From: B Schneider <wyward@yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2019 15:15:03 -0500 Subject: Re: advice for starting a local history center Message-Id: <12EB2792-7B82-4EC7-AF14-05C42EAB7F46@yahoo.com>
I agree on digital archiving. Especially with the new WHS e-conferencing wit
h other museums in the state. Our biggest hurdle though has been finding vol
unteers comfortable with computers , smart phones , and tablets And willing t
o learn.
B Schneider
> On Oct 2, 2019, at 11:54 AM, SARA STEELE <smsteele@wisc.edu> wrote:
>
> Sorry, Jason
>
> When I replied before I was acting off my dreams about a History Center I w
ould like to create for our local area. That center would focus on preservi
ng INFORMATION and the text and visual images which provide evidence to sup
port that information. Most of the past focus of local groups has been on p
reserving physical things and showing what has been preserved. Museum conce
pts have prevailed. Example, a few year ago a WHS expert told us to use whi
te gloves whenever we handled a photo and said nothing about copying them a
nd using them other than in displays..
>
> So let me now try to be more practical. I was in charge of the developme
nt of a small ARCHIVES over 20 years and brought together local information
from WHS, newspapers (no local paper and morgue here ) and other places . M
y own interest was past history so most of the things were pre 1960.
>
> People
>
> If your group is serious about developing a meaningful Archives in support
of whatever niche you have chosen, I suggest the first thing you need is no
t space but a TEAM OF PEOPLE DEDICATED TO LEARNING ABOUT whatever aspects o
r time periods of Madison History you choose. The ARCHIVES team needs to inc
lude people with the following interests and skills. team that includes 1.on
e or more people who likes to organize, inventory, manage and learn how to p
reserve text materials whether paper, microfilm, or digital.There is more p
hysical work involved in maintaining text and visuals than other real object
s. 2. someone who is so mentally interested they "know" what is in the archi
ves 3. someone who likes connecting bits and pieces of information and can
make connections between information in various places so a search is all i
nclusive rather than limited to one source. 4. a flock of people willing to
scout for photos and pieces of info and 5. someone very familiar with sourc
es of information on people, families, and land ownership --both local sour
ces like Vital Records and City directories in the library and more pervasiv
e like Ancestry, LDS films, digital newspapers files. Even if you don't pro
mote your archives or want to provide help in genealogy area, you are bound t
o get a lot of questions from people searching for their family histories an
d you need someone to give a helpful answer to such questions (you may want t
o get well acquainted with Madison's Genealogy Society and be able to make r
eferrals.).
>
> Space
> In terms of space, you need to plan for four kinds--!. various kinds of di
splay space easily accessed 2. storage space organized so one can find somet
hing with a few minutes search, 3. Visitor work space and 4. staff work sp
ace (computers. scanners, table space to to organize binders, folders, etc a
nd do the things necessary to protect actual documents. Which, by the way, i
s different than how you would protect and display them if you mean to deal w
ith them like other physical objects and only put them in glass cases.
>
> Currently, storage means shelf and/or file space. Personally, I prefer b
inders on shelves to file drawers and folders, or boxes as the WHS archives u
ses (too easy for a paper to walk unnoticed) All can handle the requisite p
lastic sheets each piece needs. Seeing as how grade school students are now
using chromebooks, I can imagine a future information focused archives as b
eing DVDS or computers with large monitors and easily accessed content stor
ed in external drives and backup materials also stored in such drives, or if
your collections are large, back up computers.. That will require a complet
ely different amount of storage space than that required today. Currently, h
owever, the issue, is whether one also keeps hard copy in case one forgets t
o refresh the material on the drives so space for physical materials needs t
o be planned for. I used a professional back service for the work I did on m
y home computer until it combined with one in Utah. I have not explored Clo
ud.
>
> The "hotter" the topics and time periods the more guest space you may nee
d. However, because Madison is home to a large U, and two colleges, as well a
s several high schools, it is very likely you may have more walk in and appo
intment archives users than most places. Museum visitors generally walk thro
ugh looking or stand listening, while archives users need places to sit and m
ake notes or take photographs, or they ask to use a scanner or copy machine
.
>
> Don't underestimate the importance of planning separate space specifically
for text and visual materials and their use if your group is really seriou
s about maintaining a useful archives. Also, remember that the broader th
e spectrum of time periods and topics covered in you archives the more space
you will need.
>
> If you can't do a good job of maintaining a useful archives providing valu
able information, don't pretnend you have an archives and don't promote the
fact that you have an archives. In that case, Treat the text and visual it
ems as they have traditionally been treated as a sub set of the museum colle
ction requiring a little different storage and protection rather than buildi
ng a real archives..
>
> Resource Person
> It looks like museum folks are stepping forward with advise. However, als
o look for folks experienced in developing the history sections of libraries
. Peter Klein, the former director at Sun Prairie, is the only person I kno
w who had oversight of a historical archives and a museum. I drew on Peter f
or advice. I do not know his replacement or know if she has an equal interes
t and experience with both a museum and an archives.
>
> By the way, I'm curious what niche you have chosen. I hope you are planni
ng a CONTEMPORARY Madison History Center. David Molonhoff's book did a won
derful job on the early history of Madison. However, things move so fast the
se days that there is a need to keep documenting what Madison was like in 20
00 and what has happened since.
>
> Sara
>
>
>> On 9/30/2019 4:55 PM, Jason Tish wrote:
>> Hi everyone-
>>
>> I'm involved with a small energetic group working on a plan for a local h
istory center for Madison. Local history in Madison is a unique situation. W
e have only a narrow niche that is not covered by the State Historical Socie
ty, the UW Archives, the Madison Public Library's local history collections,
and the Dane County Historical Society. We have a solid handle on that nich
e.
>>
>> What we really need advice on is how to actually plan for, and create the
physical space for a history center/museum/research facility. Our current m
odel entails a small exhibition space, and archival facility, and space for a
n office, a reading room, and presentations. We expect it to be an iterative
process where we start out in a space that may not have all of that. Our pr
iority is to bring together a collection of documents and artifacts in order
to demonstrate the need for a permanent facility. We can do do that initial
ly in a facility that doesn't;t meet all of our needs, and later move to fac
ility that does (unless fund-raising proves more successful than we expect)
>>
>> If you have ever been involved in developing a local history facility, wh
at is the one piece of advice (or two) that you wish someone had given you b
efore you started?
>>
>> --
>> - Jason