Hunter Library Insider - for Staff and Faculty of the library

Year III Award

Western Carolina University received its official paperwork to fund year III of the Craft Revival project.  This year’s award is just over $100,000.  Accounts are being set up and plans are being put into place.  The WCU grants office has restructured and Bil is restructuring some of his own administrative staff roles.  We are working on a budgeting system that allows for a more efficient means of administering grant funds appropriately. 

Project Staff

We are drafting a contract for Ginny Daley who is hired as Project Archivist.  Jason Woolf has been filling in as Scanning Assistant at the Southern Highland Craft Guild and will be returning to classes in August, so I’ve drafted a job description and have begun recruitment of another graduate student to take the position of Scanning Assistant at the Guild.  A new job description for Jason has him continuing his work as Research Assistant for the upcoming year.  Undergraduate student job descriptions are more specific than in the past.  We will hire an undergrad for clerical work as usual, but will look for a student interested in scanning and photoshop to help prepare items for the web, and another who will process preservation CDs in Special Collections.

Hunter Library Staff

Here at the Hunter Library, we’ve undergone lots of staff changes as well.  Deb Moore who has assisted with project personnel is moving from Cullowhee.  Eloise Hitchcock, who as Associate Library Director has assisted with grant administration and budget while Bil tackled larger university IT issues, is moving to take a Library Directorship.  We have been interviewing candidates for Metadata Librarian and hope to have that person in place soon. In the meantime, Tim Carstens will be sitting in to keep the Cataloging unit abreast of metadata issues.  While Melissa Young continues to work on the project, we have been in “freeze” mode through our testing and evaluation of the past two months.  Melissa has also been shifted from full-time work in the Library to other campus responsibilities. Priscilla Proctor, George Frizzell’s assistant in Special Collections, died suddenly at home.  We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague.

Evaluation

In spite of the impact of so many staff changes, this past month has been one of completing three important evaluations of the Craft Revival project.  We have finished 1/an assessment of the database, 2/a test of the website’s usability, and 3/an editorial review of all content.  While these three evaluations, their respective reports, and the interpretation of their findings has taken up quite a bit of time, the project should stand to benefit greatly.  In light of staff changes noted above, this was the perfect time to undertake this work as our regular project work was interrupted anyway.

Database Assessment

The Database Assessment is one of two reports that will be coming to you soon.  Ginny analyzed each image and its corresponding metadata.  She and I have been meeting to determine how best to proceed from here.  With over 1,000 items in the database—and a backlog of several hundred more to be uploaded—we want to implement the corrections in a methodical and procedural way.  After the Home Team meets to discuss the Database Assessment, I will circulate it.  Heritage Partners can expect it before the end of August.

Website Review

A website review of content revealed a few inconsistencies that are being corrected.  This past month I worked with Mary Jean Herzog, the project’s Teacher Liaison to edit lesson plans.  Mary Jean’s position was not funded for Year III, so we are trying to finish up with the K-12 component this summer.  Also, because different people are writing for the website, we face issues of inconsistency.  For citations and bibliographies, the project uses Turabian, the common bibliographic form for history, art history, and the humanities.  If you are writing for the website and need a quick reference, see http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/turabian.html.

Outreach

The 60th SHCG Craft Fair at Asheville’s Civic Center drew lots of media attention.  The Craft Revival project website was quoted in nearly every article.  As part of the project’s earliest articulated goals, we proposed to provide the community with historically accurate information.  The web content has been put to use.  It is rewarding to see that the public understands the link between the healthy economy of today’s craft community and their historic precedent.  Here on campus, I gave a talk on craft history for the college’s MFA students. The talk was well attended and sparked a number of animated conversations. 

Future Funding

I have been reviewing grant guidelines from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal grant similar to the one that currently funds the project.  The meetings with our grants office have been positive.  Mostly we are in a fact-finding stage and will not be making any decisions until the facts are in.  Long-term sustainability was discussed at several Advisory meetings this past spring.

Heritage Partners Meeting

Due to a lack of numbers attending, the July Advisory/Heritage Partners meeting was cancelled.  An all-day Heritage Partners meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 5th.  We will review the Database Assessment as a group and then break out into smaller groups to discuss individual HP issues and corrections.  Please email Jason at craftrevival1@email.wcu.edu to tell him whether or not you plan to come

Anna