Butler Center: Behind the Scenes

Today's peek behind the scenes takes us to the desk of a Butler Center archivist. At any given moment, the desks in the research services division are covered with documents and memorabilia representing centuries of Arkansas history.

This correspondence comes from the collection of John V. “Pete” Smith, currently being processed by staff.

Smith enlisted in the Army in 1948 at the age of eighteen. He served in the Korean War for nearly three years, most of which was as a prisoner of war. Smith served as a radio operator in D Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was captured on December 2, 1950, and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner of war until being released on August 14, 1953.

While a prisoner of war, Smith was able to occasionally send letters to his family.

In addition to documents related to his Korean War service, Smith’s collection contains love letters written to his future wife.

Do you know what S.W.A.K. and S.M.R.L.H. stand for?

SWAK = Sealed with a Kiss

SMRLH = Soldiers Mail, Rush Like Hell

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Celebrate Archives!

October is American Archives Month, a time to grow appreciation for historical documents, archivists, and archives. To celebrate this important month, this blog will be featuring weekly behind-the-scenes narratives and photographs of the work we do here at the Butler Center. Stay tuned!

Do you visit an archive regularly? Has a staff member helped you out in a particularly special way? Let them know you appreciate what they do; you will make their day.

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Celebrate Archives!

October is American Archives Month, a time to grow appreciation for historical documents, archivists, and archives.

Do you visit an archive regularly? Has a staff member helped you out in a particularly special way? Let them know you appreciate what they do; you will make their day.

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Archival Haiku 2011

From the Society of American Archivists:

SAA members exhibited their poetic skills by putting their thoughts into haiku—a Japanese poetry form using five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables. More than 125 haiku written by archivists about the profession are captured in a clever collection.

Congratulations to the WINNERS...

Seven cubic feet
Enticing, what mysteries!
Wooden cart awaits...
by Kate Mollan

Marg’ret, don’t be cross:
archives now proliferate
ike lakeside bunnies
by Ann Heinrichs

Hey, handsome stranger
Saw your pic in the archives
Too bad you’re dead now
by Rebecca Goldman

Visit the Society of American Archivits website to read more.

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Celebrate Archives!

October is American Archives Month, a time to grow appreciation for historical documents, archivists, and archives.

Do you visit an archive regularly? Has a staff member helped you out in a particularly special way? Let them know you appreciate what they do; you will make their day.

Read more...

June 9 is #AskArchivists Day on Twitter

June 9th is “Ask Archivists Day” on Twitter. Do you have a question only an archivist can answer? Now is your chance to ask it!

How can you participate?

Start by following @AskArchivists on Twitter and let your followers know about #AskArchivists day. Then on Thursday, use the #AskArchivists hashtag to direct your questions to the archival community or to a specific participating archive on Twitter.

You can learn more about Ask Archivists Day by visiting the Ask Archivists blog. You can even see a list of participating archives (U. S. and Canada archives are listed here).

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Upcoming archival events at the ASI

The Society of Southwest Archivists (composed of the states of Arkansas, Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) will be holding their 39th annual conference in Little Rock, May 18th-21st, at the Peabody Hotel. The SSA conference rarely gets this far east or even to Arkansas (the last time was in Fayetteville, in 2001) so it is a rare but excellent opportunity to find out what is going on in the archival world.

Click here to view a preliminary program schedule and conference registration information.

Prior to the conference there will be workshops, several of which might be of interest to local historians and paraprofessionals -- attendance at the conference is not a requirement but we encourage everyone to attend both!

The deadline for early-bird registration is April 18th, 2011. Please note: there is no on-site registration

1. The Basics of Archives – May 17 - $75.00 – Arkansas Studies Institute -- max 20 attendees

This is a workshop for people who work or volunteer in organizations that deal with the past—whether it’s a museum, historic house, the city clerk’s office, the library’s local history room, a historic site, or a college archives. You will get practical advice, sample forms and policies, and learn basic practices you need to follow so that you can collect, protect, and help people use the historical treasures in your care.

In this workshop you will learn: What historical records are—and aren’t; How to decide what to keep so you have historical records that people want to use; How to make sure you have legal title to your collections; How to handle collections when you get them so you know what you’ve got and where it’s at; How to protect your collections from theft; How to deal with copyright issues; What tools you need to create to help users find the information in your collections; How to take care of historical records so they are preserved and can be used in the future.

2. Oral History on a Budget – May 18 -- $100.00 – Arkansas Studies Institute – max 20 attendees

This workshop is designed for those with limited oral history experience and a limited budget for oral history projects. Local oral historians Jo Blatti and Jajuan Johnson will cover theoretical and practical information for both audio and video projects, through instructor presentations and class exercises.

Students in this workshop will: learn oral history project planning and management techniques, including information on working with volunteers; gain knowledge of current recording, preservation and access technologies; gain insights into collections management issues, such as releases, IRB, finding aids, tape summaries/transcription and publishing; get experience in oral history interviewing and equipment handling [audio and video]; present project ideas in development; learn of Arkansas and Mid-south oral history projects as well as contributions to the field and best practices.

3. Digital Archives Systems and Applications – May 18 – $100.00 – Arkansas Studies Institute – max 20 attendees

This workshop will provide information about managing digital collections, including both born-digital and digitized material. It will focus on evaluating, adapting, and developing systems and applications to manage access and control of digital objects, with an emphasis on archival collections. Additional workshop materials and supplementary exercises will be made available online to registered attendees.

The workshop explores the following topics: User-Centered Design: Functional Requirements, Use Cases, and Usability Components of Digital Collections: Objects and Collections, Descriptive and Administrative Metadata, and System Models Workflows: Creating, Acquiring, Administering, Accessing, and Disposing of Data Interoperability: Protocols, standards, and transformations

4. Emergency Management – May 17-18 – max 35 attendees, cost dependent on Society of American Archivist membership – go to: http://tinyurl.com/4h6euho (or go the the SSA web site and click on workshops)

In this two-day, Society of American Archivists workshop, you are introduced to the basics of emergency management for archivists. You’ll discuss the four phases of a disaster (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery), as well as how to conduct a risk assessment, write a disaster plan, prioritize collections, and sustain preparedness.

In addition to theoretical planning, you’ll have the opportunity to gain hands-on skills in analyzing and mitigating risks by conducting an on-site assessment during a walkthrough of the hosting institution! The practical tips and tools you’ll discuss will help you get started so you won’t be caught unaware when disaster strikes.

Upon completion of this workshop, you’ll be able to: Identify the four phases of emergency management; Specify how you can mitigate risks associated with your collections; Conduct a basic risk assessment and write a disaster plan; Ascertain priority items in your collection; Establish relationships with emergency managers and first responders; and help educate your co-workers about the importance of EM.

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November 12: Follow an Archive Day

November 12th is "Follow an Archive" day on Twitter.

How can you participate?
Let your Twitter followers know about #followanarchive day. Then on Friday, encourage your friends to follow @TheButlerCenter. You can even use the hashtag #followanarchive and this list of archives to discover Twitter accounts for other archives.

Don't have a Twitter account?
No problem. You can view all of the #followanarchive day tweets in the official TwapperKeeper account.

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Celebrate Archives!

October is American Archives Month, a time to grow appreciation for historical documents, archivists, and archives.

Do you visit an archive regularly? Has a staff member helped you out in a particularly special way? Let them know you appreciate what they do; you will make their day.

Contributed by Stephanie Bayless, Manuscripts Department.

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Meet the Staff: Frances Morgan

Frances Morgan is Manager of the Bill Clinton State Government Project. She graciously agreed to answer a few questions about being an archivist.

What is an archivist?

An archivist is a professional who appraises, arranges, preserves, describes and makes available to researchers information determined to have long-term value.

What made you want to be an archivist? How did you get into this line of work?

I love history! My undergrad major was history and when I learned of the graduate degree program in Public History at UALR I decided to enter. My graduate assistantship was in the old Arkansiana Room at CALS and it was there that I became interested in archival management.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

My staff and I spend most of our day processing the materials in the Clinton Project. I’ve found that I’m enjoying learning about how Arkansas government works. I was never interested in political science before, but I’m seriously considering getting another undergrad degree in that discipline.

What is the oddest/most interesting thing/etc. you have found in a collection?

Over ten years ago, I worked on the Jay Miller Aviation Collection. A couple of my most interesting finds were a box of dirty, tattered T-shirts with various aviation logos on their fronts and, in another box, all sorts of in-flight snacks that included dried-up and melted chocolate. But the MOST interesting find was the World War I hand-held bomb. That type of bomb was held over the side of the airplane and dropped on the target by hand!

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Civilian Personnel Records Open to the Public

From The National Archives' National Presonnel Records Center in St. Louis:

The National Archives’ National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) opened more than 6 million individual personnel files of former Federal civilian employees from the mid-1800s through 1951. These records will be of special interest to genealogists, family members, researchers, sociologists, and historians.

Among the records are the files of prominent individuals who worked for the federal government, such as Walt Disney, Ansel Adams, Eliot Ness, Calvin Coolidge, J. Edgar Hoover, Gifford Pinchot, Walker Evans, and Albert Einstein.

Ronald L. Hindman, Director of NPRC characterized these records “as a veritable treasure-trove of information for researchers and genealogists.” He continued, “There are records from more than one hundred government agencies now available for discovery. They showcase the careers of government employees who investigated bootleggers; taught at Indian schools; worked in Japanese-American interment camps, in prisons, and on anti-prostitution boards, and created and implemented initiatives in Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal agencies, among others." Read the rest of the announcement here.

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Caring for Historical Documents: What Not To Do

Tip #1: Do not use rubber bands.

Rubber bands can bend and tear the documents they are holding together. As they age, rubber bands can become sticky and attach to other nearby documents. Eventually, rubber bands become hard. Trying to remove a hard rubber band stuck to a document can cause breakage and staining.

This is the end result:

Damage to an envelope caused by a rubber band. MSS 07-52 Barnett Brothers Mercantile Company Business Records (currently in processing).

It is fairly common for us to find stacks of documents, particularly from the early twentieth century, held together this way. If you are caring for documents of your own, try to remove any rubber bands you encounter.

Contributed by Stephanie Bayless, Manuscripts Department. Suggested and photographed by Shirley Schuette, Manuscripts Department.

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Students make historical find in Richmond. .

Without so much as a map or an "X" to mark the spot, a group of William & Mary students recently uncovered some historical "treasure" that is expected to shed new light on the lives of early 20th-century African-Americans, including Maggie L. Walker, the first woman to found a bank in the United States and a black woman who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of other black women.

Click here to read the full story.

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Public Service Announcement: AP&L

Quite a few people have stumbled onto the blog by searching for the phone number of the Arkansas Power and Light Company (AP&L). No doubt they find this post about our Couch-Remmel Collection. To help these poor lost searchers out, I’m posting this crucial bit of information.

The Arkansas Power and Light Company does not exist anymore. Try Entergy.

If you are looking for historical information on AP&L, try our Couch-Remmel Collection. Or try this AP&L Collection at the University of Central Arkansas. Are there more AP&L related collections in Arkansas? Feel free to post additional information in the comments.

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Processing: Behind the Scenes (Part III)

Labeling a collection is the easy part. When we get to this point, everything has been sorted, arranged, and put into its individual folders. Every folder needs to have a few things on it:

1) Title. What is in this folder? Who/What is it about? What time period is it from?
2) Collection Name. For example, “Dave Wallis Papers.”
3) Collection Number. For example, MSS 05-14.
4) Series Number, Subseries Number, Box Number, File Number.

Okay, let me explain that last one. Box and File are easy; each file is a particular number in a particular box (i.e. File 10 in Box 2). Series and Subseries can be a bit more complicated and not every collection will have these numbers. If a collection is fairly straightforward it might just be Box 1, Box 2, Box 3. But if a collection is more complicated or larger, it can be broken down into series and even subseries.

For example, this imaginary collection is a set of Smith Family papers and we have decided to organize it by family member. Mama Smith is Series I. Papa Smith is Series II. Baby Smith is Series III. Second-Cousin-Twice-Removed Smith is Series IV. If we thought this organization was enough, we could continue on to number boxes within the different series (Series I, Box 1; Series II, Box 1). But let’s pretend that Baby Smith was a pack rat who kept copies of every piece of paper he came into contact with. In that case, we might want to break Series III down even further. We could end up with something like this: Series III Baby Smith, Subseries I Correspondence, Subseries II Photographs.

All of this Series and Subseries mumbo-jumbo comes into play on the finding aid to make it easier for a researcher to find the information they need. I’ll talk about the finding aid in just a moment.

When we have labeled all of the files, we end up with something that looks a lot like this:


Pretty nice, huh?

Earlier I mentioned the finding aid. If you have ever researched in an archive, you have probably had some contact with a finding aid. The Butler Center manuscript finding aids are online. All of our finding aids contain some of the same information:

1) Collection name, number, and inclusive dates.
2) Donor name and date.
3) Size of the collection.
4) Processing completion date and processor name.
5) Biographical Sketch/Collection Description (to explain who/what the collection is about and what kind of documents it contains).
6) Description of arrangement.

After this information, the finding aid has what we call a “container list.” Basically, it lists file by file what is contained in the collection. So, going back to our above example, you might see something like this:

SERIES III – Baby Smith
SUBSERIES I – Correspondence
BOX 1
File 1: Correspondence to Jane Smith, 1905.

Or

Using the finding aids, researchers can find exactly what files they need to look at and not waste time digging through a lot of information not useful to their project.

Now all that is left is to stand back and savor the finished product . . . next week.

Contributed by Stephanie Bayless, Manuscripts Department

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Processing: Behind the Scenes (Part II)

To begin processing a collection we really just have to jump right into it. We already have some idea of what is waiting in the boxes; we might even have a detailed inventory. The point is there is nothing left to do except start.
So, we open the first box and start sorting. If we are lucky, the items already have some sort of useable organization or grouping that we can work with. If not, we just have to start making piles (topically, chronologically, alphabetically, color-coordinated . . . whatever suits our fancy).

Carolyn processing a collection.

As we sort through these documents, we do a number of things to help insure their preservation. For example, this is a good time to remove staples, rubber bands, tape, etc. We can clean the documents by removing dirt with a brush or pad or even wash the documents if safe to do so (WARNING: Do not try this at home. Seriously). This is also the time to identify any documents that might need to be repaired or might need more extensive conservation work.

We do all of this while we sort through the boxes and after a while, it becomes apparent how the collection should be arranged for researchers. No, really; I’m serious. We have all done our fair share of research projects and can approach the collection from both the researchers and the archivists’ point of view. It usually doesn’t take us very long to see what should go where.

When we get to this point, we start putting the documents into their folders (if we hadn’t started that earlier) and into their boxes. Photographs are matched up with negatives if possible and tucked away in their own cozy sleeves. Any objects that might have come in with the collection (being a archive we don’t actively solicit objects, but sometimes it make sense to accept them with the collection) get boxed up in their own special boxes too. Basically, everything gets tucked away.

Usually we don’t label the folders until the very end when we have seen all of the collection. Who wants to have to keep erasing and relabeling the entire time? Sticky notes help us keep track of everything. After we finish the sorting, cleaning, and arranging, we are left with something like this:


And we are ready to move on to the next step—labeling the folders/boxes and creating the finding aid. Stay tuned.

Contributed by Stephanie Bayless, Manuscripts Department.

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Processing: Behind the Scenes (Part I)

Processing* is the term archivists* use for arranging and describing a collection*. It can be a very long or very short process depending on the size and scope of the collection. Currently, the Butler Center has three staff members devoted to processing (and a manuscripts coordinator who wishes he still had the time to process).

The first step in processing is getting the collection. Usually this involves a donor approaching us interested in donation or Butler Center staff soliciting a donation from a likely donor. (A third way—purchasing through dealers and places like eBay—is less common for the large full scale collections I am talking about now.) With the new collection coming in, we must get the proper forms signed and then assign an acquisition/accession number. Most archives and museums follow a similar procedure. Here at the Butler Center, our collections are numbered MSS Year-Collection; for example, MSS 01-01 would indicate the first collection donated in 2001. With a number assigned, the collection is moved to our storage (and into archival boxes if necessary) until processing.

The wait in processing depends on a number of factors including the availability of staff and supply resources, the research possibilities of the collection, the storage space available, and the relation to the mission of the Butler Center.

When collections arrive at the Butler Center, they tend to be fairly messy. Typically these boxes have been stored in an attic or basement with little to no arrangement (or sometimes, an arrangement known only to the now-deceased donor and a riddle to the rest of us). When a staff member starts to process a collection, we will do a quick look through the boxes to see what might need to be done. This is what we are normally greeted by:

On a larger collection, we might look through all of the boxes and put together a preliminary or box inventory*. Depending on the complexity of the collection, we could do a quick listing of items in a box (for example: Box 1 contains correspondence; maps; political memorabilia) or a more detailed listing of box or folder contents (for example: Box 1 contains correspondence from John Doe to Jane Doe, 1910-1918; memorabilia from the 1912 Democratic National Convention. Folder 1 contains one world map circa 1920 showing travels of John Doe). Doing an inventory like this is good for a couple of reasons—1) it helps you know what you have and what kind of arrangement you might need to impose on the collection 2) it allows you to easily find items before the collection is processed and the finding aid* created 3) it cuts down on the time spent staring into the boxes wondering what to do next. However helpful an inventory like this can be, it is often more time effective on a smaller collection to just jump right in and start arranging.

Okay, so the collection has been donated. A number has been assigned and inventory completed if necessary. The collection has bided its time in storage and is finally ready to be processed. Staff has inspected the boxes to make a game plan for what to do next. So, what happens?

To be continued next Monday. .

Important archival terms. Yes, there will be a test.
*Processing: n. ~ 1. The arrangement, description, and housing of archival materials for storage and use by patrons. – 2. The steps taken to make the latent image on exposed photographic or microfilm materials visible; see archival processing.
*Archivist: n. ~ 1. An individual responsible for appraising, acquiring, arranging, describing, preserving, and providing access to records of enduring value, according to the principles of provenance, original order, and collective control to protect the materials’ authenticity and context. – 2. An individual with responsibility for management and oversight of an archival repository or of records of enduring value.
*Collection: n. ~ 1. A group of materials with some unifying characteristic. – 2. Materials assembled by a person, organization, or repository from a variety of sources; an artificial collection.
*Preliminary Inventory: n. ~ A listing of the contents and condition of a collection made before processing.
*Finding Aid: n. ~ 1. A tool that facilitates discovery of information within a collection of records. – 2. A description of records that gives the repository physical and intellectual control over the materials and that assists users to gain access to and understand the materials.

Contributed by Stephanie Bayless, Manuscripts Department.

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Coming Soon. . .

On a recent trip to Dallas, I visited the Sixth Floor Museum. While trying to entertain my five year old who wasn't in the mood to appreciate anything except for the various buttons to push, I noticed a small section of the exhibit dedicated to the collection/preservation of the artifacts, photographs, and oral histories. Upstairs on the seventh floor rotating exhibit space, there was an area describing how to preserve home movie film. Later in the gift shop as I wandered around waiting for my child to spend her allotted $10 (luckily, every boring place mom wants to go has a gift shop), I saw that the theme was continued with archival boxes and supplies available for sale.

Watching a group of visitors oh-and-ah over the supplies reminded me of how little is known about the behind the scenes work in archives and museums. In a previous post, I gave you a little taste of what a typical day was like for an archivist. This time, I'm going to give you a little look into the behind the scenes work here at the Butler Center.

Throughout October this blog will be running a special series of posts detailing the ins and outs of processing an archival collection. Complete with photographs! This four part weekly series starts next Monday. Be sure to stay tuned to see some behind-the-scenes processing action.

How do you get from


to


?

Contributed by Stephanie Bayless, Manuscripts Department.

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Hug an Archivist

October is American Archives Month, a time to grow appreciation for historical documents, archivists, and archives.

Do you visit an archive regularly? Has a staff member helped you out in a particularly special way? Let them know you appreciate what they do; you will make their day.

Contributed by Stephanie Bayless, Manuscripts Department.

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The Social Habits of Archivists

This week archivists from all over the country are heading to San Francisco, California for the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists (this is the biggie, folks).

Have you ever been curious about what a bunch of archivists might do when we all get together? Whatever you might imagine, we don’t sit around in our smoking jackets contemplating the acidity of various paper products. Nor do we have fashion shows of the newest up-and-coming archivists modeling their favorite pair of white gloves. Although that might not be such a bad suggestion. . .

Why not check out the official ARCHIVES 2008: Archival R/Evolution & Identities site or the unofficial wiki for insider information.

If you are feeling particularly brave, poke around some of the posts made by bloggers at the SAA. You can start here. Have fun!

Contributed by Stephanie Bayless, Manuscripts Department.

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