Final Paper

Library 106: Library Field Practice
Pasadena City College
Shatford Library Archives

By
Jared Burton

Under the mentorship of:
Mary Ann Laun, Joanne Kim, and Mane Hakopyan

Spring 2008


According the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, an archive is defined as “the records of any institution, public or private, preserved because of their value.” At the Pasadena City College Shatford Library, the archives lives up to this definition and brings the notion of valued records to its community of students and public patrons. The task of tracking the rich and deep history of Pasadena City College is in the hands of those dedicated to the tradition of preserving it. Over the many years of Pasadena City College’s various incarnations, individuals and organizations have taken great care to ensure the posterity of its many treasures. These treasures illuminate the path the institution has traveled to become the respected, forward-thinking, and integral part of its larger community. It has been my pleasure to have been under the mentorship of some of these individuals, and to learn skills required to ensure the multi-faceted veins of history of Pasadena City College found in the Shatford Library archives.

The tasks that were set before me included: 1) Reviewing (and updating) the Policy/Procedure Manual, 2) Acquainting myself with the organization and breadth of the archives, 3) Creating a weblog to voice my progress and thoughts, 4) Organizing the recently acquired Proof Sheets/Negatives of the Courier from the Journalism Department, 5) Creating finding lists for a newly acquired cabinet, and 6) Assisting Mary Ann Laun with the Campus Archive Project, 7) Finding and making available information for a patron who requested information from the archives. Within these tasks were several other tasks, which include the development of other skills: filing, sorting, housing, and labeling.

The first of the two tasks are related. The Policy/Procedure manual details the how items should be processed and filed in the archives. It also serves as a good introduction for those who are interesting in using the archives. I was able to gain a general overview of the organization of the archives. The Policy/Procedure manual can be updated slightly for the current use of the archives in terms of dates, but overall it is sufficient. As the archives begin to take on a more active role in the upcoming decades of preservation, it will need to be updated to include the digital methods of preservation. The second task of acquainting myself with the organization and breadth of the archives came out of physically exploring the holdings. There are so many facets of the archives that one could spend an entire year poking around without running out things to learn. Nevertheless, I was able to orient myself and create a simple floor plan map. Among the many treasures are Department Chair reports to the President from the early 20th century. These, to me, wonderfully give a wonderful and lasting impression of the richness of history preserved in the archives.

The third task of creating a weblog was fun. While I discontinued its use after the 9th week, it is still a valuable insight into my progress. I was able to, for the first time, set up a feed burner so that others can subscribe to the blog and become contributors (as Mane and Mary Ann did). The reason for discontinuing the blog was because of its collaborative limitation. As originally suggested by Mary Ann, a wiki might have provided a better platform for my projects in the online environment. A wiki can be instrumental in the world of archives because they can allow collaboration with the outer community. If, for instance, a series of photographs were to be found, they could be scanned and posted on an “Archive Wiki” where members of the community would be able to help identify persons captured in the images. The blog, while allowing for comments, is not as collaborative friendly as a wiki. I can foresee wikis playing an active role in the future of the Campus Archive Project.

The fourth task dealt with the Courier archive project. This entailed taking thousands of proof sheets and putting them into new 3-ring binders. These proof sheets originated from the Courier department where they were kept over for over three decades in deteriorating folders and manila envelopes. I transferred the proof sheets and labeled the new folders. Before the actual transfer I made a list of al the material that was found and constructed a database of it. This allowed me time to examine the amount of material and decide how to organize it in the new folders. A new finding list was then made which puts them all in findable order. Almost all of the original sets of proof sheets have original finding lists that describe each proof sheet, give the number of corresponding negative, the photographers name, etc. This I put into clear plastic protector sheets to allow a user to examine them without damaging them any more. The Courier archives are very complex and cover a large range of time. Before the Spring Semester of 1987, there was no division in “general” pictures and “sports” pictures. After this semester, the Courier staff began to separate these categories. The new folders respect this as provenance.

The new cabinet consists of several drawers of material, which comprised by fifth task. Some are ALA Read posters from the early eighties, Artist In Residence posters, Black History posters, old PCC blueprints, etc. I put much of this in alphabetical order to the degree that made sense for each drawer’s contents. The most useful thing that was accomplished was the making of new finding lists for each sub-section of the cabinet. Included were the labels for the drawers. The cabinet is much better than the one that was being used before, but unfortunately there seems to be a lot of material that needs to find a space in the cabinet that can not fit.

The sixth task was to assist Mary Ann in the Campus Archive Project. While the project itself is far from being complete, the insight I gained from it is invaluable to my understanding of archives. The Campus Archive Project stems from a survey that was conducted by Mary Ann which can be found in her On-Ramps to Digital Highways. This survey was an attempt to find the level of participation of the digitization of archival materials by community colleges in California. From this survey stemmed another survey done interdepartmentally at PCC. PCC has several different sites around campus that deserve special attention to their historical material which is aging and in danger of being lost. The Geology Library houses material that should be archived as well and the Performing and Communication Arts. Dean Douglass and James Arnwine, respectively to each aforementioned department, were highly cooperative in meeting with Mary Ann and me to discuss and review materials they house. These materials are barely the tip of an iceberg for the amount of material that can be digitized and housed for posterity.

My seventh task was to assist a patron who wished to find specific information from the archives itself. This patron was interested in the historical records of a past employee by the name of Mabel B. Peirson. He had found old letters between her and her brother and was fascinated by the narrative he found. He wished to find any old pictures of her. I was given the task of finding this information for the patron, if possible, and making it available. I was able to find pictures of Peirson and he chose one that best fit his needs. Because he is not a student, he had no access to the scanning computers in the Research Zone, so I made him several digital files of the image and transferred it to a number of his flash drives. This task was particularly important to me because it showed the power of preserving the materials and reinforces the need for doing so.

In conclusion, the archives have provided a wonderful place for me learn about the history of PCC and the importance of archival work. I am considering focusing on Archival Science while working toward my MLIS at San Jose State. It has inspired me to think carefully about documents that portray an aspect of history and how to consider them worthy of preservation. I have learned the care and patience to do what seems to be tedious work but which is very valuable to the future patrons who seek specialized information. Looking forward for the Shatford archives, I see that the space allotted needs to be expanded in some way. The room itself needs is running out of shelving areas. Mary Ann has suggested that more locked cases be purchased to house some of the materials in the archives and I hope that plans to buy them are approved. They will provide the necessary space to reorganize the archives and move forward with the Campus Archive Project.