Newsletter: April 2008
April meeting
The Hunter Library hosted our quarterly Advisors and Heritage Partners at an all-day meeting and workshop on April 2nd. We discussed highlights from the two grants submitted for the 2008-2009 school year. We reviewed new pages posted to the site since our meeting in January (Collection Guides, Penland Weaving Institute pages, Basket page, Brasstown Carvers history and biographies, Bidstrup biographies, and About the Project revisions) and discussed new pages in development (Help page, 1890s travel guide, Cherokee basket index and new history pages). During the afternoon session, Heritage Partners were treated to a workshop led by Peter Koch demonstrating how to make 360-degree rotations of objects. Thanks, Peter!
More on 360-degree rotations
Anyone wanting to try their hand at making these rotating images, we have purchased and received a turntable for your use. It can be borrowed at any time. Peter has expressed his willingness to help HPs with doing this if you would rather come to campus. Also note the new icon that Melissa uploaded that indicates image rotation to the viewer.
Home Team: Format field
The Home Team continues to hammer away at corrections to the database. Ginny Daley, Anna Fariello, and Tim Carstens have selected terms for a new Format field. Melissa Young entered them one-by-one to each item, now viewable on the Search results page. Viewers can easily see whether or not an image is a “photograph” or “publication,” etc.. Hit Browse the Collection to see this new function or click here:
http://wcudigitalcollection.cdmhost.com/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/p4008coll2
Home Team: Description field
Melissa has worked to improve the searchability of the Description field as well. This has been a sticking point in many group discussions with certain terms being turned “on” and others turned “off” and making the entire description unreadable. This was not only an improvement that had to be implemented, but also had to be worked out. After many trial-and-error attempts, Melissa has succeeded in making the field fully searchable without the distraction of different colored words. Thanks, Melissa!
Partner additions
The project workflow has improved to the point that we no longer have a backlog of items to upload. We are also benefiting from the fact that HL cataloger Serenity Richards is working with Tim to upload images from incoming disks. New items are uploaded daily; Ginny follows behind correcting metadata on a weekly basis. The Guild has added lots of new documents, including minutes of Guild meetings. The Folk School has added more Ulmann photographs and a representative collection of Brasstown carvings. The Mountain Heritage Center is working on adding to its craft images, showing second views and details of previously submitted craft objects. Penland has added a dynamic Weaving Institute section with photographs and biographies of institute participants. Hunter is working on a new travel guide to show how the area looked in the 1890s. Heritage Partners, please remember that we have a large-format scanner here at the library for your use. Anna Shearhouse scanned a large scrapbook of images that documents the early history of the Campbell Folk School.
Basket index
As outlined in the current grant, Qualla Arts and Crafts joined the Heritage Partner team in the current year to begin work on their basket collection. Our request to the State Library for next year (beginning July 1) expands our work to include the Museum of the Cherokee. We should be hearing about that grant in June with work to begin with the Museum this summer. Currently, Anna and Tonya Carroll are photographing and identifying baskets at Qualla Arts. Tonya has consulted with contemporary basketmakers Carol Welch, Ramona Lossie, and Karen George to identify traditional basket weaving patterns.
Staff changes: Hunter Library Administration
At our April meeting, the group welcomed Dr. Dana Sally as new Dean of the Library. Dr. Sally came into the project at a critical point, just weeks before the State Library grant was due. At the meeting, Anna noted the addition of Margaret Watson to the behind-the-scenes project team. While most of you don’t know Margaret, she has made a big difference in budget management and grant administration. This spring, we’ve been able to make more efficient use of grant funds.
Staff changes: Hunter’s Systems Unit
At the meeting, we also noted Melissa Young’s departure from the Library and her move to the university’s IT unit headed by Bil Stahl. There Melissa’s work will have a broader impact on the university’s web presence. Melissa will continue to construct the Craft Revival webpages for now. Our best to Bil and Melissa.
Staff changes: Metadata Librarian search
The library is making progress on hiring a full-time Metadata Librarian. This month the search committee brought two qualified candidates to campus for three-day interviews. We anticipate having a new librarian on board by the beginning of the fall semester. This will have a huge impact on the Craft Revival project as that person will be working with the Home Team to refine metadata and define policies and procedures for long-term sustainability of this project and other digital collections at the Hunter.
Outreach: article
There were two outreach activities this month. Project assistant Tonya Carroll wrote an article that was published in the Cherokee One Feather. In it, she described the work she’s been doing on the project and the impact on her career goals. Tonya has been accepted to WCU’s Public History graduate program, beginning this fall. Congratulations, Tonya!
Outreach: talk
Anna gave a talk on the Craft Revival at Asheville Hardware, a “store” with an educational program aimed at woodworkers. Anna gave an overview of the Craft Revival and focused on woodcarving and woodworking during the period. Asheville Hardware turned out a great audience for the talk, with representatives from the Asheville Art Museum, Biltmore House, Southern Highland Craft Guild, and Mars Hill College attending.
Cherokee Preservation Foundation
This month we have some real news to share. The Hunter Library has been awarded a grant of almost 50K from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation to support research on Cherokee baskets. Under the auspices of this new grant, the university partners with Qualla Arts and Crafts cooperative and the Museum of the Cherokee to advance research into Craft Revival-era baskets. At this point, we are just setting up grant accounts…you will hear more about this as we begin our work.
Monthly news
Please hit Reply (not Reply to all) to tell me if you want to be deleted form this list or if you know of someone who should receive the monthly news. With our new Cherokee partnership, we plan to expand the group receiving the newsletter.
Save the date: July 17
We are planning an event to celebrate the conclusion of Year III and the award of the Cherokee Preservation Foundation grant. Rather than having this meeting at the Hunter Library, it will be hosted at Qualla Arts in Cherokee. This will be an opportunity for Heritage Partners to bring their directors or other staffers to a Craft Revival event. We are planning the event to include craft demonstrations, powerpoint display, and authentic Native American food. We selected this date to coincide with the opening of the Festival of Native Peoples so that out-of-town guests would have an opportunity to attend this festival as well. We have tentatively scheduled the reception to be held from 4 to 7 pm on Thursday, July 17. Save the date!
Anna
Hunter Library | Library Insider | Last updated: 5/2/08 Melissa Young