through the boxes and making notes about what there is.  Today there were some older records that weren't in the best shape (and caused me to feel the need to wash my hands a few times).  I made it through a few boxes, leaving about 6 1/2.  I found a lot of materials that helped me get a much better idea of what the department did.  I also really enjoyed looking at older materials. I found a pamphlet about the Ball State Teachers College Art Gallery which made me happy.  Yay Ball State!  My favorite find of the day were some reading course booklets.  From what I ascertained the IU Bureau of Public Discussion handled the course on behalf of the U.S. Bureau of Education for residents of Indiana.  People could sign up for the course, then read and submit summaries on the books.  They would then receive a certificate.  Topics ranged from literature to parenting.  There were a few that were labeled "After War Reading Course."  At first I figured that this would be after WWII.  Then I realized that everything else was from the 1920s and 1930s.  So with a little detective work, I believe that it's after WWI, which I got really excited about.  The images are really nice in this series, as well.  I also found one that was a reading course for boys that reasoned that boys only work ten hours a day, six days a week, which leaves plenty of leisure time for reading.  Perhaps parents and grandparents are right.  Kids do have it easy these days! 

Also if people were wondering what rubber bands from the 1950s look like, here you go!  Much of this collection is going to need to be refoldered, or even just foldered since some things are only separated by dividers.  A majority of the folders seem to be fairly poor condition.

Progress and the Basement

This is a shot of what my processing table did look like with the Jewish Studies Program Records in the back and the Long Papers in the front.  They are both in limbo now waiting to be checked.  I have finished arranging and describing them unless something else comes back.  I did flag more sensitive materials in the Jewish Studies Collection this week.  This was after I learned that what courses students took was protected.  Since a whole subseries is devoted to an overseas course program, I went through to check for student lists.  In other news, it was decided that the Legionnaire's folder in the Long Papers was most likely mistakenly included in the accession.  I was glad to have Dina and Carrie both weigh in on that decision.  It really didn't make sense to me and neither of the Longs were ever mentioned in anything that I went through.  The collection was easier to describe without the extra folder.  Now everything has to do with musicals, plays, and pageants that the Longs wrote.  Comparing the two collections, one being records and the other personal papers, I think that the personal papers were easier (minus Legionnaires).  I had to worry a lot less about privacy and student information, but that could have just been these two collections.  Each collection is different.

After making some edits to the Long Papers finding aid I went with Carrie (and Amy who kindly volunteered to help) to the basement storage to pick up my next collection.  I was not aware until I started this internship that the archives had storage elsewhere in the library.  I think that they would prefer not to have this storage though, as it is not ideal.  The ALF is a much more ideal location.  Carrie said that things that leave the basement storage get processed and go to the ALF instead of back in the basement.  The goal is to not have to use it. 

My new collection is several accessions from the Bureau of Public Discussion.  From the reference file I learned about the Package Library Service offered that provided IU library materials to people who could not make it to Bloomington.  It worked like the picture on the right according to a pamphlet found in one of the folders.  If I find more visual materials like this it could possibly make a good exhibit!  One of the two boxes I made it through today contained a lot of personnel information which will have to be restricted, though.  There is quite a bit more material in this collection than in my last two combined.  There are 15 (possibly 16) boxes so this should keep me busy for a while. The processing table is not full with new boxes for me to go through!

Reading Response Three: Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collection

“Interaction in Virtual Archives : The Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collection Next General Finding Aid.”

Magia Ghetu Krause and Elizabeth Yakel

This article explores using Web 2.0 technologies to create better finding aids through interaction.   The article describes the launching and evaluation of the Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections Project created at the University of Michigan.  The objective was to determine if interactivity increases accessibility.  Citing the article citing Terry Cook, “a record is not a static artifact, but rather a ‘mediated and ever-changing construction affected by its use.’”   Through user interaction something is new each time a record is used, adding to its intellectual value. 

The features incorporated included bookmarks, comments, link paths, browsing, searching, and user profiles.  Upon launching the site was advertised through various means, including adding a link to the Polar Bear Expedition Wikipedia page.  Many of the users had a personal connection with the Polar Bear Expedition, such as being related to a veteran.   Although the sample size was small, the findings can show what contributes to both the user and the institution.

Bookmarks were not popular, which makes sense to me.  When I find something that I want to see again I save it to my browser bookmarks rather than registering.  The solution that the team thought of was to use social bookmarking in the future to foster community.  Personally, I’m not entirely sure that that is what people really need from a research tool, but perhaps others do.   The comments were used primarily for error correction and information sharing. 

From the user based and the potential use of bookmarks and comments, I feel like this setup is perhaps ideal for genealogy and collections useful to genealogists.   I am not sure that it lends itself to everything, however.  Many collections would be less visual or less used.   The fewer simultaneous users on a page makes the interactivity less useful.   Taking the time and energy to do this for all collections would not be optimal, but I do like the idea for select collections if the institution has the resources.

On a side not, this article brought up that much of the interaction on the site was still between the user and the archivist.  One interviewee commented that they were not sure who was reading the comments so they just emailed the archivist.  This made me think about how a lot of users seem unsure about archives and how to approach them.  I’ve encountered many patrons walking in and worrying that they are interrupting, when they should feel like we are there to help them.    Perhaps having finding aids that are more similar to social networking sites people are familiar with would help alleviate some of this apprehension. 

Ghetu Krause, Magia and Elizabeth Yakel, “Interaction in Virtual Archives : The Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collection Next General Finding Aid,” The American Archivist , Vol. 70 (Fall/Winter 2007): 282-314.

Reading Response Two: MPLP

MPLP:  It’s Not Just for Processing Anymore

Mark A. Greene

I read the original More Product Less Process Article last year for class.  I remember understanding the importance but still questioning aspects of it.  Reading this article made me want to go back and read the first one again.  I found the idea of applying MPLP to other archival aspects to be intriguing.  The article mainly discussed appraisal and reference, but also touched on preservation, electronic resources, and digitization.  Basically to sum up the article quickly, “’Good enough’ is better than ‘one of these days’ and sometimes you have to accept that things are just going to have to be good enough instead of perfect.  

Greene stresses that archivists should consider their mission, audience, and resources.  By having appraisal decisions occur before the materials even reach the archives, and not on the processing table, there is less of a risk of item-level processing in order to appraise.  Basically, repositories need to have formal collecting policies and more questions need to be asked of the donors so that less weeding is required later.  One of my favorite lines from this article was, “weeding is for gardeners, not archivists.”  By having more efficient appraisal policies in place, materials could get to users more quickly.

Reference was another big topic of this article.  MPLP shifts a certain burden from processing to reference because description is at a higher level.  However, Greene points out that identifying boxes with correspondence is better than having no description at all because the collection is in backlog.  It’s better to have the collection available.  A survey conducted by Greene showed that most researchers would be okay with less description and organization in order to have more available.  If we are to listen to our audience we need to make sure that they can access the information they need.

Greene also discusses privacy concerns.  As with appraisal and reference, Greene suggests putting more responsibility with the donor to know where private materials may be or to not donate sensitive materials.  Also, with experience, one can know where sensitive materials most likely are. 

Greene, Mark A., “MPLP:  It’s Not Just for Processing Anymore, “ The American Archivist , Vol. 73 (Spring/Summer 2010): 175-203.

A Tale of Two Collections

I feel like I'm well on my way with the Newell and Eleanor Long Papers.  I'm at least getting somewhere!  I was really excited last week because I found two reel-to-reel audio tapes. 

I'm taking an audio preservation class this semester and we were told that one day you're going to open a box and find this  and you need to know what these are and what their risks are.  I opened the box and did know what they were.  I even knew what all the information on the boxes meant and that one was professional quality and the other was an off-brand (from Bloomington).  I could tell some slight preservation concerns, but overall they seemed stable.  They will be at the ALF which should help.  I enjoyed having class meet internship for the day!  They will be left with the collection, but marked on the finding aid clearly so that both researchers and archivists are aware of their presence. 

I finished foldering all of the unfoldered materials and entered what I had into Word so that I could visualize what I had better and move stuff around there before physically moving it.  One folder, however, is not like the others.  The collection is mainly comprised of scripts, musics, programs, etc. from shows that this couple wrote together.  He was a music professor and she taught English courses.  Then there is a folder about Legionnaire's Disease.  In this last week I have learned more about Legionnaire's Disease than I ever thought possible.  Apparently there was an outbreak around 1978 in Bloomington, particularly with people who had stayed and the Indiana Memorial Union.  It was really a horrible thing.  Around 39 people got sick and a few people died.  This folder had notes that looked like they were from meetings on the topic, correspondence regarding the disease at IU, reports, and newspaper clippings.  Basically a subject file about Legionnaire's Disease at IU.  Unfortunately I could not tell the involvement of the Longs or why they had this information.  I developed two theories: either one of them was on a committee about it or one of them had it.  I began with the reference files in the reading room.  I looked through two folders of information to no avail (besides feeling like an expert on the outbreak a bit).  Carrie recalled some information that the archives has from the ALF and I looked at that today.  From that I was able to find a list of names of all those who got sick and a list of the people who were on a special task force.  Neither list contained a Long.  I still have a theory that Newell Long could have been on the IMU Board of Directors, but I also feel like I've spent a lot of time not finding out much about why this folder is in the collection.  It's been a lot of detective work.

Now to the Jewish Studies Collection.  I haven't touched this in awhile, it's still waiting to be completely complete and needs to be looked over.  Carrie did point me towards some folders that may have (and did have) sensitive information.  By not carefully looking at each item in each of the folders (per MPLP) I missed some student information and information with social security numbers.  With more experience I will learn where to look for these immediately.  I now will know to look at folders similar to these.  One set of folders contained information about an essay scholarship contest.  Each folder had the winner from that year, with their student id numbers.  Whoever thought that it was a good idea to have social security numbers as student id numbers really must have hated future archivists.  A potentially innocent document can instantly become sensitive because of a student id number that is really a social security number.  Anyway, I hope to reach the experience level soon to recognize potential risk areas while using More Product Less Process (MPLP).  This was the first collection that I processed using that method, so it's been a learning experience!

Reading Response One: Prom and Processing

Prom, Christopher J., "Optimum Access? Processing in College and University Archives," American Archivist 73 (Spring/Summer 2010): 146-174.

I would like to work in a college or university archives and I’ve been spending a good deal of my time on processing so far, so I chose to read Christopher Prom’s article on that topic for my first reading response.  The article is entitled "Optimum Access? Processing in College and University Archives."  Prom comments that processing affects the physical and intellectual control over collections and can therefore either encourage or discourage use, which can affect relationships with donors and users.  He then goes on to say that despite its importance it is under analyzed and that gaining a better understanding could help to design processing workflows go gain increased access and decreased cost.

Prom asks about processing techniques at institutions.  He looked at the sizes of the collection, staff, and back log and how much they were able to process using what techniques.  Prom found a lack of a strong correlation between the use of intensive processing and slower processing speeds, leading him to call for an examination of the whole range of archival activities.  

More Product Less Product, the Greene and Meissner technique greatly discussed in the field and in this article,  was meant as a means to not over process, but perhaps there are bigger problems in some institutions.  Prom points out that MPLP is most effective in institutions that are well managed.  Self-reflection of the management of an intuition is can help to make improvements.  Do processors know what is expected of them, is there a workflow set up, are there personnel issues hindering progress?  Each archivist must evaluate the situation at their own institution as archives vary, but the practices at institution that is having trouble processing should take a look at these and other factors.  Processing of collections is essential for providing access to the researchers who rely on archives.

I find Prom’s putting forth of possible solutions at the end of the article to be refreshing.  I’m not sure how practical it would be to put time frames on processing as collections are different and unknown problems always seem to arise.  However, I believe that arrangement and processing strategies are helpful to ensure that processors understand what they are doing.  I would venture to guess that uncertainty and having to go back to correct errors takes up more time then removing paperclips.  Knowing how to perform processing correctly and efficiently could greatly decrease backlogs and create better collections that can be accessed more easily.

New Day, New Collection

I took a camera today.  So if I don't change it, the image on the right is of the Jewish Studies collection.  It's the back of a few boxes actually, the bottom right has the video cassettes in it.  The collection is even closer to being finished.  I need to have Carrie look at it and take care of a few finishing touches.  I would like to note the trouble I had with the legacy format of floppy disks.  There were two that I pulled out to see if there was anything important.  The archives has a machine that still has a floppy drive.  However, one disk would not even allow me to view the content.  The other had a couple of files, but I did not recognize the file type.  Basically it was a waste of time for me, but perhaps someone more experienced could navigate around it.  The disks are labeled, though, and we have paper copies of what it says is on there.  Changing technology worries me because you run the risk of losing important information.  I don't think that's the case here, but what happens when we can't access our information anymore? 

One a side note, there was also old rubber band stuck to the container there were in.  Old rubber bands really make me want to make sure that rubber bands are removed.  So horrible.

Now to the title of the post.  In the last part of my morning in the archives I decided to take a look at my new collection.  There are 3 boxes comprising of 4 accessions and consist of the papers of Newell Long, a former music professor, and his wife Eleanor Long. 

These boxes were sent to the the auxiliary library facility, affectionately known as the ALF, after the were accessioned and are now back to be processed.  The IU Archives was moved into the library a few years ago from Bryan Hall.  With the new location the lost storage space, so a majority of the holding are in the ALF.  The archives sends recall requests and get 2 deliveries a day.  Requests can usually be received by the next day.  ALF is also temperature and humidity controlled, which provides ideal conditions for the records.  Manuscript boxes are strapped at the archives before heading out.  This helps to secure the box and provides security in knowing that nobody has been in the boxes.  They also get smiley faces to show that they have been processed.  They are also barcoded to help them be located and kept track of.

So the first step was cutting the straps to see what I had.  The first box had folders and labels and looked very nice.  The second two, however, are stacks of stuff.  I began to survey the first box, but I ran out of time.  I'm excited to get into the boxes and learn more about this collection. 

On a different note, you can also follow my friends and fellow interns in their adventures in the archives.  Here are Neal and Mike's blogs.