Celebrating Anniversaries. Commemorating Wars.

We have been commemorating the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War for years now. My twitter feed has been noting archival projects, social media blitzes, major reenactments, and museum exhibits throughout the events. Cultural Institutions began planning years in advance.  Internet outreach has enabled us to build up interest and create long running projects that aim to keep people engaged. I have very mixed feelings about these activities and while I tend toward the opinion that they are a good thing, a little piece of me thinks otherwise.

One way that cultural institutions aim to get the public involved is through Crowdsourcing. A good example of this is a project through the University of Iowa.

Saylor and her colleagues “crowdsourced” the Civil War by digitizing the letters and diaries and making them available to the public. They created a website where transcribers can choose a document, transcribe it in a niffy box, and email it to them for review.

Goals: To get the public involved, highlight a major event, and get much needed help for making archival materials more accessible.

The Civil War events are having a small lull. According to the civilwar150 site, not much of significance happened during the War in the spring and summer months of 1864. My Twitter feed on the events has been quiet. Perhaps, it's a good thing that the centennial of WWI is getting underway too so I have more commemorative articles to link to. (Am I being fascetious? I'm not sure. That's what I'm here to discuss.)

The United States World War One Centennial Commission has a wonderful web site to remind us about this oft forgotten catastophic event. 100-years after a War, it is easy to see it as ancient history. It is easy for us to forget how the events of the past have lead us to where we are today. The roots of Russian history and conflict go back this far, for one thing. As one example of the need for remembering our history - Understanding events in the Ukraine today can be related to World War One. And, yet, my mind still questions this "celebration" of anniversaries.

I fall victim to anniversary syndrome. For a Town's 250th I think, "let's do it up!" For my school's fiftieth I say, "let's plan retro events and highlight our community!" Anniversaries give cultural heritage professionals a chance to pull in the general public, to help them get as excited about history as we are. In some ways, these celebrations are artificial constructs. We can find an anniversary for anything and make it worth celebrating, but is that a bad thing? If the general public wants festivities to get excited about history, the fact that they are interested is a good thing, right? Anniversaries allow archivists to convince people to dig through their attics and basements to find materials that document our history. Society has used anniversaries to highlight our heritage for at least hundreds of years. We have highlighted war in this way for probably thousands of years -- from stitching battle history into tapestry to honoring our Veterans with special days each year.

2014 will mark the 100th anniversary of what we now sadly know as The First World War – it would never be The War to End All Wars.  As we look back over the century we should remember that these men did not die in vain – they fought a war that, like the one that followed only 25 years later, was necessary to contain the territorial ambition of a major European power.  About one hundred years before the outbreak of the First World War British and Allied troops had defeated France at the Belgium village of Waterloo - and contained a major European power.
Remember the courage and honour the sacrifice of the boys who became men 100 years ago and support the young men and women who have followed in their footsteps and are today's soldiers.  - (from Spirit of Remembrance  web site - "Battlefield tours for discerning travelers") 

I am a bit troubled by the hoopla. How do we pick and choose what anniversaries to mark? What anniversaries are we forgetting? Are there under-documented events/wars/communities that need more attention from the governments that sponsor them? Are we glorifying War -- molding it into something romantic through a "celebration?"  Are we all doing all of this for the right reasons?  

To be sure, much good work is being done. These anniversary events deserve remembrance. Cultural heritage institutions could use the boost, excitement, collections, and donations that come from these events. It is a fine line to walk. Anniversaries, especially those of war, deserve related activities that suit the occasion. We need to remember that these events involve people. We need to remember without a sense of adventure and without romanticism. We need to ensure that our communities are boosted by our commemorations. We run the risk of trivializing terror and giving an amusement park atmosphere to what should be solemn memorials.

Let's remember this as we go on to mark the third year in our commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Conflict.

What do you think about using anniversaries to boost the work of cultural heritage institutions? Do these anniversaries help our communities? If these anniversary celebrations are a good thing, with whom should cultural institutions partner to make them worthwhile?

More Finds at the Local Antique Shop - Fiction Story Based on Orphan Photos

I just read an interesting fiction book called Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. For me, it was an entertaining light read. Aimed at a young adult market, the book is a fantasy that mixes supernatural and mystery. It focus on the relationship between a boy and his grandfather, who was full of fanciful stories from his past that left his family wondering about their veracity. Despite the fiction genre, the story prompted me to think about how family legends grow from untested stories and we are left to pick out the truth among the tall tales.

The aspect of the book that I found most interesting was a use of "authentic, vintage found photographs." The author seems to have used real, unusual pictures to mold his characters. Fitting in with my "More Finds at the Local Antique Shop" theme, the book is a perfect demonstration of how imagination can be stirred by abandoned orphan photos.

Author Ransom Riggs thanks those private collectors who contributed images for him to complete his first novel. He writes about the images at the end of the book, "They were lent from the personal archives of ten collectors, people who have spent years and countless hours hunting through giant bins of unsorted snapshots at flea markets and antiques malls and yard sales to find a transcendent few, rescuing images of historical significance and arresting beauty from obscurity - and most likely, the dump. Their work is an unglamorous labor of love and I think they are the unsung heroes of the photography world."

I look forward to Mr. Riggs next book and hope that he sticks with this writing method. Here is another Cultural Heritage Collaborator to add to our list. A fiction writer steeped in a love of primary sources can be a great friend to archivists. Such a person can sing the praises of cultural heritage resources and help the world realize their beauty and value.

Reminisce

My mother sent me a stack of magazines the other day. A friend of hers in Florida had given them to her to pass on to her archivist daughter. I am thoroughly fascinated and thought some of you might be  as well. The publication is called "Reminisce." Its web site describes it this way:

NOW CELEBRATING 20 YEARS in PUBLICATION!

Reminisce, North America’s top-selling nostalgia magazine, “brings back the good times” of the 1930s, ’40s, ’50s, ‘60s and early ’70s. A variety of true, heart-felt stories are mainly written by the readers, not professional writers, which makes our magazine-and website-unique.

Each issue is packed with fascinating vintage black and white photographs and early color slides. Most photos are sent in by readers who’ve searched through family albums or attics to share the best from their past. Fun-to-read short and feature-length memories bring smiles, laughter and even poignant tears to readers of all ages. Memories span every subject…from the corner store and soda fountain, outhouses and old-time remedies, Model Ts to fifties Fords with fins, early radio and TV, surviving the Depression, World War II, fashion fads and prices from the past. The real thrill of reminiscing comes when someone reads a memory or sees a long-forgotten item and realizes: “Hey! I remember that!
***

My own remiscing...baseball with my Dad in the 1970s.
Great sideburns Dad!

First, I wonder, how many other "nostalgia" magazines are there? The magazine includes photos and stories from readers who want to share their past. I'm going to preface my praise with the caveat that this magazine doesn't seem to portray a well-rounded view of the past. For example, it's tagline reads, "The magazine that Brings Back the Good Times." And an article I read in it about an orphanage stood out as particularly stripped of the "bad." Still, here's why the publication is so fascinating:

• From an archivist's perspective, the publication is making its own "artificial collections" that group and tell stories of American society. Brilliant!
• The magazine is basically crowdsourcing history. What is important to you? What do you want to share? What should we reminisce about? What should we remember?
• The idea behind this magazine is taking a large community (American citizens) and breaking them into smaller communities -- pointing out commonalities among people and giving them back connections that we sometimes see as broken in today's society. Again. Brilliant!

I am rolling this all through my mind and trying to figure out what to take away from it. Can cultural heritage professionals encourage crowdsourcing through publication like this and apply their expertise as curators, archivists, and librarians to help people make sense of their own stories?

Over and over again I hear people who tell me that their kids and grandkids don't appreciate their history. But truly, this magazine shows that there is something for everyone to appreciate and it could serve as a model for us.  When we encourage people to think of themselves as part of history we make ourselves stronger. When we all reminisce or stop for a moment to think about how the events in our lives play a role in society, we are appreciating the work of cultural heritage. 

Reminisce includes such topics as tales of "early aviation." The smile of a female aviator shines from the cover of the April/May 2010 magazine, which caught my pilot husband's eye from the top of the pile on the coffee table. (I'd like to think that it's because of the plane and not the woman.) It also includes pieces such as "Memories of Real Romances" from 2011 that might appeal to a totally different group. "Reminisce" let's us peek at others' histories and neatly connects them to our own. I love it! 

Response to Review of "Cultural Heritage Collaborators"

It pays to "Google" yourself sometimes.

Last night, I found this review of my book "Cultural Heritage Collaborators."

I have written a lengthy response to its author, which I would like to share here:

Thank you Kevin for your thoughtful response to my book. I am especially glad to hear that your first response to it was that you need to hang out with archivists more. J

I would like to address some of your points if you will let me. You raise interesting ones.

First off, you are not reading too much into the title. Heritage belongs to everyone and the book intends to help people recognize this.  The responsibility of maintaining cultural heritage belongs to the community, not to one single voice (as you so nicely put it.) If people get nothing else out of my writing, I hope that they understand that.

I have addressed the reason why I self-published in this blog post that may (or may not) interest you. http://archivesinfo.blogspot.com/2010/08/self-publishing-experience.html . To address your specific points: The word archives was capitalized when I was referring to an institution or place as in the Archives. It was not capitalized when I was discussing documents. It should be that way throughout the book. My editor read it with an eye toward that after I explained it to her and I think I explained it somewhere in the book, but it has come up since publication. I may have to find a way to change it if I ever write a second edition. It was my intention to do that to help avoid confusion, but it seems I have created confusion instead.  I noticed the missing text on page 17 too late and that too will be fixed if enough people buy the book so I can go back and revise it. Tightening up…I have nothing to say about that. Everything any one writes can be tightened over and over and over again. There comes a time when one has to stop. As for the margins, I think I have moved closer toward a better solution in my latest book (released last week,) but I’m still not there. I have used my small budget on a professional editor and am working out design issues myself. In the latest book, I have already spotted errors in fonts and a few missing things in the Table of Contents. (Maybe I can start a game: Find Melissa’s errors and win a prize. I think I’m just kidding about that…but maybe it’s not a bad idea?)

I purposely left out digitization. I mentioned this in the self publishing blog post and after re-reading it, I realize that I did so rather cavalierly. Digitization is an important topic and is one which many of my colleagues are writing about very thoughtfully and thoroughly. I did not feel I could add anything profound. Furthermore, digitization naturally invites collaboration and I want to see this play itself out more. Then, I may have something more profound to say. And lastly, in my own defense, the principles of “collecting” digitized materials remain basically the same. One should collect with an eye toward focus.  For example, one would not collect the digitized records of a famous person if that figure had no ties to your institution or community.

However, this is a topic that has been growing in my brain. We are most assuredly moving toward a digital world and there are things I left out that need to be addressed. This is what I’m thinking about: 1. Should we be collecting and keeping everything in a digital world? Do the same appraisal techniques always apply? How would we fine tune them? 2. For the most part, the collaboration I’ve seen for digital has involved collaborative access and not collection development.  How should one think about collaborative community documentation of digital files? I don’t think we are yet at the cross-roads in terms of technology where we can know the answer to this. Going back to the idea of ownership of cultural heritage or your wording about a single voice…I wonder for how long an institution will be a place to hold archives in a digital form or will it all one day be held in a place like “the cloud?”

I hope that you are pleased to know that I have a whole chapter dedicated to digital in my recently published book, “The Unofficial Family Archivist.” (Shameless plug, but relevant.) I do think we can and must begin thinking about this form of documentation, even if we can’t quite think of it in a collaborative collection development framework yet. On a repository level, I am particularly fascinated by the Salmon Rushdie archives at Emory University. Rushdie donated his computers to the University and they have done a remarkable job of figuring out what to do with it. My book talks about this and other examples of “personal papers” in digital form. The thrust of the publication though is on what an individual (non-professional) should do with his/her own personal documentation.

Finally, “To discern truth from reality” was admittedly written during a time when I was feeling frustrated with some things that were being said on a national political level. Admittedly, “discern truth and reality” is a bit corny. I agree with you.

Thank you again. I’m glad that you found the book worthwhile. Thank you also for sharing your thoughts and for allowing me to share mine. Now I’m going to track you down and follow you on Twitter!

Best,

Melissa

Book Release

Today, I am pleased to announce the publication of my second archives book. It is aimed at individuals who wish to care for the personal papers in their homes. The Unofficial Family Archivist is a guide to help the non-archivist create, maintain and preserve personal papers, photographs and memorabilia. It will help people with an interest in caring for their family history and heirloom items to manage their documentation and historical resources in a thoughtful way.


My first archives management book, Cultural Heritage Collaborators, focused on how my colleagues could create a foundation for successful collaboration. I am pleased that John Fleckner at the Smithsonian and Ryan Lewis of the Illinois Humanities Council among others found value in it. I am especially honored that it was commended by the Auslib Sense of Place conference this past spring and that I was asked to attend the conference to speak about it. 

The two books can be used by communities in tandem to help individuals and cultural heritage professionals work together to promote and secure local history. The two books are particularly valuable for institutions such as historical societies that seek to make stronger community connections.


For more information, please see the recent ArchivesInfo Press press release. The new book is currently available through Createspace, but soon will be available through wider distribution channels.

From the author's collection

[One of my favorite things about the book, which I haven't had the opportunity to share in press releases, is the beautiful images it incorporates. I've included a few in this post]

Courtesy of the Waltham Public Library

Summarizing "The Issue of Small Archives"

I was very happy to see the thread "The Issue of Small Archives" on the Archmgmt and Archives listservs a couple of weeks ago. A student pursuing her Master's degree in History and Archival Studies made this observation and posed this question: 


"...The trend in the literature I have noticed regards the disparagement of the creation and existence of small archives - that is, archives that receive minimal or no financial or physical support from another larger outside public or private agency. These facilities are seen as almost not only unnecessary but potentially dangerous to the materials they hold...

Do you think small archives have a place in the archival field?  What are the problems you can potentially see engendered or faced within small archives that could hinder or compromise their mission?"    

The theme of small archives management has been central to my work since I entered the archives field twenty years ago. An examination of the practices of well-managed small archives is also a core thread in my book "Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation." Small archives do indeed have a vital place in the archival field. I think that there should be no question about this. Small archives often have more direct connections to the local population. They can be more visible and appear more approachable to citizens who will more readily bring their personal papers to the small repository's doorstep than to a larger institution. I want to also clarify that there are small archives that are run by professionals and also those that run on a shoestring. I think that the question is meant to focus on the latter. There are many problems that can hinder the work of these archives including most notably, very limited funding, high volunteer turnover, and lack of knowledge and training. However, these conditions are not a given. Many volunteer organizations are run in a very professional manner with committed "citizen archivists" who stay around for the long-term and have plans in place to solicit, accommodate, and train new "staff." Many also very effectively raise money for their repositories either through fundraising programs or by finding a steady source of funds through the local government, area businesses, or financial patrons. Many such archives run with expert support from larger institutions. Others find ways to manage by seeking out associations, consultants, or professional volunteers from nearby institutions who are willing to give up personal time to help out. In fact, thanks to dedication and collaboration, I have encountered some volunteer based small archives that run more effectively than supposed professionally run institutions.


Rather than re-hashing my own research and thoughts about the work of the volunteer archives in depth, the postings from two weeks ago provide great snippets for examination and reflection. I have posted below some of the thoughts of my colleagues that mirror my views on this subject. Thank you everyone for a provocative discussion. I have included job titles of individuals, but not individual names to respect privacy while also giving credit to those who shared their thoughts.


"In truth, the small archives are vital to many towns, counties etc, for not only collecting and preserving in whatever form that takes, but gathering these materials give these places and organizations an essential sense of community. After all, isn't that one of the functions of an Archives?...People feel a connection to these places as "their archives" and some are more willing to make the trip to someone they know than donate something that "would sit on a shelf" with thousands of other collections and never be used. So, as the our profession progresses, it is important to recognize not only what should be, but what is, and try to help small Archives cope with their issues. Small Archives are a vital part of our profession." - Head, Archives and Special Collections, Library of the Marine Corps

"In our case in particular, it is in large part thanks to well meaning volunteers of earlier generations that we have collections to save at all. It is also thanks to them that we have an endowment to pay a professional staff... Many towns do not have universities, and some may be far removed from a repository with climate control and reference hours, particularly one interested in preserving their records... Oh, and one more thing- the interdisciplinary approach that is trendy now among museum, library, and archives professionals has been in vogue within state and local historical societies for years." - Curator of Library and Archives, Litchfield Historical Society

"True, in terms of preservation and security many of these repositories are nightmares. ...But then, I know many “respectable” repositories that don’t have adequate climate controls, are susceptible to leaks or flooding (is it unethical to maintain a repository in a flood plain or tornado alley?), that make do with inadequate security systems, that don’t put catalog records or finding aids online, and/or who won’t permit researcher access to the 60% or so of their collection that’s unprocessed.  To a certain extent, the faults of community 
archives are a matter of degree not of kind." - Director, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming

"I completely agree
that we need to look for ways to assist the small community repositories.  This
is an area where our State Historical Records Advisory Boards should be
providing leadership.  A number of years ago the Montana SHRAB developed an
imminently successful “traveling archivist” program....See http://mhs.mt.gov/research/library/vol12_No1.pdf
(page 2) for a summary report on Montana’s 2010 traveling archivist." [this program is also a model highlighted in "Cultural Heritage Collaborators"] - University Archivist/Interim Head of Special
Collections, Oregon State University Libraries

"I have long been a proponent of state and regional archival associations reaching out to these smaller historical societies. Many of them are run by volunteers or a very small and/or semi-trained staff, but all that I have run across want to do the right thing with their records. Yes, they may be possessive but if we can deal with cranky patrons or high-maintenance donors then surely we can deal with them...Several years back archivists, including myself, would give Archives 101 courses taught through the Society of Ohio Archivists' education initiative, but that required people to come to us to ask for help, arrange for a class and so forth. I think this is an issue that we should be *proactive* on...we should visit the small historical societies near us, offer any support that we can and urge 
them to adopt professional standards. It may not always be a pleasant encounter but we still should try." - Archives Manager, Cincinnati Museum Center

"...I agree with much of what has been discussed, especially the fact that it is an issue of advocacy from all of us toward small archives, wherever and whenever we find them...There is a lot to do still and funding is an 
issue but sharing knowledge about free and low cost para-professional 
archival education is one of the many steps that we can offer to these 
small archives to be able to preserve their history... we need to be more proactive and offer free or low cost assistance to these small archives which don't have many resources or practically no resources except good intentions. - Subject/Liaison Librarian for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Puerto Rican/Latino Studies, Spanish & Anthropology & Curator of the Latin American and Caribbean Collections. Thomas J. Dodd Research Center

A Sense of Place AusLib conference Spring 2011

I was honored to be asked to speak about Cultural Heritage Collaboration: A Manual for Community Documentation in Sydney Australia at the 2011 spring Auslib conference, "A Sense of Place.". Unfortunately, I was unable to make the trip overseas. Today, I received the conference proceedings in the mail and by all measures it look like I missed an interesting and noteworthy event. There are too few cultural heritage professionals focusing on this topic. It is encouraging to see a program with two days dedicated to the value of local studies that emphasized methods to collectively promote and preserve local history resources. It also bodes well for the future that the conference was run by and for librarians. It is imperative that we recognize the role of local librarians in helping to preserve archives. I hope that my American colleagues will take note and think further about the possibilities of collaboration across professions.

"The full proceedings of A Sense of Place contain all 20 papers by UK, Australian and New Zealand speakers plus transcripts of two panel sessions plus the targeted conference recommendations. If initiating or improving local studies is your special interest you'll find the pages of these proceedings an informative and inspirational resource." Email info@auslib.com.au or browse to www.auslib.com.au to order a copy of the publication.

Thank you to my Australian colleagues. I hope to join you at a future conference. Keep up the great work!

Creating online resource for heritage institutions active on social media

 If your New England based heritage organization is active on Facebook, Twitter, or blogs, please send me information about what you are doing. I am working to create an online directory to help professionals in the region share information. This directory aims to be a comprehensive resource for locating historical societies, museums, and archives actively using social media to communicate with their audiences. We can learn a lot from each other. The willingness and eagerness our professions demonstrate to embrace social media will have a direct impact on our future missions and functions. It is my hope that institutions will be able to use this directory to explore more easily what others in the field are doing to take advantage of Twitter, Facebook and blog platforms. The directory aims to help us make stronger connections among communities and potential supporters. Innovative early adopters of social media in the cultural heritage professions will serve as models for others.

Please send me your organization's name and link to your site or your Twitter handle. I hope to have a first group of institutions online very soon.

(This may be another case of my curiosity getting the better of me...It happens often I'm afraid. It's not as if I really needed another project...Please help make this easy! Write to me so I don't have to perform extensive research to find you.)

Participatory Community Documentation

The archives community documentation model described in Cultural Heritage Collaborators is quite naturally a participatory one. Diverse members of communities work together to ensure that there is sufficient documentation to describe all aspects of their society for future generations. This type of collection development work involves archivists, museologists, librarians, the professional community members with whom they interact from day-to-day, and their patrons. However, the community documentation work I described in my book is from an archivist's perspective, relying most basically on our standard methods of collection development that include listing what information we seek and who might potentially have knowledge of it. My museum colleague, Nina K. Simon, helped add a new dimension to my thinking when I saw her new video"Visitors as Participants" yesterday. (Though I've read her book The Participatory Museum, there was something about her presentation that helped ignite a spark in my brain and I highly recommend that you watch it too.)

Though archivists create marvelous exhibits and have opportunities to create interactive and educational programming for an audience, this is not at the heart of what we do. I think it is fair to describe us as gatekeepers of information -- gathering, holding, and providing access to recorded forms of human knowledge for those who wish to delve into it. The resources we hold have the potential to educate, challenge, and open communication about human activities as much as a museum artifact. If archivists recognize this potential, we can find new and perhaps better ways of accomplishing tasks we've performed in the past.

Archives collection development relies on the attention of our communities. We need to explain to the average person why their personal papers may be of interest to us. Over and over again we hear stories about valuable manuscripts are found in someone's attic. Or, we hear about newly found documents that shed light on a particular issue, changing our thinking about history. Creating an understanding that the old papers may have value is not an easy task. The participatory museum model offers us a valuable method for public outreach and attention.

I am reiterating the need for archivists, librarians and museum professionals to work together. Here is an opportunity for archivists to collaborate neatly with their museum counterparts who are generally more expert at this type of work than we are. Through the creation of activities that invite audience participation, Nina describes institutions gathering new documentation that offers diverse perspectives on culture. The Minnesota 150  project conducted by the Minnesota History Center is one model Nina offers us. The Center sought nominations for "the people, places and things that shape our state," then created an exhibit and book based on their work. Information such as that gathered here could be a boon to archivists seeking to document humanity.

With this in mind, I will leave you with these two questions:
1. Have you explored what aspects of your community need documentation? How can you invite outsiders, who may have more knowledge about certain community activities than you, to give you their ideas about what should be documented?
2. Presuming you have a strong mission and collection development policy, and know what needs more thorough documentation in your community, how can you invite community members to give you information? How can using the museum world's participatory model help you reach out more effectively to a potential audience? Are there museum people in your community who can help you do this? How would both groups benefit?

If you are not already doing so, invite the cultural heritage professionals in your community to sit down together for discussion regularly. Explore ways you can help each other reach out to new audiences. Take advantage of your diverse expertise to make your work better and to make your community a better, more self-aware, and more culturally enriched place.

Collaboration

A collaboration is a formal understanding between partners that announces they will work together to create something that is different from what they had when working alone. Collaboration brings together individuals that have something in common, yet have differing expertise and viewpoints. “Collaboration anchors not in the process of relationship, but in the pursuit of a specific result. Collaboratives are established to solve problems, develop new understandings, design new products.”(Leo Denise. “Collaboration vs. C-Three (Cooperation, Coordination, and Communication),” Innovating.)

Related to collaboration are coordination and cooperation. Both are useful in establishing a collaborative, but they can be pursued separately from one. Coordination is the creation of a partnership to promote efficiency. In the cultural heritage fields, coordination can help organizations avoid collection overlap and competition for resources, but it does not assume that partners will work together beyond that. Cooperation does not even involve partnering, but instead encourages organizations to recognize that they are both part of a community and therefore should work together amicably... Cooperation and coordination can be beneficial in collaboration, but they are not comprehensive strategies for achieving long-term, focused results.

If we choose to pursue a long-term partnering strategy, we first must recognize that a successful collaborative is required, to some extent, to put the needs of the collaborative above those of individual institutions. This is not to say that you must abandon the goals of your own organization. In fact, a successful collaborative will meld with an individual institution’s own ideals. When entering a collaborative, you make a formal agreement to adhere to the principles established by the collective. Individuals must also recognize that they will need to dedicate some time toward collaborative work. This means that participants must be willing to take some time away from other projects to devote attention to group-related cooperative tasks.

The first step toward establishing a collaborative is to carefully reach out to prospective partners and plan for the development of a partnership based on mutual agreement. Those with the initiative to start a group must carefully consider what they want the group to achieve. “For a collaborative idea to succeed, it has to be embedded in an overarching vision all participants share, which makes it worth the effort to overcome the inevitable obstacles.” (Diane M. Zorich, Gunter Waibel, and Ricky Erway, Beyond the Silos of the LAMs: Among Library, Archives and Museums (Dublin, OH: OCLC, 2008), 21.)

Partners must recognize possible pitfalls before they occur. Whether you seek to establish a formal incorporated group or an informal group, there are basic procedures to encourage its success. Partnerships are often unsuccessful due to miscommunication, insufficient planning, or setting unachievable goals. “Collaboration, as a human enterprise, totally depends for its success upon the goodwill of its participants.” (James Burgett. Collaborative Collection Development: A Practical Guide for Your Library (Chicago: ALA, 2004), 23.)...

A collaborative group should begin with a focus on easily achievable goals that guide everyone in the same direction. Long-range planning can be initiated once the group is running efficiently. The committee must create milestones that, once reached, serve as a measure of the group’s success. A primary goal is to encourage a cooperative ethic that will lead to efficiency and increased access to expertise in a wide range of fields...

[From the book "Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation" by Melissa Mannon. 2010]

Who owns our heritage? Protecting resources outside the cultural heritage institution

Last week, an article I wrote for HNN called "Collaborating to Preserve Our Cultural History" focused on the desirability of collaborating to ensure that comprehensive documentation of our culture is preserved for posterity. The first comment I received to this article stated:

I am wondering if the author is equally concerned about the preservation of "their" culture. I refer to white invaders from Classical civilisation to the present who have removed indigenous artifacts and placed them in either private collections or white cultural zoos(museums)and then charged outlandish admission fees for their patrons. Much of what is preserved of "our culture" is simply stolen and rarely returned unless public outcry is sustained over a period of time.

This is an aspect of cultural heritage that deserves deeper consideration. Who owns our heritage? How can cultural heritage institutions best help preserve heritage? Is it necessary to expropriate materials to ensure their protection?

I responded to the commented in the following way:
It is my intention to encourage people to make sure that items are preserved for posterity. This does not mean removing items from their communities. Cultural heritage institutions can play a significant role in helping communities preserve their own materials within their own localities. We can help raise awareness about the importance of safeguarding documentation. The expertise of professionals can help communities survey their resources, identify vital historical items, create appropriate climate controlled environments, learn about proper storage materials, and create appropriate access tools for information. Working together, larger and wealthier cultural institutions can provide support for smaller communities... Even with the best intentions, when organizations seeking to build collections act to "save" materials they often stir up other issues. True collaboration encourages all those with an interest in materials to speak up about them and decide the best way to keep them. This includes professionals and non-professionals alike...One organization or group of professionals should not "expropriate" thinking that they know best and can make best use of the resources for their people. And to add to that idea, I think it should always be a goal to keep materials local, to the extent that is possible. I am specifically thinking of Afghanistan's collections that were removed from the country for their safety with the goal of returning them when it is feasible.

Returning to my own consulting work within communities this kind of thinking also applies. When I begin a collaboration project with clients, one of the first things I warn is the possibility of someone feeling like we are "stepping on toes" or trying to take away items that others feel they have a right and desire to keep. While museums, libraries and archives seek to make their collections stronger, great care must be given to a larger picture. It should be a prime goal to make a strong network of documentation, creating awareness about what materials exists, who owns them, and helping everyone gain the tools necessary to preserve them for posterity.

But, when an institution does not have "ownership" how do they benefit from cultural heritage materials and valuable troves of informational resources in the hands of others? Why should a strong repository embrace a responsibility to collaborate, aiming to keep materials close to home and sometimes within repositories that may not have expertise and funds equal to their own?

The Hudson River Valley environmental collection at the Marist College Special Collection and Archives is an example I continually return to. I wrote about this extraordinary group of records in my book Cultural Heritage Collaborators and my article for History News that is due out this Autumn. The Marist archivist developed a small collection about a proposed power plant in the Hudson River Valley into one of the most revered environmental collections in the country. Through collection development, the college gathered resources related to the controversy. In the process, the archivist worked to identify all documentation he could about the subject. When appropriate, identified materials were accessioned into the College's collection. However, in some cases (and for various reasons), the archivist informed record holders of the significance of materials in their possession and their relationship to the Marist collection, but left documents with their original owners. The archivist taught the record holders proper preservation methods when necessary. He returned to his own institution with the knowledge that the records would be kept safe and accessible because of the information he shared. He became the "go-to" person for researchers seeking information on the subject and helped establish a national recognition of his repository's expertise in this area.

Cultural heritage institutions do not need to own materials to take interest in them. One may benefit from knowledge gained about available resources. Collaborating helps gain trust, boosts all participants, and provides each with something of value. For the more established cultural institution, the knowledge gained and public recognition that you are the "expert" on a given topic will give you enough of a boost to strengthen all your activities. Ownership is not everything. We must see our role in protecting resources related to our organizational mission within and outside of our institutions. We all own our heritage and must work together to ensure its safety.

History News Network Article

History News Network has just published my latest article. "Collaborating to Preserve Our Cultural History" discusses the value of partnering to secure our heritage.

Publicizing your work through video [Animoto]

A friend turned me on to this software and I thought I'd share it. It seems like a great tool for making your web site more dynamic and for publicizing your work. Can your non-profit use this to promote your goals?

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Book Announcement: Cultural Heritage Collaborators

Join the party and become a Cultural Heritage Collaborator!

Twenty years as an archivist and ten years of providing consulting services to diverse cultural heritage institutions has brought me to this place. I am happy to announce the release of my latest book, which focuses on securing the historical documentation of communities. The publication is a practical manual to help localities work collaboratively, identify records with permanent value, and retain collections that fully reflect community memory.

Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation is a practical guide. It has been described by Erin Andrews as "a must-have guide for any group working with any sort of historical documents" and Donna Reiner says it provides "much needed information" to protect archives and small collections. Ryan Lewis states, "...any professional working in the world of community-building through heritage and cultural resources could find something of value here." (See full early reviews here)



The book is split into three sections. The first discusses why it is important to identify, collect, organize, preserve and provide access to archival materials. The second discusses collaborative collecting from the collaborators and reaching out for partners, to those who can help fund collaborative projects, to strategies for working together. The third is more practical and detailed, explaining why and how we should gain a overview of a community's documentation using accepted techniques for collection development. Interspersed through the chapters are twelve model repositories, including museums, libraries, and archives. Also included within the book are worksheets for surveying and appraising collections and tips for writing mission statements and policies to assist documentation efforts.

Reviewer John Fleckner stated that he hopes this book will "inspire others" to invest in the future through collaboration and collection development. The book conveys my passion for the work. I hope to encourage you to join the party and spread the word about what we can and should do as a society to preserve our memories and cultural heritage.

I invite you to join the discussion on this blog. In what collection based collaborative projects is your institution participating? Or, share with us what kind of project your institution is considering for the future. Perhaps you'll gain a new way of thinking about your colleagues, your public, and the future of cultural heritage institutions after you read the book. Share your thoughts here in the blog or through my ArchivesInfo Facebook business page.

Need to learn more to inspire you to read the full text? The introduction to Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation is available online.

Community of Collaborators

In this blog, I've discussed both communities and cultural heritage collaborators. I want to introduce the concept of a community of cultural heritage collaborators. A community is a group of people who share something - a common interest, a geographical locale, a faith, a relationship...The cultural heritage collaborative community is made up of people who have a common interest or responsibility in protecting cultural knowledge. This group includes professionals such as museologists, librarians, and curators. It also incorporates clerks, secretaries, records managers and others charged with retaining a specific history. Finally, the group should also rely on people the U.S. National Archivist David Ferriero has been calling "Citizen Archivists." (They can be called "Citizen Curators" or "Citizen Librarians" for my cross-professional colleagues.) These are people who may or may not know much about cultural resources. They may have some interest in collecting or preserving materials. Or, they may not be conscious of any personal interest in retaining cultural items, but may possess things that hold importance for historical memory. Materials such as family papers and heirlooms, records of community involvement, personal libraries and the like that have recognized historical value to cultural heritage professionals often remain hidden to us when this special subgroup is not included in our planning and collection development efforts. If we can identify our fellow cultural heritage collaborators, we have a greater ability to preserve our heritage by recruiting their help. Working together, we can identify and protect the resources that shed light on civilization.

1. Who are your potential professional partners? Think about fellow cultural heritage professionals in your geographic region. Think of those across your nation and around the world collecting similar resources. For example, the MacKaye family of Shirley Massachusetts left some family papers with the Shirley Historical Society. While working on this collection, I discovered that Dartmouth College a few hours north also retained a significant MacKaye collection. We exchanged finding aids and compared notes about holdings. We became cultural heritage collaborators.

2. Who are your quasi-professional partners? These are the people who use cultural materials in their day-to-day operations, but may not place emphasis on their historical import. City clerks, local businesses, association secretaries, artists and others can all be part of your collaborative. For example, as a member of Manchester Art Association I volunteered to be their historian, a volunteers Board position that had been left unfilled for many years. Records from decades of the groups operations were spread among members' homes. We organized and centralized them. I made them aware that a local historical society may have interest in their materials one day, which emphasized the group's value to the greater Manchester community and gave them incentive to better care for their materials.

3. Who are your non-professional partners? Consider the citizens in your town who have materials related to your community. Consider those outside of your geographic area who may have an interest in your community. It is most challenging to reach out to this group to convince them of the role they have to play in cultural heritage goals. Many have never considered the value of their personal materials beyond themselves or their families. Many think that they have no interest in history. This is an opportunity for outreach and a barrier that we can break by emphasizing the idea of community. The Waltham Rediscovered project in the early 1990s is a good example of enhancing citizen interest. A series of ethnic celebrations emphasized community pride and encouraged residents and former residents to share recollections in oral histories and to show others their family papers and memorabilia. The effort culminated in a book about the development of Waltham and the immigrant experience and a new collection of materials related to the project was eventually donated to the Waltham Public Library.

We all have an interest in advancing humanity and making our communities the best that they can be. Focusing on our common interests and recognizing that everyone has a role to play in preserving community memory will help cultural heritage institutions fill their missions to retain resources and sustain knowledge. A community of collaborators has a greater opportunity to raise awareness, increase enthusiasm, build support, boost goodwill, fully document a community or place, and encourage pride than any one of us working alone.

Read more about the collaborators in Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation and share your ideas about ways to cultivate a sense of community and collaboration.

The lovely prized family photo at the beginning of this post evokes a sense of place and can stand as a representation of local pride. A friend allowed me to make a copy when I found it hidden among her boxed photos.

Cultural Heritage Collaborators (1st peek & seeking reviewers)

As reviews come in for my soon to be released book "Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation" I want to shout "They get it!"

This is one of my "official" book descriptions:

Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation is a practical guide for communities working to identify, preserve, and leverage their historical resources to promote cultural heritage and local spirit. The book aims shows the pervasiveness of historical records within our civilization and how everyone can be a "cultural heritage collaborator" to ensure that a complete record of our society is kept for future generations.

- Twelve model repositories
- The Who, What, and Why of Collecting Historical Records
- Collection Development and Collaboration
- The Practice of Collection Development
- Worksheets for surveying and appraising collections
- Tips for writing mission statements and policy

However, any writing about a broad topic can impact any one reader in a unique, unpredictable way. This book invites readers from very differing backgrounds -- museum professionals, librarians, and archivists, as well as non-cultural heritage professionals -- to apply very specific archives concepts to their own unique situations. It is a pleasure to me that those few who have thus far studied the manuscript have each found something worthwhile in the writing from their particular perspective and have responded positively to the idea of Cultural Heritage Collaboration.

I've pasted the reviews below and invite you to join the Collaboration. Do you bring a unique perspective? Would you care to write a review? Please contact me and we'll talk.

REVIEWS

Melissa Mannon's book, Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation, begins with a surprising premise - surprising, at least, for a non-archivist. Archives, she contends, forms the foundation for our society and civilization and thus, should provide the basis for community partnerships amongst cultural organizations. To think this way is likely nothing new to those who prize the written-record as the preeminent trait of authentic culture and personal heritage, but this book goes beyond the pats-on-the-back that deeply-entrenched professionals too often engage in. Rather, she provides a spirited manifesto for how and why those in the record collecting business can reframe their centrality in the process of community-building, especially within professions that too-often remain in different camps.

In short order Mannon argues a convincing case for the centrality of archival records for the public good; offers clear, direct, and helpful community-based examples that feel more like customizable templates rather than absolute prescripts; and, uplifts both the committed professional and the dedicated amateur alike. Her definitions of the related, but distinct, concepts of collaboration, cooperation, coordination, and partnership are especially instructive and delivered in clear-cut suggestions with an eye towards moving individuals and organizations towards strategic-thinking in collections development. Whether desirous of obtaining a sense of the philosophical foundations, historical understanding, practical methods, or real-life snapshots of archives at work within communities, any professional working in the world of community-building through heritage and cultural resources could find something of value here.

- Ryan Lewis
Program Officer - Outreach and Programs
Illinois Humanities Council

This book is a practical guide not only on how to create, organize, and maintain an Archives but also-and more importantly-how to preserve our future through collaboration between local historical groups, businesses, and government agencies. Understanding that this is not a task to be taken on by a singular group, that it is an ongoing process rather than one set in stone and antiquity, and that it can be successful no matter what size group is undertaking the work, are the basic tenets of Mannon's book.

Cultural Heritage Collaborators is a must-have guide for any group working with any sort of historical documents. Whether you are familiar with best practices and institutional standards or not, this book puts things into perspective as to how documents should be managed amongst collaborative local groups. For those who aren't that knowledgeable on how to maintain our cultural heritage, or how to develop community relations to strengthen efforts of preservation, this book will definitely help get you off on the right foot.

Mannon's work is not only inspiring and informative, but it truly conveys her enthusiasm toward documenting cultural heritage and the importance of preserving our collective past. It shows us all that there are feasible steps to take in organizing and caring for historical documents for future generations to cherish and use as tools to uncover the cultural past. Whether a self-taught historian or professionally trained archivist, this book holds great value for any audience who searches to collaborate with their neighbors to document any aspect of a community.

- Erin Andrews, Master of History Museum Studies
Past president of the Sidney Historical Association, Sidney, New York

Collaboration as a concept is not new. We've seen it successfully working with groups, businesses, and people. But when it comes to protecting the archival portion of our cultural heritage, collaboration is not necessarily the first thought that comes to mind. Whether this stems from territorialism, fear of the process, or simply it never came up, collaboration in the archival arena may actually be the answer to saving these precious materials.

Cultural Heritage Collaborators has come out at a critical time in our country's history. Economic crises have forced the closure of museums and libraries and their archives, as well as businesses that also have archival materials. With an eye to the future, Ms. Mannon's manual provides clear steps that any group can follow to collaboratively collect, protect, maintain, and expand archives that are important to a community's history as well to our country's. Not merely laden with theory, Cultural Heritage Collaborators contains real examples of collaborative efforts to save archival materials that are working. While there is no "right" way to be successful in the collaborative process, the steps on why and how to start, the cautions, index, and bibliography are important elements in this easy to read manual that can insure success.

As someone who spends many hours using the materials found in archives and discovering small collections that really need proper care and maintenance, this book provides the much needed information to protect their future. Truly it will take a village of diverse individuals and groups to appreciate and undertake the protection of its archives. But future generations will understand and benefit from the effort if we use Cultural Heritage Collaboration as the foundation for demonstrating our responsibility in protecting this sometimes under valued part of a community's history.

- Donna J. Reiner, PhD
Museum Consultant

Reflecting Communities: Some Food for Thought

A cultural heritage professional - archivist, librarian, museologist - may view her work as centered around documenting communities. A community is a group of individuals tied together by a something they have in common. They may be bound by a geographic locale, an interest, a belief, a shared heritage...Whatever it is that
unites them, the evidence of their connection is embodied in the things they create that reflect their purpose as a community. For example, if one is bound by a religious community, a shared purpose is symbolized in such things as buildings devoted to prayer, bibles, and objects of devotion. If we are bound by a local government, our community is reflected in items such as local government records and municipal buildings.

Here is some food for thought:

What is a community?

What kinds of things do people create? – from buildings to clothing, to documents, to art, to parks, to programs

What communities do not create tangible items of material culture?

How do we hand down the memories or values of our community if we do not create tangible items devoted to our purpose?

What is role of cultural heritage professional in preserving community?

What does it mean to “preserve”community?

What does it mean to “document” community? Is this the same as preserving it?

How do cultural heritage professionals know what to collect to best reflect our community?

Photo of Wadleigh Memorial Library fourth of July parade. 2005. children posed on steps of Milford Town Hall, Milford, NH

Participatory Archives and Face-to Face Communication

Andrew Flinn's 'An attack on professionalism and scholarship'?: Democratizing Archives and the Production of Knowledge discusses the value of community archives and the desirability of encouraging a participatory archives model. Flinn passionately argues for the need to shift the professional archivist's thinking to include the role of the non-professional, interested citizen, to advance the work that archivists do. Embracing democratization (or democratisation with respect to my English colleague) in the archives means giving users and potential collaborators a sense of ownership in the work that we do. Flinn notes that "...archives held in the community could be as important as those held in public archives." He advocates for persuading communities to share their knowledge and that specialists in diverse fields often have a better understanding of the materials held in cultural repositories than those who are charged with caring for those materials.

Flinn seems to present a challenge in the second half of his article, if you subscribe to the idea that the next step for archives is to be more inclusive and participatory, the next step to consider is how to encourage those outside of the archives to buy-in. In my opinion we must convince potential collaborators that: 1. We value what they say. 2. We are actively listening to their input 3. Their input is being put to good use.

Flinn discusses some of evidence of success in online collaborative initiatives such as The National Archives' (UK) "Your Archives" project, while earlier in the article he notes that "...in themselves, new technologies do not guarantee such a transformation [to democratic impulses]."
Once again, I find myself struggling with ideas of old and new. Technology is not the only input into the community we need to consider. While it has great benefits for archives in terms of access and reaching users we may not otherwise have reached, we cannot abandon successful methods that do not relate to computers and digitization.

In tandem with Flinn's article, I am reading Nina Simon's "The Participatory Museum." Her book emphasizes how different users may need different entry points into a museum. While one may feel comfortable walking through an exhibit with a brochure in hand, another may want an audio guide. Another person may want an activity that invites them to interactive with the exhibit to keep them engaged. With this in mind, we need to consider alternative means to invite individuals to participate.

Many of the people with whom I work are not Internet savvy. In fact, many need to be cajoled into going near a computer and just trying it. It is not effective to try to convince them of the value of using a computer while at the same time convincing them of the value of archives. Perhaps in a generation or two this will change and everyone will be comfortable with a computer. When that happens, and as technology advances and the becomes more personalized, the multiple access points we use for participatory archives will need to be revisited. For now, as my blog title today suggests, we must not abandon face-to-face communication. And for those of us who have never tried getting out of the archives and into the community, now would be a good time to do it as we explore the ideas of "participatory" and "crowdsourcing."

Encouraging users to bring their archives and their ideas to professionals through thoughtful programs is one way to make outsiders feel welcome. Public speaking, networking, attending community events and just making ourselves visible is still the best way to increase trust and participation. Telling individuals face-to-face that they are important, that the histories of their families are important, and that the records they hold in their possession are important, is vital to successful collaboration and democratization of our work. If we can reach out in-person, we can show that we are listening and valuing the individuals in our community, and we will receive the support and collaboration we seek.

Our challenge then becomes putting the buy-in to good use. What kinds of collections, programs, additional access points, exhibits, etc. can we create with our new non-professional partners to show them what they say matters? Rather than creating the programs FOR an audience first and hoping they will come, this shift in thinking will allow us to create programs WITH our audience, truly democratizing what we do, while highlighting our community and civic roles, and ultimately strengthening us and our purpose.

Do we need to find a term to replace “citizen archivist” and what is a "citizen archivist" anyway?

On Friday, archivist Kate Theimer posted on her ArchivesNext blog a post that she titled "Why we need to find a term to replace “citizen archivist.” The discussion relates to my earlier posting this week that discussed the need to think about our terminology and its evolution. [Blog Versus Diary: Just New Technology or a Whole New Way of Thinking?] Please see Kate's original post. I've pasted the response that I made on her site below:

I don’t find the use of the term “archivist” by non-professionals objectionable, but I think there is a need to raise awareness about exactly what a professional archivist does. I don’t think “citizen archivist” helps raise that awareness and I agree with Kate that the term muddies the waters. In my upcoming book “Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation” I discuss Cultural Heritage Collaborators as those working to preserve cultural heritage and the documentary record. This group includes professionals in the LAM and quasi-professionals who are required to care for records, but who may not be as concerned about the cultural nature of items. This group includes people such as some records managers and municipal clerks. I identify a final group that I call the Non-professionals. These are people who have some interest in records or history, but who may not have the training or background to properly care for archival materials. This includes volunteers, civic association secretaries, business administrators and the like. I would like to see the development of “sexier” terms to describe each collaborator, but I also want to see the emphasis on partnership heightened. (I’m lack of a better term than sexy on a Sunday afternoon, so please forgive me.) If we can come up with terms that balance the idea of needing professional expertise to care for records for posterity with the idea that records are important to everyone, I think it would be a great service to our profession and would make great strides toward more effective outreach. “Unmudding” our terminology, as I discussed on my ArchivesInfo blog earlier this week, can only help us and lead to better care of archives in general.