Keeping busy with cataloging, manuals, and guides
Lehigh County Historical Society, which houses 30,000 museum
objects and 100,000 library books spread over ten museums, a historical
society and a library, recently began the arduous process of converting
paper records to an online database. Collections Manager Sara Kelley
systematized the process, hiring local volunteers, divvying tasks, and
providing tutorials on computer basics and on Minaret, a collections management
software package. Kelley developed two custom screens for the data
entry work, one based on the catalog cards for the library holdings, the
other on the accession records and printed inventories of the museum objects.
When the conversion is complete, researchers will have improved access,
and individuals will be able to conduct their own genealogical research.
You'll be holding all the aces if you get the new SAA Standards Manual!
Standards for Archival Description: A Handbook, compiled by
Victoria Irons Walch for the Working Group on Standards for Archival Description,
was published by the Society of American Archivists in February 1994.
The publication is designed to introduce archivists to existing standards
and the organizations that developed them. It is also a useful reference
for those generally familiar with the standards but in need of assistance
in tracing sources and interconnections among available standards and their
specific applications. Some 85 standards are featured with an additional
185 more briefly cited in listings at the end of each chapter. These
include standards for information systems, data exchange, cataloging, finding
aids, authority control, editing and publishing, and statistics.
Standards for Archival Description: A Handbook is $25 for SAA members,
$30 for others, plus $6 shipping/handling. Prepayment required.
Visa and Mastercard welcome. Contact SAA, 600 S. Federal, Suite
504, Chicago, IL 60605 or call their publications department at (312) 922-0140,
ext. 21.
A new finding guide to the collections of the United Methodist Church is now available. The Preliminary Guide to the Collections of The General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church contains descriptive notes on records of church agencies and independent institutions and personal papers. Compiled by the staff of the General Commission and edited by Dr. L. Dale Patterson, the Preliminary Guide is the first complete listing of the holdings available at the United Methodist Archives.
The first section of the guide contains thirty entries related to the
general agencies of the United Methodist Church. Agency records have
been organized into large groups and include General Conference, Episcopacy,
Education, Missions, Discipleship, Pension and Finance, and Communications.
Some of the material in these sections include the Records of the Council
of Bishops (1896-1969); Records from the Board of Missions of the Methodist
Church (1912-1969); and Records from the General Board of Pension and Health
Benefits (1891-1965).
Independent institutions which have donated their material to the Commission
comprise the second section of the guide. Records from such organizations
as Church Women United, the Bishops' Spouses Association, and the Methodist
Deaconess Association have been included. The largest section of
the Preliminary Guide contains over two hundred citations to manuscripts
and personal papers. Material from bishops, missionaries, lay people,
and other leaders in the church are found. Each entry in the guide
contains information on the inclusive dates of the material, the size of
the collection, an administrative history or biographical note, a scope
and content note, and information on related collections and/or individuals.
In addition, there is an index. The Preliminary Guide can be obtained
by contacting the United Methodist Archives, P.O. Box 127, Madison, NJ
07940. [Phone: (201) 408-3189].
In 1992 the American Heritage Center received a two-year grant
from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to conduct
a retrospective cataloging project of the AHC's western history collections.
The three staff members hired with grant funds and two permanent staff
members have produced online catalog records using the amc format.
These records have been entered into the OCLC and CARL (Colorado Alliance
of Research Libraries) bibliographic databases.
Over 1,400 records have been created since cataloging began in January
1993. The records can be examined by anyone with access to OCLC or
CARL databases. The grant, as it continues into 1995, will provide
access to collections related to geology and mining, screen writing, journalism,
the petroleum industry, the popular arts and other subjects in addition
to western history.
The project has also had a number of other benefits. In conjunction with the AHC's symposium "Women in Public Life," which commemorated 125 years of women's suffrage in Wyoming in September 1994, a Guide to Women's History Resources was completed using the entries written by catalogers for the scope and content note, 520, and the history or biography, 545, cataloging fields. These two fields had already been saved in WordPerfect files for new abstracts to the collections. The Guide to Women's History Resources was produced using WordPerfect's keyword searching and indexing capabilities which persuaded the AHC Board of Associates to funding five other guides: popular arts, politics and world affairs, conservation and natural resources, Wyoming and western history and mining and geology.
While online access to materials seemingly makes printed subject guide obsolete, AHC staff have found that donors, students and the public will thumb through a guide instead of looking up the materials through the catalog records; in addition, not everyone has computer access to the bibliographic records, particularly donors and inexperienced researchers. Staff point out that since the guides were derived from the catalog record and the entries in the guide are, with only small editorial changes, the same as those in the catalog record; they can be used as an opportunity to educate and inform about computerized access to our collections.
The project has also appraised over 7,000 collections in the course
of cataloging and identified those collections which require additional
work prior to cataloging. This information has been entered into
a database which will allow access to collections that need further attention
from AHC staff.
Copies of the Guide to Women's History Resources can be purchased
for $3 from the American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, P.O. Box
3924, Laramie, WY 82071.
Where do we go from here?
As a member of the Description Section I have always been impressed with the work of the Section and the information it provides to SAA about descriptive issues of concern to archivists. The recent meeting in Indianapolis and the newsletter amply demonstrate this role of the Section. As the chair for this year, I would like to see the Descriptive Section take a more active role in the field, in addition to its existing role.
It is at this point I would like to ask for feedback from members of the Section as where they think the Section should take a proactive stance. For example, one suggestion I have received involves the question of description, within the context of Gophers, World Wide Webs, MARC records etc. Does the previous dichotomy between collection descriptions and "cataloging" still exist; has it changed and, if so, how? The display of the work by Dan Pitti at Indianapolis should make people aware of these issues. If this and/or some other topic is an area for the Section to pursue, what would be the most effective ways for this to be done, both at the annual meeting, as well as an ongoing objective.
At this time I would like to ask members to think about a session at the 1996 Annual Meeting which would be sponsored by the Section. Now is not too early to start working on a session for '96', and we need your input to develop the type of session that best meets members needs.
What is needed is a response from members as to issues they would like to see pursued. I look forward to hearing from you, through whatever medium you wish to contact me.
Fred Hohnhart
1994-1995 Description Section Chair
University Archives
Michigan State University
EG-13 Library Building
E. Lansing, MI 48824
517-432-1466 or e-mail 20669MMA@MSU.EDU
Bringing archivists closer to the people's provenance
WORKING WITH FOLK MATERIALS IN NEW YORK STATE: A Manual for
Folklorists and Archivists
Edited by John Suter, with contributions by Bruce Buckley, David Carmichael,
James Corsaro, Ellen MacHale, Susan O'Brien, Kathleen Roe, and Frederick
J. Stielow
New York Folklore Society, 1994, 200+ pages, $25.00 Released October
19, 1994
During the past 50 years or so, folklorists and others concerned with
folklore and traditional arts in rural and ethnic urban communities throughout
New York State have been bringing to light an enormous range of cultural
expressions that have been little known outside the communities -- sometimes
even the families -- where they were created. Recording stories and
songs, documenting family and community events, objects of beauty and use,
and writing about their observations, they have been creating a unique
and priceless documentary heritage of people's living traditions.
Much of the documentation has been done in preparation for public projects
-- museum exhibitions, festivals, recordings, and publications. But
once a project is over, the documentary materials often end up in a file
drawer, inaccessible and deteriorating.
The New York Folklore Society's Folk Archives Project is bringing folklorists and archivists together to address this problem. The goal is to make sure that valuable cultural documentation finds its way into secure and accessible archives for the benefit both of future researchers and of the communities whose traditions are recorded. The manual is an important step in this process.
Working with Folk Materials in New York State is designed to:
The New York Folklore Society, founded in 1944 and located in Ithaca, New York, is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering cultural equity and cross-cultural understanding through its programs and publications serving the field of folk arts and folklife in New York State. The NYFS works with folk artists, folklorists and other interested people to nurture folk arts and folklife within communities where they originate and to foster the sharing of folk traditions across cultural boundaries. The Society publishes the Scholarly journal New York Folklore and the New York Folklore Newsletter, offers technical assistance, and produces performances, conferences, forums, and other programs with statewide scope, such as the Folk Archives Project, that address issues concerning folk arts and folklife.
Working with Folk Materials in New York State: A Manual for Folklorists
and Archivists is available from the NYFS for $20 (members), $25 (non-members),
plus $3 shipping and handling. Contact the New York Folklore Society
at P.O. Box 130, Newfield, NY 14867, (607) 273-9137 voice and fax.
This section, Archival frontiers, is devoted to
the discussion and dissemination of information about archival topics relating
to new types of description activities. Submissions are highly encouraged
and welcome.
Descriptive Notes is produced twice yearly, summer and winter. All submissions pertaining to archival description activities will be considered for publication. Editing for length may occur. Send your submissions to:
Descriptive Notes
c/o Dan Linke
Seeley Mudd Manuscript Library
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08544
Fax: 609-258-3385 E-Mail: LINKE@PUCC
THE SUMMER 1995 ISSUE DEADLINE:
MAY 15, 1995