Reflecting

I finished editing my final report and sent it of to my site supervisor for approval. It is a great relief. I had a friend of my proof read for me. She thought I was too concise and should have more in each section. I guess I hate to be repetitious. The project is already 25 pages it is not meant to be a whole textbook just suggested improvements.

It has been very exciting working face to face with so many people this semester. I missed that taking on-line classes. All of the people I interviewed to find out what part they could contribute or how they solved problems. I am excited to begin the internship next semester. While I feel that my project was well researched, it lacks a bit in practical, personal experience. Suppose I missed some aspect or problem that would have been obvious if I had 3 months of first hand experience. On the other hand when I do get to the internship I will understand better why certain procedures are in place not just doing what I am told because it’s what I was told.

Home stretch

I did a little more research on the scanner I have chosen The Neat Desk Scanner. It turns out that the scanner is bundled with document management software that will make the FileMaker Pro I had intended to use redundant. Which is good news. I had been having trouble integrating PDFs into the FileMaker. But with the Neat Desk organizing PDFs and JPEGs is what it was made to do; and all at no extra cost.

           I have been writing and putting all of the sections I have written into one larger document. It’s rather satisfying. On the other hand it shows the wholes more clearly. I need to get the priorities section written. And while not part of my original proposal I would like to include the section on future upgrades and a section on available grants. The grants are proving more difficult than I imagined, the NEH and Getty for example are either not giving this year or are only giving to specific projects. I will look a little more but I can’t spend too much time on that section.

Setting down the swirling info

The librarian approved the changes I made to the web page (yeah!); other than that no big news this week. I got some writing done. It was good to get some of the swirling information out of my head and onto “paper”. I also did some reading on digitization programs from a paper I found in the new ISO database. I think it is going to provide a good structure for me to put all of my info into.

Web work and databases

This week I met with the Digital Engagement Officer (Web-Manager). She was excited about improving the visibility of the library and archive on the web-site. She said it would be very easy to add the three page outline of the finding aid. I e-mailed my additions to the page to the librarian but have not been able to meet with him this week. My changes included one paragraph about the archive, the photography and security procedures that were already present on the museum website.

I have found that the easiest way to get the fields I want in FileMaker Pro is to enter the info into Excel and then upload it. FileMaker Pro is able to discern information that was pre-existing from new information and just upload the changes from the previous upload. That is very helpful. So I have spent some time entering file info into the Excel spreadsheet, and figuring out how to add PDFs.

closing in on the target

I spoke with the representative from Cuadra who convinced me that their platform was basically too much power for the size of our archives. I have downloaded a copy of Filemaker Pro. It is a document management system rather than the larger content management systems I had been looking at. On the plus side it is much less expensive and is intuitive and easy to install. On the minus it has a document library template but not an archives template. It does not automatically understand hierarchical systems but you can teach it to relate items to one another. It can be customized to Dublin Core specifications. And it is only one upgrade away from easy desktop web publishing or intranet/server usage. It can also accommodate a user database so it can track who is requesting what.

I also found a scanner that I really like. It can scan letter and legal size documents and has built in OCR and PDF software. I will check out a few more for comparisons sake, but I think this is the one. I also wrote a draft of the survey section of my project.

Preservation Standards. As a City and Non-Profit hybrid organization the company should be following City standards for preservation. But without a central records authority each department handles their records with minimal guidance. I would like to see the company at least accession all of the inactive records into the archive. It would be a positive step that could lead to more in a more cohesive direction.

Finally some progress

This has been a productive week. I sent a reminder to the curators about the survey and went from a 1 in 9 response to 6 in 9. This is enough for me to begin writing up this section of my final.

I met with the person in the registrar’s office who is in charge of photo services. We discussed the content management system (ARGUS) which they use for the art collection and her wish that they also had a Digital Asset Management system. And I found that the frontrunner in my software search is from a different division of the same company that produces the ARGUS platform. I have contacted Cuadra for a free trial download of their content management system, and cost information.

           It goes beyond the scope of my proposal but if they decide to purchase a content management system it could be used for more than just the Brundage Archive. AAM has inactive records and photos from events scattered in different departments and in off-site storage. They have provided only rudimentary retention guidelines for departments. If they are going to get the most use out of the system they should create a central archive and have all of these records accessioned into it.

The run around

I started to feel this week that I just had too many software options. So, I went into the AAM IT office and tried to get a direct answer to what sort of programs I should be looking at. I asked if I should be looking at open-source or commercial. The IT director said “for a paper you should do open-source.”

“Would you ever allow open-source software to be installed on one of the museum computers?”

“No, we would never use them. They are for tech geeks.”

“So, I should be looking at a commercial program?”

“No, you will never get approval to purchase a commercial program. They can’t afford it.”

Now imagine 15 minutes of this.

I said “Okay, would you be willing to take a simple pdf of the finding aid and post it on the museum web-site?”

“No. That would be up to the web manager.”

The web manager who we just hired and doesn’t start until next week. Frustration.

I am leaning back toward OAC, and have contacted them for more information.

Life Cycle

The records I am working with are all at the end of their life cycle. The last one was written over 30 years ago. They are no longer useful for administration purposes and are kept for research and nostalgia.

I had a great meeting with the librarian/archivist from MOMA today. She gave me a few things to think about as far as access restrictions. For example we have architectural drawings in the collection but if posted online it is like saying here are the schematics to the galleries come and rob us. That wing of our old building is no longer standing but still it is an issue I had not considered. She also leaned toward more restrictions in general but they are also a private institution while AAM is property of the city.
She has also agreed to send my contact for some people at other city owned collections to see how they handle access situations. And she will send me some of the personnel hours formulas she used when creating the plan for her archives.
A very productive afternoon.

Trying systems

This week I have been looking at archival management systems. I am finding Lisa Spiro’s article on the subject very helpful. It is slow reading because I find myself taking lots of notes. I am also reviewing the comparisons on the archival software website http://archivalsoftware.pbworks.com/w/page/13600254/FrontPage .

I began by checking out Fedora and dspace. Mostly because these are the options that Lori covered in our class this summer. I think they would be an excellent upgrade at some point but since this archive has no experience with electronic finding aids or content management systems, I think this is just more technology than they can handle just now. My current front runners to help AAM get started are Online Archive of California, Archivists’ Toolkit, and Archon. The OAC wanted a completed application before being able to try their system. I downloaded a copy of the Archivists’ Toolkit but realized that it won’t work without MySQL or similar, the same with Archon. So, MySQL will be my next stop.

Archon has many of the features I am looking for, easy data entry, digital library module, accommodations for organizational hierarchy, and EAD, MARC, & DACS compliance. It does not generate reports but I think that can be addressed once the staff becomes comfortable with the electronic format.

Corporate Culture question

I take the corporate culture at AAM to be casual and collaborative. Perhaps it is because we are a non-profit it lends itself to that sort of atmosphere. Everyone is on a first name basis. As an example of collaboration all profits from the museum store go to support the programs of the education department. I think in the long run this will be an asset and generate goodwill among participants.

Lots to read

My work this week has been all about reading. Reading articles and reports, reading about copyright, reading how other institutions have implemented their digitization programs. I did take some time out from my reading to meet with the chief curator at AAM and discuss the issue of copyright in relation to the Brundage archive.

My questions about who holds the copyrights for the archive were met with a resounding “we just don’t know”, which is an expected answer. Based upon my reading it is pretty common not to be sure of who holds the copyright for archival holdings. Some repositories have spent large amounts of time and money to track down the copyright holders and obtain permissions from them. All of their searching resulted in a very small return on definitively determining the rights. They have solved this by just publishing the items to their website and in the unlikely result that someone complains they just remove the item.

This is the option that I suggested to the curator and he seemed agreeable. After all, publishing portions of the archive on the web is very unlikely to interfere with anyone’s livelihood.

As for this weeks question on the leadership style of the site supervisor: it is difficult to tell. He is the only librarian. I cannot see how he relates to subordinates. My overall impression is that he has a laid back style. He makes modest changes but does not aggressively pursue them.

Two steps forward

I spent my onsite day this week mostly going through some files that the librarian believed were part of the Brundage archive that had been removed but not re-filed. The files were in bad shape with paperclips rusting onto the paper and multiple copies of newspaper articles. All of which made me suspect that no archivist would have left them in this condition. This was confirmed when I tried to match it to the finding aid, which are really pretty good, and they just did not match. So, so I cleaned up the files and we determined that they were likely from some vertical file not related to Brundage which had never been processed. It was interesting from the point of gaining information about the museum in general but a waste of time from my specific mission.

I received approval from the site supervisor on my proposal and forwarded it to Pat. I also had to run the proposal by HR who were afraid I was doing an unsanctioned internship. But that has all been smoothed over. I managed to get contact information for the curators and as soon as I formulate my questions I can start setting up interviews.

Refining the process

This week has been spent refining my proposal and forwarding it to both Pat and my site supervisor John at the Asian Art Museum (AAM). I re-rad the finding aids at the Brundage archive to help me narrow down the boxes that I think are most likely to be desired by the curators.
The boxes have been divided into three sections:

• The Art Files - files related to the acquisition by Brundage. Includes correspondence, dealer invoices, and foreign asset control. These comprise the first 41 boxes of the collection.
• Museum Files -  files relate to the formation of AAM these are contained in boxes 42-62. Includes: 
• memos
• notes & clippings
• subject correspondence
• appraisals
• agreements & inventories
• minutes & reports
• miscellaneous
• museum boxes
• Later files- related to the move to the new building at Civic Center>
  I suspect that the the Art Files will be the most desirable items> but the appraisals and agreements & inventories may also be desired, Now I need to meet with the librarian and begin to formulate my questions for the curators.

small steps

    I have made little progress this week. Partially because I am out of state. But I have been emailing the librarian at the AAM trying to work out a schedule. I am planning to go in for a half day each Monday. Which is fine with him except that the next monday is Labor day So all I can manage is to go in on my lunch break a couple of times next week.
     My initial thought for the project was to find out what sort of items the curators would find most useful from the Brundage archive and make those available digitally through a program similar to the one we use to put images from the collection. But since I made a visit to the Chevron Corporate archives last month I have been considering other options. At the Chevron Archives the archivists present a more finished report the filtered facts rather that giving requestors the raw materials.
     So I have begun to wonder if it might be more useful to create a database of provenance. A sort of family tree for the collection pieces. What I need to do is formulate a questionaire for the curators and find out which type of format would be most useful to them. I have never tried to compose a questionaire, so this will be my first challenge.

New Archivist

This is my first stab at blogging it is required for my class. When we had to keep journals in High School English I always fell behind. Well, we shall see if we can do better x# of years later. This week I need to get together with my site supervisor for my professional project and anything else I would normally have finished next week. So I can go on vacation with a clear conscience.