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.

Week Two in Review

This week I almost finished the Jewish Studies Program records.  It's so close!  I spent the first part of the week arranging the container list based on my processing plan, then I rearranged the folders in the boxes.  IU Archives attempts to adhere to More Product Less Process by not re-foldering unless it's necessary.  This does greatly speed up the process as most of the files are in good shape.  I did run into a small problem with the adhesive labels that came on the folders.  The problem being that adhesives don't really stay adhesive but instead fall off leaving you label-less.  Files that once had labels then had to be relabeled, but luckily the container list made this pretty easy.  I also began removing photographs from the collection so that they can go upstairs to live with Brad, the photograph curator.  I made a copy of each photograph to leave in the file and copies of identifying  information to go with the photos.  I also recorded from where photographs (and negatives) were removed on the finding and recorded it in the separated materials portion of the finding aid.  It's important to track where things are so that things can be found later.

I also spent time working on the description parts of the finding aid.  I wrote an abstract, a scope and content note, and an administrative history.  The abstract was the easiest for me as it was just a short description of the program and the collection and I feel like quite familiar with both now.  The scope and content not was not hard, but the language feels weird.  All I really had to do was write how the collection is organized and where things are.  To write the administrate history I used the reference file on the program. The archive has various files on IU departments, programs, events, buildings, and some people.  This one was filled with newspaper clipping about the program from over the years that provide good historical information.  I also explored the program's website to get some more current information.

Now what is left.  I still need to go through and check the floppy and zip disks for important information and then possibly remove those.  I also need to reorder the folders some more.  I tried my best to stick with original order.  Original order shows how the individual, department, or program kept their records, which can be useful for a researcher to observe.  However, original order doesn't always make sense when you are trying to find something.  That was the case, as I feared it might be, with this collection.  At first I was excited because there actually appeared to be an order to the original order.  But, the subject files contain a number of materials that should actually be contained within the administrative files series instead.  I will spend Monday trying to sort that out.  How it is ordered now may have made sense when it was used in the office of the Jewish Studies Program, but now that the files will be used for research a slightly differed order will be more beneficial to the researcher. 

If all goes well I can start on a new collection next week.  It will be personal papers and I'm excited to see how this differs from the program records.  I also need to get to work on my readings that I need to do for my internship.  I tried to pick articles out and went to the SAA's journal American Archivist to get some ideas.  The problem is that about four articles seemed really interesting and useful and they are all on different topics.  I may end up with an eclectic array of readings.

SAA-SC Campus Tour

This isn't directly related to my internship, but it's archival related and I feel like bragging.  Our student chapter of the Society of American Archivist's just had a successful first event!  I feel like it was a long time coming as the idea for this event started in the spring, so it was great to see it happen and with such a great response.

Our event was a historical campus tour focused on the oldest part of the campus known as the “Old Crescent” and the Fine Arts Square.  The tour concluded at Nick's English Hut, a Bloomington and IU tradition since 1924 which is right off of the Old Crescent.  The weather cooperated and we had a beautiful fall day!

IU Archives and SLIS archives program director, Phil Bantin was kind enough to lend his services as our tour guide.  He did a great job and really enjoyed sharing his vast knowledge of IU!  We started out with a slide show showing us documents and images from the beginning of the school and learned about the people the buildings were named after.  I knew very little of this and it was fun to learn about it.  Besides the fact that IU has a great tradition of men with facial hair, the historical information I learned will be beneficial to working in the archives as I now have a better understanding of the institution..  It was also nice just to learn more about where things are.  It's a huge campus and I've only ever really had to go to a few buildings (mainly the libraries).  I feel less lost on campus now and hopefully so do the numerous first year students who joined us.


As the SAA-SC's first event of the school year we were hoping for a good turn out and we weren't disappointed.  I counted 36 people at one point, and over half were new students to the program.  It provided us with a great opportunity to meet new people and introduce them to our organization.  Thank you to all who came!  And also a big thanks to all those who helped make this such a wonderful experience!  Phil gave a marvelous tour and Nick's was very accommodating considering we had more than the 20 people I had originally estimated!

SAA-SC president Amy Jankowski showing off the group while they take in the Old Crescent.

Week One

Hello Blogosphere!  I am new to this blogging thing, but I hope that those who read enjoy what I have to say (or type).  This blog is part of the Indiana University Archives’ “Blogging Hoosier History” project.  I will be posting at least weekly as a way to share my experiences as an intern this fall at IU's Office of University Archives and Records Management.  In a past internship I kept a daily learning log with a new thing I learned each day, so maybe this can be a weekly version of that.  We'll see! 


So perhaps I should say a bit about myself first.  I'm in the archives and records management specialization at the IUB's School of Library and Information Sciences.  I decided that I wanted to be an archivist when I was a sophomore in undergrad.  I visited my adviser in a panic about what I was going to do with a major in history.  He advised me to take his class in public history and when we learned about archives it clicked.  Soon after I got a job at Ball State's Archives and Special Collections where I worked until I graduated.  After I graduated I volunteered at Minnestrista Cultural Center's Library and Archives in Muncie until I moved to Bloomington to start grad school.  Last year I started working at the Lilly Library with materials being moved to off-site storage, as well as with the subject librarian for history, religious studies, and the history and philosophy of science.  This semester, however, I will be living in IU's Archives, or at least it might feel that way.  But I'm sure I'll love it!

I just finished my first week interning at the archives with Carrie Schwier.  I began my week by going through seven boxes of files from the Jewish Studies Program.  It took me a bit to take in what all was there.  It helped when Carrie suggested that I type up a rough container list.  Seeing what was there typed out gave me a clearer picture of what I was dealing with.  I was able to finish my week by typing up a processing plan outlining my ideas for how I should proceed and how the collection will be arranged.  I look forward to moving on and processing the collection in a way that will make it usable to researchers.

One item that has already come up in this collection that could have been trouble was an unfoldered document in Hebrew.  I was advised to contact the Jewish Studies Collection Manager, Noa Wahrman.  She was able to tell me right away what it was and that it was in Yiddish as well.  She also gave me a summary and transliteration.  I was really impressed by her knowledge and helpfulness.  I was also reminded how important it is to remember that there are specialists to help you when you come across things that you don't know.  Now I know what I'm working with and can properly identify it.  Thanks Noa!

This week I also got to help out with a reference question.  It really reminded me how much I enjoy researching and finding answers.  Although it was a relatively easy question, who was IU's Homecoming Queen in 1967, I  was able to find the answer along with a picture from the yearbook and an article that could be sent to the patron.  I also learned in doing this research that there was a scandal involving discrimination in 1968 that disbanded the pageant until 1978.  I had to remind myself that that was not what I was researching and move on, though.  But I thought that was interesting still and may have to read about it more later.  You learn something new every day.


I really enjoyed my first week and all the people I'm working with at the archives.  It feels really good to be back in an archival repository.  Here's to a good semester and regular postings!