Hunter Library Insider - for Staff and Faculty of the library

Newsletter: September 2006

Advisory Meeting

The project kicked off Year II implementation with the first day-long meeting of Advisors and Partners at the Hunter Library on September 26th.  The meeting opened with the official announcement of the project award of $126,000 in LSTA funds and a recap of the Directors Dinner held in July.  The group welcomed new members to the project team.  Joan Byrd, ceramics professor, is the new representative from WCU Art Department, replacing museum director Martin DeWitt. Also in attendance were representatives from the Southern Highland Craft Guild, the project’s Year II Heritage Partner.  Both Deb Schillo, SHCG Librarian, and Ada Dudenhoeffer, Public Relations, stayed for both the morning Advisory session and afternoon Heritage Partner session.  Joining us for lunch were the two new graduate assistants: Jada Hansen and Patrick Velde, both masters level education students.  Hannah Jones is returning undergrad and Tanya Carrol is newly hired undergrad. 

Website development

The website went live on September 1st and since that time the web counter tallied over 800 hits to the site. Our partners completed 398 images with corresponding metadata, which is a healthy number.  Besides the 398 images posted to the project’s database, we have uploaded 52 pages of content, a resource list of 69 craft organizations including web links, and a bibliography of 140 books and articles. In conjunction with graduate and undergraduate student assistants, we’ve developed a reference file of over 300 artisans and production centers associated with the craft revival, which will help us identify lesser-known makers and their work.

Site promotion

Promotion of our site has intensified since its release. Two public programs focused on the Craft Revival were presented at the Mountain Heritage Center in advance of Mountain Heritage Day.  This talk is also ready to take on the road.  We will soon be contacting local libraries and arts councils. 

Project display

Most of the Advisory group saw the display on the ground floor of the Hunter Library.  This display includes a number of text/graphic panels that explain the project, a sampling of items from the Mountain Heritage Center, and a computer station setup so that viewers could try their hand at the using the database and website.  A similar display is up at the Mountain Heritage Center.  These will remain in place for the semester, but then will be available to hang at your site.  Please let us know if you would like to have this display.

Cooperating Partners

After a period of dormancy, a discussion of the project’s original concept of Cooperating Partners came up again at the Advisory meeting.  This was in the context of images I needed to enhance the site’s content. Last spring, Reference Librarian Alessia Zanin-Yost identified a series of botanical prints that could illustrate the types of plants used by artisans who used native plants as dyestuffs during the Revival.  After research, selection, and negotiation, we borrowed images and secured permission to use botanical images that include madder, indigo, cotton.  We also secured permission from UNC Wilson Library’s North Carolina Collection for a picture of Daniel and Lawrence Boone that’s in Special Collections, but which we knew was copyrighted elsewhere.  As we continued along this path (acquiring 3 nice pictures of John Campbell from he Southern Historical Collection and one of Lucy Morgan from the NC State Archives), it was becoming clear that the project was developing partnerships among lending institutions in a way that we had articulated during the planning phase.  It was the group’s consensus that this type of partnership merits further discussion.

Advisory meeting(s)

The presentation of borrowed images (above) launched a discussion that would not fit within the timeframe of the September Advisory meeting.  At Ginny Daly’s urging, the group decided that our next Advisory meeting would be a brainstorming session to facilitate discussion.  As Project Leader, I have been taking up the lion’s share of the meeting time providing updates to everyone about the progress of the project; afternoons are discussion sessions, but those have been with the Heritage Partners, not the larger Advisory group.  The group decided to forgo the afternoon session in favor of an all-day Advisory meeting later this fall.

Teacher Liaison

Mary Jean Herzog, Teacher Liaison, reported on her contact with HandMade in America, a western NC organization that promotes hand craft.  One of HandMade’s initiatives is curriculum development, so she will work with them so that the Craft Revival project does not duplicate their efforts.  The Advisory group also suggested that Mary Jean look closely at the NC Standard Course of Study for opportunities, establish a relationship with Learn NC, and view the NC Echo website link for teachers.

Teacher Advisory

Mary Jean also reported on progress made on the Teacher Advisory group.  She has extended letters of invitation to a number of area teachers. Once the group is in place, the project will host a fall orientation and plans for two spring meetings, including one an all-day workshop.  Anna made the formal request of LSTA to use grant funds to reimburse teachers for mileage, provide meals for teacher workshops, and offer to cover the cost of substitute teachers for the single all-day workshop. Mary Jean is also exploring funding to pay teachers to develop lesson plans.  For those who would like to more information on the Teacher Advisory group or NC Public Schools, visit Mary Jean’s website at: http://paws.wcu.edu/mherzog/

Yearend report

Since the Advisory/Partners meeting, attention turned to the LSTA Yearend Report.  I’ve solicited comments from all of you and am in the process of finishing the report and budget reconciliation. These will be posted to our Library Insider pages for all to see.

Target numbers

Since the meeting a number of Partners asked about the target numbers I showed on the screen at the meeting. You will recall that our target numbers received criticism from the LSTA review team in January. So we don’t find ourselves in that situation again, I will  continually reinforce our numeric goals this year.  By mid-year (December/January) each Year I Heritage Partners should have 200 scans in the database; our Year II Heritage Partner should have 25.  At the end of the current academic year, Year I Heritage Partners should have 300 scans in the database; our Year II Heritage Partner should have 75.

Database review

The afternoon session on September 26th included a discussion of the database as it stands at the start of Year II.  The group—Home Team and Partners—focused on how to improve consistency, information, and project “style.”  One part of the discussion focused on the importance of dating material.  We decided to drop the “undated” response in favor of having Partners provide an approximate date for the item scanned. (Exactly how to format this estimate is covered in the Training Manual). A project Style Sheet was distributed and discussed; suggestions were added.  The group agreed that ascribed titles—those that are not indicated on the item itself—should be as short as possible; we will continue to place these in brackets.  We discussed the use of period names (Penland School of Handicrafts vs. Penland School of Crafts) and decided that partners should try to incorporate both names into the descriptions of their items if appropriate.

Compound objects

Michelle Francis discussed the ease of creating and using compound objects and agreed to draft a short description for other Partners. We discussed the possibility of Partner’s providing transcripts for handwritten items for ease of reading on the site. Michelle suggested that the transcript could be included as part of the compound object format.  She also stressed to the group that each Partner should play with the site frequently to learn how it works and to aid in its improvement.  I would venture a guess to say that those who spend time on the site each week are “getting it,” and those who are still having difficulty should take the time to visit and use the site.

Supplies and equipment

Each Heritage Partner walked away smiling with a spool of gold-on-gold CDs and DVDs in hand.  The HL Systems Unit has ordered the equipment for the new year and will setup and install prior to the fall training workshop.

SAVE THE DATE  for the annual training workshop

Our second annual training workshop will take place on October 24th, beginning at 10 a.m. This will be an all-day session with Home Team and Heritage Partners.  Our Year II Partner is required to attend, but others are welcome.  This is a good opportunity for a refresher course and a way to bring additional help to assist you in meeting your institution’s scanning/metadata goals.

Anna Fariello, Project Leader