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.