Turner posting

Finally finished the Morrie Turner finding aid last week. I was able to do the EAD from beginning to end, posted on the OAC and entered it in Archivist's Toolkit. So far I don't see why it is so desirable to be able to use Archivist's Toolkit. It seems a useful thing and pretty easy to use. Of course I have not explored its full functionality yet but I think I could pick it up quickly.
I am very proud to have finished this finding aid from beginning to end. During my internship I was able to enter mostly the overview section into OAC. This time I was able to get the container list, series, sub-series levels. And the beat your head against the desk until you figure out the error message, argh! The archivist had a great idea on that, just copy and past the error section and look at just that. You can even look at it in larger type. Made it so much easier to pick out the problem.
Check out my posting.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c83n24mg/

On the same page

I met the new archivist at AAMLO and am pleased to see that we are on the same page as to the direction we need to head in. Thanks to DACS standard his finding aid template is only slightly different from mine. We want to get our finding aids up on the OAC as soon as possible and we (meaning he) need to get our donor files in order, many deeds of gift and such are non-existent.
I was telling him how much I wanted to take a class in XML but could not afford the classes. As it turns out he use to teach it and volunteered to help me. I am very excited to get started on that next time I go in. How awesome is it to have my own tutor?

New beginning

So I finished school and forgot all about keeping this blog. But now I am realizing that I am starting to forget what I have been working on professionally since graduating.
I have been working, well volunteering at AAMLO twice a month since graduation. I have been arranging and creating finding aids. I have completed the finding aid for the Henry Delton Williams (Motown costume designer) and am currently working on the finding aid for Morrie Turner (creator of the Wee Pals comic strip).
AAMLO has been without an archivist for several years. They re-opened the position this summer and I applied for it but did not make it as far as the interview. I am afraid I was eliminated because I don't yet have ACA certification as was requested in the job listing. I am planning to take the test at the next SAA convention. One of the requirements of getting the ACA is that the archivist have one year as a professional, allowing up to one year to complete the requirement. Since I am a former student and current volunteer I don't think I am meeting that requirement. I am just hoping to have some position in time for the next exam, then a year later I will be good to go. I joined a study group this week.
At any rate, I do understand why I didn't get the job. It is a head of archives position and I really should have a few years as an assistant first. AAMLO hired a new archivist who started this week. I look forward to meeting him the next time I go in. I think we could work together and really increase the accessibility of the collection and make it the primo institution of its kind in the area.
I have enjoyed these past few months, catching up with friends and with my sleep. Now it is time to get back to work. Maybe try to fit in a class. Let's call this a new beginning.

winding down

There was not much new to report this week. I tried uncurling the degrees and awards from the McAfee Brown collection that had been stored scrolled, with some success and moved them to a large flat box. I added the container list to the existing in house finding aid. Much of my time was spent trying to identify people in the unlabeled photographs in the collection. I was able to identify a few people beyond Rev. McAfee Brown, but most people will remain anonymous.

I had a few items to add to the Nuclear Disarmament finding aid. I added the Scope and Content and the Abstract. It is unlikely I will be able to 100% complete this collection. The archive is expecting the donor to include a copy of her thesis which was based upon the work she did with the Nuclear Disarmament Project. So the collection will stay open until that is added.

Field trip

I have nearly finished the arrangement of the McAfee Brown submission. I stabilized the newspapers with interleaving. The two folders with drafts of one of his books and some assorted other materials, which I assume are related, I left in original order. I pulled the items I believe are inappropriate for public viewing. And I have begun trying to flatten out the honorary degrees that were left rolled in a box.

The exciting thing is that I was able to go with my site supervisor to one of the seminaries nearby to collect their submission. The 14 boxes were already ready to go when we arrived so it was really just moving boxes from here to there. But still it was nice to have a few minutes to meet a donor and spend some time outside of the library.

Second OAC

I worked two days at the archive today because I took last week off. We were able to get the Baptist papers posted to OAC. http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8n29vbb/ . Very exciting.

We spent some time talking about the structure of the organization. They are collaborative with UC Berkeley, allowing cross-registration and library privileges and the like. The individual departments work fairly independently; it seems the head librarian is fairly hands-off. It looks as though I won’t have the opportunity to really spend time with anyone outside of the archive.

I finished bundling the condolence correspondence for the MacAfee Brown collection and began on the second box of materials. It is..well…a mess. Letters, photos, newspapers, and notebooks were all tossed in the same box. I have had to pull out random items such as his expired passport, the bill for the kids’ tuition, a check to the DMV, research for a trip to Scotland. It is a challenge to find order in this submission.

Leaving things alone

I began working on a new collection this week. I am told that this donor has already submitted 300 boxes of materials to the GTU. It includes 200 boxes of books and 100 boxes of archival materials. Apparently the MacAfee family has saved everything related to Robert MacAfee. I was processing hundreds of condolence cards sent to the widow. It was my inclination to pare these down to a representative sample. I found the cards and letters that told of memories of MacAfee interesting, as were those from some prominent theologians. But many of the cards were store bought cards signed illegibly with nothing notable about them. I was instructed to keep everything and arrange it as best I could. I suspect there are some donor relations issues to which I may not be privy.

The correspondence was received over a period of approximately two month, so a chronological arrangement would be difficult. I have decided that an alphabetical arrangement best shows the relationships between the senders and the MacAfee family. I thought it might be best to store the cards and letters open and somehow attach those that have envelops, perhaps a plastic clip or sleeves, but I was told to leave them as they were, they may decide to do that project at a later date. That is where I left off this week.