Tag Archives: inventory

~Daily Journal~ Week 12

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November 19, 2012: FCC history, scope and content.  Final finding aid submitted. 5 hours

I worked on the final draft of the finding aid for the FCC (Federal Council of Churches).  I added the history and scope and content notes.  I submitted the draft to Brigette for review.

November 20, 2012: FCC labels and correct finding aid.  Inventory of SCC and research on history.  5 hours

I received the corrected copy of the finding aid back from Brigette.  I made the changes requested and resubmitted it.  Ruth Tonkiss is on vacation so I won’t be able to get her final approval until after Thanksgiving, when I return on Tuesday next week we should be able to do the DAM on the finding aid and get it up online.  Yay!  The most interesting stuff in this collection has to do with the Bethlehem Steel Strike of 1910 and the little bit of research I did on who seemed to be the owner of most of these papers; Rev. Rockland T. Homans.  I think I will focus my blog entry on these two things.  I labeled the boxes (which are just 3 small boxes)

Final home for the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America Records (FCC).

I began the inventory on my next collection State Council of Churches.  It seems to mostly consist of bulletins from various state councils around the country.  Shouldn’t be too difficult to organize.  Amazingly I was able to complete the Work Plan and the Inventory.

November 25, 2012: Research on SCC.  2 hours

I brought home a couple of the books listed on my Work Plan and took some notes which I added to the bottom of the work plan.  I’ll use these notes to develop the history portion of the finding aid. Hopefully the finding aid can be completed tomorrow.  Then I can work on my FCC blog entry.

Total Hours: 12

Running Total: 119

~Daily Journal~ Week 10

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November 5, 2012:  Began FCC inventory with unprocessed collection material.  5 hours

It is back to work for me.  The commute may be longer but I have a new FCC collection to work on.  After submitting my blog post on Baba to Brigette, I began researching and sorting through my next collection.  I sorted through the box and folders that I grabbed from the unprocessed collection and worked on my work plan, which I submitted to Brigette in order to get her approval on what I had determined might be the divisions in the collection.  You can see the original divisions suggested when the collection was acquired in my October 19, 2012 journal entry.  I added to my work plan as I sorted through the collection, adding what I saw were the different commissions and committees.  I hoped that would help me determine the final order.  I began the inventory and made it through the box and 3 folders that I had grabbed from the unprocessed collections.
November 6, 2012:  Final FCC inventory and organization discussion with Brigette.  5 hours

I finished my inventory of the FCC collection.  I talked with Brigette on how I should organize this collection.  I felt that after looking at the Presbyterian Historical Society finding aid that this should be a collection divided into three sections: Commissions, Committees, and Departments; Conferences and Meetings; and Members Papers.  There were a number of folders from the Hollinger boxes that just held newspaper and magazine articles on specific topics.  I could determine who some of them belonged too and actually I think (based on the date and the type of material) all belong to one person, Rev. Homans.  However, there is no proof of that in a few of the folders so it is just supposition on my part and so they should be labeled just as Members papers.  Brigette felt this was the correct way to go.  I also wanted to know how to divide this up on the finding aid. It is a small collection probably between 3 and 4 boxes and I didn’t think we needed to have it divided into series.  Brigette suggested that bolded headings would work just fine and gave me an example from a previous finding aid.  I will start putting everything in order, labeling folders, and new boxes next week.

Total Hours: 10

Running Total: 97

~Daily Journal~ Week 2

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September 10, 2012: Inventory 3 3/4 hours

6 boxes of the WAB: American Bilateral Conversations Records Collection

I started my inventory of the collection today.  I was able to get through 2 1/4 boxes.   To begin with I am making a very detailed inventory, since I am trying to get an idea of what this collection is about.  I’ll post a copy of the inventory when I finish the job.  Additionally I found out that I would be able the librarian viewing of the exhibit of “Crossing Borders” at the Jewish Museum on the 21st instead of coming into the Burke.  I had to register today.  I’ll talk a lot more about the exhibit on the 21st but until then if you’re interested in seeing a preview, here is an article in the NYT that talks about it.

September 11, 2012: Inventory Part 2 3 1/4 hours 

After a very sad train ride into the city this morning that put a nice big delay in my schedule and a damper on my mood, I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to finish the inventory, but I was lucky!  I was able to get through everything in the boxes.  By the time I got to the last two boxes I stopped being so detailed in the description, since it was pretty much the same sorts of things.  Plus I was now familiar with what the collection was about.  Here is the final inventory.  [pdf]

September 14, 2012: Work Plan finished/Finding Aid begun 3 3/4 hours

I created a work plan, [pdf] which according to the process Brigette has created to help with organization has 6 parts to it.  I will summarize those points below.

1. Statement of the research potential of the collection
2. Description of the current physical state of the collection
3. Appraisal (why is this in the archives?)
4. Recommendations for organization
5. Description of preservation needs of any special formats
6. Finding aid elements, divide into series, etc..

After I had finished I sent it to Brigette for review and then had a discussion with her regarding any points she wanted to bring out.  Most of the discussion was based on the future organization of the collection and how to make the finding aid.  They have a template (how awesome is that!)  So I am able to just follow the template.  As I noted at the end of the work plan I am going to start with just a basic organization of Roman Catholic led conversations followed by Protestant led conversations.  Once that is in place I need to start checking paper topic, each research paper’s availability in other mediums to determine if the paper remains in the collection or is separated out.  Once that is done I will have another discussion with Brigette so we can decide whether to just arrange the remaining materials by date or if a topical arrangement would be better for those trying to find these materials.  I’m looking forward to work on Monday.

Total hours: 10 3/4

Running total: 23 1/4