Archives

LITS Annual Report 2004-2005

Introduction
Reference
Collection Development
Collection Processing
Outreach/Collaboration
Policies and Procedures
Administrative/LITS/MHC-Wide Activities
Personnel
Professional Development

Introduction

Archives and Special Collections continued to develop, and provide the Mount Holyoke College community with excellent access to the College’s archival, manuscript, and rare book collections. Primary activities during 2003-2004 were providing reference services, creating online access to collections, exhibits, giving instruction to undergraduate classes and individual researchers, collaborating with administrative and academic units or departments, developing the collection, as well as increasing the visibility of the collection locally and nationally.

Reference

Researchers
In 2004-2005 808 researchers visited Archives and Special Collections and the department received 973 reference requests (248 reference telephone calls and 725 written reference requests).1 Primary users of the collection were Mount Holyoke College students, faculty, alumnae, and MHC offices and departments. Other researchers include faculty from other academic institutions, students at the undergraduate and graduate level as well as the public and staff from various institutions.

Use of Collection
Researchers requested 7147 boxes, folders or volumes from archival and manuscript collections, 63 volumes from the rare book collection, and 120 honors papers. The department facilitated reproductions from its collections for researchers including:

• 50 digital reproductions, of documents or photographs in the collection, for 30 individual requests
• 243 photocopy requests

The department also granted permission to publish from its collections to 48 researchers.

Collection Development

Acquisitions: Accessioned 212 collections totaling 125 linear feet. Notable accessions include:

• Course Records for English 265, Lyric Poetry (cassette tapes of lectures by Joseph Brodsky)
• Course Records for Sociology 224, Practicing Sociology, Spring 2004
• Records of The Mount Holyoke Club of Lancaster, Pennsylvania
• Personal Papers of Harriet Ely, x-Class of 1849; Gertrude Lukins Didcoct, Class of 1905; Barbara Gould Nylander, Class of 1934 (M.A. 1935); Carol Monnik Huth, Class of 1955; Jan Crozier O'Rourke, Class of 1956; Brooke Wiig Lynes, Class of 1957; Fay Kallos Fahs, Class of 1959; Julie Van Camp, Class of 1969; Deborah Simpson Hutchings, Class of 1978; Ellen Peet Hubbard, Class of 1883; Caroline Boa Henderson, Class of 1901; Barbara Johnson White, Class of 1939; Helene Phillips Herzig, Class of 1949
• Scrapbooks compiled by Maude Aldrich, Class of 1902; Minnie Hoyt, Class of 1903; Marjorie Fisher, Class of 1942
• Faculty papers of Ruth Elvedt, Ann Haven Morgan, Lydia W. Shattuck
• Letter by Mary Lyon, July 13, 1836 (purchase)
• Papers of Elihu Dwight (father of benefactor John Dwight)
• Morse S. Allen Rare Book Collection (donated by Katharine Ray, Class of 1970) consisting of 31 books and pamphlets printed between the years 1511-1892 and representing genres including renaissance science, literature, poetry, theater, politics, religion and history. See article.
• Alumna Susan Moritz’ donation of a signed, limited edition (copy 30 of 500) of Virginia Woolf’s Street Haunting: A London Adventure.
• The Vernon Manuscript: A Facsimile of Bodleian Library donated by University of Massachusetts Professor Emeritus Vincent DiMarco.
• Skulls by Jonathan Maslow with etchings & woodcuts by Leonard Baskin. 2003 donated by Virginia Ross via the Ross Fund.

Collection Processing

Staff processed 13 collections, totaling 50.5 linear feet. (manuscripts 20.5, record groups 3, de-accessioned materials 27 linear feet)

• Helen L. Belcher Papers, MS 0825, 1.5 linear ft., 
• Mary E. Augur Dudley Papers, MS 0654, 1.25 linear ft.,
• Elihu Dwight Papers, MS 0831, 2 linear ft., 
• Roxane Hill Hughes Papers, MS 0832 2.5 linear in., 
• Elizabeth A. Kormos Films, MS 0829, 2.5 linear in.,
• Katharine H. MacLaren Papers, MS 0827, 6.5 linear ft.,
• Mary Ellen Padin Papers, MS 0826, 5 linear ft., 
• Ruth S. Rafferty Papers, MS 0824, 5 linear in., 
• Margaret Stallman Ruth Papers, MS 0753, 1.5 linear ft., 
• Shurcliff, Merrill and Footit Landscape Architects Papers, MS 0662, 7.5 linear in., 
• Christianna Smith Papers, MS 0739, 5 linear inches,
• Katharine Elizabeth Taylor Wells Papers, MS 0598, 1 linear ft., 
• Theatre Arts Department Records, RG 18.40.20, 3 linear ft.

Finding Aids:
99 finding aids were added to the Five College Finding Aid Database

• 13 new finding aids
• 86 converted from HTML to XML and uploaded

Cataloging

36 vol. catalogued (Donohue Group and Technical Services) and added to the online catalog for the Rare Book Collection.

Digitizing

• Migrated 1500 digital objects from an Access database to CONTENTdm, our online digital object management database.
• Developed interface for collection and made public ,
• Created manual for staff to use to scan and catalog items from the collections.
• Developed forms and procedures for scanning for patrons.
• Digitized new materials and added to collection
  Digitized and cataloged 129 new items from the collections
  15 for patron requests
• Developed 150 compound items (spanning 2 pages to 30 pages)
• Reformatted Materials
            o Elizabeth Kormos (class of 1973) 35 mm films (3) to DVD
            o 112 Department of Athletics slides (Record Group 18.27.1) to TIFF files (scanning done by RIS)

Outreach

Undergraduate Instruction
Archives and Special Collections staff (Jennifer King and Patricia Albright) taught or led 7 undergraduate classes, comprised of 105 students, how to conduct research using historic collections (both primary resources and rare books.) The number of archives classes and students is down 52 % from 2003/2004, but is 60% higher than 2002/2003.

• Archives
            o Chemistry 212, History of Chemistry, Donald Cotter, instructor (14 students)
            o J-term 117j, Get FIT: Becoming Fluent with Information & Technology, Julie Boiselle and Janet Ewing, instructors (15 students)
• Rare Books
            o Italian 212, Mirrors for Reality: Renaissance Italian Theatre, Claudia Chierichini, instructor (6 students)
            o English 311, Chaucer's Stories and Storytellers, Carolyn Collette, instructor (25students)
            o English 319, The English Language, Carolyn Collette, instructor (20 students)
            o Medieval Studies 200, Picturing the Middle Ages, Margaret Switten, instructor (14 students)
            o Art History 301, Topics in Art: Palladio and Palladianism from the Sixteenth Century to Postmodernism, John Variano, instructor (11 students)

Graduate Instruction
Archives and Special Collections taught 2 graduate classes from the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

• LIS 438 - Introduction to Archival Methods and Services, Jeanette Bastian, instructor (10 students) –J. King
• LIS 440 - Administration of Archives and Manuscripts Collections, Kelcy Shepherd, instructor (7 students) – J. King and S. Folsom

Exhibits

• “Writings about Mount Holyoke”, Archives Lobby, summer-fall 2004, June 2005
• “Water Ways”, LITS, February – June, 2005 (in conjunction with Weissman Center for Leadership Program on Water Matters) 
• “Early Valentines”, Archives Lobby, February 2005 
• “Do You Remember? Glimpses of MHC's History, 1936-2003”, New York Room of Mary Woolley Hall, May 18-June 1, 2005
• “25th and 50th Class Anniversaries” for Reunion I and II, Archives Lobby, May, 2005
• “History of the Rare Book Collection” exhibit, tour and reception for LITS Staff Mtg, 7th Floor Miles-Smith, 6/20/2005

Newsletter
Archives and Special Collections published a newsletter in Spring of 2005 highlighting new acquisitions. The newsletter was distributed to all faculty and published online.

Talks

• Five College Women’s Resource Center King gave a talk on research in Archives and Special Collections to the incoming research fellows of the Five College Women’s Resource Center (September, 2004)
• Alumnae Association, Alumnae Council P. Albright gave a talk to a group of alumnae at Alumnae Council describing ways that the Archives can support reunion activities. See handout developed for this talk (October, 2004)
• Human Resources Brown Bag Lunch J.King hosted a Brown Bag Lunch for the College on “Is Your Memory Slipping Away? Tips on Archival Preservation and Organization,”2/24/2005 (15 faculty and staff members from across the campus attended.)

Open House/Events

• Reunion Weekend
            o Archives and Special Collections was open to the public from 1-5 on Saturday during both Reunion weekends
              Reunion I (May 21) - 40 Visitors
              Reunion II (May 28) – 34 Visitor
• “ History of the Rare Book Collection” exhibit, tour and reception for LITS Staff Mtg, 7th Floor Miles-Smith, 6/20/2005

Archiveas and Special Collections in the News/Publications

• Updated entry in “Directory of History of Medicine Collections” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources)
• “Mount Holyoke Receives Rare Book Collection from Alumna” By Irina Liberman in March 11, 2005 College Street Journal article
• Two biographies added to The American Context of China’s Christian Colleges and Schools website at Yale Divinity School (author: Student Assistant Dani Ryan) 
• Completed Council of Independent Colleges survey of historic architecture at Mount Holyoke College. The project, begun in 2002, surveyed independent colleges and universities across the country to identify and evaluate places of historical importance. More than 360 institutions have submitted data, which has been entered into a database. The data will be included in a website that will contain 3,600 images and other documentation of approximately 1,900 buildings and sites of historical significance. Project funded by the Getty Institute.

Policies and Procedures

• Hours:
            o Eliminated Thursday evening hours after documenting marginal traffic for the Fall Semester, 2004.
• Statistics:
            o
              Eliminated practice of documenting each phone call, email or letter received or sent. Only reference statistics now kept
            o
              Eliminated departmental quarterly reports

Administrative/LITS/MHC/Five College-Wide Activities

• Search Committees
            o P. Albright served on LITS search committee for Research Librarian for Multicultural Programs and Diversity
            o J. King served on LITS search committee for Head of Technical Services
  Committees
            o LITS Web Review Team
              J. King served on the LITS Web Review Team and co-conducted a usability test
              (Aug/Sept 2004)
            o Campus Design Advisory Committee (CDAC)
              J. King continues to serve on advisory board that considers major and minor renovations, additions, or removals of aspects of the campus design.
            o Five College Archivists
  Five College Finding Aid Databas:

• Archives and Special Collections added 99 finding aids to the database, ensuring wider access and interoperability of the XML encoded and published docume

• Archivists Toolk

• Archives and Special Collections provided detailed feedback on functional specifications for managing information related to accessions, location, creators, donors, and description

• Grants
  o Women in Medicine Exhibit:
  J. King successfully applied to the American Library Association to host its traveling exhibit, "Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians" in the Fall of 2006. The interactive, multimedia traveling exhibition honors the lives and achievements of American women in medicine -- past and present. The exhibition is based on a larger exhibition that was displayed at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in Bethesda, Maryland, from 2003-2005. King will coordinate the exhibit for LITS.

Personnel

Full-time: Jennifer Gunter King, Patricia Albright
Part-time: Rochelle Vigurs (January - June 2005)

Student Assistants

• Ralitsa Donkova, 2005 (July 2004-May 2005 ) reference questions; web site work; papers of: Christianna Smith, Katharine H. McLaren; Elizabeth Kormos films, converted HTML finding aids to XML EAD and mounted online; redesign of forms; ContentDM collection (scanning and metadata creation)
• Heather Eardley, 2007 (September 2004-May 2005): reference questions; reshelving; newspaper clippings project; Class of 2004 files; papers of Rosamund Purdy Bell; valentines exhibit
• Jennifer Hawkes, 2005 (February-May 2005): reference questions; newspaper clippings project; deceased alumnae files; records for Sociology 224; President's Office records
• Erin McCarthy, 2006 (July-December 2004) reshelving; reference questions; internal and new filing; College Street Journal index; newspaper clippings project; papers of Margaret Stallman Ruth; papers of Molly Liskow; papers of Mary Augur Dudley
• Danielle Ryan, 2006 (September 2004-May 2005): reference questions, alumnae biographical file survey; co-curated Water Ways exhibit, authored 2 biographies for alumnae to be included in a Yale University biographical directory
• Charlene Van Dijk, 2007 (September 2004-May 2005): reference questions, internal filing, deceased alumnae files; ContentDM (created compound objects), papers of David B. Truman

Interns
Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science Program

• Amber Cushing, Class of 2004 (fall 2004): arranged and described papers of Meribeth Cameron
• Steven Folsom (fall 2004 - June 2005), Digital Collections Intern - migrated 1500 images and metadata into CONTENTdm, developed online interface, created manual for staff to use, made recommendations regarding rile and system requirements, researched institutional repositories
• Rachel Gugler (spring 2005): processed records of the Theatre Arts Department and papers of Roxanne Hill Hughes
• Heather Wilkinson (spring 2005): processed papers of Elihu Dwight

Mellon Interns

• oumarou hamadou, (fall 2004): read and summarized Katharine Elizabeth Taylor Wells correspondence (in French) which were encoded in XML TEI 
• Crystal Johnson, Class of 2005 (spring, 2005; June 2005): researched catalog status of Seminary Text Book collection, typed acid-free call number slips, supported exhibit relating to Special Collections (researching, selecting and mounting items from the Archives); answered reference questions; assisted in records survey for CDC; assisted with planning meeting for Women in Medicine exhibit meeting (June 23, 2005)

Other Interns

• Ralitsa Donkova, Class of 2005, Archives Intern (June 2005): Processing papers of Ella Tambussi Grasso

Volunteers

• Clara R. Ludwig, Class of 1937, prepared summaries of 10 manuscript collections
• Rochelle Vigurs, Rare Books, created bibliography of historic science texts, reprocessed papers of Lydia W. Shattuck (fall 2004)
• Joyce Clifford, Class of 2005, surveyed correspondence of Florence Brugger, Class of 1922 (unprocessed)

Professional Development
Staff in Archives and Special Collections took on responsibilities in local, regional and national professional associations as well as attended conferences and received training.
Conferences:

• Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting, Aug 4-7, 2004, Boston, Mass – J. King
• American Library Association, Mid-Winter Meeting, Vendors, Jan. 19, 2005 –R.Vigurs
• New England Archivists Spring Meeting, April 29-30, Boston, Mass – J. King
            o J. King was appointed to the Program Committee for the spring 2006 meeting

Grants Reviewed

• National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), J.King was appointed Peer Reviewer, December 2004

Publications

• Jennifer Gunter King reviewed “Building Digital Archives, Descriptions, and Displays: A How-to-Do-It-Manual for Archivists and Librarians” by Frederick Steilow for the Journal of Academic Librarianship; Mar2005, Vol. 31 Issue 2, p167, 2p

Training

• P. Albright took 6 classes in a Society of American Archivists series at Simmons College, “IT for Practicing Archivists” (Nov, 2004; Feb. and May, 2005)
• J. King attended M. Antonetti’s course on the “History of the Book” at Rare Book School, University of Virginia, (Mar. 7-11, 2005)

Workshops

• Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners workshops
• Disaster Preparedness (May, 2005) – P. Albright
• Digital Photography Basics (May, 2005) – P. Albright
• TEI Workshop at Wheaton College (January 21, 2005) – J. King
• Nelinet workshop, “Institutional Repositories: Models and Approaches” (Jan. 27, 2005) – J. King

Submitted by
Jennifer King
July 2005