Central Washington University Archives and Special Collections hosts an annual archives crawl. This article reports about evolution and promotion of the event, and describes the archives and museums that participated in 2016

Blackson, Maurice R.

Pelley, Carlos

Stringfellow, Julia

English

ScholarWorks at Central Washington University

Central Washington UniversityScholarWorks@CWULibrary Scholarship James E. Brooks LibraryFall 11-10-2016How to Have a Successful Archives Crawl on aShoestring BudgetMaurice R. BlacksonCentral Wahsington UniversityCarlos PelleyCentral Washington University, carlos.pelley@cwu.edJulia StringfellowCentral Washington University, julia.stringfellow@cwu.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/libraryfacPart of the Archival Science Commons, Cultural History Commons, Social History Commons,and the United States History CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the James E. Brooks Library at ScholarWorks@CWU. It has been accepted for inclusion inLibrary Scholarship by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@CWU.Recommended CitationBlackson, Maurice R.; Pelley, Carlos; and Stringfellow, Julia, "How to Have a Successful Archives Crawl on a Shoestring Budget"(2016). Library Scholarship. Paper 49.http://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/libraryfac/49Easy AccessVolume 42, Issue 4 Fall 2016NEVER-BUILT PORTLAND"Meier and Frank Parking looking toward Pioneer Courthouse" photograph, 1982, City ofPortland Archives and Records Center. Story on page 6.12Easy AccessIn honor of October being American Archives Month, the second annual Ellensburg Archives andMuseums Crawl took place Saturday, October 8. It was a success despite having a next-to-nothingbudget and a small staff (2–3 maximum) at each of the repositories visited on the Crawl. Thisarticle describes how the event was created and hopefully serves as an inspiration to repositorieswith similar staff and financial situations that want to provide programming during the month ofOctober and throughout the year.The Central Washington University Archives and Special Collections (CWUASC) document thehistory of the university, which has an enrollment of nearly 12,000. The archives was officiallyestablished in 2005 despite the university being founded in 1891. The university is located inEllensburg, a small town with a population of 18,000.Though the town is small, it hosts six archives and museums: the Ellensburg Public Library andArchives, the Kittitas County Historical Museum, the Kittitas County Genealogical Society, theHow to Have a Successful Archives Crawl on a ShoestringBudgetby Maurice R. Blackson, Carlos Pelley, and Julia Stringfellowcontinued on page 13regional branch of the Washington StateArchives, the Museum of Culture andEnvironment located at CentralWashington University (CWU), and theCWUASC. These six repositories, describedin detail later in this article, have a strongworking relationship and communicatewell with each other. The institutions alsoshare a common thread of extremelylimited budgets.At the time of the creation of theEllensburg Archives and Museums Crawlin August 2015, the CWUASC had a staffof two archivists: a universityarchivist/department head who started inJuly 2015 and an archivist/faculty lecturerwho had been there since March 2014. Athird staff member started in October2015. The staff wanted to provideprogramming for American ArchivesMonth, and looked at the successfulOregon Archives Crawl as a programmingexample.The five local repositories graciouslyagreed to be part of the Crawl taking place13Easy AccessArchives Crawl on a Shoestring, continued from page 12on a Saturday morning. Event promotion was done through a Facebook event, distribution of flyersthroughout the university and town, and word of mouth. Attendees RSVP’d for the free tour so ahead count was known ahead of time, since space in the smaller venues is limited. A university vanprovided the transportation from repository to repository.The six institutions that participated in the Crawl possess unique and interesting histories. Eachdestination provided not only a stop, but a chance to connect with the community's rich history.The first stop was the Ellensburg Public Library and Archives. Despite being an integral cultural andeducational destination since 1933, the Ellensburg Public Library's Archives program was initiatedin the 1970s when their basement space was revamped to house rare and unique documents. Thecurrent director of the library, Josephine Camarillo, gave attendees the unique opportunity to visitthe library's basement and local history room to peek at the collections. The Ellensburg PublicLibrary Archives collections have extensive family histories and information about historic buildingsin town.continued on page 14Sadie Thayer, Director of KittitasCounty Historic Museum, explainsdetails of cataloging and digitizingtheir extensive photographcollection.The next stop was the Kittitas County Historical Museum. Director Sadie Thayer provided a tour ofthe current exhibits and reported on the progress and efforts to document the county's history. Sheshared her gratitude for not only her employees but also her volunteers for all of their time andassistance at the nonprofit institution.The museum, also known as the Cadwell Building, possesses a unique history itself. It has beenowned and operated by several different organizations and entities throughout the last 127 years.The building's name originated from its first owners, who partnered in 1889 to build the Lloyd-Cadwell building in downtown Ellensburg. The property changed hands throughout the early 1900s.For many years, it was an automobile dealership. It wasn't until 1974 when the current owners, theKittitas County Historical Society, purchased it. In 1975, after months of hard work and countlessvolunteer hours, the museum opened. It has since successfully purchased the adjoining buildings,further expanding the space to 9,000 square feet.The Kittitas County Genealogical Society was the third stop on the Crawl. It provides visitors achance to reconnect with their roots and heritage. Originally established in 1983, the Genealogical14Easy AccessArchives Crawl on a Shoestring, continued from page 13Julia Stringfellow, UniversityArchivist, explains howcollections housed in theCentral WashingtonUniversity Archives andSpecial Collectionsdocument university andregional history.continued on page 24State Archivist Brigid Cliftshows recent acquisitions atthe Central Branch of theWashington State Archives.Society has extensive files of county obituaries, marriage announcements, and a variety of localhistory books chronicling the history of Kittitas County. They have both online and print resources forresearching family history.The fourth stop was the Central Washington Branch of the State Archives, housed in the Bledsoebuilding. The regional archives provides archival and records management services to localgovernment agencies throughout Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat,Okanogan, and Yakima counties. It also houses the archives of The Ellensburg Rodeo board. Thearchives building opened in 1995.The fifth stop was the CWUASC, located in the university's James E. Brooks Library. The archives wasestablished as the repository for official and unofficial records that document the history of theuniversity. It serves as a regional repository to house, preserve, and promote the unique culturalhistory of central Washington.The last location on the Crawl was CWU's Museum of Culture and Environment. Officially named in2008, the museum is located in Dean Hall on the university campus. An anthropological approach isfollowed in the curation of exhibits done by students. Travelling exhibits are often featured. The24Easy AccessArchives Crawl on a Shoestring, continued from page 14museum connects the small local community with the larger world community, demonstrating howmuch people share culturally worldwide.The Crawl helped connect the local repositories in a fun way. They had worked previously with eachother on a professional level by sharing information about potential collections that fit the differentcollecting scopes, or sharing reference information. But, this event was a chance to see oneanother's collections during a fun event without the pressure of answering a reference question orfinding a home for a collection.The Crawl provided networking opportunities between the CWUASC staff and tour attendees. Oneparticipant shared his enthusiasm with local history and as a member of the local newspaper'seditorial board, encouraged the newspaper to visit the archives and write an article on itscollections. This same individual was later contacted to serve on the Friends of the Library Boardand now serves as its secretary.The event also increased the visibility of the CWUASC and brought more patron usage of thecollection. After the inaugural Crawl in October 2015, there were 36 in-person visitors and 19reference questions, and in November there were 22 in-person visits and 14 reference questions.The previous month of September 2015 had only nine visitors and six reference requests.Adding to the trend of increased traffic, the archives' online content also showed increased usageafter the first event. ScholarWorks is the institutional repository of CWU. It houses faculty andstudent scholarship as well as digitized archival content from both University Archives andCommunity Projects.In September of 2015, there were 7,920 page views on the online archival content. In October2015, there were 12,281 page views and in November of that year there were 13,607 page views.It is spurious to think an event of less than 15 participants drove all this traffic, but it shows howthe Archives Crawl, combined with other outreach activities, draws attention to the archives and itsmission. Online content provides access that promotes the archives 24 hours a day around theworld.ConclusionDespite having barely a budget and a small staff, the CWU Archives successfully planned andimplemented an annual Archives and Museums Crawl that provided collaborations with the otherrepositories in the small town of Ellensburg. Visiting other repositories and talking to staff face-to-face strengthened an already good working relationship and encouraged other collaborationsbetween repositories. The same was true with attendees of the Crawl and resulted in newadvocates of the area museums and archives. This annual event will continue to be held for futureAmerican Archives Months.

How to Have a Successful Archives Crawl on a Shoestring Budget

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How to Have a Successful Archives Crawl on a Shoestring Budget

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