Category Archives: Students

Digitized time capsule selections

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In a previous post, I described the time capsule traditions on IWU’s campus through the years. In the summer of 2011 we removed one capsule from Sheean Library and opened it during Homecoming that fall. Inside was a reel-to-reel tape recording of School of Music student and faculty performances.

We were able to reformat the tape into individual digital files and the mp3s resulting from that project have been added to our streaming server. All 14 recordings are now available via one link that points to the home for these digitized recordings in the IWU Historical Collections interface.

School of Music reel-to-reel tape

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Here’s an update on the time capsule post…the only item in the box that we couldn’t immediately understand/interact with was a tape of original faculty and student works from the School of Music. The tape appeared to be in good condition, but since it had been exposed to temperature fluctuations for a number of years, I decided to have it professionally transferred to digital format.

I just heard back from the vendor that the transfer went well and there was no loss of quality or damage to the tape. Hopefully, within a week or so we’ll have it back and be able to make some segments of it available. As a teaser, check out the program that was included with the tape in the time capsule. Lots of interesting musical works to look forward to…stay tuned!

Photographic material acquired

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Summer 2011 brought our biggest accession of the year and fulfills a need that was identified before my arrival on campus. Nearly all photographic negatives, contact sheets and slides dating from the 1960s to 1990s that were formerly stored in the basement of Holmes Hall have been transferred for processing to the archives. Once processing is complete, we estimate the collection will occupy 130 linear feet.

This collection was inadequately protected both because of the physical environment of the basement and at the item level: negatives were in legal-sized envelopes and contact sheets were in shoe boxes. We are spreading the costs over a couple of budget cycles but our goal is to re-house the entire collection and make the index publicly available.

Also included in this photo transfer were some of the newer slides stored within the campus photographer’s office in good-quality sleeves, so material from the mid-1990s only needed a stable physical space.

It should be noted that other photographic material remains in various places in Holmes Hall, but this large transfer is a great start to ensuring that the collection is protected for the future. Additionally, research requests can be handled by archives staff, instead of taking up our photographer’s already well-used time!

More historical photos

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If it’s been awhile since you looked through the online photo collection, check it out. One of our outstanding archives student assistants worked away at our backlog of photos that have been digitized for one reason or another in the past few years and there are over 1,100 uploaded now.

There are quite a few that we know little or nothing about. Click on the “Help ID Photos!” tab at the top of this page to search solely for those images. If you have information to share, let me know!

We recently acquired the IWU Tree Map files for the current and previous interactive websites created by Art Killian. We can’t make the map interactive in our photo collection, but I know we can at least save the map pages for each tree and include an image of each tree so that changes to our arboretum can be noted well into the future. Stay tuned!

More 19th Century student works

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Awhile back the complete run of Argus issues, 1894-present, was posted online. Since then we have added ten other periodicals to the same website. With publication dates beginning in 1870, these student and alumni news publications are now available for viewing through keyword searches or browsing by year or decade.

Spoof issues sit side-by-side with works that were published by and for Greeks and Independents; news accounts and reports from other schools are present with literary efforts of students; competing orations are printed much as prized athletic competitions are emphasized about today.

News tidbits from alumni as well as observations on campus society and politics are included, and ads for local businesses show types of preoccupations outside students’ academic work.

Browse or search for topics and names from IWU’s history. This collection offers countless glimpses of life at IWU spanning 140 years!

more Book Arts news

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Ever wanted to make your own book? Curious about careers in bookbinding or wondering what the Midwest Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers does?

ISU’s new Conservator Andrew Huot sent the information below, and I thought it would be of interest to others. Sign up today!

Bookbinding and Book Preservation Workshops at Milner Library

The Center for Conservation and Preservation at the Milner Library is

continuing to offer workshops in bookbinding, book arts, and book repair

to students, faculty, and staff. All levels are welcome, all tools and

materials provided. Bring your sense of adventure and come have some fun

making books.

The schedule and registration information is at

http://www.library.ilstu.edu/page/1562

[The student discounts are available for IWU students.]

The Center is also sponsoring lectures on book history and the book

arts. All lectures are free and open to the public. The topics and dates

are at http://www.library.ilstu.edu/page/1614

Check out the Museum class exhibits!

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Four groups of students prepared exhibits for ANTH 270 this semester. This project required them to become familiar with artifacts on a topic, research it using primary and secondary sources, and create a visually appealing and informative display.

One of the groups used ethnographic material collected by Dr. Rebecca Gearhart. Their exhibit, titled Rhythms of the East African Coast is located in a display case by the Anthropology department on the second floor of CLA.

The remaining three groups used materials from the University Archives. The exhibit titles and locations are as follows:

The Long Lost Fame of the IWU College of Law, 1st Floor, John Wesley Powell Rotunda

     –photographs and documents related to the Bloomington law School and IWU College of Law.

Turbulent Titans: Student Issues from 1970-1971, 1st Floor, across from Circulation

     –an analysis of issues tackled by the student publication “Rhetoric and Propaganda.”

The Center of the University: Its Rise and Its Demise, 3rd Floor, outside Thorpe Center

     –photographs, an architectural plan and documents surrounding the history of Old Main/Hedding Hall/Duration Hall.

Great job, ANTH 270!

Save Your Stuff!

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Memories and treasures should last a lifetime and be passed on to future generations. The first national collections Preservation Week, “Pass It On!”, is taking place May 9-15, 2010.

The American Library Association and partners that include the Library of Congress, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The American Institute for Conservation, Heritage Preservation, and the Society of American Archivists, are promoting Preservation Week to highlight collections of all kinds, and suggest simple steps to help you make sure your treasures and memories last a lifetime and are passed on to future generations.

What can you do?

1. Take a look around your home or wherever you store the mementos of your life and the lives of people who are important to you. Is a lot of it in long-term storage? Is the storage room subject to temperature and humidity fluctuation?

TIP: You don’t need to have cold storage to make paper and print photographic collections last. Constant levels of each are the most important thing. 70 degrees F is the upper recommended limit, but keeping spaces well-ventilated and preventing frequent fluctuation can help your stuff go a long way into the future.

2. Is your stuff sitting on the ground? Try putting a pallet underneath boxes or raising them 4-6 inches off the floor with something else.

3. Avoid stacking boxes directly on each other if at all possible. Open shelving is optimal: leaving space on all sides of stored material promotes air circulation and limits the chance that mold will develop.

4. Is your stuff digital? Do you back up your hard drive or use a commercial company for online storage? If you’ve got a back up hard drive, is it located near your primary digital storage place? Explore ways to back up your important files and keep them in a separate location to lessen the chance for loss if there’s a fire or natural disaster in your area.

5. Is your digital stuff labeled? File names like DSC7723, DSC7724, and so on can accumulate faster than you think. After awhile, how will you know what you are saving?

TIP: At a minimum, make folders with event names and dates to store photos in or create an index that associates this information with the program-generated file names.

6. Are your physical collections falling apart? Books, photo albums, scrapbooks and textiles need attention if they are to last. Taking photos out of old albums whose adhesives are failing and making sure they’re labeled is a good start. Some books may be rebound, but many will survive well into the future in a box or wrapper designed for them. Photocopying or scanning newspaper clippings can preserve their information without worrying about deterioration due to typically acidic scrapbook pages and/or newspaper itself.

TIP: Don’t seal anything in a plastic bag! Condensation forms quickly in plastic and promotes mold.

If you have concerns about any of your personal collections, I’m happy to talk with you about them. Use Preservation Week as a time to take stock of what you’re keeping, why it’s important to you and how you can act in ways that will keep your stuff safe for years to come!

Note: more ideas are available in one of my previous blog posts

Tips to make an archivist’s day…

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Here are some recent musings I thought I’d share that I’m sure will make any archivist appreciate your efforts and ensure your documentary heritage has a pleasant, regret-free life!

Dos:

Date all photos, documents, publications, etc. At the minimum, a year will make future generations think fondly of you!

Provide a minimum of an event or occasion name on the back of a printed photo in pen, at the edge. Try not to write hard enough to make an impression bulge through to the image side! For digital images, embed the info in the file name or in the “properties” summary. If you don’t know how to do that send a typed list with the corresponding file name along with the images or just save them on a CD in a file folder with the event name.

When sending a box to the archives, put your or your office’s name on it and one or two words about the contents. If the box has been stored in a damp location, call ahead to let the archives know before sending it over. We’ll need to have it delivered someplace other than main archives area until we can evaluate the contents for pests or mold.

If you have a large amount of material to remove from an office, I am happy to visit it in place to determine how much needs to be moved to the archives and what might go directly to recycling/shredding or other disposal. Labor Crew will appreciate only having to move boxes once!

Dont’s:

Post-it notes leave a gummy residue on historical records. Try slipping a strip of paper inside a cover or making a note in pencil. Or putting the whole packet of material in its own envelope.

If you use a paper clip to attach notes, make sure it’s steel or plastic. If you have to use a metal clip (steel or otherwise) try folding a small scrap of paper over the material to act as a buffer with the clip. And if you find material with a clip that’s been on so long it’s rusted and/or making an impression in a packet, leave it there and we’ll take care of removal in the archives.

Rubber bands create long-term problems, too. The bands dry up and can leave pieces permanently attached to material. It’s best not to use these at all…even paper clips do less damage!

Archives finding aid

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What is a finding aid? Basically, it’s our version of a catalog. It helps archivists and patrons find out what material we hold and where it lives.

For a number of years we’ve been trying to get an interactive, 2.0 type of finding aid online. We’re still trying to make that dream a reality, but in the interim we’ve got a pdf linked from the archives’ website and available for direct download.

Keep in mind that that we make frequent updates to this document in-house and will only update the posted version twice each semester (mid-term and after finals), so let me know if you can’t find something you expect us to have!