Serving Artists in Your Community by the team at the Library as Incubator Project

Today I am pleased to feature a guest post from the ladies of the Library as Incubator Project. These ladies caught my eye with their out of the box thinking about how librarians can focus on and serve a select aspect of their community. Today's blog post follows my earlier one this week on Strengthening Community Ties with an audience focus. The Library as Incubator project demonstrates how librarians can serve artists in their communities, but also serves as a model for cultural heritage professionals seeking to engage any audience.  Pick a group in your community with a common interest and focus on their needs. Show how your library, archives or museum can be an information hub for any group you choose. Check out the Library as Incubator Project on the platforms they list at the end of the article for more inspiration. Thanks so much to the Library as Incubator Project team for sharing your unique point of view with ArchivesInfo!

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Image from  http://www.chestertownspy.com/art-and-book-sale-benefits-food-pantry/   

The Library as Incubator Project was founded in 2011 by Erinn Batykefer, Laura Damon-Moore, and Christina Endres, while we were students in the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies. The goal of the Project is to highlight artists whose work has been “incubated” in some way by libraries, and to give artists and librarians a place to connect. Here we present some ideas for library/archives staff on how to reach out to and support the artists in your community.

1. Help artists get to know the libraries in your community.

Don’t assume that every user group in your community knows about the library and - more specifically - what it can offer them as professionals or hobbyists. A lot of fine and creative artists know and appreciate their public, school, or college library but might not know that the services it offers that can really help them develop as artists, writers, and performers. There are a number of ways that you can reach out to artists to create a mutually beneficial library/user relationship.

●     Invite local arts organization members to a special library open house geared toward artists. Showcase the collections and services the library provides that would be especially useful to that user group. Or, offer to attend an arts council or arts organization meeting to talk about the library and how it can be of particular use to artists.

●     Prepare a set of materials that talks specifically about these collections and services for artists to pick up at the information or reference desk. A generic list of library services can be overwhelming for some people, but putting a special spin on the services (like explaining that the business reference materials can be particularly useful for creative artists starting their own small business) can help focus the guides and make them clearer for users.

●     Does your library have gallery space? Make it clear where people can find information about showing their work in the library, online and in the library itself. Brochures located near the gallery space means that users can have their questions answered quickly. Include an FAQ section that outlines artist submission guidelines, timeline/scheduling information, and a specific staff member to contact with follow up questions.

2. Gear (some of) your resources toward artists.

Even if your library doesn’t have the budget for a full-blown makerspace, studio, or performance space doesn’t mean you can’t support artists with library resources. Bibliographies, finding aids, and book lists are always helpful - why not try creating one specially geared toward a type of artist (like reference books for writers, or great books for fiber artists)? Of course, inspiration for creative projects comes from everywhere, not just books written by peers. So you won’t be able to address everything - nor need you! Just put a note at the bottom of a book list to remind users that if they have questions, they can always ask for assistance.

The nice thing about “the arts” is that there are plenty of people who do them professionally or as a hobby - at the next staff meeting, ask if there is a great knitter among you who would be interested in putting together a book display of his/her favorite knitting books. This is a fun way to involve staff from multiple departments.

Artists may also be looking for ways to turn their work into a business.  Promote materials that may be of use to artists and writers trying to monetize their work, perhaps through a “Business of Art” book display.  Include books with details about money and finances, but also about other practical skills like framing and building a website.  Include a list of online databases and resources that may also be of use.

3. Promote workshops to the artists in your community.

If your library holds arts-related workshops, chances are the artists in your community will be interested.  Find out about your local artist groups, crafting communities, and arts organizations and promote your workshops through their newsletters, listservs, or even Facebook pages.   Even if you think a workshop may be too basic for more seasoned artists, you might capture the interest of a collage artist who has been meaning to learn to paint, or a poet who is interested in photography.  Workshops are also a great venue to introduce artist patrons to other resources and materials that may be helpful to them at the library. 

Keep in mind that artists may also be looking to learn skills that are not necessarily directly related to the arts.  Make sure that the artists and writers in your community know about computer software trainings, small business workshops, and social media how-to’s.  Try marketing to the creative community on social media sites where extra plugs to a specific user group come at no extra cost. 

4. Encourage artists to share their work with the community.

One incredibly useful role of libraries in the lives of artists, writers and performers is as a venue for displaying or presenting their creative work. Consider ways that your library can fulfill the role of “venue” for the artists in your community. Serving as a gallery or as a reading/performance space may be an obvious answer, but think about ways to extend that involvement - or to still be supportive of creative work even if you can’t actually showcase it in the library. Artists can curate book displays, prepare recommended reading lists, and facilitate workshops. Offer the option for artists to facilitate a workshop based on their work and incorporate it into your programming schedule (relatively simple if you plan it when you book their gallery show/event). Be sure to discuss what the library will offer in terms of support (whether it’s just paying for supplies, or whether the artist will be compensated).

5. Show artists you’re there for them, 24/7.

One of the most popular responses we get from artists on our survey about how they use libraries is that they wish the library was open 24/7 for those days when the most productive hours are between 11 pm and 3 am.   Of course, the library has to close at night, but the web is always open.  Make sure that artists in your community know about the great online resources your library offers at all times of day and night.

It helps to talk to a few artists and writers. Ask them what kinds of resources they would find helpful when the creativity strikes at midnight. Make these resources easy to access and locate.  Create a page on your website, or even a category for artists within your existing resources page, with links to rich visual resources like the Smithsonian Galaxy of Images, NYPL Digital Gallery, or images from your local/state archives.  If you subscribe to databases that include art, poetry or other creative resources, highlight these as well.  Post bibliographies and booklists online, so users can place hold on those items at any time of day. 

There is a lot that can be done to serve artists at the library, and sometimes you have to start small.  Take one or two of these steps, reach out to the artists and writers in your community, and build from there.  The artists we’ve talked with appreciate all the small things librarians do to make their lives easier, and there’s much for the library to benefit from these relationships as well.

We want your ideas and tips on how to connect your library/archives with artists too! Feel free to get in touch with us at libraryasincubatorproject @ gmail.com, or connect with us through Twitter (@IArtLibraries) or Facebook (Library as Incubator Project). We are always looking to start conversations with new colleagues!

Guest Post for ActiveHistory.ca

Below is a link to my guest post for Activehistory.ca . Active.ca is one of my favorite blogs. I was honored to be asked to contribute to their body of work.http://activehistory.ca/2012/02/outreach-and-collections-encouraging-community-members-to-play-a-role-in-saving-history/

My Home Movies are Crying out for Respect

To begin the new year, I welcome this post by guest blogger David Rowntree. David has over 10 years of audiovisual archiving experience in a wide variety of libraries, archives, and broadcasting stations. He is working on two very interesting projects in 2012 including an inventory project in my home state with New Hampshire Public Radio (as part of the American Archive Project). He is also co-authoring a book with Chris Lacinak (Audiovisual Preservation Solutions) called Audiovisual Digitization, Preservation, and Access: A Handbook for Legacy and Born Digital Collections. Neal-Schuman Publishers Inc.

This post seems particularly appropriate, following just a few short days after the announcement of the most recent additions to the National Film Registry's list. (I particularly like an article in today's news related to the Film Registry called "Some Thoughts on These Amazing Shadows...") The care of old media is a problem with which we all grapple. Thank you David for sharing your unique expertise with the readers at the ArchivesInfo blog so that we may all safely care for our own personally valuable films!
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If you are like me, you probably have a box, or multiple boxes, of old audiovisual recordings of family birthdays, celebrations, travels, and other events (both special and mundane) tucked away in a closet, basement, or attic. Whether it's film, videotape, optical disks or hard drives we have increasingly turned to moving images to capture our memories. However, as technology rushes forward, these collections are increasingly forgotten and neglected. It is a classic case of  “do what I say and not what I do.” I work with archives and organizations to preserve their film & media collections… but I have left mine in the closet for too long.

Home movies have been a part of our history from the time film was invented. By the1930’s both16mm and 8mm cameras had entered the home consumer market.  Although home movies were the exclusive hobby of wealthy individuals until the 1950’s, as equipment and film stock became more affordable they became more accessible. With the advent of video, and later digital cameras, home movies have become an integral part of documenting our family history.

What is generally an intensely personal record, despite our recent propensity to want to share them with the world via Facebook and YouTube, home movies have caught the attention of scholars. In the past decade there has been a dramatic shift in the perception of homes movies in both film and social history. Critical historiography and film studies have been expanding their views of what should be considered a part of the historical record. This shift signifies a move from predominant “official” histories, to one that includes popular memory, is more informal and personal… thus allowing for a richer (and visual) interpretation. Editors Karen L. Ishizuka and Patricia R. Zimmermann capture this shift in their book Mining the home movie: Excavations in history and memories (2008). http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520248076 I just checked the book out from the library myself.

Film archivists have been at the forefront of this change. In 2003, a group of archivists created Home Movie Day - http://www.homemovieday.com/ an international event that allows individuals to project their home movies in public screenings. In addition to the joy of watching these programs, the forum provides an opportunity to showcase why it’s important to care for these films and to learn how to best care for them.

A couple of years later, the non-profit group Center for Home Movies (CHM) http://www.centerforhomemovies.org/ was established to administer the growing Home Movie Day events as well as “engage in new home movie projects” and act as a “clearinghouse for information about home movies.” A sampling of home movies from the CHM collections can be viewed on the Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/details/home_movies

This new scholarship may be an interesting read, and it may be fun to participate in a HOME MOVIE DAY event, but you may be asking ‘what does this have to do with my stack of old tapes?’ To start, this new focus has resulted in an increased number of resources dedicated to the preservation of home movies. In addition to the Center for Home Movies, the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) http://www.amianet.org/ is a treasure trove of information and is full of individuals dedicated to audiovisual preservation. The are several resources on their website (see the Preservation Committee http://www.amianet.org/groups/committees/preservation/preservation.php

and Small Gauge/ Amateur Committee). http://www.amianet.org/groups/committees/smallgauge/about.php

You can also conduct a search on the AMIA listserv archives or post a question to the group http://www.amianet.org/participate/listserv.php. Over a decade of intimate knowledge has been archived here. http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/amia-l.html

Time to Take Action

First, if your audiovisual materials are in the attic or basement… move them. Apart from physical damage, environmental storage conditions have the largest effect on the lifespan of your materials. Fluctuating temperatures and high humidity often found in these locations will accelerate the breakdown of film and video materials. I keep my materials in a closet on main floor where temperatures are generally drier and more stable.

If you have film, unless it reeks of vinegar it is probably in decent shape. Film has already proven to be able to survive 100 years, so it is less vulnerable than many of your videos. However, if they are stored in rusty cans or cardboard boxes consider re-housing them to avoid particles from scratching and damaging the emulsion. You can buy archival cans from places like Gaylord, University Products, Tuscan, and Urbanski.

Viewing film is obviously a problem if you do not have a projector or viewing equipment. If you do have a projector or are considering buying one on eBay be sure to conduct some research about inspecting and projecting your films – especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. Film can shrink, curl, and warp as it breaks down, or contain splices in need of repair (where the film is taped or glued together). Running uninspected film through a projector can physically damage the film. The most practical solution is to transfer them.

Making a DVD or video file is great because you can share your memories and not subject your films to the wear and tear of projection. However, it is very important not to throw out the film originals. They will be better quality than your digital access copy and will last longer. A DVD is not a preservation format. If you no longer want the actual film… consider donating them to an archive. Northeast Historic Films http://www.oldfilm.org/ in Bucksport, Maine has one of the largest home movie collections in the country.

I have a small amount of film given to me by my uncle (from the 1970’s) sitting in boxes which I will get to at some point. Ironically, my newer videotapes and digital video are more susceptible to loss than the film so I am going to focus on preserving these first.  If you are not sure what you have in your collection, the Texas Commission on the Arts: Video Conservation Guide http://www.arts.state.tx.us/video/ is a good site to help you identify your tapes and gives a good introduction to the problems and risks associated with video.

My first problem is that I do not have all the equipment to play back and access my tapes. I also have many recordings on small formats such as Hi-8, digital Hi-8, and mini-dv. These formats are very unstable (the more narrow the tape the less stable they are generally). I plan to send most of my analog tapes to be digitized by a vendor. I will migrate the digital formats myself. I have worked with SceneSavers http://www.scenesavers.com/index.htm. They are a bit pricey but are a reputable archival preservation company. There are other alternatives as well, just do some research.

A common misconception is that digitization equals preservation. There is both digitization for access and digitization for preservation. While digitizing an old tape onto a DVD may save the footage from further neglect (and you get the benefit of viewing it) it generally involves compression (loss of detail). When digitizing your old tapes for preservation purposes (or having a vendor do it for you) be sure to create an uncompressed file (you can save this on a hard drive) in addition to the DVD copy you will want for access.

Unfortunately, the work does not end there. Once I have my digital files I can no longer just ignore them. They will need to be managed.

1.      I need multiple back-up copies.

2.      I need to be mindful of the file types I have, as well as continually migrate the media every few years going forward (file types change and are updated).

3.      I need to migrate because the hard drive, DVD, or computer will not last indefinitely either. Common archival practice is to migrate approximately every 5 years.

4.      I also need to take the time to add metadata, such as well thought out file name. I have dozens of songs in my iTunes library titled Track 01, Track 02… Don’t let this happen to your memories. Linda Tadic talks about metadata and the challenges and practical solutions for archiving and preserving digital video. http://www.loc.gov/podcasts/digitalpreservation/podcast_tadic.html

 I know it will be a rewarding, nostalgic, and exciting process going through the old tapes and being able to see the events I’ve recorded and long forgot about. Moreover, my kids will finally get to see their parents wedding and know that we too were once young… and that I could dance. Time to roll up my sleeves and dig in!
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Find David on Twitter @davidrowntree and see his web site at http://www.archivalmediaconsulting.com/

Professional Until the End: Neighbors Never Knew Quiet Woman was a WWII SPY - Guest post by Rebecca Price

Periodically on the ArchivesInfo blog I post articles by guest bloggers. In the past, Linda Norris, Sarah Brophy, and Greg Lawrence kindly shared their thoughts on these pages. In an effort to promote one of ArchivesInfo's strongest goals, to  "encourage collaboration to ensure the security of a wide-range of cultural heritage resources," I feature writers who specialize in diverse aspects of cultural heritage. This month, I offer to you the writing of Rebecca Price, who runs the fabulous Chick History blog. Rebecca chose this piece about a WWII spy to share with my readers. Originally posted on the Chick History blog on November 11, 2010, the post discusses the role archives played in highlighting the fascinating legacy of one fearless female spy. Thank you Rebecca for sharing!

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Professional Until the End: Neighbors Never Knew Quiet Woman was a WWII SPY

Secret Agent Woman

In September this year, Eileen Nearne died of a heart attack in her Torquay flat in the county of Devon, England. When officials cleaned out her apartment and were searching for contact information for her next of kin to arrange the funeral, they found instead medals, papers, and an extraordinary life. Eileen Mary Nearne, a.k.a. Jacqueline Duterte, a.k.a Alice Wood, a.k.a Rose, was a spy for the British army during WWII who worked behind enemy lines in Paris and was captured by the Germans in 1944.

Eileen was born in 1921 in London. Her father was British and her mother French. In 1923, the family moved to France where she lived until WWII broke out. When France became occupied by Germany, Eileen and her sister obtained British passports and moved back to England in 1942, leaving their family behind. They applied for work at the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). Because they were native French speakers, they were recruited for undercover work and were trained in wireless techniques. The plan was to receive messages in the field and then code, transmit, and destroy said messages.

In March 1944, Eileen was flown into Indre, France for her assignment. For the next four months she coded and transmitted over 100 messages in German-occupied France back to England. The majority of her transmissions were instructions and arrangements for weapon shipments into France for the resistance movement in and around Paris. In July, she was detected and arrested by the German Gestapo – the secret police of Nazi Germany. She was interrogated and tortured using water torture, but gave up absolutely no information on her real identity. She convinced the Gestapo her name was Madamoiselle du Tort and that she had no idea that the businessman she was “working” for was actually British. She was sent to a concentration camp and later transferred to a labor camp. During these ten months of imprisonment she was tortured, threatened at gunpoint, and her head was shaven.

In April 1945 she was transferred again, and this time she escaped with two other French girls into the woods. She evaded SS Officers once again, insisting she was a French volunteer, and stayed on the run for two weeks staying in abandoned homes and churches. When the American troops rolled in, she ran to them for assistance. Alas, they didn’t believe her story either, and kept her in a camp for the month of May until a British officer arrived and confirmed her identity and repatriated her. Yeah, she’s with us.

I'd like to take this moment and point out that Eileen was 23 years old at this time.

Images of the codes Eileen was responsible
for transmitting back and forth between
London and Paris. These, among other
fascinating material, were made available
by the United Kingdom National Archives 

in October after Eileen's death.

Not much of her life after service is known publicly. Later interviews indicate she missed her days working as a patriot for her country and found civilian life unsatisfying. She participated in a documentary on British Spies for the BBC in the 1990s, but she remained in disguise, speaking French, and using her code name Rose. A clip from the interview shows her in a wig recounting her capture and escape. I mean, once a spy, always a spy.

After her death, the British National Archives released the papers they had on her, which include photographs, newspaper articles, letters, and first-hand accounts of her training, services, arrest and escape. You can download these for free at the National Archives website.

These primary sources from the 1940s offer an incredible window into the time period and views of women about their service and capabilities. They also tend to reveal more about the person doing the describing than they do about the person being described.

A male Major assessing her training described her "as very 'feminine' and immature; she seems to lack all experience of the world and would probably be easily influenced by others. It is doubtful whether this student is suitable for employment in any capacity on account of her lack of experience." Two months later she was deployed to France.

The American officer who couldn’t see a trained British spy gave the following thoughtful conclusion: "Subject creates a very unbalanced impression. She often is unable to answer the simplest questions, as though she were impersonating someone else." In her version of the interview, Eileen Nearne states she withheld information to American officers because she didn’t want to give too much away. She was, after all, working for the British on convert military operations.

My favorite is the glowing recommendation SOE Officer Vera Atkins gives her when trying to find her a civilian job after ten months in a German concentration camp. “She is completely untrained, but she is extraordinarily reliable and thorough in any job on which she is keen.” This was a letter to a beauty salon.

If by “extraordinarily reliable and thorough” you mean able to code and transmit sensitive military operations, withstand torture and imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp, and escape and invade capture in the woods, then YES, she is qualified to be a beautician.

After her return, she was recommended for and received two military honors, the Member of the Order of the British Empire and the French Croix de Guerre. Once her true identity was discovered after her death, she received a full military funeral with honors. Hundreds attended to pay respects.

The Lost Stories - Guest Post by Linda Norris

When Melissa asked me to write a guest post about the Pickle Project,  I pondered what to write about—recipes?  Oral histories?  Working in another culture?  So many paths to consider.   But historic photographs always intrigue me and they were no exception in Ukraine.

A bit of background:  in 2009 and 2010 I spent four months each living and working in Ukraine as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching museum studies and collaborating on workshops around Ukraine, a country I knew little about before I decided to go.   The Pickle Project is a collaboration with another Fulbrighter, Sarah Crow,  to document Ukrainian foodways, with their emphasis on sustainability and seasonality and to share, through exhibits and our blog,  that knowledge with audiences here in North America.   We’d both long had an interest in foodways, and we each found so much intriguing about food in Ukraine—pickles, but also home-made vodka, pampushki (donuts) and of course, borscht.

So I began to look for historic photographs about food.   About once a month, while living in Kyiv,  I would get up early on a Saturday, sometimes with friends, sometimes by myself and take the metro over to the Left Bank on the far side of the Dnieper River.  There, in a big convention hall, often housing other events at the same time (dog show, bridal show, garden show) was a weekly antiques and flea market—in many ways, much like any you might go to here.  There’s always something both compelling and depressing about flea markets for people who care about objects with their stories intact. There’s the feeling of a huge room of objects untethered from their owners.  The market always had all kinds of things:  beautiful Ukrainian textiles,  weapons,  Soviet realist paintings and murals stripped from public buildings,  and religious icons, along with small ceramic statues,  costume jewelry and the like.

 

But I began to seek out historic photographs of farming, eating, gardening and the like.  And I found some surprises—that seemed not so surprising once I thought a bit more about it.  I saw piles and piles of military photographs—not surprising when Ukraine has been fought over and over during the 20^th century.   I found far fewer mid- and late- 20^th century photographs than you would in the United States.   Not surprising when, under Soviet rule, so much was controlled and one goal was never to stand out.   And I found so many stiffly posed group photos:  again, not a surprise when Soviet life was entirely collective.   And sadly, I also found photographs with accession numbers that had clearly come out of museum collections.

 

But, I kept looking and found some wonderful images that conveyed both how much has changed in Ukraine (Kyiv is a modern city) and how much, in the villages, life continues at a pace of an earlier time (except of course, for the ubiquitous cell phones!)

The antique market always brought a sense of loss to me—but it was counterbalanced by one of my favorite museums in Kyiv—the Ivan Honchar Museum.   This museum aims  “to help revive national culture, promote ethnic consciousness, and preserve and develop the best traditions of Ukrainian folk art.” And according to the museum, “ In the 1960s his collection served as an alternative to the then official ideology and helped spark a renewed interest in national culture.”

Ivan Honchar went from village to village, collecting materials including photographs and carefully placing them in albums, along with his watercolor sketches of material culture.  Those albums, which the museum is in the process of reproducing, represent a traditional culture that, despite the best efforts of the Soviets, refused to die.   Ivan Honchar choose not to represent an official state culture, but rather the culture of villages and the museum that bears his name continues to develop lively programs on folk culture (become a fan of the Ivan Honchar on Facebook and check out their great photos!)

Across Ukraine’s diverse landscape, wars have been fought, genocide has been committed, and untold many stories have been lost.  When I pick up a photograph at the flea market, I hold just one of those forgotten stories in my hand and wonder.

And in the Pickle Project, we hope to capture those individual stories, photographs, and of course recipes.   To learn more about the Pickle Project, please check out our blog and become a backer on Kickstarter by February 1!

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Hi everyone. This is Melissa here. I started following Linda on Twitter, learned about her fascinating Pickle Project and made a pledge to help her capture the vital Ukraine stories she describes above. Linda's project with Sarah Crow is a fabulous example of how people can help save culture. Linda's work gathering photographs, stories, and foodways is capturing unique traditions and heritage that can be shared around the world, blending the preservation of tangible and intangible heritage. Every day, we lose artifacts and knowledge that are among the best human beings have to offer. Our stories, recipes, languages, songs and dances can only be remembered when people make an effort to pass them on. Please join me in making a pledge to help the Pickle Project reach its goal so they may document and share the rich traditions and foods of the Ukraine. Every little bit counts.

Read Linda Norris' blog The Uncataloged Museum

For more on "Intangible Heritage" see http://archivesinfo.blogspot.com/2010/11/intangible-heritage.html and 

http://archivesinfo.blogspot.com/2010/08/intangible-memories-preserved.html

Environmental Sustainability – How Does it Fit With the (8.9.10 Draft) of CORE VALUES OF ARCHIVISTS?

I would like to thank my friend and colleague Sarah Brophy for contributing this thought provoking blog post for ArchivesInfo. Thinking and acting green is often just on the periphery of what cultural heritage professionals do. Sarah gives us great tips for tying environmental responsibility to the professional actions of archivists. There is something for everyone here. (In consideration of my own specific professional interests, I especially appreciate Sarah's discussion at the end of this piece regarding collaboration and collecting wisely. These are good rules of thumb for everything we do!) - MM

Green is a team sport. It will take all of us – archivists, curators, administrators, educators and every other cultural heritage professional to make the field green. So, how can archivists be greener?

Well, green is so local, and changes so rapidly, that no one can know it all, and no one can tell others for sure how best to green their practice. So I find that the best way to manage the many options and changing parameters of green, is to articulate professional guiding principles and green guiding principles, and use the two to help triangulate a position on green practice. The Core Values of Archivists statement was created for that purpose: This statement may provide some guidance by identifying, both for archivists and for others concerned about archives, the core values that guide archivists in making such decisions and choices. Core values provide part of the context in which to examine ethical concerns.

So, how can archivists use their guiding principles, their Core Values, currently in draft version and available for comment until 10/15/2010) to help them make green choices? Note: For the philosophical, ethical issues, start at the top of this list. If you want less talking and more ‘doing’, scroll down to professionalism. In either case, if you wish to comment the Society of American Archivists regarding the draft Principles, please follow this link: http://www2.archivists.org/news/2010/comment-on-draft-values

There are basic green principles to recognize:

1) Less is Best: when you must use something, make it and the processes associated with it as clean as possible;

2) Think Like An Ecosystem: everything is connected so any changes you make will create their own changes- good and perhaps not good.

3) The Doctrine of “Do More Than One Thing”: take advantage of the synergy of those connections to accomplish multiple goals at once but using a single set of resources; but watch out for bad unintended consequences and capitalize on the good ones;

4) Close the Loop: think through the whole process or the life cycle of the entire product to limit or eliminate your ‘footprints’.

Let’s have a look where the two connect. I have excerpted Core Value of Archivists here simply for space reasons.

PURPOSE:

Archivists engage in the essential functions of selecting, preserving, and making available the primary sources that document the activities of institutions, communities and individuals, either for legal and administrative evidence or as part of the cultural heritage of society.… The values shared and espoused by archivists enable them to meet these obligations and to provide vital services on behalf of all groups and individuals in society.

CORE VALUES OF ARCHIVISTS:

Access and Use: Archivists acknowledge that the principal purpose of documentary preservation is its use by anyone who can thereby benefit from the archival record. … Even individuals who do not directly use archival materials benefit indirectly from research, public programs, and other forms of archival use, including the symbolic value of knowing that such records exist and can be accessed when needed.

As keepers of the public record, archivists will be providing some fascinating reading and research material for future audiences interested in how we handled sustainability challenges. Just think! Anyone in the future – next year to next millennium – will be able to look at our responses to this situation, our research and our results, and make a more informed decision.

Accountability: By documenting institutional functions, activities, and decision-making, archivists provide an important means of ensuring accountability….Public leaders must be held accountable both to the judgment of history and future generations as well as to citizens in the ongoing governance of society. Access to the records of public officials and agencies provides a vital part of accountability. In the private sector accountability through archival documentation also protects the rights and interests of consumers, shareholders, and citizens. Archivists … maintain evidence of the actions of individuals, groups, and organizations, which may be required to provide accountability before the judgment of contemporary and future interests.

A big part of Green is measuring results. Archivists’ records will provide the accountability needed to manage and improve sustainability practices more rapidly in areas where measurements are poorly done, or are evidence of lack of effort.

Advocacy: Archivists promote the use and understanding of the historical record….Archivists may engage in discussions of the formation of public policy related to archival and recordkeeping concerns and help to ensure that their expertise can be used in the public interest.

Archivists can help us all understand how best to document sustainability successes, failures, progress and gaps, and how best to make that information accessible to all.

Diversity: ….Archivists embrace the importance of deliberately acting to identify (even create) materials documenting those whose voices have been overlooked or marginalized. They seek to build connections to under-documented communities…

I realize that this statement is directed to people, not to inanimates, but I’d say our environment has no voice, and that archivists’ work preserving documentation of Green practice, experience, information and debate can help provide that voice.

History and Memory: …. Archivists preserve such primary sources in order to enable us to better comprehend the past, understand the present, and prepare for the future. Understanding history requires knowledge and appreciation of context, which is thus a central principle (provenance) in archival theory and practice relating to organizing and interpreting primary sources.

Clearly archival activities have already have provided the historical information necessary for demonstrating climate change. From photographs of polar expeditions to farmer’s almanacs, the record is what’s demonstrating climate change. As a one-time Massachusetts girl fond of swimming at Walden Pond, it really strikes home to compare the flower bloom dates Henry David Thoreau recorded in his Journal with flower bloom dates in recent years and see, in my backyard, a clear example of climate change. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/walden.html

Preservation: …. Within prescribed law and best practice standards, archivists may determine that the original documents themselves must be preserved, while at other times the information they contain or their symbolic value may be sufficient. Archivists thus preserve materials for the benefit of the future more than for the concerns of the past.

Well, sustainability is all about concern for the future, but there’s another important concept here: we can’t save it all; we can’t sustain perpetual care for increasing collections. At some point energy costs for climate control, competing needs for space, costs of supplies, and lack of capacity for Information Technology (IT) access will drive hard choices about what to keep. That’s where Green practices and archival practices feel a bit like a rip current. Each institution will make its own decisions by triangulating archival principles and green principles. The questions and answers will be different each time, so no one can tell you which to choose; your principles must be your guide.

Professionalism: As members of an important profession, archivists adhere to a common mission, accept an evolving theoretical base of knowledge, develop and follow professional standards, strive for excellence in their daily practice, and recognize the importance of professional education, including lifelong learning. They encourage professional development among their co-workers, foster the aspirations of those entering the archival profession, and actively share their knowledge and expertise. Archivists seek to expand opportunities to cooperate with other information professionals and with users and potential users of the archival record.

This is where traditional Green practice and archival practice meet: maintaining professional archival standards while adopting increasingly environmentally-sustainable practices and products. Reduce, reuse and recycle is a familiar mantra. Remember, ‘reduce’ comes first in the sequence because our ultimate goal is to reduce what we produce and consume and throw away, and to also reduce the impact of the things we do produce, consume and throw away.

What do archivists use the most? First, energy: energy to provide proper climate conditions. Where do archives fall in the Plus/Minus Dilemma debate about changes to rigorous climate control standards? I don’t know. All I can say is that it’s worth following the discussion. We can’t fit in that discussion here, but if you’re interested, follow this link to an overview http://sustainablemuseums.blogspot.com/2010/07/museums-in-climate-of-change-part-i.html

So what else do archivists use the most? Supplies. How much of those supplies have recycled content? Not much. The archival supply companies still worry that consumer archivists think recycled materials are lower quality than new ones. Just think, the one area where museums (archives?) are willing to spend money, to buy high quality, is in collections; but even in a place where we might spend more if it costs more (and we tend to think recycled will), we still won’t buy recycled-content archival storage supplies because we think it’s lower quality! Irony aside, lower quality is not the issue; the perception of lower quality is. Yes, the fibers in recycled material are shorter than those in virgin pulp. And yes this may cause recycled-content paper folders or boxes to wear out sooner. So, with all other archival needs being equal, recycled-content paper folders or boxes are perfect for those icollections items you access least often, that way the folders and boxes won’t be subject to as much wear and tear. with the least demand. This last sentence is confusing to me. When are you saying we should use recycled storage supplies? What do you mean by “items with the least demand”?

Shipping those supplies is important too. Whenever possible choose a local supplier, and please use the buying power of local museums to encourage that provider to green the inventory. If the supplier is unsure how, have a cup of coffee together and see what alternatives and opportunities you can identify together.

How about non-HVAC energy uses? The microfiche and microfilm machines stashed in the corner should be unplugged when not in use – the same goes for all the other appliances and equipment. What you use regularly should be put on a powerstrip for easy on/off nightly. If you’re a real greenie, you’ll unplug that strip each night, too. Give up the water cooler and the electric stapler and pencil sharpener. Keep your gizmo chargers in the drawer, not plugged into the wall. Pray for someone to give you a more energy-efficient flat screen monitor or laptop computer, and change to CFLs wherever possible. (Why are we praying for a flat screen monitor or laptop? Are they more efficient?)

Responsible Custody: …Archivists are judicious stewards who manage records by following best practices in developing facilities service standards, collection development policies, and other performance records and metrics. They are willing to collaborate with external partners when needed to preserve and make records available.…

This means being open to sharing facilities or creating collecting agreements that coordinate collecting and stewardship efforts that preserve appropriate materials without creating unsustainable collections.

Selection: Archivists make choices about which materials to select for preservation based on the needs of a wide range of potential users. The vast quantities of documents and records created in modern society, in both analog and digital forms, are far too costly to preserve in their entirety and much too unwieldy to search successfully for specific information or knowledge. This quantity makes it necessary to select which deserve and require long-term preservation and which may not….

Collecting wisely is a recurring theme of the Core Principles and Green Practice.

Service: … Within the mandate and mission of their institution, archivists provide effective and efficient connections to (and mediation for) primary sources so that users, whoever they may be, can discover and benefit from the archival record of society, its institutions, and individuals. Archivists seek to meet the needs of users as quickly, effectively, and efficiently as possible.

‘Quickly, effectively and efficiently’ in today’s terms often means electronically. Greening Information IT is an important frontier. Archivists should feel responsible for following the rapid developments in greening IT and adapting new best practices to help control and reduce energy consumption.

Social Responsibility: Underlying all of the responsibilities of archivists is their responsibility to a variety of groups in society and to the public good.... Archivists strive to meet these broader social responsibilities in their policies and procedures for selection, preservation, access, and use of the archival record. In doing so, archivists provide essential services to society.

Environmental sustainability is all about the public good. Environmentally-sustainable practices keep our institution in sync with our communities’ needs and concerns even as we fulfill our professional practice. As charitable institutions, as educational institutions, it is our responsibility to support and enrich our communities – locally and globally.

Oh, and here’s guiding principal number five:

5) Green is a Team Sport: you have the skills and knowledge to define Green practice for archivists. The field needs archivists to work as together – to create an Archival Green Team – that can move the field’s Green practice to where it needs to be.

Sarah Brophy is principal of bMuse: Sustainable Museums. She consults on green practice in museums and is the co-author of The Green Museum, and author of Is Your Museum Grant-Ready?. She is also co-Chair of AAM’s PIC Green, and an adjunct professor for the graduate Museum Studies Programs at University of Delaware and The George Washington University teaching The Green Museum. You can reach her at www.bmuse.net or sarah@bmuse.net

Family Oral History – What’s In It for Me?

I welcome this guest post from overseas blogger / oral historian Greg Lawrence. Greg and I "met" through Twitter and have done a cultural blog exchange, of sorts. A couple of months ago, he was kind enough to ask me to guest blog for his site, resulting in the post "My Stuff, My Life: Archives – What should I keep?" on Greg's Lifetime Memories and Stories site. My basic primer on archives is complimented by his on oral history - two topics and professions that go hand-in-hand.

Family Oral History – What’s In It for Me?
by Greg Lawrence

Oral history is the recording of people’s memories of their life or their life experiences.

The only way you can find out about a person’s life, what they have experienced or their thoughts on events is to ask them or, if they have already written about them, read what they have already written.

An oral history either creates a record of an event or experience or supplements a record that has already been made through documents and written histories. Oral histories offer layers of information and detail that often is just that much richer than what any written history can offer.

Why should I bother or why should I be interested I hear you ask? Well, let me put it in a more personal way that will allow you just a small glimpse of how an oral history can make a difference to you and your family.

Imagine that you are visiting a favourite aunt or uncle or perhaps your parents over a holiday time and you are sharing time doing something together. Maybe you are fishing on the river.

As you cast your line in your uncle says “I remember when there were so many catfish on this river that just your sinker hitting the water would get you a catch.” “Oh go on Uncle Joe, you’re kidding me right?” you say. “No” he says, “It was just after the big flood in ’49 that took out the Jamestown Bridge for 6mths, I had to punt across to go to work all that time.”

In this small exchange you are learning several interesting snippets of your family history. Uncle Joe has:
• Fished for a long time
• The catfish used to be really plentiful in the river
• There was a big flood in 1949
• The Jamestown Bridge was destroyed in the flood
• Uncle Joe worked across the other side of the river at the time
• The flood had an impact on Uncle Joe who used a punt to cross the river while the bridge was out

People have these sorts of exchanges all the time in their interaction with family. Now imagine what more you could learn if you actually took the time to sit down with your imaginary “Uncle Joe” to conduct a more formal oral history interview with him about his life. Imagine how many stories about his life and the times and events he witnessed you would learn. What a richness of information and pleasure you will get from listening to his stories and he will get from sharing them with you!

However, an oral history has even more to offer you and your family. As you listen to the stories, hopefully making an oral history sound recording of them for all time, you will hear the different emotions expressed richly through your speaker’s voice. The excitement, sadness, joy, hopes and fears come alive with all the words that they normally use in their life and you, the person recording this, has the opportunity to not only preserve important elements of your family history but also to capture nuances of the emotions as your story teller shares their story with you. In turn, through the recording, you will be able to share this experience with your children and great grandchildren and they in turn can share it with theirs. So with a little effort you can create a living record which can be a valuable family legacy to pass on for your future generations.
Just imagine how fantastic it would be that in ten, twenty, fifty or even a hundred years or more to have your family stories available for your descendents to be able to listen to and through which gain a greater understanding of your forbears. Now that is what’s in it for you! To preserve your family stories to share for all time.


Greg Lawrence is principal Oral Historian with Lifetime Memories and Stories, a professional life story company based on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, just north of Sydney. Through Lifetime Memories and Stories Greg helps families preserve their stories for future generations through oral histories and life story books.

For more information and tips on preserving family stories visit: http://www.lifetimememoriesandstories.com