Week 4: Overview and Update

Overview:

Well this week has trully been special because of yesterday's Courier article which announced the ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries Award. I am so pround to be a student/intern/worker here! Shatford Library is trully getting the attention it deserves.

Also, late last week I came across a book and DVD we have in circulation entitled Cultivating Pasadena: from Roses to Redevelopment. It presents old photographs of street perspectives (archived by the Automobile Club of Southern California) and juxtaposes them next to photographs taken from the same angle in the present day. The results are remarkable! There is even a perspective of PCC included! The DVD is filled with interviews and unique interactive photgraphs. I hope to show these to Mane for inpiration for the glass case she is preparing for the award celebration.

Yesterday was also marked by an interaction I had with a gentleman at the Circulation Desk who inquired about the Archives. Mane was out yesterday, so I could not direct him to her, but I did mention that I am an intern in the Archives. He then asked about accessing past catalogs to make copies for course description verification, etc. I gave him Mane's phone number and directed him to the reference desk to obtain an Archive Request Form (I failed to find any at Circulation, so I will make copies to have on hand for next time). It was enlightening to have an experience with someone requesting access to archival material because it directly showed me how the material is still sought after and emphasized the importance of preserving past catalogs.

Okay, now down to business! As mentioned in the last blog, I was not here on Tuesday because the campus was closed for Flex Day. I was still able to accomplish some things though.

Courier:

I am glad to announce that I have a prototype folder of proof sheets ready for review! Jennifer gave me a folder to use that is like the ones that she ordered earlier this week. I used it and Mane gave me tab dividers and clear sleeves. Mane and I had a short meeting on Wednesday to discuss ideas on how to organize the folder I followed what we discussed with some minor changes. I chose the 1977 Folder of proof sheets to create this prototype. Quite a few interesting issues came up that I can't wait to discuss!

My goal listed for last week was to sort as much as possible, but instead I only worked on the prototype folder as it took priority.

Campus Archives Project (CAP):

I met with Mary Ann on Wednesday to discuss the priorities of the emailing list to Deans. I obtained a list of 16 Deans and Mary Ann gave me three dates to set up meetings (3/18, 4/1, 4/22).

I sent emails to Alex Kritselis (Visual Arts and Media Studies), Ellen Ligons (Career & Technical Education), Don Paxton (Business and Computer Technology), David Douglass (Natural Sciences), and Robert Miller (Academic Support). Hopefully I hear back from them soon! I can't wait to visit their resources.

Mary Ann has mentioned the idea of the Library buying more locked, glass cases to house some of the materials in archives outside of the main room. This would allow for more space to be available for the materials obtained from the other departments. I think this is a wonderful idea because we definitely need more space!

One thing I noticed is that the list of deans I was given at my meeting with Mary Ann does not match the list of surveys in the report. For example, I have no copy of a survey given to the English Dean, Amy Ulmer. I don't know if this means that there was no survey given/received. I hope to figure this out next week!

My goal last week mentioned that I would come up with a sheet of some kind to note was transpires at the meeting. Each meeting will most likely be unique so I will just bring my laptop and write during and after the discussion.

Policy/Procedure and Finding List Folders:

I did not have a chance to work on these!

Next Week:

Normal shedule next week!

Goals for next week:

1) Have a discussion about the Courier prototype folder and progress with it.

2) Organize more of the Courier materials with special attention to the negetives.

3) Set up meetings with the Deans I have emailed and and send more meeting requests.

4) Continue updating Policy/Procedure and Finding List folders.

5) Discuss the glass case display for the award celebration with Mane.

Until Next Monday!

Week 3: Overview and Update

Overview:

This is the week when the scope of the types of projects for the internship came into clear view. My meetings with Mane over the past two weeks have completely oriented me to the structure of the Archives and now I am immersed in the Courier Archive project. My meeting with Mary Ann last Friday determined the nature of the Campus Digital Archive project and I have begun to organize for the upcoming meetings with participating departments on campus. These two projects have the highest priority on my list of goals and objectives.

Lower in priority (but not importance!) are the new cabinet's organization (and finding list), updating all the location lists, updating the Policy/Procedure manual, and basic organizational duties. There are certain tasks that may take higher priority in the future such as the digitizing of the bound campus newspaper archives.

Courier Update:

My headway in the Courier archives is going very well. I have begun to sort the many envelopes by date. Once I have them in chronological order, my task will be to examine the contents (proof sheets). I have three sections of folders (proof sheets) developing: 1) General, 2) Sports, and 3) Mixed General and Sports. This stems from the journalism department's method of organizing. It seems that before 1974 there was no distinction between General and Sports, hence the Mixed category. The envelopes (proof sheets) will also be shelved with the folders as they are sorted.

I am excited to say that I have found envelopes that include proof sheets for Airplay, Focus, and Prism (originally marked separately). These have been put in a different area to reduce confusion from the Courier archives. While important, I am guessing that these proof sheets will take just a notch less priority than the Courier archives. They can be housed in the same manner (folders) and in tandem with the Courier archives.

Campus Archive Project (CAP) Update:

First and foremost I have read Mary Ann's reports and I find them fascinating. The fact that digital archiving is a viable means of storing and making available a campus' rich history is an impetus for grant writing and masters theses across the state! With the proper funding, a whole new era of archiving can bloom.

I look forward to setting up meetings between Mary Ann, myself, and the departments that responded to the survey that Mary Ann included in her PCC report. I can't wait to see what treasures and invaluable historical information is out there!

Next Week:

Note: My usual Tuesday schedule for working in the archives has been thwarted by Flex Day, so I will have to do my work on Monday,Wednesday, and/or Friday.

Goals for next week:

1) Continue sorting and organizing the Courier archives. If I finish the sorting, I will begin to examine contents.

2) Obtain Mary Ann's schedule and draft an email to send to the departments. I will also develop a simple sheet to take to the meetings that can be used describe the contents of the departments' archives for general statistics on the volume and nature of material that needs to be digitized.

3) Continue updating Policy/Procedure and Finding List folders.

Until next Monday!

Blog Up!

I must say I have learned quite a bit about blogs this morning. I have an inactive blog for one of my UCLA undergrad courses in Library Science (http://jbis20.blogspot.com/) but I had no idea how to incorporate an RSS feed!

Luckily, my concurrent course in Cataloging (Lib 105a) required that I sign up with a blog aggregator (Bloglines). So, I have been becoming familiar with the idea of subscribing to blogs over the last two weeks. I spent some time and figured out how to imbed RSS subscription icons in the blog (top of left column).

To do so, I set up an account with FeedBurner (http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home). This company has been acquired by Google just like Blogger, so the process for making the blog a feed was easy with the help options.

What is it all for? Well, if you would like the blog posts to come directly to you, choose one of the options (Yahoo!, Google, Bloglines, or a reader). Follow the prompts and options to set it up! Let me know how it goes!

More posts to come!