The Next Level of Understanding CONTENTdm

Hello everyone and Happy Wednesday once again! As promised from my last blog entry, I come to you with new knowledge about CONTENTdm! If you remember from my previous post, I had learned how to input the metadata in the correct fields and organize the folders to be harvested by CONTENTdm. I could upload these digitized Tipton photos and their accompanying metadata for approval (this is the digitized purgatory I mentioned last time). But one final step that I did not know how to do was take down or delete the old digitized Tipton photos and put up the new digitized Tipton photos with the fronts and backs. This changed this past week when Catherine took the time to demonstrate for me how to complete this process. [excerpt

Fronts and Backs

Hello everyone and happy Wednesday! I come to you with an exciting piece of news- I have completed processing my manuscript collection and it is has joined the ranks of other processed collections in the depths of Special Collections! As you might guess, I felt an immense sense of accomplishment as I completed my finding aid and prepared it for Karen to review. After Karen approved the manner in which I had processed the collection, I put descriptive labels on the manuscript collection boxes and headed back to the temperature controlled shelving area. As I put MS-118 Wikoff on the shelf, I felt like an investigator on Cold Case putting an long unsolved case to rest (forgive the crime-show reference. [excerpt

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous. Oftentimes, this word makes me curious and excited. For me, this word is an invitation to discover those things that just don\u27t fit into clear categories. Upon reflection, I think its the unknown that really entices me to the miscellaneous. Miscellaneous boxes, folders, and drawers can be filled with fascinating trinkets that tell pieces of a story from another time... or they could hold little more than old cell phone chargers and spare change. [excerpt

MS-118: Letters Solicited by Jerold Wikoff for Gettysburg Alumni Magazine

This collection is comprised of letters written by Gettysburg College alumni to Mr. Jerold Wikoff concerning three distinct topics: World War II experiences, dinks, and alumni couple sweetheart stories. The alumni who contributed the letters that comprise this collection wrote in response to Mr. Wikoff‟s various requests within the Gettysburg alumni magazine. Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our collections can be found on our website http://www.gettysburg.edu/special_collections/collections/.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/findingaidsall/1107/thumbnail.jp

Love and War: A Serendipitous Sweetheart Story

Let me just say that I love that its my job to read and process the recorded memories of alumni during World War II. It is just so amazing to me that I can take part in the eternal preservation of these pieces of history! As I mentioned in my last post, I am in the midst of processing a collection of letters, papers and photographs compiled by the senior editor of the Gettysburg Magazine, Jerold Wikoff. Last week, I spent the majority of my time simply reading through and getting to know the stories of various Gettysburg alums that lived through the Second World War. [excerpt

MS-018 Wikoff

I am pleased to tell all of you that my (partially) processed collection has been given an official manuscript collection number and title: MS-018 Wikoff! With this new technical title has come a number of exciting experiences for me this past week as the Special Collections Intern. My primary task these past few days has been to think through how to arrange and describe MS-018 Wikoff. This was a really informative and challenging experience for me. Although I had read through an archival manual and had looked at a number of the finding aids already created by others, I still felt confused as to how to go about arranging and describing this collection. [excerpt

Long Lost Freshmen Traditions: The Infamous Dink

Hello and happy Wednesday everyone! This week I have been submerged in a past world in which harassing freshmen was a college sanctioned activity. This chapter in Gettysburg College history finds a voice within my unprocessed collection thanks to the curiosity of Mr. Jerold Wikoff. [excerpt

Acid-Free Paper, Unprocessed Collections, and Some French Farmers

Hello everyone! This week as the Special Collections Fortenbaugh Intern I have been ushered from the figurative world of Archival processing methods and principles into the world of acid free paper and unprocessed collections! After having finished reading through the manual I discussed in my last post, Karen (Director of Special Collections) walked me through the unprocessed collections within the college\u27s possession. After having told me a number of quirky stories attached to many of these collections, Karen gave me some time to explore the unprocessed material and see which collection most catches my eye. [excerpt

The Known and the Unknown

Hello everyone and happy Wednesday! I\u27ve just emerged from another week in the world of CONTENTdm and I feel like I\u27m understanding more and more what it likes and what it doesn\u27t like. Thus far, I\u27ve added a digitized image of the reverse side of close to 30 Tipton photographs! [excerpt

Hello and Welcome! First Week as the Fortenbaugh Intern

Hello and welcome to Blogging the Library! My name is Sierra Green and I am the Esther K. Fortenbaugh Intern this semester in Special Collections at Gettysburg College. As the Fortenbaugh Intern for the semester, I will have the exciting opportunity of working alongside our library\u27s archivists in Special Collections. I am really looking forward to gaining firsthand experience within the archival field throughout the semester! [excerpt