Collection development archivists know that building a partnership with a potential donor may take years, occasionally decades. From the perspective of a donor, contributing unique materials to an archival repository – a local historical society, academic archives, or a research library – can be an emotionally complicated process. A donor must have acquired a degree of separation from the material, but also have a deep sense of trust in the repository soliciting the records. Often, the initial contribution to a repository consists of records void of sentimental or financial value. As the relationship between a donor and a repository strengthens, donors (hopefully) begin contributing more noteworthy and revealing materials, including personal correspondence, diaries, and photographs. This scenario is routine not only with the acquisition of personal papers, but the records of businesses, membership organizations, and all other kinds of archival records

Blessing, Matt

English

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Marquette Universitye-Publications@MarquetteLibrary Faculty Research and Publications Library (Raynor Memorial Libraries)1-1-2006Digitization, Donor Relations, and UndergraduateInstructionMatt BlessingMarquette University, matt.blessing@Marquette.eduPublished version. Microfilm & Imaging Review, Vol. 35, No. 3 (2006): 93-97. DOI. © 2006 Walter deGruyter. Used with permission................................. ~~ Digitization, Donor Relations, and Underg·raduate Instruction by Matt Blessing Developing Donor Relations Collection development archi-vists know that building a part-nership with a potential donor may take years, occasionally dec-ades. From the perspective of a donor, contributing unique ma-terials to an archival repository-a local historical society, academ-ic archives, or a research library-can be an emotionally compli-cated process. A donor must have acquired a degree of sepa-ration from the material, but also have a deep sense of trust in the repository soliciting the records. Often, the in itia I con-tribution to a repository consists of records void of sentimental or financial value. As the rela-tionship between a donor and a repository strengthens, donors (hopefully) begin contributing more noteworthy and revealing materials, including personal cor-respondence, diaries, and pho-tographs. This scenario is rou-tine not only with the acquisi-tion of personal papers, but the records of businesses, member-ship organizations, and all other kinds of archival records. St. Francis Mission Records at Marquette University In 1977 the Department of Spe-cial Collections and University Archives (SPARC) at Marquette University established a partner-ship with St. Francis Mission on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. Established in 1886, the Indian mission 1 at St. Francis has been continually staffed by Catholic priests from the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) for 120 years. Pre-dating South Dakota's admission into the Union, these historical records contain substantial information about the Indian school, parish activities, and the mission's varied services to the Native American population. The records also pro-vide a rich documentary record about the Rosebud Sioux's (or Si-Matt Blessing (matt.blessing@ marquette.edu) is Head, De-partment of Special Collec-tions and University Archives, Raynor-Memorial Libraries, Marquette University. cangu Oyate) language, culture, and recent history. One of the cornerstone collections within SPARC's Native American Catholic manuscript program, the records of St. Francis Mission have at-tracted a broad audience of users, including faculty, independent writers, graduate students, and family historians. In addition to the learning and scholarship op-portunities, preservation of these research collections is an exten-sion of Marquette University's heritage as a Catholic and Jesuit institution. Amounting to over thirty cubic feet of material, the collection consists of a variety of record formats, including text, analog sound recordings, mo-tion picture film, and videotape. Following the acquisition pattern described above, however, a vast collection of historic photographs did not become available until late 2005, almost three decades after the partnership between SPARC and St. Francis Mission had been formed. 93 I I, I: I I i I I I I I III Matt Blessing Microform and Imaging Review ~M 'I M~tttU~nity St. Francis Mis.sion Images .. h.~.rn~. : brows.e: advanceds.e~r~~.: J?refer~nc:~s_: .. my fav~i_~~S.: help back to results :: add to favorites : reference uri Title Date of Photogr.ph Not .. Subjects Location Deplc.ted ethnic Group Identifier Collection Publisher Type ~ • A .. [::J 1[5J1!j., r+ [j' "I Nine girl •• net nun knitting during WWI, lIt17 - 1.18 Nine girls and nun kniU:ing during 'NWl, 1.91 - 1918 1917 - 1918 The Buechel Lakota Memonal f;luseurn: Girls Utie Susie Bordeaux, Grace jndlan youtn--South Dakclta Indians of Ncrth A'T!Crica-Soutr Dakota Knitting .. ·1910·1920 Nuns--South Dakota and ~1inrler Hair Shirt. of Francs of and Christian Charity-·South Dakota World War, 1914-1918--Par'ticipati0r1, Ind,an South Dakota--Rosebud Indian Reservatlon--St. Francis--St. Francis ~1isslon Brule Indians [Slcangu, Lakota{ Teton Sioux] SFt"U'>-o_C36S St. Francis MiSSion Records; 06-6 Marquette university, Department of Spedal Collections at University ArchiVes Image Gelatin Dry Plate, 8.2 x 13.8 em (3 1/4 x 5 5/16 in.); previous: next Physical Description Digital Reproduc.tfon Information Copyright Scanned with Microtek ScanMaker 9800Xl at 6OOdpi. Display Image is jpeg generated from the archlva' tiff and psd. This image Is issued by Marquette University Ubraries. Use of the Image requires written permission from the staff of the Department of SpeCial ColleCtiOns and University Archives. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The image should not be Significantly altered through conventional or electronic means. Images altered beyond standard cropping and reSizing require further negotiation with a staff member. The user is responSible for aI/Issues of copyright. Please Credit: Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Marquette University Ubraries. Ordering Information http://www.marquette,edu/Hbraly/requests!OrderFormJ1trnl Learn more about thi. http://www.marquette.edu/h\::wary!col!ections/an::t11ves/Mss/Sfl>1/SFr>1-sc.html collec.tton back to results :: add to faVOrites : reference uri powered by CONTENTdm ® I contact us previous : next "to top" Figure 1. Nine girls and nun knitting during WWI. 1917-1918. Due to the efforts of a local museum and community volunteers. many of the images within the digital St. Francis Mis-sion Images collection contain detailed descriptions. Archivists included this information within the Notes Field. in this instance featuring the maiden and married names of the indi-viduals depicted in the image. SFM 6-6, No. 0365. 94 ..... Vol.35 No.3 More than 40,000 negatives and photographic prints had been preserved and made acces-sible at the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, located on the grounds of the St. Francis Mis-sion. The museum staff regular-ly used this photo collection for exhibitions and publicity, while community members visited the museum to find images of rela-tives who had attended the mis-sion school or were members of the Catholic parish. The photo collection also included images of Sicangu Oyate's culturally sensitive ceremonial practices, such as the Sun Dance. Several thousand images made by Rev. Eugene Buechel, S.J. (1874-1954) are especially important for their ethnographic value. A deeply trusted and respected member of the reservation com-munity, Father Buechel captured everyday activities that are valu-able to cultural anthropologists and social historians. Although this historic collec-tion of photographs was the property of the Wisconsin Prov-ince of Jesuits2, the current Jesuit administrators and Marquette's archivists recognized the need to balance archival preservation and scholarly access, yet also maintain convenient access to the collection for the 13,000 residents of the Rosebud Indian Reservation. The collection of photograph-ic negatives acquired from the Buechel Museum offered a nearly complete example of am-ateur photographic processes over the past 125 years. Nega-tive formats included gelatin dry based emulsion (1880-1925), cel-lulose nitrate, (1889-1938), cel-lulose acetate (1925-present), polyester "safety" film (1955-Digitization, Donor Relations, and Undergraduate Instruction present), among others. Item-level description of the images -coordinated years earlier by the staff at the Buechel Museum -had involved volunteers from the reservation community. Trib-al members had identified hun-dreds of students and other Si-cangu Oyate associated with the Catholic mission during the early decades of the twentieth century. Indeed, many of the photographs depicted the par-ents and grandparents of these volunteers. Although this infor-mation required a considerable amount of verification and edit-ing in order to use as metadata, it proved invaluable to archi-vists who directed the digitiza-tion efforts from one thousand miles away. Indeed, the level of detail provided by the Buechel Museum offered Marquette's archivists a unique opportunity to build a digital collection that served both scholars and gene-alogists.3 Several of the major Native American collections at Mar-quette have been microfilmed in order to address both pres-ervation concerns and issues of access. Formal collection agree-ments with several donors require the archives to furnish a complete copy - usually on 35mm microfilm - of all textual materials maintained by Mar-quette University to a library, museum, or community center on the reservation so that com-munity members have conven-ient access to this important part of their documentary herit-age. Marquette has also donat-ed microfilm readers to several mission museums. Recent de-velopments in digital scanning have permitted the archives the opportunity to augment existing collections. Both parties agreed that digitization of photo-graphic materials - unlike the microfilmed printed materials -would be highly selective. Sev-eral factors informed this de-cision, such as the labor costs involved in scanning and meta-data creation, the long-term maintenance costs associated with digital collections, and the higher degree of subject dupli-cation within the photographic collection. Digitization and Undergraduate Instrudion The historic images from the Rosebud Indian Reservation al-so offered a hands-on learning opportunity for undergraduates within Marquette's interdiscipli-nary public history program.4 "Technology for Historians" is a three-credit upper-level course for history majors, introducing them to new media technologies for presenting and preserving historical materials. The course is co-taught by faculty from Marquette's history department, instructional media center, and archives. Students are introduced to advanced html editors, audio and video streaming technology, CD/DVD production, in addition to digital imaging and catalog-ing. A major component of this semester-length course involved instruction on the handling, cleaning, arrangement, and scanning of historic negatives from St. Francis Mission. This por-tion of the course was taught by the university archivist and the university photographer. Students received a primer on 20th century photographic pro-cesses. They also learned the 95 J ·~'-'I'---"I~------------------"""""""""-' II I, II I, III iii: I ',11'11 I, I I 'I II Iii 11 :! I II I I ! 1 I I I I i i I I I I I i I Matt Blessing Figure 2. Alisyn Stuebner, a Marquette University history senior, works with photographer Don Doll, S.J., a guest in-structor from Creighton University, on identifying subjects in a negative from St. Francis Mission. Photograph by Dan Johnson. proper techniques for handling and caring for glass plate nega-tives: lint-free cotton gloves, dusting of negatives with a camels-hair brush, proper envi-ronmental and storage condi-tions, and so forth. Each of the twelve undergraduates enrolled in the public history course had some (albeit nominal) experi-ence with scanning software. With the goal of developing a digital archival collection, in-structors sought to balance their instruction, emphasizing the critical need to maintain the historic integrity of the original image, while also introducing students to advanced scanning techniques that improved the overall quality of the digital im-age. In coordinating the "digi-96 tization lab," professional ar-chivists were lion call" to assist undergraduates who encoun-tered difficulties or had ques-tions during the assignment, a project that required four weeks to complete. Since development of the St. Francis Mission Collection was a teaching project, students scanned and saved all images as Photoshop documents (psd), then subsequently made their adjustments as TIFFs. By insist-ing on two versions of each image - both the unaltered psd and the edited TIFF - archives staff could correct the work of a few students who had been overzealous in cropping and adjusting contrast levels. Reso-lution specifications determined Microform and Imaging Review for previous digitization projects were utilized. DPI ranged from 300 dpi for 8" x 10" glass plates to 600 dpi for 3" x 5" negatives. Both sets of digital scans were temporarily saved to a 400GB external hard-drive, purchased for the class project. Students were required to sign-up in ad-va nce in order to use the com-puter scanning equipment; the historic negatives always resid-ed within the secure and moni-tored archives reading room. Each student was advised to save the images that they had been assigned to a USB memory stick - de rigueur equipment among undergraduates in 2006. Archivists had previously se-lected 160 negatives from the collection as the initial set for digitization, images that docu-mented a variety of activities in and around the Catholic mis-sion. Images with exceptional de-scriptions were also identified for digitization. To protect per-sonal privacy, archivists avoided all images of children or cele-brations of Catholic sacraments dated after 1935. In addition, ar-chivists omitted images of Na-tive religious ceremonies and related objects deemed inap-propriate by the Sicangu Oyate for public viewing. The "archival lab work" by undergraduates totaled approx-imately 60 hours, an average of 2.7 images per hour. While this average seems painstakingly slow, it should be remembered that students dusted each nega-tive and evaluated its physical condition. Students also identi-fied each image, inserting the negative into an acid-free en-velope and labeling it accord-ing to instructions provided by the archivist. Most importantly, .,: ... : ~~ . Vol.35 No.3 none of the glass plates were damaged during the processing and scanning process. Utilizing CONTENTdm, two members of the professional staff prepared all metadata for the project, while a third sub-ject specialist was responsible for final editing and approval of metadata. Project developers offered two methods of sea rch-ing: (1) keyword, or (2) a pull-down menu with 15 broad subject-terms: Arts & Crafts, Dance, Education, Recreation, Religion, and so forth. These subject terms were built into the program as a hidden field. Both the collection homepage and individual image records offered hyper-text links to the descriptive inventory for other parts of the St. Francis Mission Collection. Labor involving the professional staff totaled 110 hours, including: team concep-tualization of the project, devel-opment of controlled vocabu-laries, preparation of metadata, graphic design (completed by a Systems Librarian), and project pUblicity. Conclusion The instructors of the public history course were especially pleased that the digitization project offered a balance be-tween classroom theory and practical hands-on experience. Skills acquired as a result of the assignment prepared several students for internships at mu-Digitization, Donor Relations, and Undergraduate Instruction seums and archival repositories. In evaluating the class, students commented consistently that they considered the digitization project - which was available for viewing by the end of the semester - as the most valuable aspect of the course. Archivists benefited by launch-ing a digital collection less than six months after acquisition of the negatives. The digitization project hopefully strengthens the ongoing relationship with the donor. Online visitation has also been impressive, especially considering the collection's rela-tive small size. During the first three months of online accessi-bility, the St. Francis Mission Collection logged 5,050 page views - with individual images viewed an average of 31 times. Significant additions to the dig-ital collection are planned. Due to their physical instability, cel-lulose nitrate film will be priori-tized so that original negatives can be stored in off-site in a con-trolled environment. These will include many images by Rev. Eugene Buechel, S.J., images documenting the history of St. Francis Mission, and also Holy Rosary Mission, located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Notes 1 Among religious orders, a mis-sion may be defined as a church and residence serving as a head-quarters for evangelization. Typically the operations include self-sufficient enterprises (e.g. farm, ranch, school, carpentry shops, radio station, museum) on nearby lands. 2 St. Francis Mission was estab-lished by Jesuits from the Ger-man Province's Buffalo Mission. Administration of St. Francis Mission was transferred to the Turin Province's Rocky Moun-tain Mission in 1907, to the Cali-fornia Province in 1909; to the Missouri Province in 1912; and most recently to the Wisconsin Province in 1955. 3 St. Francis Mission Images, http://digitalmarquette. cdmhost.com/SFM 4 Michael Gordon, a leading pub-lic historian, suggests that "pub-lic history most often refers to the employment of historians in history-related work outside of academia, and especially to the many ways in which historians recreate and present history to the public - and sometimes with the public. Thus, we find histo-rians working in archives, muse-ums, historic sites, state and local historical agencies, newspapers, businesses, trade and labor or-ganizations, and in all levels of government. They work as edi-tors, archivists, oral historians, administrators, curators, historic preservation specialists, writers, public policy analysts - and, lest we forget, as historians!" Text from Dr. Gordon's the syllabus for "Introduction to Public His-tory," taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 97 

Digitization, Donor Relations, and Undergraduate Instruction

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Digitization, Donor Relations, and Undergraduate Instruction

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