Hunter Library Insider - for Staff and Faculty of the library

Newsletter: October 2006

Year II Equipment

Much of the month was used to plan for the second annual Training Workshop held here at the Library.  Because the training group was larger this year, the workshop was moved from Special Collections, where it was held last year, into the larger conference room.  The Library Systems Unit (Jill, Melissa, and Robin) had ordered equipment and then began the task of installing the software, testing it, and linking the system together.  They set up four workstations in the conference room.

Training Manual

In the meantime I worked with them and student assistant Hannah Jones to revise last year’s training manual.  Our goal was to create a manual that could be used step-by-step to illustrate how an image goes from a collection on to the database.  While we all knew that several of our Partners wanted help with this process, we also found out that help sometimes meant doing the process over again to make corrections.  So this year, we’ve split the manual into two sections.  Part I covers image making, procedures for scanning and saving Master images.  Part II covers metadata entry and uploading. In this way Partners can use an assistant to complete Part I of the process and reserve Part II for themselves.  The manual came out to be 100 pages!

Year II Training Workshop

Having done this once before, our Training Workshop went smoothly.  Still, the procedures are complex enough that the workshop took all day.  Attending were two representatives from the project’s Year II HP, Southern Highland Craft Guild, the director and student representative of our Year III HP, Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual, and the new graduate student assistants.  Also attending as a refresher were folks from the Mountain Heritage Center and Hunter Library.  We covered the standard procedures of scanning and data input and, later in the afternoon, covered some of the more complex procedures of making Compound Objects and how to “take back” entries from the database for making edits.  The session also included a review of metadata rules, which were refined from a year of use.

Interim Site Visit

I went back to my office at 4 p.m. after the training workshop intending to breath a sigh of relief when the phone rang.  On the other end was Raleigh, asking to schedule the project interim site review.  As you may recall, last year, this visit was in February, so I was quite surprised to have the visit scheduled during the fall semester.  Even though I had to defer my sigh, an earlier site visit will be most helpful.  Last year the monitoring team’s recommendations came so late in the project year that it was difficult to address their issues before the Year II grant application was due.  All the Heritage Partners have heard from the team, who will be visiting all Heritage Partner sites.  We will have a group meeting on Monday, November 27 here at the Library.

Conferences

I attended two regional conferences and brought posters, postcards, and copies of news articles to distribute.  These were the Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) and the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC). I have also been working—via email—with the University of Tennessee Library in Knoxville to develop and submit a proposal to the Appalachian Studies Association conference this spring.  Our session Preserving the Craft Revival has been accepted and will include individual presentations on Tennessee Arts and Crafts: Preserving and Making Accessible the Past, Anne Bridges, Associate Professor, UT Libraries; Rich Traditions—Contemporary Hands in Kentucky, Tim Glotzbach, Dean, Kentucky School of Craft; and my own Documentation and Interpretation: North Carolina’s Craft Revival.

ECU Heritage Partner grant

At SEMC I attended a session focused on a sister project, the Heritage Partner project by a team from East Carolina University.  This group, headed by the ECU library, is working with local museums to develop an online digital database.  Their database has no particular focus and is, rather, an online resource to access the local museum collections.  Their approach was a bit different in that the Heritage Partners didn’t appear to work together as much as we do.  Another difference is that they hired out much of the work, having a professional photographer and videographer make most of the images.  The HPs did the metadata and the lead library is working to “sell” the project.  I took lots of notes to add to our next discussion.

Teacher Advisory Group

We held our first Teacher Advisory meeting on October 30th.  Mary Jean Herzog. Teacher Liaison, invited ten teachers to serve as Advisors.  With her working knowledge of regional schools, she selected teachers who she knew would be enthusiastic about the project.  She also worked to create a balanced board of teachers across grade levels, disciplines, and school systems. Our evening meeting was an introduction to the project, an explanation of the teachers’ role, and a brainstorming session.

Communication

We’ve covered a lot of new territory since the start of Year II and to facilitate communication, a number of new items are posted on the Library Insider page. Documents include: Year I Final Report; Year II Training Manual; Year I website evaluation; project press releases; press clippings; and photographs of the Training Workshop, Directors Dinner, and the Hunter Library and MHC displays.  Of course, all our monthly newsletters are available as are Year I and II grant applications.  I frequently refer to the grant application when I am unsure as to some detail of our plan and I encourage all of you to do the same.

Advisory

At our last Advisory we talked about foregoing the afternoon working session in favor of a full day of brainstorming.  We are currently trying to schedule this meeting so all can attend.

Anna Fariello, Project Leader