Month: April 2016

Everything is in its place! Each folder and item have an address now, with a box and a folder number. It was a puzzle that Lisa had to help me with, but each box is pretty much filled with the little or no empty space. The materials arrived in 4 records boxes, a doc box, two flat boxes and a large drawer folder, but not the arrangement includes more linear feet, many more types of boxes and more folders. It’s interesting how many more linear feet the collection is now that everything has been unfolded, refoldered, sleeved, etc. At one point I needed to rewrite a folder title, and I used the box and folder number listed on archive space to locate it. It was fast and efficient, it’s great to see in work in practice. The picture below is of the collection in the CCEPS room.

Also part of labeling every folder requires time spent on archive space. As mentioned in the post before the process is long, yet again is another layer of checking my work. In one instance, I found that I had physically divided a folder into two, but failed to do so on my excel sheet or Aspace. While labeling folders, I have to go through every single one which is the most detailed way to assure no mistakes. Next week, and my last full week, I will be working on the front matter for the collection. It’s weird to think that this is almost over! I have learned so much in the past few months!

This week I continued working with Archive Space.  Lots of screen time. Entering the data in would seem like it would be an easy job, but when using slow computers, one accidental click and you’re waiting for the page to load; all those extra seconds add up! But entering all the data into the system also acts as a very helpful check on the information. Sometimes rereading a folder title after having gone through the rest, I would decide to change it because I had a better or more specific title. Other times I would find notes with questions about materials, and this gave me an opportunity to revisit these queries and actually find an answer.

This week was also when my thesis was due, so my time spent on CCEPS, like this blog post was shorter than normal

(The slight blur to the photo recreates the feeling of staring at a screen.)

This week I worked on the oversized materials, putting them into folders, finding the right folder box combinations, and then labeling them. They had been laying to flatten really since I first started working on this collection. When I first surveyed the collection I had though there were large posters and small posters, but only taking them out of their folder this time did I realize that the large posters are actually uncut sheets of the smaller size posters. Each poster design was created by a coworker, family member, or former student of Hertel for his memorial exhibition in 2005. Each poster is very different as the artists used a variety of mediums and each has its own unique style.

Also this week, I started entering information onto ArchivesSpace. This part is time consuming and I prefer working with things rather than typing, but making the collection available users is why I am working with the materials in the first place. It also improves my keyboarding skills too!

This week I continued work in the audio visual materials, finding the correct boxes and labeling them. For those that were not in their original tin, I photocopied the front so record of the original label title would be kept, no matter how hard it was to decipher. I also made copies for the Route 66 box. This box keeps coming up in the blog posts because it offers such an interesting opportunity. The box included food, but 17 year old raisins are risky in what creatures they might attract into the boxes. The solution was to photocopy the food items and then put them into their own sleeves so they represent the idea of why they were included in the project. While trying to figure out how the project would be intellectually arranged in the collection, I had an idea. The materials are from a 1999 Michael Woodcock class and are part of series 6, or the “Michael Woodcock Contribution.” With 5 subseries already existing, how could I resist calling the Route 66 class project subseries 6.6?

I still have a few items I am working with to come up with folder titles or that I haven’t quite figured out how to physically arrange, but I feel that I am getting closer to the end point. There is still much to do, but the shift to the next step of entering data into the finding aid is coming soon!