I am entirely confused as to how the second week of my internship has already come to a close. In part, I think this is a good thing: I am genuinely enjoying my time at the Lilly. On the other hand, this is not such a great thing: there is so much I want to do and time is so short! I think this situation conveniently embodies my New Years Resolution to be more mindful of my actions and continue to revisit overarching goals and values of the "big picture" rather than allow myself to get overly caught up in details. This seems to me to be an important thing to keep in mind as an archivist, where details can grow overwhelming, almost all consuming. I need to keep reminding myself that my goal is to process a collection efficiently and effectively ultimately to meet the needs of end users. I need to let myself step away from a construct of definitive black and white decisions and learn to assess what works best for a collection's individual nature.
This pseudo-philosophical tangent does actually relate to my intern work this week. I spent my hours digging deeper into Claxon mss. II, which consists of six boxes of manuscripts with a smattering of photographs. I often found myself being a bit too meticulous, getting caught up on a particularly interesting folder, debating over what the real theme of an unnamed folder's contents is, googling up African maps to geographically situate the Claxons in my mind, etc. Surely making these connections is important, but there comes a point when one must leave the details to the researcher.
This week, my first general endeavor was to glean a basic understanding of what types of materials are in the collection on a topical level. From there, Craig suggested that I use the "piling method" as a way to think through series level categorization. Though this method sounds basic--literally making piles of folders containing topically related documents--it provides a great way to visualize content relationships, volume of materials, and it's also extremely helpful in sorting through the most appropriate designation of more ambiguous files.
In general, Claxon mss. II contains biographical materials, correspondence, subject files, writings, conference files, and photographs. Subject files and writings command the bulk of the collection, as these provide the most substantial evidence of the creators' essential professional endeavors. Craig suggested that I continually keep in mind how a researcher might think as he or she confronts a collection. Though I understand that not all researchers are alike, I can guess that a large drawing factor for this collection is its relation to missionary activities in Nigeria and Benin--the countries where the Claxons spent the most significant portion of their time as missionaries. For this reason, I should think in terms of making my arrangement accessible to such interests. However, given that finding aids are increasingly being launched online, word searchable functionality in part eliminates the requirement for overly meticulous physical arrangement. So long as materials are adequately described, a researcher should have no problem connecting with information of interest, right?
It may not be that simple, so in the interests of improving the usefulness of my collection's eventual finding aid, I will be reading this article from the Fall/Winter 2010 issue of The American Archivist entitled: "Seek and You May Find: Successful Search in Online Finding Aid Systems," by Morgan G. Daniels and Elizabeth Yakel.
Additionally, I also plan to read this article from the Spring/Summer 2009 issues of The American Archivist: "Making the Leap from Parts to Whole: Evidence and Inference in Archival Arrangement and Description," by Jennifer Meehan. This piece discusses the process of intellectual arrangement, its inherently subjective nature, and suggests strategies for archivists to employ which may minimize the his or her unintentional shaping of a collection--something which I hope to will help me process collections more objectively.
That's all on my end for now. This internship, along with work at the University Archives, volunteering at Wylie House Museum, taking another class, and helping to organize our SAA Indiana University Student Chapter's March conference is keeping me plenty busy these days. C'est la vie--at least I'm enjoying it!
Archivally yours,
Amy
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