Well hello readers! I am so sorry for neglecting you all again!
This semester has been a trying semester. Take this internship add two upper level history courses and a General Anthropology course plus my 3 days a week job at Disney (that has me working anywhere from 4-15 hours a day) plus my relationship plus my mother's health issues and you've got the perfect recipe for madness! ;)
Anyways, enough of my pity party, I suppose I should update you all on what I've been up to.
Well I've pretty much wrapped up my finding aid. I need to add the historical background information on the museum as a whole, and the individual collections. Once I do this it will pretty much be complete.
I've been contacted by a graduate student wanting to do some research on the GLBT history in the mills/50 (ViMi District). I felt bad because as I've just been inventorying the collection I don't really know much information about the history. I can say that I know The Center has a relatively long history at their current location, but prior to being located on Mills, they were on 50. I can say that there was once a GLBT book store called Out and About Books located off of Mills. I know there is a store called Ritzy Rags. All these things I can say, but I do not know the entire history of each location. Nor do I really have the time to investigate the whole history of these locations. My responsibilities have had me inventorying the collection and making it more accessible for researchers, so that they can uncover the history for the public. That's not to say that I have not gathered a decent understanding of the history of our community. I certainly have, and I feel like I, myself, have gained much more appreciation for our community through this internship. Anyways, the whole point of that rant was to connect it to my finding aid. Once I've finished my finding aid (which I anticipate having completed by Sunday). I will thus make it accessible to the researcher who has inquired about the collection. I will also offer up a time to meet with her so that I can give her a basic understanding as to what items are what. Hopefully I can aid in her research!
The other thing I've been working on is a plan of action for the GLBT History Museum of Central Florida. In my plan of action I basically address certain things that I've learned about during this internship. Things such as the importance of having a acquisition policy. Should the museum accept items on loan? Or should they only accept donations? Or both? This is important because if a museum accepts an item on loan they have to consider certain issues. Issues such as "who is responsible for insuring the item? The museum? Or the Loaner?" or even "Who is responsible for storing the item? The museum? or the loaner?" These are all little details that have to be considered when creating an acquisition policy. For the most part the GLBT History Museum of Central Florida has an official policy, but they have not decided whether or not they will accept items on loan.
In my plan of action, I also include my thoughts and ideas. Such as networking with other museums throughout the state and country (even the world). I've also included ideas on obtaining more history from the community, and some other ideas and opinions.
I think the plan of action is my favorite part. I get to take all that I've learned this semester about archiving and public history, and I get to actually show what I've learned. It's one thing to have the collection inventoried and organized, but to write up my recommendations and actually have them coming from my experience and research is pretty exciting. It certainly makes me feel like I know what I'm talking about and like I've actually learned from this whole experience. I love it!
The other thing I have left to do is to actually rehouse the Brian Arbogast collection! This will be pretty exciting! I start working on that next week!
For now I leave you all to go work on some Anthropology reading before I head into my part time job at Disney! Take care and have a great weekend!
-Kyle the intern
Friday, March 29, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
FINISHED!
Ok, so my title may be a little misleading, I finished my inventory of the collection! My finding aid is now a beautiful 25 pages long. I spent about 16 hours this week finishing up the rest of my inventory. My time was mostly dominated by The Center Collection. the rest of my time was devoted to the Patty Sheehan, Saviz Shafaie, and the Ken Kazmerski GLBSU Collections.
The Center collection is a very large collection to go through. It was originally 9 boxes of various documents pertaining to The Center. Through the process of reorganizing, I was able to bring it down to 8 boxes.
Boxes 1-3 pertain to the actual entity of The Center. That is to say, it contains various documents dealing with The Center. Documents such as Board manuals, minutes, lease information, membership information, funding information, etc.
Boxes 4-5 deal with the various publications The Center published. The longest running of which was The Triangle. Before it was The Triangle it was once New Directions, Centerfold, The Center Fold, and a couple other titles that escape my memory. Box 4 contains documents related to the running of the publication, The Triangle. This contains documents such as ad-agreements, funding, distribution, etc.
Boxes 6-8 contain various clippings from different news sources both locally and nationally. These clippings pertain to various GLBT community issues and concerns throughout the years. These boxes also contain various newsletters from an array of local GLBT groups.
The reorganizing of this collection required extensive work. Many times I felt like I had lost my mind. But the thing that helped the most was the fact that I had originally gone through and took an inventory of every file in the collection. I would move various files in my word document by cutting and pasting. I would then actually move said document to the corresponding box. Furthermore, just when I thought I had it just right, I realized I had to renumber the box! Needless to say, post-its are my friend. However, it is one thing to simply move a post-it, I had to also make sure my word document (my finding aid) reflected accordingly.
Taken about mid-day Thursday 3/7/2013. I simply felt like I had lost my mind! Completely surrounded by boxes and files!
I finally wrapped up work on The Center Collection this morning, Friday March 8, 2013. I was then able to go straight into the much smaller collections of Patty Sheehan, Saviz Shafaie, and Ken Kazmerski.
As I was going through the Patty Sheehan Collection I realized, I had finally found the "missing" Arbogast box! This box has been quite the frustration for me, as the Brian Arbogast collection is labeled as "Box 3 of 5" So earlier in my work when I couldn't find "Box 1" I had given up hope! Alas, the Sheehan Collection is housed in what used to be Box 1 of the Arbogast collection! It seems to me that this box was condensed into one of the other boxes in the collection so that it could make room for the Patty Sheehan Collection. Alas this mystery has been solved.... At least I hope so.
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This is the box that currently houses The Patty Sheehan collection, but was once Box 1 of 5 in the Brian Arbogast collection.
The Saviz Shafaie Collection consists of 4 albums with various clippings of newsletters, news papers, photographs, etc. It also has a bag filled with buttons and pins pertaining to various GLBT events.
The Ken Kazemerski Collection, more specifically The Ken Kazmerski's GLBSU Collection, is in two bins. It consists of albums, files, shirts, awards, photos, and other items pertaining to the UCF Gay Lesbian Bisexual Student Union which was started in 1976. The items chronicle the rich history of this originally closeted club. It even includes the files of the 1995-1996 president. It is truly an interesting collection to look through. Though I have to say, honestly, every collection is really interesting to look though. Maybe that's because I'm just naturally nosy!
After I finished inventorying the collections I also took note of approximations on how many boxes and file folders would be needed for future rehousing of each collection in archival quality boxes and file folders. This is information I will include in my final recommendations for the GLBT History Museum of Central Florida. Throughout the current semester I have learned valuable information that I can pass along to the museum and its board. All of this information I will apply to a final recommendation for the future of the museum's archives, which is my next step!
Until next week,
-Kyle the intern
The Center collection is a very large collection to go through. It was originally 9 boxes of various documents pertaining to The Center. Through the process of reorganizing, I was able to bring it down to 8 boxes.
Boxes 1-3 pertain to the actual entity of The Center. That is to say, it contains various documents dealing with The Center. Documents such as Board manuals, minutes, lease information, membership information, funding information, etc.
Boxes 4-5 deal with the various publications The Center published. The longest running of which was The Triangle. Before it was The Triangle it was once New Directions, Centerfold, The Center Fold, and a couple other titles that escape my memory. Box 4 contains documents related to the running of the publication, The Triangle. This contains documents such as ad-agreements, funding, distribution, etc.
Boxes 6-8 contain various clippings from different news sources both locally and nationally. These clippings pertain to various GLBT community issues and concerns throughout the years. These boxes also contain various newsletters from an array of local GLBT groups.
The reorganizing of this collection required extensive work. Many times I felt like I had lost my mind. But the thing that helped the most was the fact that I had originally gone through and took an inventory of every file in the collection. I would move various files in my word document by cutting and pasting. I would then actually move said document to the corresponding box. Furthermore, just when I thought I had it just right, I realized I had to renumber the box! Needless to say, post-its are my friend. However, it is one thing to simply move a post-it, I had to also make sure my word document (my finding aid) reflected accordingly.
I finally wrapped up work on The Center Collection this morning, Friday March 8, 2013. I was then able to go straight into the much smaller collections of Patty Sheehan, Saviz Shafaie, and Ken Kazmerski.
As I was going through the Patty Sheehan Collection I realized, I had finally found the "missing" Arbogast box! This box has been quite the frustration for me, as the Brian Arbogast collection is labeled as "Box 3 of 5" So earlier in my work when I couldn't find "Box 1" I had given up hope! Alas, the Sheehan Collection is housed in what used to be Box 1 of the Arbogast collection! It seems to me that this box was condensed into one of the other boxes in the collection so that it could make room for the Patty Sheehan Collection. Alas this mystery has been solved.... At least I hope so.
.jpeg)
The Saviz Shafaie Collection consists of 4 albums with various clippings of newsletters, news papers, photographs, etc. It also has a bag filled with buttons and pins pertaining to various GLBT events.
The Ken Kazemerski Collection, more specifically The Ken Kazmerski's GLBSU Collection, is in two bins. It consists of albums, files, shirts, awards, photos, and other items pertaining to the UCF Gay Lesbian Bisexual Student Union which was started in 1976. The items chronicle the rich history of this originally closeted club. It even includes the files of the 1995-1996 president. It is truly an interesting collection to look through. Though I have to say, honestly, every collection is really interesting to look though. Maybe that's because I'm just naturally nosy!
After I finished inventorying the collections I also took note of approximations on how many boxes and file folders would be needed for future rehousing of each collection in archival quality boxes and file folders. This is information I will include in my final recommendations for the GLBT History Museum of Central Florida. Throughout the current semester I have learned valuable information that I can pass along to the museum and its board. All of this information I will apply to a final recommendation for the future of the museum's archives, which is my next step!
Until next week,
-Kyle the intern
Friday, March 1, 2013
Digitizing history and continual inventorying!
This week I continued work on The Center collection. I have about three boxes left to inventory. I should note that I've been saying "processing" when in all actuality I've been taking a detailed inventory of each collection. The only collection I will hopefully fully process is the Brian Arbogast Collection, and that is because I will be rehousing the whole collection as well. Most of the work I've been doing with the other collections is making it easier for the next intern to pick up where I leave off so that they can better process the collection.
With that being said, I suppose I should inform you all as to what all I was up to this week. Well on Tuesday I met with David Bain whom is responsible for pretty much all the technological aspects of the museum. Ie. the online museum. We discussed the efforts made by the museum to digitize the collection. We discussed things such as the efforts to scan in all the publications and "tag" them with all the headlines from each issue, thus making it searchable. One of the things I really found interesting was he makes it a point to extensively tag articles dealing with political figures and their views on GLBT rights. He hopes that by doing so, people who do their research on voting for political figures will be able to see both past and present views. This way people can be educated voters.
Another thing we talked about was the fact that there are thousands of photos that had been uploaded to a yahoo group site. Unfortunately though, this site is not compatible with recent technology anymore. As a consequence all these photos will be lost. This is unfortunately a problem within the Public History realm. When creating a digital component to a museum, one must consider the longevity of the technology they are using. Not only must one consider the longevity, but they must also consider the compatibility with future technology.
Thursday I finished up inventorying box 6 of 9 Center boxes. It has been interesting going through these items, mostly because I did not know just how extensive the history of The Center was. It started off as the Gay and Lesbian Community Services, and eventually ended up as The Center. They also issued a monthly newsletter called The Triangle. It has been most interesting coming across this stuff simply because I had forgotten what it was like to create a news letter in the "olden days." We are talking about having templates that you stick pictures and what not on, and then having to send it off to a publisher! It reminded me of when I was in high school and I was pretty much the only one on the yearbook committee one year. It was left to me to cut the pictures and glue stick them onto pre-printed templates. What a task! It is simply amazing how much technology has changed in just 10-15 years! Everything is done with computer programs now, and with a click and a drag, you've got your published work!
This Saturday I will be attending a History Harvest up at the Sanford Public History Museum. I hope to learn more about overall efforts and techniques to digitize history. Next week I will be technically on Spring break. However, I will be at the University continuing work on my internship, as I will be missing about a week in April due to a wedding I have to attend in San Diego. My partner's sister is getting married to her partner, so it is kind of relevant don't you think?
Until next week,
-Kyle the intern
With that being said, I suppose I should inform you all as to what all I was up to this week. Well on Tuesday I met with David Bain whom is responsible for pretty much all the technological aspects of the museum. Ie. the online museum. We discussed the efforts made by the museum to digitize the collection. We discussed things such as the efforts to scan in all the publications and "tag" them with all the headlines from each issue, thus making it searchable. One of the things I really found interesting was he makes it a point to extensively tag articles dealing with political figures and their views on GLBT rights. He hopes that by doing so, people who do their research on voting for political figures will be able to see both past and present views. This way people can be educated voters.
Another thing we talked about was the fact that there are thousands of photos that had been uploaded to a yahoo group site. Unfortunately though, this site is not compatible with recent technology anymore. As a consequence all these photos will be lost. This is unfortunately a problem within the Public History realm. When creating a digital component to a museum, one must consider the longevity of the technology they are using. Not only must one consider the longevity, but they must also consider the compatibility with future technology.
Thursday I finished up inventorying box 6 of 9 Center boxes. It has been interesting going through these items, mostly because I did not know just how extensive the history of The Center was. It started off as the Gay and Lesbian Community Services, and eventually ended up as The Center. They also issued a monthly newsletter called The Triangle. It has been most interesting coming across this stuff simply because I had forgotten what it was like to create a news letter in the "olden days." We are talking about having templates that you stick pictures and what not on, and then having to send it off to a publisher! It reminded me of when I was in high school and I was pretty much the only one on the yearbook committee one year. It was left to me to cut the pictures and glue stick them onto pre-printed templates. What a task! It is simply amazing how much technology has changed in just 10-15 years! Everything is done with computer programs now, and with a click and a drag, you've got your published work!
This Saturday I will be attending a History Harvest up at the Sanford Public History Museum. I hope to learn more about overall efforts and techniques to digitize history. Next week I will be technically on Spring break. However, I will be at the University continuing work on my internship, as I will be missing about a week in April due to a wedding I have to attend in San Diego. My partner's sister is getting married to her partner, so it is kind of relevant don't you think?
Until next week,
-Kyle the intern
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