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.