Newsletter: March 2009
Advisory/Partners meeting
The project teams met this month with Advisors and Partners to review where we were with the project, and to view changes and additions to the site since the last meeting. We discussed the addition of a second Creator field that includes the name of the maker as well as the photographer for a craft object; the use and improvement of the Craft Category; and the de-compounding of several objects. These changes were discussed in more detail in previous monthly newsletters.
Database report
By the time of the meeting, the project had uploaded a total of 666 items this year. These include: Museum of Cherokee (208), Qualla Arts and Crafts (115), and Southern Highland Craft Guild (343). For this grant year, the project's numeric goal is 1,000 new digital files. At the time I write this newsletter, the project team has already uploaded additional items to the site. The group looked at and discussed project targets for each partner site. We reported the good news that the project has already met its overall target numbers and items are still coming in.
Database summary
Anna Craft prepared this chart that was presented to the meeting. The chart illustrates the breakdown of items by type. Again, the team has added to the database since the chart was prepared earlier in March, but it still gives us a good idea of the types of items in the digital collection.
Item type |
Total # files |
Files added in YR 4 |
|
|
|
unpublished document |
1,036 |
39 |
publication |
932 |
165 |
photograph |
581 |
180 |
craft object |
369 |
50 |
newsletter |
230 |
0 |
postcard |
85 |
3 |
historical artifact |
63 |
3 |
letter |
192 |
129 |
map |
6 |
0 |
sound recording |
6 |
0 |
motion picture |
2 |
0 |
|
|
|
Total digital files submitted and uploaded |
3,502 |
569 |
Database entries: John C. Campbell Folk School
From the Folk School we have several photographs related to Tryon Toymakers, a group that was not well represented on the database.
Database entries: Museum of the Cherokee Indian
From the Museum there are scans of Cherokee Indian Fair programs, ranging from 1931 to 1937.
Database entries: Penland School of Handicrafts
From Penland we have a 1939 brochure advertising the 10th Annual Session of the Penland School of Handicrafts.
Database entries: Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual
From Qualla, we have scanned Indian Arts & Crafts Board booklets showcasing the baskets of Rowena Bradley, Lucy George, Emma Taylor, Agnes Welch, Carol Welch, and Eva Wolfe; there are also newly uploaded scans of historical photographs featuring Nancy Bradley, Rowena Bradley, Eva Wolfe, and Agnes Welch and additional baskets.
Database entries: Southern Highland Craft Guild
New SHCG images include Craftsman's Fair photos of artisans including Goingback Chiltoskey, Shadrach Mace, and Walter B. Stephen; several letters and other documents written by Allen Eaton; correspondence to and from Clementine Douglas; and a number of documents related to the Spinning Wheel craft shop in Asheville.
Database entries: Wilson Library at UNC
Wilson Library at UNC contributed 3 photographs of Crossnore School by Bayard Wootten; again this is an enterprise not well represented on the project's database. Both Tryon Toymakers and Crossnore School were part of western NC's Craft Revival, but the project's contributing partners did not have items representing these groups in their collections.
Website additions
A biography of Cherokee basket weaver Rowena Bradley is the newest addition to the website. You can read about her at http://craftrevival.wcu.edu/people/rowenabradley.html
Workflow process
At the meeting, the project team shared the evolution of our workflow process with the group. We are no longer burning DVDs with metadata until all changes and corrections are made. Instead, we are using thumbdrives and are experimenting with using a small laptop to move information through the digital “pipeline.” In this way, we hope to speed up the process, but more importantly, to cause fewer mistakes. The Partners reported back that the metadata Word doc was much easier to use than the original upload process. Kate Carter has been working on a backlog of digital masters, adding them to an index and filing them as the project's preservation copies.
Outreach: WCU
This month Anna F. talked about the Craft Revival to a Folklore class. Earlier, Lucas Rogers and Kate each spent an afternoon with an undergraduate history major who is completing on an internship this semester. The student “shadowed” Lucas and Kate while they were in Cherokee scanning items for the project. The student had previously reviewed the project's scanning manual, but watching someone go through the process and being able to ask questions was key to his understanding. He wrote a report that gives his undergraduate perspective: Some of the things that I learned from the digitization program are that it takes time and patience. A person who is doing the digitization has to be focused at all times, because some pictures may not come out just right and you cannot keep doing one after another without making sure the picture before is correct..This digitization program will be great because it will give people a chance to see what Western North Carolina has to offer.
Outreach: State Archives
Anna met this month with Jeff Futch, Records Analyst at the Western Office of the NC State Archives and History. Jeff and Anna talked about how the Hunter Library and its digital initiative can become more closely aligned with State Archives and History. Both the project and the Western Office have plans for expansion and both include a focus on digitization. We hope to be able to collaborate in the near future.
Evaluation
Jason Woolf has been working closely with outside consultant, A. J. Rhodes to develop evaluation tools for the project. A. J. is well versed in Outcomes Based Evaluation, a method that is recommended by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. We hope to begin to survey a number of individuals from the project's target audience to gauge the growth of their understanding of the topic and use of the site.
Grants
The project received good news this month. The Cherokee Preservation Foundation has awarded the Hunter Library a second grant to continue the project next year. The grant award of $87,770 represents the full amount requested from the foundation. We are waiting to hear from two other grants as the library must provide a cash match to fulfill the requirements of the grant. The CPF grant will provide funds to allow the project to focus on regional potteries and to document the lives of Cherokee potters.
Project Launch
Mark your calendars! The Hunter Library team has been working with the Southern Highland Craft Guild's Deb Schillo and HandMade in America's Norma Bradley on an exciting “launch” of the Craft Revival project. We decided to move the launch to Asheville, where we expect it can draw a larger audience. The event will be held on May 22nd and 23rd at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The launch will begin on Friday evening with a presentation by Jeff Biggers whose book, United States of Appalachia, is a thought-provoking text. Jeff will use the website to inform his thesis that Appalachia was a think tank for many of the nation's newest ideas, rather than a backward and isolated region. On Saturday morning, May 23rd from 9 a.m. until noon, the launch will feature a number of staffed interactive workstations to provide opportunities for participants to try out the website as a research tool. So far Norma has signed up 15 teachers to participate. Plan to be there!
Anna
Hunter Library | Library Insider | Last updated: 4/16/2009 Joel Marchesoni