Seeing the forest through the trees.....

Another busy day – March 10, 2008

More labels, more sorting of the collection into logical files. Papers everywhere on the table, slips of paper on each pile identifying the folder title. Logically trying to get the folders into the drawers where they might eventually reside. This makes it easier to find things, see the space remaining, continually revisit the breakdown of the series within the collection.

For example, the collection of Monmouth County and New Jersey History has already been broken out into an Administration series which includes all kinds of information on special collections around New Jersey. This is a “how to” collection with reference material from places like Rutgers Special Collection and Newark Public Library. It is very interesting to see different collections and different write ups of these collections.

Also, the Long Branch specific material has been broken out into its own series. It has turned out to be a serious collection of material so didn’t fit into a folder or two within Monmouth County. This evolution of design happened after exploring the material and examining the detail of the content. This would not have been possible by just going by the original collection description. Sometimes material is well organized and folders already exist and just need to be examined for paperclips and perhaps re-housed in acid free folders. And sometimes a collection might be huge, containing many thousands of items and the process I’ve been going through with Elsalyn P might take years.

Some of the material in the folders may need repair. Folded manuscripts should be opened if possible and stored that way to limit the wear on the folded section of the paper. Newspapers should be copied onto acid free paper if possible. Put the name and date on the paper if it is known. Its not always possible to get this information from a scrap of newsprint. Whether you throw away the original once you have a copy is a matter of policy generally. In our case we are only removing duplicate information – and even duplicate information may not be thrown away. It may be given to other repositories or even to the reference department for their archives. Every item is reviewed.

While sorting the material into folders, we are also identifying as we go the authority file or index. We are doing this on slips of paper also. If this collection was hundreds of boxes in size, this solution would not work. I think a laptop on the table with entries made immediately would be a solution or perhaps index cards that are constantly updated and reshuffled according to changes. In hindsight, I think I would have been comfortable with index cards with this collection, wrapping a big rubber band around the stack each night, everything sorted and tagged, ready for the next visit.

I had an interesting opportunity to witness the proposed accession of some material for the LB Special Collection. The director received an offer from a customer who knew of an auction of some material and had put in a silent bid for the grouping. The director asked Elsalyn Palmisano, consultant for the Special Collection, and the librarian responsible for the collection what their thoughts were on the topic. Elsalyn immediately posed, in writing, several questions about appraisal.

1) Had anyone actually seen the photographs that were being offered?

2) Do we know who is in the photos?

3) What is the size of each of the photos?

4) What is the condition of the photos and the frames?

5) Are they part of a bigger collection?

6) Where would the money come from to purchase these photos?

7) Where would we put them?

My initial reaction was kind of negative since the walls in the room are full and I couldn’t conceive of how we’d store these additions but Elsalyn’s logical questions clarified the situation. First, if we know who these are pictures of they become more valuable to library. We can do an exhibit, we can place them properly in the collection, we can confirm our mission statement and confirm that they fit within our collection policy. Size is an issue if we have to store the items and condition is imperative to know. If the material is damaged then how much money will it cost to repair them? Conservation can be very costly – do we have the budget to purchase AND preserve these items? This ties into the budget line question and where exactly would we get the money from. Is there money available in the budget? The question about whether the photos were part of a bigger collection is interesting. It raises other questions about provenance and rights to ownership along with possibilities that there might be more pictures we would eventually consider purchasing. So many issue stemming from one seemingly simple question.

In the end, the Board makes the decision to buy or not. They must approve the expenditure so all the answers to the above questions must be provided to them so they make their decision with full knowledge of the situation.

Another discussion item – we sometimes change our minds but its fun to talk through a problem and come up with a solution. Anyway, we have several very famous women who have their own folder of materials. Dorothy Parker (annual event in Long Branch is Dorothy Parker Day), Alice Paul, Mary Philbrook. We also have one very famous rock musician, Bruce Springsteen. The question is, do I file them under their last name or first name? Right now I’ve put them under their first name with a See Also entry requirement by last name. But this may change…..

Ok - more stuff on what to keep and what to remove.
Duplicates - what is retention policy of non unique material? For Long Branch the policy is two for the file (in case one gets lost) and one for an exhibit. If you have more than three of anything you consider tossing it or bartering it with another organization. Or even giving it to another organization.

What about collecting outside the policy? Maybe another repository can use it - dont' keep anything that doesn't fit nicely into your collection otherwise you'll wind up with no "collection" but a mass of unrelated material.

All these empty boxes - we must be finished, right? No Way!!!


We have just begun to fight! Or rather, redistribute the stuff. We are now seriously creating the series, folders and thinking how they might be organized, eliminating duplicate material and tossing irrelevant stuff. Everything was out on the table - what a mess! But it was neat as a pin when we left for the day....Elsalyn is very tidy!

19th Century Photographers - March 2008 Exhibit

The notice to the left has been distributed to local newspapers and the listserv of several history organizations. I created this publicity notice using a photograph that Gary Saretzky provided - it is a sample of the 1870 - 1900 photography that he specializes in, particularly the work of the Pach brothers.

The books and photographs came from the Local History Room - the photographs were donated by George R. Moss Jr, who was the Monmouth County Historian at one time.

Elsalyn Palmisano is responsible for a lot of these materials becoming available through this Special Collections room at the Long Branch Public Library.

March Display

March exhibit needs to be created asap. The February exhibit came down, with little fanfare as the author that we highlighted in the exhibit was a no show. Very disappointing since I'd done the publicity etc.

Gary Saretzky will do a presentation on 19th century photographers in Monmouth County and the display will incorporate the books and photos the library has in the local history room. Apparently we actually have some of the Pach photos.

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

Due to so many other priorities, I have been putting my time in the Local History room in smaller increments – no big blocks of time. This does mean that I have to re-establish myself mentally each time I sit down to pick up the task I was last working on. 4 hours on Monday, 2 hours on Wed and Thurs before starting my real job, stopping in on Friday to clean up and organize for the following week. I wonder if you work full time in an archive do you also have distractions? Emergency accessions to address, reference questions to field, perhaps online updates or conversions etc. How often do you get a full 8 hours everyday of the week? Forces some organization and documentation at the very least. I was reminded recently by my supervisor of certain key things that I have been told, learned, have witnessed or otherwise have picked up over the course of the past few weeks. I need to express them here in order to solidify my understanding and clarify that I understand the technique or concept.

Very early in the semester we wrapped up some old decrepit ledgers that were very heavy, very dusty with rot and very awkward sitting on a needed low lying shelf. With used brown paper from book deliveries, we wrapped and identified each ledger with the name of the ledger, the dates they covered, the donor of the object and then hoisted them up on top of the book shelves, label information displayed outward! This gets them out of the way, the dust enclosed but still provides visibility for researchers and donors if they come looking. These items are considered oversized and therefore would not usually be stored with the rest of the collection as they take up too much valuable space.

I was also given several pairs of rubber gloves. In the course of our work so far I haven’t had to use them. But they are an important part of an archivist’s tool kit. You don’t want to pass mold amongst your collection, you don’t want to touch delicate objects with perhaps sweating hands etc. A pair of cotton clothes would also be a part of the tool kit but I don’t have those yet.

I am registered for an all day preservation workshop on May 6th which will provide more information on the handling of delicate and decaying items. This program is funded by the NJSL, with the Northeast Document Center providing the instructor and materials. I attended a similar program in October 2007 on Conservation, also provided free of charge by the State Library and it was a fantastic program. I am looking forward to another fact filled day.

A preservation related topic is the marking of items for ownership or security purposes. We have an stamp (ink pad) that reads “Long Branch Local History Room”. I would stamp certain items belonging to the room – however manuscripts and books should not be stamped as their value would be affected by the marking. Books that were sold to raise funding for the local history room would have commanded a lower price if Local History Room was stamped or, heaven forbid, DISCARD.

Have I mentioned Donor files already? Not sure. Anyway, I have created files by year of the Deed of Accession documents for all gifts. This provides immediate access to source, provenance information, perhaps some needed descriptive information. It would be nice to cross reference the files by subject I think but that is a task for another day.

Postcard album is complete – a copy of each page was made for security purposes. A listing of some kind which is called an inventory and takes different forms depending on the media is necessary not only for research but also for security. A postcard, purchased at an antique fair, would have resale value and therefore needs to be identified in case it goes missing.

Main Collection I am working on are the Elsalyn Palmisano Collection – Vertical Files of Monmouth County and New Jersey information. This collection is divided into two series: Administration – this includes information of the working of the LB Local History Room. Included in this series are folders on local history rooms from all over the state. Monmouth County/New Jersey Collection – materials collected over the years which include newspaper articles, original documents, pamphlets and other materials such as pictures. I am not far enough into the arranging to determine dates or descriptive information. But suffice to say the vertical files will fill several filing cabinets. Some material currently in the Palmisano collection will be transferred to the Long Branch library archives. And other items will be cross referenced under several subject headings.

This leads me to something I learned on Feb 25th that I hadn’t understood before. Many items fall under several subject headings. How do you file them so researchers can find them? You certainly don’t want to copy them and file them in multiple places. Instead your Folder list or Authority File will contain entries which actually contain nothing, much like the yellow pages in the phone book. You will point to the location of the information under these “false entries”. “See” and “see also” entries are devices which prevent duplication or confusion. “see” means there is nothing in the entry but it is a valid search topic. “see also” means there may be some information under the original search topic and there may be more related information somewhere else that the researcher should be informed of.

Be consistent in naming of folders. Last name, first name of person, abbreviation or full name of repetitive information. When to exclude repetitive information. Examples – exclude Monmouth County from all folder titles but include New Jersey for anything outside of Monmouth County. Closed Files – no further additions will occur to the collection. This is usually due to the death of the creator of the collection. Open files – ongoing collection. Each year additional items may be added as the subject is active or creator is still adding to the collection. This affects the description of the collection of course. The Scope and Content can’t be updated each time a single item is added. The description of the collection should allow for growth and be written in such a way that the Finding Aid isn’t outdated immediately. This topic was covered in my archives and manuscripts class. Use of present tense for a collection that is currently active – eventually the collection may become closed. Do you update the Finding Aid? Folder titles at least should be closed, particularly if dates are inclusive. Add another folder, numbering increased by letters so that folders can be inserted when new material is added.

The Long Branch Library provides a budget line for materials purchased for the Local History Room. Some items are non circulating like the New Jersey Encyclopedia and some items are cataloged as circulating such as popular easy readers like the Arcadia Book. The Arcadia Books publish local subjects written by local authors and have in depth coverage of a particular subject. Many people like these books.

Donations are made to the local history room in memory of benefactors or family members, etc. A recent gift of $30 enabled the library to purchase a local history book and the stipulation was that a nameplate be inserted in the book identifying the donor or the person the book was honoring. This would be a non circulating book on display in the Local History Room. The catalog entry would/would not include the name of the donor???

Weeding? I think I covered this earlier. Space is at a premium so duplicate books, out of date books are removed so that new purchases and donations can be added to the collection.