Ohio Archivist

VOL. 30 NO. l

Untangling Copyright Regulations --{~ THIS ISSUE .. . Dayton, October 16 Archives Week ...... 2 Symposium: Wright Brothers' legacy ...... 2 SOA is presenting an all-day workshop entitled "Copyright for Archives and Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity ...... 3 Libraries" in lieu of the usual fall meeting. Sessions on this topic, so essential H·OHIO/H-NET ...... 5 to the modem records profession, will take place on Saturday, October 16, Intellectual capital ...... 6 History Day Awards ...... 7 at the University of Dayton Law School. As of this printing, the schedule will Merit Awards ...... 8 . include: registration at 9 A.M.; a 9:30 session by Prof. Kenneth Crews of Business meeting; Council actions •••....••.•••... 8, 9 Indiana University/Purdue on copyright for traditional print media; lunch at Session reports ...... 10 Archives Listserv sampler to cease ...... 16 P.M . noon; and a session from 1:30 to 3 given by Prof. Robert Kreiss of the OPLIN information source ...... 17 University of Dayton Law School on copyright and the World Wide Web. We News Notes/Calendar ...... 18 are proud to have two speakers, both well known nationally for their expertise ON THE COVER: Kappa Kappa in this area. Gamma Fraternity headquarters For more information contact Kerrie Moore, SOA treasurer, at the prior to purchase in 1951 University of Dayton (address and contact numbers on back page). PHOTO /KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA ARCHIVES PRESIDENT'S COLUMN Looking back, looking ahead I would like to express my sincere thanks to Ken Grossi cess. Your ideas and input are very important, and .we for ten years of dedicated service to the Society of Ohio encourage you to review the strategic plan and let us know Archivists. Ken has served SOA as Treasurer, Vice what you think! President and President, and has been a driving force in John Brannick and Chuck Piotrowski have put together helping SOA to accomplish its goals. I'd also like to an excellent workshop on 'Copyright for Archives and thank all of those who have served on Council, planned Libraries' in lieu of SOA's usual fall conference, to be held at programs and taught workshops. Your time and the University of Dayton Law Library on October 16, 1999. dedication are appreciated. Finally, the support and I encourage all of you to attend! encouragement of every member of SOA has enabled The next century is an opportunity for the Society of Ohio us to be successful in achieving many goals outlined in Archivists to build on and improve its programs and services our strategic plan. to its members and the profession. Thank you for providing A major goal for Council this year is to review SOA's me with the opportunity to serve as SOA president. 1995 strategic plan, evaluating where we have been and determining ways to plan for the next century. Council is Dawne Dewey dedicated to involving all members in the planning pro- SOA President

Cleveland Archival Archives Week, Oct. 1 7-23: Roundtable report ucelebratingEducation in Ohio" Helen Conger of the Case Western Reseive Beginning with the year 2000, SOA wlll celebrate Archives Week annually during the University Archives has completed an update week (Saturday to Sunday) that Includes October 12, Columbus Day. This will conform of CAR's publication, A Gulde to Archives · to MARAC's practice and make It easy to remember the date for the week each year. In Northeastern Ohio. The Gulde includes -George &in, Chairman, Ohio Archives Week Committee institutions from Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, This year's theme is "Celebrating Education in Ohio." This year's publicity program is Portage, Stark, Summit, andTrumbull Coun- ambitious. Kevin Grace is in charge of getting the design work done at the University of ties. The new second edition includes the Cincinnati. Chairman Bain would like to have an SOA poster in every school building in the logos of participating institutions, which, along state, which means we would need over 7000 posters. The Ohio Education Association would with the CAR coat of arms by Tony Phelps, be asked to help in the distribution. enliven the publication. There is an entry for each member organizat_ion which includes SOA has as partners in the Archives Week events and poster production: the Academic the name (and previous names in some Ubrary Association of Ohio; the Ohio Education Association; the Ohio Council for the Social cases), mailing address, personnel, contact Studies; and the Ohio Ubrary Association. The poster will feature a picture of William Holmes numbers, email addresses and URLs, hours, McGuffey and a background including a McGuffey reader and a mid-20th century classroom. information on access/use/membership, and a short description of the collections. The Gulde will alsobepublishedonCAR's website SYMPOSIUM: (if it isn't already bythe time you receive this). The website will be updated as often as Preserving the Wright Brothers' legacy possible, but the printed version will be re- vised less frequently. DAYTON, OHIO • OCTOBER 22, 1999 CAR wishes to thank Helen Conger for The Dayton and Montgomery County Pub- pants from the Dayton area, this coopera- an immense amount of work at a very busy lic Ubrary, in cooperation with the Engi- tive effort will bring several individuals time. Many thanks are also due to her hus- neers' Club of Dayton and several other from Ohio and across the nation to talk band Dave, especially -for hours spent in Miami Valley institutions, is organizing a about their activities in preserving, sharing scanning. Thanks go as well to the Case symposium to commemorate the legacy and exhibiting their holdings in aviation Western Reseive University Archives, which of the famed pioneers of powered flight history. The program will be held at the donated printing costs at the University Print- and the approaching centennial year of Engineers' Club of Dayton on October 22, ing Department, and to Greg Ramm of the their historic flight in 1903. It will feature 1999. For further information, contact: Central Business Group for his support of the several rare written and photographic ElliBambakidis, 937/227-9500, ext. 323 publication. records and other artifacts of the Wright or . The Gulde is available at a modest cost to brothers which are in the holdings of the This symposium is sponsored, in part, nonmembers as well. Interested parties should Dayton and Montgomery County Public by a grant from the Ohio Humanities contact the Cleveland Archival Roundtable in Ubrary and the other participating institu- Council and the National Endowment for care of Barbara Clemenson at 330 East tions. In addition to speakers and partici- the Humanities. 266th Street, Euclid, Ohio 44132. 2 Ow 11~,;,,a • Fall 1999 Columbus is home to Kappa Kappa Gamma headquarters APPA KAPPA GAMMA is a women's frater- nity founded in 1870 at Monmouth College in Monmouth, DI. Six young college women, who are called the Founders, were determined to have a fraternity of their own after observing the several men's fraternities on their campus. As one of the oldest Greek-letter women's orga- nizations, it maintains the "fraternity" classification. "Fraternity" comes from the Greek phratla, meaning "family." It wasn't until the late 1880s that "sorority," from the Latin root soror meaning "sister," became a designation for women's fraternal organizations. From a small beginning, Kappa Kappa Gamma grew to have 27 chapters by 1900. Presently, there are 127 chapters in the United States and Canada and 349 alumnae associations world- wide. There are more than 150,000 living members. Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first women's fraternity to establish a headquarters, first in Texas and then in Missouri. The fraternity headquarters was moved from St. Louis to Columbus, Ohio, in 1929 when Clara 0. Pierce, a Columbus native, became Executive Secretary. She served the fraternity in that capacity for 40 years. It was her foresight and business acumen that convinced 1886 Convention in Akron, Ohio the Fraternity Council to purchase the current headquarters program grew, the furnishings, memorabilia and historical docu- building at 530 East Town Street in 1951. ments required professional oversight, and a professional archivist This historic Italianate villa, originally built in 1852, is on the was hired to make the collection accessible and enhance the National Register of Historic Places due to its architecture and programming efforts. because it was a the Governor of Ohio's residence from 1862 The Fraternity Archives are housed in a former hayloft of the tol864. Portraits of that Governor, David Tod, and his wife are original carriage house, built in the mid-19th century and now on display in the Grand Parlor. restored to a functional and attractive space suitable for housing an In 1980 Kappa Kappa Gamma established the Herltoge extensive archival collection. The collection is very diverse, from Museum, later incorporated, and operates the first floor rooms of early correspondence to chapter house blueprints, scrapbooks, the original structure as a Victorian house museum. The museum photographs, jewelry, memorabilia, printing plates and audiovisual is used as a vehicle for education about the history of the fraternity materials. One of the largest collections consists of Fraternity and the lives of women in the 19th century. As the museum Convention items. Since 1876, with a few exceptions, the fraternity has held biennial conventions, including several in Canada. This collection has correspondence, programs, photo- graphs, charms and memorabilia from 62 conventions spanning 124 years.

Several interesting items come from individuals' collections. Cleora Oark Wheeler was a professional artist in Minneapolis and an avid Kappa collector. She served as Grand Registrar for two years and as Custodian of the Badge for seven. She designed a fraternity bookplate [pictured on page 19} and several con- vention program covers. Oeora used her talent to design official stationery for chapters and an autograph book entitled Kappas I Haue Known. This collection has several printers' blocks and plates. Beatrice Woodman of Boston gave the fraternity an 18th-century emerald poison ring and a scrapbook from the children of the Bas Meudon area of France. Beatrice was the chair of the Dorothy Canfield Fisher French Relief Fund from 1946 to 1952. This was one of several war relief efforts that Kappa Kappa Gamma created. Nora Waln, a prominent author in the 1930s and '40s, 1900 Convention in Columbus, Ohio, on the oval at Ohio State University encouraged another effort. She requested PHOTOS /KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA ARCHIVES her Kappa sisters to send layettes to 0~ fl~U • Fall 1999 3 Mareta West mapped the moon landing for Apollo II. Elizabeth Arden shows servicewomen the illuminated PHOTOS /KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA ARCHIVES scroll presented toherbyKappa Kappa Gamma (1945).

Norway. By the end of the project in 1947, Kappas had located, usually in a hotel that was generous enough to give a assembled and shipped 5,000 baby layettes to Norway! suite, to make servicewomen comfortable while they were on leave. By the end of the war, records show that 1250 Kappas had Also during World War II, Kappa supported servicewomen by volunteered in the centers, and more than 300,000 service opening fourteen servicewomen's centers across the United States. women were provided with makeup (compliments of Elizabeth Locations included Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Honolulu, Los Arden), stationery and a place to relax. Angeles and New York, to name a few. They were centrally One of the tasks of the archivist is to catalogue the fraternity's magazine. The Key is the first college women's fraternity magazine, published continuously since 1882. The first 50 years have been preserved on microfiche. The majority of the photographic collection comes from this publication. It is a wellspring of women's history. The magazine has dealt with current issues from the beginning, including topics from suffrage to eating disorders and date rape. In 1995 the archivist position was combined with the PHOTO BY VINCE MCGUIRE curatorial position of the Heritage Musewn. It has been a chal- lenge to combine the duties and differenti- ate the collections. However, in combin- PHOTO BY VINCE MCGUIRE ing the positions, ABOVE: Fraternity headquarters as it appears today. women's history is TOP RIGHT: Grand Parlor decorated for the holidays. doubly served in BOTTOM RIGHT: 1996 Convention exhibit in Tarpon exhibits that incorpo- Springs, Florida. rate both collections. 4 Ow ll~,i,a • Falf 1999 Announcing H-Ohio-H-Net list on history and study of Ohio Sponsored by H-Net, Humanities & Social Sciences On-line, Michigan State University; and Department of History, The Ohio State University H-Ohio is an electronic discussion group for scholars and teachers interested in the history and culture of the state of Ohio. The list allows university and college professors, secondary school teachers, archi- vists, librarians, local historians, and independent scholars to discuss current research, new books and articles, and innovative teaching techniques. The editors will also post job and fellowship announce- ments, calls for conferences, book and software reviews, and other material that they feel will be of interest to the list. H-Ohio will attempt to facilitate the teaching of Ohio history by publishing syllabi, reading lists, and course handouts and assignments. · In the future H-Ohio hopes to set up a peer review system and electronically publish scholarly works as well as to create digital Beatrice Woodman with French children who were collection of primary sources that will be available on the World Wide sent to summer camp by Kappa Kappa Gamma Web. Additionally, H-Ohio's web page will contain an archive of alumnae (1949). PHOTOS N.APPA KAPPA GAMMA ARCHIVES syllabi, paper assignments, bibliographies, and other materials used in the teaching of Ohio history. The H-Ohio list is sponsored by the Department of History at The The Heritage Museum has two special exhibits yearly: Women's Ohio State University. Information about Ohio State's history program History Month in March and a holiday display in December. The can be found at <~ttp://www.cohums.ohlo-state.edwhlstorJI>. Heritage Museum also produces an exhibit at the biennial conven- tion. When the convention theme is announced, the archivist/ H-OHIO is free and open to anyone with a serious and abiding curator creates an exhibit that interprets that theme and the history interest in the history of Ohio. The H-OHIO list is co-edited by Michael of the fraternity. Pierce and Warren Van Tine , both of the History Department at The Ohio State Uni- In 1996 the theme was "Ufe Unks ... Discovery through versity. Uke all H-Net lists, H-OHIO is moderated to edit out material Kappa." One of the Kappa Alumnae Achievement Award that, the editors' opinion, Is not germane to the list, Involves technical recipients that year was Edith Petersilia Mayo, curator of the First matters (such as subscription management requests), is inflammatory, Ladies exhibit at the Smithsonian. In tum, the Heritage Museum or violates evolving, yet common, standards of Internet etiquette. exhibit featured twelve past Fraternity Presidents' gowns. Message logs and more information about H-OHIO may be In 1998 the convention theme was "Vision 20/20." The obtained atits website, linked from the H-Net website: . Profiles in Courage." The exhibit focused on eight Kappas who have had an impact on the fraternity and women's history. One of these women was the granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. ABOUT H-NET any Kappas have been leaders in their chosen careers. H-OHIO is owned by H-Net, an international network of scholars in Charlotte Barrell Ware, an early Fraternity President, the humanities and social sciences that creates and coordinates was instrumental in the development of pasteurization. electronic networks, using a variety of media, and with a common She served on the first Medical Milk Commission in the objective of advancing humanities and social science teaching and Mearly 1900s. Katharine Sharp, another early president, research. H-Net was created to provide a positive, supportive, was the founder and Director of the Ubrary Science pro- egalitarian environment for the friendly exchange of ideas and gram at the University of Illinois. In 1902, Dr. Emily Dunning scholarly resources. H-NET sponsors dozens of email lists and Barringer became the first woman ambulance surgeon in America websites for them in a variety of disciplines and fields, publishes at the Gouverneur Hospital in New York City. reviews of scholarly books and articles on the Internet, and provides Much of women's history can be seen through the history of a weekly Job Guide. The host is Michigan State University. More Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity and its members. Virginia information can be obtained by sending an email message to or by browsing the website at . United Nations charter. Mareta West was the first woman astrogeologist hired by the United States Geological Survey. She SUBSCRIBING TO H-OHIO mapped the moon landing site of the Apollo II flight, which put the To subscribe, send the following line as the only text of an email historic first man on the moon in July 1969. message (no styles, fonts, or signature files) from the account you wish A new publication, History 2000... Kappa Kappa Gamma subscribed to : Through the Years, documenting the history of the fraternity, will SUB H-OHIO firstname lastname, institution be available in June of 2000. If interested, contact Diane Mallstrom, Archivist/Curator, at 614/228-6515 or Example: SUB H-OHIO Jane Smith, Pioneer State U . Follow the instructions you receive in reply. For additional information please write one of the editors at: . For Diane Mallstrom technical assistance please contact the H-NET help staff at: . Ow 11~141 • Fall 1999 s Virginia Krumholz Is Archivist and Records Manager at cesses for further exhibitions. In other words, you should step the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. ·She received forward and proactively capture discarded information, incorporat- a master's degree In archival administration from Case ing it into your documentation. Many scientifically based business Western Reserve University, where she participated In research facilities routinely preserve notes, diagrams and random and helped run the annual CWRU summer workshops un- scratchings from their scientists which serve no apparent purpose der Ruth Helmuth. She also completed academic studies at the moment. Fortune magazine's October 3, 1994 article on for certification as a paralegal at Notre Dame College, intellectual capital recounted a fascinating story on Dow Cleveland. Virginia has long-standing memberships In Chemical's "orphan patents" and how they proved valuable for this SAA and ARMA (among others), serving on ARMA's major company. In other words, archivists need to see their role International Education Development Committee. as documentation specialists who are always alert to the capture of information, not passive recipients of throwaways whose job is to This Is an Informal Introduction to a new way of looking "refolder" and "preserve." at the Information profession and Its mission, for records If you adopt this concept, it means you will approach your managers as well as for archivists. While directed toward processing work with a different eye. You will ask yourself, "What records professionals In Institutional archives, the thrust possible use could this material have, other than what it might have In making our work comprehensible In terms of account- in its most obvious context?" "Well and good," says the archival Ing speaks to the new "business/Ike" orientation now seen skeptic. "How do I explain this concept to the powers that be...to In every Institution, from mercantlle firms to the smallest those who think of our archival work as a frivolity with no appar- nonprofit organization. This concept can obviously make ent immediate value?" a difference In many aspects of archlvy, from appraisal of paper records to foundation work for setting up an elec- here are several answers to this question. The following tronic records program. are questions and explanations that may prove useful to T pose to practically-minded administrators. 1. Do you agree that we are now in a service-based f you are an archivist (as opposed to a manuscripts economy rather than an industrial/tangible-production curator or a person working through a library "collec- society, as we were in the past? If so, why does our present tion"), there is nothing which should be of more accounting system continue to take into consideration only tangible importance to you than the concept of Intellectual assets? Obis is particularly ironic in organizations that call capital. After all, what are we supposed to be doing? themselves "knowledge-based" institutions.) Accounting practices If we are carrying out our time-honored job in concert focus on costs, not on future value or assets created. with all the archivists since the time of the Egyptians 2. Shouldn't the wealth of your organization bring into some and Sumerians, we are capturing present information type of accounting the accumulated knowledge within the organi- which is ongoing and contextual in nature in order to bring it zation which has not yet been captured and which resides within forward for the use of the future. We archivists know that all the experiences, skill, talents and capabilities of your people? information is not of the same value. (Witness the gum wrapper versus the Magna Carta!) Our job as archivists, through the sweat 3. What are we doing about capturing that information which of our intellect and study, is to try to make sure that the "good and will sustain the organization for the future, which will help it useful stuff" gets through the present-day fog of apathy or outright compete, which will create "wealth"? At this moment, nonprofit neglect which surrounds It. I don't think there is a practicing archivists are saying, "We are nonprofits, we are not in competi- archivist in the United States who doesn't laugh or chuckle when tive situations." I respectfully submit that "nonprofits" are a he or she hears the solemn pronouncement that "this is the turbulently competitive field, just like hospitals and universities. information age." We all know that what is really meant by Can you think of anyone else in your institution who is interested "information age" is "Bill Gates's latest." in competitive information capture other than the archivist? Most of your colleagues probably refer to their work output, once Having agreed that we should be concerned with the "good produced, as "trash" or "junk," even though it might have future stuff," what then do we mean by "intellectual capital?" (Do not competitive value. confuse it with "intellectual property," which is clearly defined by American and European law.) Simply stated, intellectual capital is 4 . All that latent, tacit skill and knowledge must be captured that contextual information currently produced In any form or and then made available for the use of the institution, thus medium which has administrative, legal, financial, historical and strengthening its ability to innovate, evaluate and then be trans- evidential quality for use in the future. This is, in fact, the standard formed into future knowledge. One magazine article stated that definition of an archives. However, the concept of intellectual when AT&T "downsized," one third of its intellectual assets walked capital takes this definition one step further by finding ways for out the door. Shouldn't information capture be a part of the idea archival information to produce value for the organization in its of "work for hire"? After all, your institution has paid wages to future actions. It might be called "leveraging information." produce those intellectual assets. Here is an example of "leveraging information" from my own ou now have four good reasons for your work on intel- field of practice, museum work. When a museum creates an lectual capital to present to the "powers that be." Now exhibition, large quantities of information are produced. It is the here is what you might do to add the concept of intellec- Y tual capital to your own archival work. archivist's/records manager's task to salvage not only the plans which make up the final exhibit, but those which are discarded 1. The archivist needs to have an intellectual map of along the way, which may prove to be valuable ideas and pro- information production within his or her organization-not just a 6 Ow 11~-Ut • Fall 1999 records survey, but something showing who is really doing what. (For instance: Does the security office inappropriately maintain employee medical records?) There is no easy way to do this. You FURTHER READING ABOUt must have an overview of both the tangible and intangible informa- INTELLECTUAL CAP,~~L , tion, and then you must strive mightily to make it tangible. Otherwise, it may be gone with a 'click. ' BOOKS 2. Get your processes documented. You might be surprised to realize suddenly that that hardly anyone else really has the big picture. This is a disaster for those who are trying to get the information forward into the next century. Joel Kurtzman (author of The Death of Money) says that knowledge of how organizations are run needs documentation every bit as robust as the techniques used by the military in documenting war. Perhaps this means, · above all, adopting a serious attitude toward what we do. 3. Organize a "search party" when you see something that does not make sense to you as a documentation and retrieval specialist. Avoid the "I know better than you" syndrome. Your co-workers have their own fish to fry. They will not be universally helpful or forthcoming, but avoid an accusatory stance at all costs. Just keep asking and observing. 4. Avoid the temptation to form committees, have meetings, do "planning," overuse forms, or do other "make-work" tasks. Do not overinvest in structure and too much gathering. Observation and persuasion should be your tools. This is an exercise in a new way of thinking. 5 . Speak up for clear documentation. Throw yourself in front of the train of too much information production within your organization. Your goal should be to concentrate on that information which will produce "capital" for future growth and development. As we all know, "information" is often used within an organization for self-aggrandizement rather than for communication.

elieve it or not, there are people in the bean-counter profession of accountancy who are recognizing the need for greater work to be done on the measurement and definition of intangible information assets. Gor- ti don Petrash, who now works in the Intellectual Assets SOA's first History Day Awards Division of Price-Waterhouse Coopers, headed a pio- neering intellectual capital effort at Dow Chemical. The Federal given to Mentor, Shaker students Securities and Exchange Commission sponsored a symposium on "Rnancial Accounting and Reporting of Intangible Assets" three The Society of Ohio Archivists has initiated a new award for partici- years ago to "explore potential improvements to the reporting pants in the State History Day contest in Ohio. The award recognizes model with respect to such assets." Canada and the European students in the junior and senior divisions who have used archival and Union are far advanced in these concepts. Information and docu- manuscript materials significantly and well in their project research. mentation are gradually becoming part of the ISO process within The group relied on contest judges to recommend participants the EU. deserving of this recognition. SOA' s award includes $50 to the person or group in each division judged most outstanding. The first awards We should ask ourselves the following questions concerning were presented in Columbus on April 24 to the following students in intellectual capital's vast informational potential. recognition of their outstanding use of primary source material. 1. Who is going to stand up and protect this valuable contextual information-if not an archivist, then who? Elizabeth (Betsy) Camey, St. Gabriel School, Mentor, Junior 2. Who is going to speak up about the heedless, random Division individual exhibit-"Science andTechnology: a Deadly destruction of potentially valuable intellectual capital within our Combination: Donora [PAI Smog, 1948" organizations? Undsay Kocab, Shaker Heights High School, Senior Division 3. Rnally, are we contributing to the informational future of our individual project-"Rosie the Riveter: Women at Work in organizations, or are we just treading archival water? Why should World War II" we stick our necks out? Because archivists are uniquely prepared · and capable through training and experience to assume the duties SOA hopes .the award will encourage more students to utilize of documentation, analysis, preservation and management of large archival records and manuscript collections in the years ahead. It quantities of recorded information. Who else is going to prepare encourages other archival groups to develop a similar program for the the "good stuff" for its journey into the next millennium? History Day program in their respective states. For more information, contact Dawne Dewey, SOA president, Virginia Krumholz Special Collections & Archives, Wright State University, at 937-775- Cleveland Museum of Natural History 2092 or by email . Ow ll~U. Fall 1999 7 Spring business meeting addresses amendment, budget items

Actions of the membership listserv and other features of the Internet 6. Two expressions of thanks were made: and the web. George Bain moved that SOA thank Ken 1. Elected to office: President-Dawne 5 Reports were read from the Treasurer Grossi for his long service as a member of Dewey; Vice President-Bari Oyler Stith; and from each committee ontheir activities Council and officer, and Diane Mallstrom Secretary-J ulie McMaster; Council in 1998. Most of this information is moved to thank Doug McCabe for writing members-Chuck Piotrowski, Virginia incorporated into news notes and other a memorial to Ginny Welton and noting Weygandt. notices in this issue. her contribution to SOA. 2. Amendment to Constitution The following change in the rules regard- ing the number of people who can be Merit Awards given at spring meeting nominated from the same institution was SOA Merit Awards were given on April 22 at Ms. Theibert and Ms. Oxenrider have passed by the membership: the spring meeting to Margaret Theibert, displayed an ongoing commitment to the From: "No two nominees should be administrator, and DonnaOxenrider,man- issues surrounding electronic records in state from the same Institution, or from ager, both of the Department of Administra· government. This commitment has resuhed an Institution represented by acon- tive Services, Computer Services Division, in a web-based records management appli- tinuing council member" Office of Policy and Planning of the State of cation for state agencies, a web-·based search Ohio. engine for locating state government infor- To: "Nominations should be structured mation resources, a policy on electronic so that no Institution can have more Through their ongoing support of State Archives programs, Margaret Theibert and records for state government, and the ability than two representatives on council for archivists to have a voice in many techno- at the same time. When a single Donna Oxenrider have made an invaluable logical issues and challenges. Without their institution does have two represen· contribution to archives in the state of Ohio. At their invitation, State Archives staff have understanding, trust, and willingness to in- tatlves on council, no more than one clude archivists in committees, projects, and of them can be an officer." been included as members of the state Internet Advisory Committee (IAC). Being included policy-making, State Archives would not have on this statewide committee has allowed these opportunities to make an impact in Other business State Archives to bring archival perspectives state government. 1. The budget for Archives Week was and concerns to a variety of technological discussed in view ofthe unexpectedly high issues that face state government. For ex- cost of the 1998 poster. The general ample, State Archives staff has been involved Nominate colleague for consensus was that a higher rate of in establishing 'best practices' for web pages an SOA Merit Award commitment than the current $500 was for state government, in the development of in order, but no final decision was made. standards for using electronic commerce Criteria for the Merit Award (from the Council was to discuss the matter further. within state government, in the development bylaws) ofan Ohio Government Information Locator This award shall be given to indi- 2. The National Coordinating Committee Service (OhioGILS), and in the establishment 1. viduals who have by excellence in deeds, dues have been increased to $300, and of the Ohio Electronic Records Committee Council wanted to know what the (ERC). actions orinitiatives improved the state of membership thought about increasing our archives in Ohio over the past year. As a direct result of the support of Ms. support to this amount (the previous $50 2. The Merit Awards shall not be Theibert and Ms. Oxenrider, the Office of limited to any one scope of endeavor increase had bee.n implemented without Policy and Planning (OPP) has funded the consulting the membership). It was pointed which benefits the work of archivists in development and programming costs of the out that the dues were not only for getting Ohio, or limited in the number of awards Ohio GILS project. This support has allowed the NCC digest on the listserv, but for the which may be presented each year. the GILS to become a statewide records support of a history interest group in management application as well as a public 3 . The sole criterion for this award Washington and for solidarity with the access mechanism for state government in- shall be excellence in the furtherance of profession. No vote was taken. formation. To date, OPP has committed the purposes of SOA as stated in Section 3. Support for the national NAGARA over $50,000 to the programming and de- 2, Part I of its Constitution and Bylaws, in meeting in Columbus in July was not to be velopment costs of the GILS application and any manner considered appropriate by monetary, but SOA could be represented over $20,000 for hardware and software to the Council of the Society of Ohio Archi- in other ways. support the GILS application. vists. 4. Council will encourage the mem- Dawne gave a report on the History Since the OPP develops and implements 4. Dewey bership of SOA to nominate individuals Day Awards {see page 7 of this Issue/. policy for all state agencies, the convening of the Electronic Records Committee (ERC) for the Merit Awards, and these nomina- 5. A discussion on the usefulness of the would not have been possible without their tions will be the basis for the Council's listserv summary reports in this publication support. The ERC has written an electronic action in designating recipients. seemed to indicate that the membership records policy for state government that has Nominations can be forwarded to the thought the reports were no longer been sent to Ms. Theibert for implementa- Vice President, who serves as Awards important enough to merit the kind of tion by her office. She has also agreed to co- Committee chair {Bari Oyler Stith; tel: effort they require. Kaeli Spiers publish with the State Archi\li?S guidelines for 440/285-2222 x6276; fax: 440/285- volunteered to write an article {seep. 16/ specific electronic records issues and tech- 8207). on ways for the membership to use the nologies. 8 Ow ~~ ,i,4 • Fall 1999 Nominate projects for History Award from Ohio COUNCIL ~~1-0 Academy of History · Nominations are sought for the Public His- June 4, 1999 mation and items, which can be purchased tory Award to be presented at the annual OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY for one-time use by institutions. meeting of the Ohio Academy of History, Council meetings were scheduled for Sept. Public Information-Laurie Gemmill April 28-29, 2000, at Otterbein College, 24, Dec. 3, and Feb. 4, 2000. The Treasurer will be updating the SOA website with the Westerville, Ohio. reported a balance in the checking account of help of Jane Wildermuth and Judy Walker. To be nominated, a public history project, $2580.32. There was discussion of trying to Sections to be added include one on the publication, or program must have been keep the balance low and putting the rest of History Day Awards and a new manual of accomplished within Ohio in the previous the funds in a CD or other account to earn procedures. two years and completed by January 3, 2000. more interest, but no final action was taken. Awards-The first History Day Awards Nomination forms and general rules should Membership is down slightly, but it is always were given on April 24 [see page 7}. Dawne be requested from: hard to tell exactly how many members there Dewey described the process and asked for Dr. Stuart D. Hobbs are at a certain moment, since many institu- volunteers to be judges. Ohio Historical Society tions only send out checks for their employ- 1982 Velma Ave. Archives Week-This year's week will ees' professional membership once a year, Columbus, OH 43211-2497 be October 17-23, 1999, and the theme is and that often does not correspond with the Phone: "Celebrating Education in Ohio." Council 614/297-2608 SOA schedule for renewal of dues. Email: made a final decision on support by increas- The spring meeting was a success, and ing the annual amount to $700. [See other The awards program covers all public the total number of attendees was over 70. details on page 2.J history fields, including exhibits, publications, The fall workshop on copyright will be held Membership-The mentoring program audio-visual documentaries, oral history, pub- at the University of Dayton in lieu of a needs to be revived. Kerrie Moore described lic programs, symposia, archival projects, meeting. It has had to be changed to Oct. 16 how it had worked and felt that it had been and historic preservation. Nominations are because of a University of Dayton conflict. beneficial to new members. Also, a new encouraged which demonstrate meritorious Members of archival organizations in Ken- membership effort needs to be made. achievement beyond the routine functions of tucky and Indiana will be encouraged to everyday work. All historians, whether em- attend. The spring meeting in 2000 will have The schedule for 2000 is as follows: ployed by an academic or public institution, a program committee chaired by Tamar Spring rneetinir-April 6-7, Columbus are encouraged to apply. Gated and Janet Carleton (if they accept). Archives Week-October 8-14 Nominated projects, publications, or pro- Committee assignments were: Fall meeting-MAC/MARAC joint grams must: meeting, October 18-20, Cleveland • include a completed nomination form Archives Week-George Bain. He and all support material required bythe will appoint new coordinators in The fall "meeting" in 2000 will take the rules; some regions. formofactivitiesadjuncttotheMAC/MARAC annual conference in Cleveland. A social • demonstrate original research which Education-Charlie Arp event was discussed. Another idea was to adds to a greater understanding of the Membership-Kerrie Moore will have something centering around the cre- past; give her liaison position to Martin ative use of archives in education, e.g., "liv- • demonstrate creativity in the way the Hauserman. ing museums" such as Hale Farm and the project, program, or publication is or- ganized and presented; Merit Awards-name changed to research that goes into the re-creation of a time period. • demonstrate originality or uniqueness "Awards Committee;" the Vice in design and historical interpretation; President (Bari Stith) The final item of business was a sugges- tion that Council and the membership need • educate or communicate with the in- Nominating-Virginia Weygandt; to do more brainstorming to see how we tended audience; Charlie Arp will help her. have performed in relation to the 1995 • follow commonly accepted rules of evidence and logic in providing proof Program (overall Program Commit- strategic plan, and to think about needed tee; a special program committee changes to that plan or new projects that of statements, facts, and conclusions. will still be responsible for each parti- need to be started, and in general getting a The deadline for submission of nomina- cular meeting}--Chuck Piotrowski new "spark" going to keep the organization tions is January 3, 2000. Nominations must vibrant. have a postmark not later than that date. PublicInformation-Laurie Gemmill An update will be made for the manual of procedures. The Editor of the Ohio Archi- BGSU to publish Northwest Ohio Quarterly vist gave a report; no one has yet volun- The Northwest Ohio Quarterly is returning to Bowling Green State University. Editing teered to take over the editorship. Commit- responsibilities for this scholarly local history journal have been assumed by the Center for tee reports were given, and highlights were Archival Collections in cooperation with the Department of History. Ann Bowers will serve as · the following: editor. The NWO Quarterly accepts manuscripts concerning topics within the geographical Education-SM has invited Charlie Arp region of Northwest Ohio and adjoining areas in Michigan and Indiana. We encourage to represent SOA at a national conference in submissions from both academic and nonacademic authors in such fields as history, archae- Atlanta for all groups involved in archival ology, political science and public policy, economics, social sciences and associated fields. education. A national clearinghouse is to be Submissions should be sent to Ann Bowers, Center for Archival Collections, Jerome set up. The SOA Education Committee has Ubrary, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403. Phone: 419/372- workshop "kits" including all necessaryinfor- 2411, Fax: 419/372-0155, email: . Ow 11~,;,..a. Fall 1999 9 -~-=--(J{1- --- SESSION REPORTS- Thursday, April 22, 1999 their fear that scholars would use their archives to write sneering papers demeaning their work. Most accessions are gifts, which The Pop Culture Library-A Perspective obviates the need for a state-funded entity to spend money buying Alison Scott, Popular Culture Library, Bowling Green items that are considered worthless and even pornographic. The State University collection also includes mail marketing materials and alternative and underground press collections. Alison Scott began by describing her library, which had just celebrated its 30th anniversary. The collection includes books, periodicals, comic books, "fanzines," postcards, greeting cards, trading cards, mail-order Archival Collection Management catalogs, posters, badges and press kits, in addition to actual primary source documents. The archives include such collections as the papers in Historical Societies of the American Tolkien Society. Aspects of popular culture that can Mary Jo Groppe, Shaker Historical Society; Charlotte be studied there include home furnishings, manners and etiquette, Mort and Lynn Russell, Centerville Historical Society; sports, games, cookery, true crime, celebrities, fashions, and humor. Virginia Weygandt, aark County Historical Society; It is the largest academic library devoted to primary materials on 19th Clare Balawajder, moderator and 20th century popular culture in the U.S. In the late 1960s there was a growing interest in cultural studies, Lynn Russell described the Centerville Historical Society, founded in a Bowling Green English professor, Ray Bonn, founded the Popular 1966. Centerville had the first architectural preservation program in Culture Department, the only academic department like this in the Montgomery County and one of the first in the state. In 1988 the country. WUliam Shirk, present curator of the Sound Recordings Society made an agreement with the city, which now helps fund the Archive (once a part of the Popular Culture Library), started the salary of the curator, who is now a city employee. The local collection with Prof. Bonn in about 1967. The library actually opened Bicentennial Committee had $25,000 left over after the event and its doors on March 12, 1969. Its collecting scope originally encom- used it to purchase the Walton Collection, the most-used part of the passed printed materials from 1876 from English-speaking North collection. The Society then rented a temperature-controlled building America, but it has now expanded to include the Pacific Rim nations, next door to house the papers. Virginia Weygandt came in to instruct Latin America, and Europe, and has materials in many languages. The personnel on archival methods, and 1994saw the start of a Wittenberg central theme is activity that people pursue because they want to- University intern project which Ms. Russell undertook. Steve Paschen "what people do for fun"-and so the shelves are full of things that look of the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums also took cheap, not special. The items are not things that have stood the test a large part in helping the Society's project get underway. Charlotte of time, but mass-produced ephemera. The reason behind this Mort described her activities at the Society. As well as processing and collection Is to provide the resources to support a University curricu- setting up exhibits, she is involved in various forms of outreach, since lum. The collection is also there to assist scholars in understanding the "we need to be as open as possible to the community." She gives forces shaping us, for instance, how the marketplace creates desires, school tours and has made contacts with various organizations, or (for a specific example) how the greeting card industry influences among others, an Americana Committee, arts clubs, and the Centerville the way people express sentiment. Women's Club. She gives demonstrations of archival material, for example, at the 1996 Rrst Families Reunion, and the Society now has Libraries and archives are the unacknowledged legislators of a website. There are genealogical and archaeological sections in the scholarship; what they collect dictates our views on a particular Society, and some of the ongoing projects are microfilming Washing- subject, and what they do not collect ("the stuff that got away") is ton township and Centerville minutes, offsite exhibits, and tours to forgotten and unknown. Ms. Scott's example of a genre that her schools to let children see original documents and get them interested institution saved from oblivion is the series romance novel. This is a in history. "The bottom line is that, no matter how small you are, you major item in modem culture, its popularity blossoming after World can do something." War II and originally coming from England; but it is scorned by the literary establishment and by much of the general public. The series Virginia Weygandt gave a summary of the general characteristics romance tells about a relationship between a man and a woman which of all archival work and then spent some time going over the special ends happily. The low status of these novels may have to do with their features of museum archives. Facets which are found in all archival deficiencies, but also with the fact that they are women's reading and institutions include: administrative support (tell them why they need written solely for the readers' indulgence in themselves. As stated by you, get them excited about the collections); resources (always a the Tulsa Public Library, most libraries believe that they have a "higher matter of too little time, money, staff for the amount of work); facility purpose than just satisfying our readers' cravings." As a result, copies (the building or part of a building you end up with); outreach (Susan of the-rarest rare books are easier to find than most popular series Fox's idea that in this age of disconnection we need to find ways to novels. The inevitable result will be the impossibility of making studies connect with people); training (rriuch of it through the back door or on a very widespread phenomenon. Ms. Scott stated that it behooves unexpectedly-the director says you need to have a degree, so go get us all to take our role as legislators of scholarship very seriously. ~ne); types of records (a balance in what we need and what has to be Following her prepared talk, Ms. Scott discussed such topics as the discarded;·an institutional sense of what the organization will need). collection policy, coverage of audiovisual materials, the development Differences between museum archives and others include a differ- of series romance classic works, the availability of romances before ence in mission and goals. Museums do put the emphasis on artifacts, 1900, the makeup of the library's user group, and other topics. so archivists who were trained to think in terms of documentation will Interesting observations were that the difficulty of acquiring romance need to educate themselves quickly in what museums are all about. writers' papers stems from their usually having been stung before and Often the documentation of a museum's collection will be substandard 10 Ow 11~-ut. Fall 1999 because the curators have thought only about the objects and not The DMC contains several searchable databases categorized about information sources linked to them. Donations to museums according to the subject matter such as Art and Architecture, General often emphasize the "I," that is, a collection will have everything from Science, and Biology. Each database might contain permanent and/ papers to buttons, but these items are all united by the ownership and or instructional temporary collections. Subjects are further subdivided use ofone person. Another feature is the necessity of sharing facilities; to various topics and the data structure and the vocabularies used are not only is the space shared, but museum archivists will find them- appropriate to each discipline. The contributing institutions or busi- selves reporting tocuratorsorregistrars instead of to the organization's nesses can upload, catalog and update images with the help of a administrative head. standard web browser and sort the information in a variety of ways. What is exciting, Barbur noted, is that in the near future, users will be The Shaker Historical Society, like the Centerville group, has a able to sort according to media content such as audio, video, etc., as house museum; but it has a full-time director, a part-time librarian, a well as create "their own access mechanisms" to create a wide array public relations person, and a secretary. Established in 1947 in the of web-based products. Shaker schools, it had a hard time getting permission to acquire a house in a residential neighborhood and still has occasional adminis- The security is ensured on three levels: OhioLINK, State of Ohio, trative problems with its property. Much of Ms. Groppe's talk and the world. OhiolJNK, along with launching its first projects, is concerned the grants the Society received from the Cleveland and examining expansion strategies for the immediate future. According Gund Foundations and the ensuing requirements for change and plans to Barbur, the greatest advantages these DMC projects afford the for the future. The grants were for a joint local history program with participating institutions and businesses are: a) the centralization of the Shaker schools, the city, and the municipal public library, which various institutional collections on the web, b) the availability of got the largest amount of grant money. unlimited storage space and thus the possibility of continual expan- sion, c) up-to-date technical expertise, and d) savings in time and The process of getting the grants was long and involved. The money involved in development and maintenance of the databases. In Shaker Heights Inter-Institutional History Committee developed a conclusion, Barbur emphasized the fact that the DMC projects will long-range plan and drew up a cooperative agreement between the continue to open up new horizons in reference and teaching. participating organizations that defined collection policies, project The next speaker, Charles Arp, offered an overview of his needs in each place, rules for security, and other factors. In coopera- experiences regarding the launching of a couple of ambitious digitiza- tive projects one needs to be careful, since "the big fish swallow the tion projects at the Ohio Historical Society. The results of these efforts little fish. " Ms. Groppe detailed the ins and outs of negotiations canbe viewed at . Arp concerning the participating institutions. The group held a community demonstrated a) The Death Certificate Index, 1913-1937, and b) event, a "Photo Focus," to encourage public support. The grant The African-American Experience In Ohio: 1850-1920. He noted proposal had to be revised several times to suit the funding organiza- that the immediate result from the presence of the first project onthe tions, but the final draft went to the foundations in early 1998. In the web was a dramatic (400% at least), increase in copy requests, which event, the (brand new) head of the public library had to write the job he had not anticipated. description for the part-time archivist and preservation expert whom the historical society was trying to hire. He then enumerated various technical issues that present consid- erable challenges. Some of them are: Ms. Groppe described a second grant proposal which was a a. The transferring of data from one software application to cooperative effort thelibrary and the societytoget money for a local by another, history preservation and digitization project, the results ofwhich were to be placed on the web. This grant proposal was submitted to the b. The time-consuming nature ofthe Optical Character Recognition InstiMe of Museum and Library Service of the U.S. government. Her (OCR) process including thequality control phase. For example, advice, distilled from all the above experiences, was that cooperating in the case of the death certificates, two million entries had to and piggybacking may be the only way to get a grant. In order to do be checked for accuracy, this, however, there are some guidelinesto follow: Everybody has his/ c. The tremendous learning curve at the beginning ofthe project. her own agenda, so one can't be naive if one is to be successful. Arp noted that it is almost impossible to continue doing your Subdue your own ego but stick up for your institution. Evaluate gains "regular job" if you are involved in a digitization project. and losses before jumping into something. Look for the positives in d. The collaboration with the various vendors that, according to any situation but don't ever let down your guard. Don't let fatigue or Arp, requires a great deal of patience because, "they don't boredom get you down. Remain open to new learning. speak the same language as archivists." OHS's second major digitization project was The African Ameri- can Experience In Ohio: 1850-1920 which involved the scanning of 29,000 images, including manuscripts, newspaper articles, and Giving It All Away: Current Digital pamphlets. This was a project funded by the Library of Congress and Initiatives in Ohio Libraries and Archives Ameritech. His advice on day-to-day considerations was that an David Barbur, OhioUnk; Charles Arp, Ohio Historical institution has to choose conscientious workers for the life span of the Society; Alice Cornell, University of Cincinnati; Janet project and carefully assess the scanning needs of each project, which Carleton, Ohio University (moderator) largely depend on the physical characteristics of the material at hand. He concluded his presentation by underscoring the benefits of the David Barbur began the session with a presentation on OhiolJNK's projects. "These projects have unintended results," he said and he Digital Media Center (DMC). He first explained that the majority of the explained: first of all, being involved in a digitization project is great . files stored in the DMC are images. Most recently, however, more learning experience for archivists. Second, it takes archival institutions audio, video, VRML (virtual reality mark-up language) and, in general, into new directions. And third, it gives thema worldwide presence and multimedia files are being incorporated into their holdings. The DMC increasesthe demand for better connectivity that, in tum, can help the accepts contributions from OhiolJNK members as well as from development of other projects. The Ohio Historical Society projects external sources such as museums, historical societies and commercial elicited all these benefits. vendors. Many Ohio universities have collaborated with OhiolJNK in Despite the expected reallocation oftime and money, Arp believes these first efforts to preserve and make available to the public digital that archival institutions should pursue such projects because the collections. benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. The only thing that they have Ow 11~-ut • Fall 1999 11 to always keep in mind is that they have to plan well not only how to price $100); thermohygrometer, ofthe type sold by lightImpressions implement such projects but also how to "sustain their digital opera- (price, $52); or a recording hydrothermograph (over $600). One tions." Later, when asked if OHS has thought of the commercial should operate dehumidifiers in the summer and use silica gel tiles in benefits of such ventures, Arp said that OHS is looking into "ways of storage cases. As for temperature, 68 degrees F. is a good compro- making profit from their web page, because it is very expensive to put mise between human comfort, ecologically and economically feasible upand maintain." "Historical societies," he added, "areexaminingthe levels, and optimal storage temperatures. light is important; incan- cost of the technical and human resources and planning ways of descent light to be preferred for preservation purposes; 55 lux should generating revenues from such projects." be the limit for exposure of sensitive photographic material, but the The last speaker was Alice Cornell, who gave a presentation onthe level in the room (where the session was being held) was about 2000 digitization of the George Catlin printed works collection. George lux. Catlin was a New York illustrator who decided early in his painting In housing the collection, one should do a photographic activity career to chronicle the civilization of Native American tribes in North test. This is described in ANSI standards and has two parts: a test for America (1830-1838). The results of his observations are docu- fading and a staining reaction between the gelatin and the paper mented in over 600 portraits and scenes from the tribes' daily life. enclosure. The material can be purchased from companies like light The objectives of the digitization were to a) help fund the preser- Impressions. The storage envelopes should not be thumbcut, and the vation of the collection, b) make it readily accessible, c) enhance its use, best material is archival quality polyester (mylar). Polyethylene and and d) contributeto scholarship. The planning and implementation of polypropylene are less rigid, and PVC is to be avoided at all costs. A the project involved many individuals in various areas such asbusiness very stable solution to the storage problem would be to (machine) sew planning, marketing, editing, technical research and development, mylar to Japanese paper and paste it on archival board with wheat and production. paste. Horizontal storage is better than vertical, but vertical storage facilitates access with less handling. Materials that should not be used Ms. Cornell mentioned some of the challenges the team faced on or near photos are: rubber cement, ink, staples, masking tape, during the planning and implementation of the project. First, the paper clips and rubber bands. Pencils, while archivally sound, are software vendor was not familiar with the type of material scanned. difficult to use on resined papers, but photo ink is all right, although Second, the scanning process was extremely time-consuming, not to some experts refuse to use ink of any sort. mention the challenges of indexing, naming conventions, cataloging, and the compilation of the bibliography. A photograph has three parts: 1) a dye (usually silver-based) which is suspended in 2) an emulsion binder (usually gelatin), which resides Ms. Cornell then demonstrated the search capabilities of the on 3) paperorothersupport. Actual photoconservation is so complex lmageBASE 5 .0-driven product that was released in April 1998. The that it should only be done by an expert. Conservation can involve images are cataloged in a searchable database and linked to texts, a cleaning, mending, painting, and lining. Materials used in this work locator map, a large bibliography, and lists of World Wide Web sites. include papers: Japanese paper or kozo, the color of which can be She noted that the significance ofthis publication effort is multifac- matched to the color of the photo paper or polytex, which is eted: ilt enabled the University of Cincinnati Digital Press tofurther the nonwoven and keeps things from sticking. The best paste is cooked University of Cincinnati library's mission, it created a prototype of a wheat starch paste, which Is reversible in water. It is cooked for 20 new approach to publishing, and it offered an additional avenue to minutes and dries clear. Other supplies are: waxed paper, a spatula, new scholarship. For the present, this product is only available in CD- a bag of lead shot for weighting down repairs until dry, and a dry- ROM format. For more information on upcoming publications by the cleaning sponge or Gonzo sponge (the latter works well on the University of Cincinnati Digital Press, visit . In emulsion side of a negative). lintless cotton gloves are indispensable; concluding, Ms. Cornell said that In addition to offering original they can be washed in the gentlest soap available, but it best to just get scholarship on George Catlin's work, this and future projects offer an a new pair. These are available from safety supply companies. Old "alternative source of revenue" to help fund the preservation of the labels can be taken off with a water bath, but one must first ascertain collections in the University of Cincinnati Archives. the materials of which the photo was made. A slide show followed the AU three panelists agreed that the appraisal process ofthe material preservation talk. to be digitized and the evaluation of the market base are the most Ken Weissman, head of the library of Congress Motion Picture important challenges in this type of endeavor. Given the high cost in Preservation Lab, now located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base at time, labor, and money, institutions have to ensure that the educa- Dayton but soon to be moving to Culpeper in northern Virginia, gave tional value of the digital product justifies the effort. attendees a handout entitled "Film Conservation and Preservation- The Basics." The first requirement is to have a vision of what you REPORTED BY BESSIE KARRAS, WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY anticipate. His lab preserves films (including home movies) and items not readily available to the public. The·first priority for spending is to acquire unique materials. The second should be to copy materials How-to-Do: Preservation and when It is necessary for preservation purposes. Then one should provide for use. Motion picture conservation now includes the Management of Photograph concept of access. and Film Collections An acquisition plan needs to be developed. Many institutions will Elizabeth Bardossy and Ann Olszewski, Cleveland Public take anything at all, but most should define their scope and limit library; Kenneth Weissman, Motion Picture Conservation themselves to that area. LC is unique in that it is indeed supposed to Center, library of Congress; Tom House, Ohio Historical be interested in everything. Acquisition planning involves setting Society, moderator guidelines and procedures. Forexample, atthetime ofacquisition, the donor should be informed of the need to fund treatment. The Elizabeth Bardossy and Ann Olszewski gave some technical pointers institution should delineate what it will acquire in the transaction, and on the preservation of photographic collections. The first topic was there should be a mechanism to solve problems involving gray areas equipment for monitoring climate control. The single most important where the parties disagree. Exceptions should be kept at a minimum. factor in preserving photos is the relative humidity of the storage area. ~roper storage is important, and one must remember that film is It should always be below 50 percent, and 35 percent is ideal. To a living medium; it is constantly changing. Some changes cannot be monitor humidity, one can use: a digital sling psychrometer (handheld, helped, but if one is aware of them, alternative steps can be taken. 12 Ow 114w.ut. Fall 1999 Basic storage is similar to that for photos-cool and dry conditions are sonnet materials dating as early as the first decade of the twentieth optimal; and similarly, the emulsion is a great place for molds to century. Much material deals with the October 1944 gas tank develop. In cleaning molds, one should use a respirator; OSHA explosions that devastated a portion of Cleveland and killed 129 demands a "respiratory plan" and the Society of Motion Picture and people. The company maintains rights to access materials from the TV Engineers has a "recommended practice" (#131). Although collection under archival controls and provided funding to aid in access copies, or course, are stored at whatever temperature it processing and describing the collection. happens to be in the reading room, archival storage for films should Gooden contrasted the East Ohio archives with otherbusinessand be at 45 degrees F. Henry Wilhelm's famous book details storage industry collections at Youngstown. He pointed out that work within conditions; good storage conditions buy you time for other measures. the East Ohio Gas Company before the transfer of the records has A solid inspection regimen is absolutely necessary. Always inspect eased the historical society's processing work. On the other hand, films when they arrive, and revisit them on a regular basis (Congress some archives reach the Center with no prior archival preservation mandates inspection of nitrate films twice a year). The "vinegar or processing work, but with the institutional order remaining intact. syndrome" on acetate film bases can be smelled immediately. In extreme cases, records are rescued from abandoned industrial One should have an active preservation program, in otherwords, property or office buildings and the order must be reconstructed or facilities to copy films when it is time to do so. It is possible to get the created based on historical knowledge. equipment very cheaply for $2000 or less through eBay or govern- Gooden also spoke about acquisitions of business records. It is ment surplus. Right now most government agencies are going to video important to be aware of transitions in business ownership or site and selling all their film equipment. A copying program, again, needs relocations that may mean that valuable records are in danger of to focus on the institution's unique materials. Historical documents disposal. Archivists can take advantage of such opportunities to and home movies are the primary sources of the film world. One rescue records and build collections. should always have a use copy so the original can be in a cold vault. Copying is only archival when it is film-to-film. Archivists need to John Miller, head of the University of Akron's Archival Services, develop a relationship with a commercial film lab to be successful in spoke about the main focus of his institution's business archives, the this endeavor. (Filmcraft in Detroit is a good example.) Because rubber industry. The University holds archives from B.F. Goodrich, commercial labs react only to customer refusal, it is absolutely essential Firestone, Goodyear, and General Tire. that you inspect the film when it co~es back from the lab. The University's traditionally close community ties had aided the Funding solutions for film preservation can come from places such acquisitions. Both B.F. Goodrich and Firestone had strong corporate as·the National Him Preservation Foundation, AA grants, or donors archival programs before the University acquired their records. The can be solicited when they make the donations. Training references acquisition of the Firestone Archives was accelerated by an Ohio are many; the best is probably The BookofFilm Care byKodak (H23; Historical Society report in 1976 that recommended that the com- the old edition of 1983is best). Oneshould join organizations and take pany either strengthen its archival program or transfer its holdings to advantage of their services to keep up with professional advances. The the University. The acquisitions of the Goodyear and General Tire Society of Motion Picture and TV Engineers (now really TV andvideo!) archives were made more recently, 1994and 1996respectively, with is very useful, and one can find great advice at . the involvement of the University's development department. During the question session, several important pieces of informa- Miller described the Goodyear, Goodrich and General Tire ar- tion came out. Copying historic videos to film is not considered chives as largely public relations collections. He said that Firestone's appropriate, as the image does not look the same; but transferring a collection included executive correspondence and management video to Digital Beta Cam or Beta Max (not the original Beta) does records. Goodyear holdings include materials on the blimps, and the prolong its life. Videotape cannot be kept at as low a temperature as Goodyear and Firestone archives include materials on worker hous- film. Companies who will process film (the question was about 35mm, ing. The inheritance of artifacts along with archival materials can be but 16mm is also becoming rarer) include WRS in Pittsburgh, a pitfall in collecting company records. However, the existence of a Filmcraft in Detroit, and one in Memphis (name not given). As for rubber museum in Akron has reduced that concern. There is also hydrothermographs, Weissman recommended the "Hobo," which is concern about the volume of future additions to the archives and the much cheaper and actually better than others which are many times space and resources that would be involved. as expensive, or the Dixon (around $100; the 0200 is very sensitive Goodrich had earmarked money for maintaining its archives and and accurate). had committed $30,000 over a three~year period. However, funding archival care is a concern, and Miller noted that the archives must compete with other university programs for outside funding. Corporate Records in Public Sector He issued some cautions in collecting company records. Some Archives companies are reluctant to showcase embarrassments in their histo- ries. The protection of privacy is also a concern. It is particularly hard Randall Gooden, Youngstown Historical Center of Industry to separate personal and business items in the Firestone archives. An and Labor; John Miller, University of Akron; Claudia archival institution must consider how much time it is willing to Watson, Montgomery County Historical Society; Dawne commit to answering reference questions for a company, especially Dewey, moderator if no funding is provided for reference work. Borrowing rights for a Speakers from three different industrial centers of the state spoke company is another issue that needs to be addressed. concerning the role of public archives in housing the archives of Claudia Watson of the Montgomery County Historical Society private companies. In these particular cases, the perspectives came spoke about the National Cash Register (NCR) archives, which was · from a state historical society, a public university, and a local historical acquired last year. The company retains ownership, and the collec- society. tion must be transferred within two years. It includes 1.5 million Randy Gooden, head of the archives-library at the Ohio Historical photographic images and 250,000 engineering drawings. Some Society's Youngstown Center, focused onthe recent acquisition of the digitizing of the collection is being done on a limited scale. NCR is archives of Cleveland-based East Ohio Gas Company. The 250 cu. ft. providing two million dollars to build a facility to house the archives. collection contains a vast number of photographs, executive files, It is hoped that the archival collection will be the center of a museum periodicals, scrapbooks, publicity materials, billing records, and per- in the new building, which is expected to open in the fall of 2000. Ow II~~. Fall 1999 13 Watson used images from the enonnous collectiontopresent a history understand the release fonns and the whole issue of pennissions. of the company through a slide show. Another duty of the administrator is to choose the interviewees. The REPORTED BY RANDY GOODEN, YOUNGSTOWN most important are those who will disappear first; these are often the HISTORICAL CENTER FOR INDUSTRY & LABOR oldest, but not necessarily so (for example, teenagers are not in that category very long). Release fonns need to be produced, and protec- . tion needs tobe extended not onlytointerviewees, but to interviewers, especially if they are students. The most important thing is to be very Friday,April23, 1999 clear about what you are doing. The third area is preservation. There are issues of reel-to-reel vs. cassettetapesandwhattodo about video, which is very impennanent. Architectural Records: Preservation We will probably be using some sort of digital technique in the future; in an Archival Setting but for now, the important thing is to get the tapes to the archives for preservation. Tawny Ryan Nelb, Nelb Archival Consulting, Inc.; Tom Steman, moderator The last area is use. There are a lot of issues surrounding transcrip- tion. The Columbia University program set the tone for present (report not available) transcription practices. Archivists often do not encourage users to listen to the original tapes because of the problems that entails, although in something like a musical oral history there obviously isn't much choice. f.diting was covered in the question and answer period; Issues Surrounding the Creation several people mentioned that they encouraged the interviewees to and Use of Oral Histories for write introductions to their own interviews after hearing the tape. This Archival Purposes made them feel more like they were in control because they could add something or explain a particular statement they were worried about. Mary Fredrickson, Miami University, Oxford Campus; Transcriptioncan be an obstacle to getting the material onto the shelf, Doug McCabe, Ohio University (for Bill Kimok); Marjorie and sometimes a good index to a tape may be a better solution. Mclellan, Miami University, Middletown Campus; Nancy Doug McCabe stated that oral histories have the same problems as Gamer, moderator the documents people create. The interviewee needs to know the program's agenda and the motivation of the interviewer. Research Before the session proper began, each attendee stated his/her name before the interview is exceedingly important. At Ohio University and interests in oral history. Marjorie Mclellan began by stating that archivists or interviewers prepared detailed outlines before going out this is the golden age of radio documentary, sound portraits, the into the field. Even if an interviewer hadn't done the research, s/he History Channel on1V, and other such features which emphasize the had the outline to consult. A well-prepared interviewer will be ready use of oral history. A lot of material is being produced haphazardly; to follow tangents-and will know if they are important enough to people do interviews and then nothing much is done with them. The follow. S/he should also not try to dodge issues, although the person good examples are real programs such as Linda Wood's, at Brown being interviewed may choose to do so. The consolation in all this is University and the State Historical Society of Rhode Island, which that whatever publication may come out of it will doubtless leave out several of the speakers mentioned as an ideal program. a lot, but the originaltapesare still inthe archivesand canbeconsulted. The impact of the Internet onoral history taking has promoted two One admonition was that the equipment must necessarily be tested concerns: protecting the rights of interviewees and making the and tried out before use to make sure it works properly. Again, material accessible to the public. In this age of voice sampling and intervieweeswill be much more forthcoming if they know thattheywill computer manipulation, one must be very careful with any kind of have an opportunity to edit the transcript and/or write an introduc- recording. Making a person's voice available can also make them tion; they will not feel the pressure of having a single chance to say vulnerable to at least partial identity theft or other kinds of trespass. everything correctly or not at all. It is necessary at the outset to let people know they will be on the Internet if that is what is intended. In fact, the Internal Review Boards Anally, a way to make interviewees more comfortable with the mandated by the government in any Federally funded program now overall project is to make it public. The Dayton Story Circles project consider oral histories to come under the category of "research on was well publicized as a community effort. While the Story Circles human subjects" and are therefore liable to the accompanying activities themselves were not necessarily good oral history, they regulations. The upshot is that Ms. Mclellan in her program assumed familiarized the public with the project so that later, when oral that all interviewing would come under these regulations and devel- historians went outto do interviews with selected individuals, the latter oped a fonn thatwould comply with them. An interviewerwho follows were receptive and quite willing to be interviewed. the rules and obtains infonned consent even when s/he is not obligated to will always be within the law. Mary Fredrickson spoke to four major areas of concern. The first was the nature of funding for oral history. The more neutral the The National First Ladies Library funding, the better. The funding sets the parameters for what you can Cathy Adams, librarian, National Rrst Ladies Library, do; if you are interviewing for a company, there will be a major urge Canton to gloss over the ugly parts in order to present apleasant product. It is crucial to reveal your sources of funding to interviewees right at the The speaker first mentioned that through the years, the "first ladies~ beginning. It is a good idea to do this all the time, even if the source of the country have never had a salary or an official job description, is very neutral and innocuous. · and yet theirs is the largest budget of anyone's except the President's. The second area comprised the duties of the administrator of an She spoke on three topics: Ida McKinley and the history of the oral history program. One of the most important duties is to train the Library's home; its mission; and how the Library began. The rest of interviewers (too often this part is not done well). There must be more the !alk was a descriptive slide show on the McKinleys and the house. than just one training session; the interviewer should meet with the The Saxton House in Canton, Ohio, was built by Ida Saxton archivists before going out to the interview; and the interviewer has to McKinley's maternal grandparents, the Dewalt family, in 1856. It was 14 Ow ll~1At • Fa/11999 small in comparison to some otherenormous mansions of the period. Ida Saxton was very bright and precocious and was the belle of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library's town, but ·she had terrible headaches; over the years her physical Local History & Genealogy Departments problems got worse and she would have seizures, when she would be "frozen" for a time. When her two daughters died and her mother on the move during removation passed away very soon after, hercondition deteriorated. Her husband The Local History & Genealogy Department will be moving to a always insisted on sitting next to her, even though at state dinners, the different location for approximately one year while the historic Main presiding couple was expected to sit opposite each other. When she Ubrary, 325 Michigan, Toledo, is being renovated. When the reno- had a seizure at the table he would put a napkin in front of her face vation is completed, the Department will move back onto the third until it had passed. McKinley was always in office, and so the couple floor of the building in quarters which will double its space. lived in various official houses and never had a home of their own; the The Department will move to 2744 110th Street, Toledo, in the Saxton House was the nearest thing to a home that they knew. building which formerly housed the Point Place Branch. The tele- The mission of the Ubrary was written before it actually became a phone number for Local History will continue to be 419/259-5233. library; it was to be a national archive to commemorate the first ladies Parking for patrons will be free while at the temporary address. Our of the U.S. , as well as other important women, and was to include malling address will still be: Local History & Genealogy, Toledo- both a physical plant and electronic facilities so that people every- Lucas County Public Ubrary, 325 Michigan, Toledo, OH 43624. where could have access. The Department will be closed for two weeks (September 12-26, The idea of such an institution took form in Mary Regula' s mind in 1999) while the collection is moved to Point Place. It will reopen on the 1970s, when she began to cover for her husband, Congressman Monday, Sept. 27. Hours for the Department will be Monday- Ralph Regula, at times when he had to be unexpectedly absent from Thursday, 9:00 AM-9:00 PM; Friday-Saturday, 9:00 AM-5:30 PM; and an event. She became interested in how women played this difficult Sunday, 1:00-5:30 PM during the school year. role in the past; she was particularly interested in the case of Mary During this interim period, some of the special collections will be Todd Uncoln, whom the public believed to be obnoxious, but who had unavailable; however, most of the book collection will be available to a very difficult situation to overcome. In 1991, efforts were made to researchers. Researchers are nevertheless advised to call the Depart- save the Saxton House and to see if the National Park Service were ment before traveling to Toledo to be sure that desired materials are interested in it because of its connection with President McKinley. An available, to check on hours and dates of operation, as well as the agreement was reached between it, the Stark County Foundation, and location of the Department as we get closer to the return move. the Ubrary in 1995 which definitively arranged for saving the house. Mary Regula was appointed as one of the twelve women on its board. The anticipated date for return to the historic building is early In The museum, library and manuscript items were installed In the house, 2001. The Department will close again for the return move. The and in February 1998, Hillary Rodham Clinton opened the website at Toledo-Lucas County Public Ubrary apologizes for any inconve- the White House. Other programs have followed, such as "living nience to ourpatrons. However, this plan of action will make far more history" portrayals of famous women (the first was Eleanor Roosevelt of the collection available during the renovation than any other played by Jean Stapleton) and an awardtowomen outstanding in their possible solution. The Ubrary believes that the end result, when all fields. construction and renovation is completed, will beworththetemporary disruptions of 1999-2000. The slide show not only showed the adaptive reuse of an old building and how planners managed to satisfy modem building code James C. Marshall, manager requirements, but also showed some items from the collections and Local History & Genealogy Department told the story of the house itself. Ms. Adams also described her work Toledo-Lucas County Public Ubrary in taking intellectual control ofthe collections and said thatthe Ubrary 419/259-5233 is taking donations of items which fall under its collections policy.

Saxton House, Canton, Ohio, home of the National First Ladies' Library Ow 11~,i,,,t • Fall 1999 1s ARCHIVES LISTSERV ARCHIVES LISTSERV SUMMARY TO CEASE, BUT DON'T DESPAIR IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN EMAIL ACCOUNT

KaeLI Spiers serves as the Information "ope-linn"), was formed to ensure that all on the "home page" of the Archives & Resource Center Coordinator at Miami- citizens of Ohio have equal access to infor- Archivists listserv. Jacobs College, where she provides Internet mation, regardless of location. You will be presented with a number of Instruction to classes and Individuals on a Due to the efforts of OPUN, all 250 main options, including a descending list of weeks: dally basis. She was also an archivist at public libraries in Ohio, and many branch June 1999, Week 4 Wright State University from 1995 to July, libraries, provide free Internet access to the June 1999, Week 3 1999. She Is happy to answer questions public. So if you don't have access to the June 1999, Week 2 about how to use the Internet effectively Internet at home or work, make your way to June 1999, Week 1 and has created some nifty handouts that your closest public library and find outif it has she can mall out. Reach her by phone or been connected via the OPUN network. If a Click on the most recent week to see the email: 937/461-5174, M-Th, 3:00-8:Q0pm, particular branch has not been tied in, the messages that have been posted to date. or at . staff should be able to send you to the closest Messages are grouped by the subject/topic. public library that is connected. You can also If you see a topic of interest, click on it to see a list of all the individual messages that have or a number of years, this newslet- call the OPUN Help Desk at this toll-free been posted in that discussion. To read the ter has provided a quarterly sum- number to ask about the closest library with contents of a message, click on the title (the · mary of the conversations on the Internet capabilities: 1/888/966-7546. part that is underlined). FArchives & Archivists listserv (a bul- Some libraries require the patron to sign letin board on the Internet). This up for time slots to use the Internet comput- What if you want to see if there have been service has existed for those among our ers. Some have time limits, such as half-hour <;liscussions on a particular topic of interest? readership who did not have email access at sessions, due to demand for limited work It's simple! Go back to the home page and their place of work or at home, such as solo stations. Each library is allowed to make clickon the "Searchthe Archives" option.To practitioners in small historical societies, re- these policies, as needed, to provide fair go back to the home page, click on the text- tirees, or genealogists, many of whom sub- distribution and to accommodate staffing line at the bottom of any page, "Back to the scribe to our newsletter. needs. There should never be a fee, how- LISTSERV home page at LISTSERV. ever, and at least one computer should be MUOHIO.EDU." You can also click on the For those ofus who have taken onthe task left-pointing arrow in the top left-hand cor- of creating the listserv summary, it has been available during open hours. A phone call to your nearby public library might be the most ner of your screen as many times as neces- an extremely time-consuming job: a labor of sary to take you back. love and welcome opportunity to serve our expeditious way to find out all the details. Onthe "Searchthe ARCHIVES archives" profession, to be sure, but a laborious job When you arrive at a public library that page, enter your search term(s) in the box nonetheless. Resources now exist to viewthe has Internet access, do not hesitate to ask for next to "The subject is or contains." If you Archives & Archivists listserv without charge assistance at a reference desk or at a service want to limit the search to a date range, fill in all over Ohio, for anyone who does not have point near the Internet computers. And do the appropriate box(es). Then click ori the an email account. Therefore, we will no not feel as though you are the last person on box labeled, "Start the search!" You will be longer provide the summary in this newslet- earthwho has never used the Internet! There presented with a list of all the conversations ter. For anyone affected by this decision, are many people, of all ages and back- on that topic back to April, 1993. You will here are directions for gaining access to the grounds, who are novices, and librarians see the date of the conversation and how listserv via the Internet, at your local public encounterthem every day. Just tell the librar- many individual messages were exchanged. library. ian that you are a "newbie" and need assis- To see titles for all the messages in a conver- tance with your first Internet session. Of you The Archives & Archivists listserv has a sation, just click on the "Item#." web page on the Internet that anyone can don't receive a cheerful, helpful response, go Anally, once you are comfortable with the look at. We'll talk about that in more detail find someone else.) You'll be amazed at how basics of navigation on this site, you may below. Free access to the Internet is available easy the Internet is to use. Just think, it want to find out all the ins and outs of throughout Ohio, due to a state-supported wouldn't be so popular if it were hard to do! searching. From the "Searchthe ARCHIVES initiative (your tax dollars at work). The Ohio Once connected, you need to go to this archives" page, click on the "Search for" Public Library Information Network, or website address: . garding the recommended syntax for formu- lating your searches. With these simple steps, you can go to NEW URL FOR SOA WEB SITE your library as often as it fits your lifestyle, Please note that the URL for the SOA website hai changed to . The site wfll be updated by the new Public ever, and keep up to date with the inter- lnfonnation Officer, Laurie GemmUI, and her committee members, Judy change shared by archivists in the field. And Walker and Jane WIidermuth. The COnstftutlon wlll be updated to reflect while you 're at it, you can surfthe web for the the change voted by the membership at the Aprll 1999 meeting; Council latest on your hobbies. Enjoy! and members are revisrng Job descriptions for offlcer8 other aupplemen- KaeLl Spiers tary Information as well. Miami-Jacobs College 16 Ow ll~-i4t. • Fall 1999 OPLIN: Ohio Public Library RECYCLE YOUR SPAM The Spam Recycler website lets email users trade in their spam Information Network for a $5 discount at the online store CD Now. As a bonus, the junk AWEALTH OF INFORMATION FOR email is dumped into a database that may help catch fraud artists and help email providers screen out unsolicited pitches. The ARCHIVISTS AND GENEALOGISTS Spam Recycler can't stop junk email, but its creators hope it will In addition to providing free acce s to the Internet at help in turning the tide against deceptive email practices. public librariesthroughoutOhio, OPLIN ha• a wonderfu The site was conceived and underwritten by ChooseYourMail, web tte ch ckful of handy Info atlon for professional a commercial emailer that sends advertisements only to those as well ae personal use. Arranged In directory format, who request them. Says President Ian Oxman, "We don't ask for this siteprovides gateways to other Internet eitea, .some demographic information, we don't sell our lists, and we only specific to Ohio and others that are Just go~ reference send for the amount of time requested by you." In cooperation ources. Crossword puzzle addicts beware-thta alte with the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, can be habtt-formlng! ChooseYourMail hopes to share with the Federal Trade Commis- o to the OPLI web lte: . It has already received more than 300,000 forwarded messages (usually 1000-1500 per day). However, Employment; Consumer & Finance; Current Eve'1ta; "having a prepackaged, presorted selection of fraudulent ads Discover Ohio; Educa ion &rralnlng; Genealogy; Qov- provided to them cuts down on their investigatory overload," ernment& Law; Health & Fitnns; History; Home, o.cten according to Oxman. & Hobblea; L brarlea; OHi Kids; OHt T._chllNFOhlo; Reading & Writing; Reference; Science a Technology; Unless the email is misleading or fraudulent, there's little the Society & Cul re; Sports & l.eiaure; Travel. FTC can do. For the most part, even the most obnoxious junk email is legal. The recycling website is at . Select "Choose a Subtopl~/· You wm another (Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 24, 1999, p.6-C, from wire reports) pu I-down menu with choices all.related 1p*" yow. topic. For example; under the "Genealogy" topic,, thert .,. these Subtop·cs: SOA Listserv user instructions Directories OHIOARV, established through the efforts of Rai Goerler at Ohio thnlc Ge ea ogy State University in the spring of 1994, serves as a means for Ohio Genealogy Gateways information professionals to communicate quickly on matters of Genealogy Ltbtarie importance. Originally set up to facilitate access to the latest news Map on Ohio legislative issues affecting records repositories, it also Mis uan ou G nealogy serves to disseminate news on national records legislation, SOA o i G neat projects, job openings, Ohio archival outreach (Archives Week), Re qrds-G nealogy and many other topics. ocieti s-G n o The address for COMMANDS ONLY is: t mon the categorie o an otate lls . • J c i k on th underlined text to (The command to subscribe is: subscribe ohloaru connected to eb lte. {flrstnamelsurname]. You can put anything on the subject line.) or xample, the"Records-Genealogy"ca egoryco The address for POSTINGS ONLY is: tain the e links· Census Ont n ; D pt. o Veter ns Affairs atle>naJ . Ce t ryA inlstratlon; as er ndex ofAnnyR -rds; When you subscribe, you will also receive an acknowledgment National Archives NARA Archival Information Loe to , and a full list of instructions for using the listserv. Remember to ational Archives o Ca da; Nat onalPersonnelRecords keep instructions for this or other listservs in a place where you Center; Social Security Death Index; U.S.. Bureauofl,.and can always find them if needed! Mgt.; U.S. Cen us Bureau; Vital R cord lnformaUon. Mo of the opic I s Inc Ude categories wit Ohio information. For example. the ..Career & mploymenr Program ideas needed sec Ion ncludea a Subtopic, "Ohio Job Postings." I.In- 0 Chuck Piotrowski, SOA's Program Chair, seeks ideas for future d r "History you can chooae ..Ohio Blcentennlat.*' In conferences and workshops. If you have a suggestion, please "Sports & elsure" you' I find "Ohio Attrac ions.'' contact him at the addresses and telephone numbe·r below: There are so many reasures to min on these rich Chuck Piotrowski ites. Whether you're a parenthelpingkidswith research Assistant Curator of Manuscripts projects,an archlv s whofulfills genealogyrequest on Western Reserve Historical Society a regular bas s, or a prlvat researcher working on your 10825 East Blvd own family history, the OPL N website la one to book- Cleveland, Ohio 44106 mark for frequent v·s1t . 216-721-5722, ext. 245 0~ fl~,u:t • Fall 1999 17 ~eW~NOTES • Three full-time archivists have joined the staff the Pew Charitable Trusts and is located in son using the "Wild West" lineup during the of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center ofthe the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, April 1884-March 1885 year. The Royal American Jewish Archives. InJuly Melinda Washington, DC. Armouries exhibition will travel to the Ten- McMartin (graduate of Kenyon College in nessee State Museum, Nashville; the Gene 1996 and of the University of Albany with an Autry Western Heritage Museum in Los An- The Mahoning Valley Historical Society MLS/MA degree in May, 1999) initiated the geles; and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame is pro~to announce that the Royal Armouries · new position of Archival Resident. In August in Oklahoma City after it closes in Leeds in Museum, Leeds (United Kingdom) will be two project archivists launched a grant project . September, 1999. using the image of an early program from an to further process and prepare for microfilm- original handbill in its collection. The original The Women's Board of Western Reserve ing the 550 linear foot records of the World has an illustration of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Health Care has donated their minute books Jewish Congress. The project archivists are Cody on one side and a "programme" for a dating from 1942-1981 to MVHS. The Kenton G. Jaehnig (graduate of the WSU performance of "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" on Women's Board has continued to serve a archival program in 1996) and Dr. Anna the reverse. W.J. Morgan & Co., Lithogra- vital, though changing, role in the in the Truman (graduate of the WSU archival pro- phers, of Cleveland, produced the picture of management of the Youngstown Hospital gram in 1994 and University of Cincinnati in Cody. The handbill documents the first sea- Association, which has becc,me Western 1998).

The Ohio State University Archives has continued to experience change and growth in Ohio Historical Society news its three archival programs: the history of The Archives/Library Division of the Ohio garding the Electronic Records Commit- OSU, the Glenn Archives, and the Polar Archi- Historical Society recently mounted a ma- tee (ERC) is found on the World Wide Web val Program. The Archives acquired a portable jor research collection on the World Wide at . from the late 18th and early 19th centu- Bentley, a prominent scientist from the Uni- Under development for the past ries, including autograph letters signed by versity of Wisconsin who has been a leading several years, the Online Collection Arthur St. Clair, Duncan McArthur, and figure among scientists who study glacial ice Catalog (OCC) of the Ohio Historical William Henry Harrison. St. Clair's letter, and climate in Antarctica. On October 15 and Society opened to the public on 'March written in 1791 five months before the 16 the Polar Archives will be involved in the 29. Found on the World Wide Web at defeat that bears his name, discusses arm- Byrd Polar Colloquy at OSU, at which presen- , the catalog com- ing and supplying the troops under his tations concerning the history of science and prises some 230,000 entries, including command in preparation for their cam- exploration in polar areas will be featured. The more than 2,500 describing record series paign against the confederated tribes of OSU Archives hired an art restorer to repair held by the State Archives of Ohio. the Ohio country. paintings and sculpture in its building. Finally, The Office of Information Systems Recent accessions of the State Ar- the OSU Archives is working with the OSU Policy and Planning (OPP) of the Ohio chives of Ohio include architectural draw- Honors Center to develop an undergraduate Department of Administrative Services ings (1930-1972) of the Ohio Peniten- component to the archival program. recently issued an information technology tiary, deeds (1926-1935) of the Auditor of policy statement (OPP-030) for the man- State, opinions (ca. 1970-ca. 1994) and agement of electronic records created by labor relation files (ca. 1970-ca. 1994) of The Ohio University Libraries (Alden state government agencies. The policy the Attorney General, death records (1907- Library) is receiving the papers of Alwin statement, which was developed by the 1984) of the Orient Development Center, Nikolais and Murray Louis, major figures in Ohio Electronic Records Committee work- executive correspondence files (1992- modem dance. A two-year grant has also ing under the leadership of the Archives/ 1996) of the Department of Administra- been awarded by the National Initiative to Library Division of the Ohio Historical tive Services, and clemency files (1991- Preserve America's dance (NIPAD) to pro- Society, is available on the World Wide 1993) from the office of Governor George cess the papers, do preservation work, digi- Web at . Additional information re- 1 devoted to the papers. NIPAD is funded by 18 0~ /1~,i,it • Fall 1999 Reserve Health Care, and most recently gural meeting was held in City Council cham- Forum Health. These materials are a com- bers on June 30; a wide variety of people Miami Valley Archives panion to the Western Reserve Care System representing archival institutions, private busi- Roundtable report collection donated in 1996. The minutes ness, city and other government agencies, include, but are not limited to: policy deci- and others were present. Supported by City Lonna McKinley of the U.S. Air Force Mu- sions, made by the Board in regard to man- Council, this was an auspicious beginning for seum is now chairing MVAR, which had a agement of the facilities; statistics; activities an exoanded orooram. meeting on Thursday, May 27 at the Dayton at the School of Nursing; furnishings and Art Institute. After a business meeting, mem- interior decorations; and special programs bers toured the Museum's facilities, guided by for patients and staff. Archivist Kristina Klepacz. As of this writing, the next meeting was scheduled for Thurs- Mary Sykes has donated three photo- day, August 19, at the University of Dayton. graphs associated with Senator Benjamin F. The University Archives has recently moved, Wirt. Twoareoftheparlorof "UncleFrank's" and Archivist Kerrie Moore provided a tour and the third shows B.F. Wirt at his desk, of the new facilities. For information about taken by Blank & Stoller of New York. Many MVAR, please contact Lonna McKinley at of the items visible in the parlor views are 937/255-4644 x734 or email . and these photos help document the histori- cal context of artifacts preserved through the Same name, same game! Wirt Trust. Bookplate The Lake County Historical Society's MVHS has been given a collection of designed by Volunteer of the Year Award recipient, Rich- architectural and mechanical drawings (ca. Cleora Wheeler, ard Hite (no relation to Rich Hite of OHS), 1911-1920) of the Republic Steel general Kappa Kappa was saluted and profiled July 7 in the News- office building located near the Market Street Gamma, Herald. He has volunteered for the past eight Bridg,fjn Youngstowr1i There are also draw- designer and years, organizing, cataloging and preserving ings fot their office in Warren (1980); me- illuminator photographs and manuscripts. chanical drawings for the galvanizing line's COURTESY KAPPA KAPPA flux fr-¢i,..ng qven in the Southern District, GAMMA ARCHIVES Gadsden (1977); a number of requisition books (1965-1975), job order books (1969- 1975), and plat equipment data books for Chuck Piotrowski, Assistant Curator of Manu- CALENDAR their operations. scripts at the Western Reserve Historical 1999 MVHS was given a complete run of the Society, was recently elected to serve a two- publication The Star Bulletin by Robert year term on the Council of the Society of OCT. 14-16: MAC/Society of Rocky Baldwin Weyer, who with a friend, John W. Ohio Archivists. He has assumed the role of Mountain Archivists fall meeting, Meeds, Jr., pro,d~ed the weekly newspaper Program Chair. He also had a review pub- Lincoln, Nebraska. Contact Andrea while attending Poland Seminary High School lished in a recent issue of Dlscoverlng Faling, 402/471-4785 (or Deb in t939. The newspaper lasted through five Archaeology. Lyon, 402/472-2531). issues, carried local news items, and was OCT. 16: SOA Workshop on financed through advertisements by local The papers of the late Jewel S. Lafontant- Copyright (in lieu of fall mtg.), businessmen. A gift of negatives from James MANkarious (Oberlin '43), amounting to University of Dayton. Call Kerrie A. Smith was also received, documenting the Moore, 937/229-4267, email st th 50 linear feet and dating from the 1940s to 1 Battalion, 135 Reid Artillery of the Ohio the 1990s, have been acquired by the Ober- National Guard (ca. 1938) and the Mahoning lin College Archives. Frequently referred OCT. 17-23: Archives Week in Rifle Qub's.rifle range (ca. 1932). A visual to as the "Jewel" of Chicago, Lafontant- catalog of the·negatives is available. Ohio--"Celebrating Education in MANkarious (1922-1997) was an acclaimed Ohio." Contact George Bain, 7 40/ civil rights leader, lawyer, and high-ranking 593-2713; email Council Archives has been working on the can woman to graduate from the University massive collection of architectural drawings of Chicago Law School (1946). She was a 2000 discovered in the Warrensville Workhouse founding member of CORE (the Congress of just as it was being demolished. A temporary Racial Equality), an officer of the Chicago MAY 4-6: MAC spring meeting, home for the records (which also include chapler of the NAACP (National Association Chicago, Ill. photographs) has been arranged on W. 80th for the Advancement of Colored People), APRIL 8-9: Ohio Genealogical Soci- St. (see article in OA, Fall 1998), where and a board member of the American Civil ety annual meeting, Radisson Hotel, Martin and Mike Shannon have worked with Liberties Union. She held high appointments Sharonville (Cincinnati). Contact a group of volunteers on finding out what is in the Nixon and Bush administrations. She OGS at 419/756-7294. in all those boxes. The architectural drawings was the first African-American to hold a . project has prompted so much interest in the position at the level of Deputy Solicitor Gen- OCT. 8-14: Archives Week (theme: city government that the present archives eral (1973-75). She served under George museums) may soon officially be the Cleveland City Bush in the State Department from 1989 to OCT. 19-21: Joint MAC/MARAC Archives. A City Archives Advisory Commit- 1993 as Ambassador at Large and Coordi- meeting, Cleveland/SOA activities tee has been set up and includes thrle work natoJ. of Refugee Affairs, concurrently. She to be announced. Contact John groups (Planning, Blueprint Project, and served on many corporate boards and was a Grabowski, 216/721-5722. Additional Resources Work Groups) to help· trustee of Oberlin College, Howard Univer- support all phases of the archives. The inau- sity, and the Tuskegee Institute. 0~ fl~U • Fall 1999 19 The Society of Ohio Archivists was founded in 1968 to promote on a statewide basis the exchange of information, improvement of OFFICERS AND COUNCIL professional competence, and coordination of activities of archives and manuscript repositories. Membership is open to all interested persons, particularly archivists, manuscript curators, librarians, Kenneth G,ossi ...... President records managers, and historians. The Society holds meetings and Oberlin College workshops, and publishes the Ohio Archivist biannually. Dawne Dewey ...... Vice President Individual memberships are $15.00 per year; $30.00 patron; Wright State University $5.00 student. Institutional memberships are $25.00 regular; $50.00 sustaining; $100. 00 corporate. Persons interested in joining the SOA should mail a checkormoneyordermade payable to the Society of Ohio Julie McMaster ...... Secretary Archivists to Kerrie Moore, SOA Treasurer, University of Dayton Toledo Museum of Art Archives, 300 College Park Dr., Dayton, OH 45469-1360. Kerrie Moore ...... Treasurer University of Dayton

OHIO ARCHIVIST is a semi-annual publication of the Society of Ohio Charles Arp ...... Council Archivists. The editors encourage the submission of articles relating to all aspects of the archival profession as well as information concerning Ohio Historical Society archival activities in the state of Ohio. Submission deadlines are February 1 for the Spring number and July 1 for the Autumn number. All materials John Brannick ...... Council should be directed to: Archives Consultant Frederick Lautzenheiser Editor, Ohio Archivist Cleveland Clinic Foundation Archives, P-22 Martin Hauserman .. : ...... Cquncil 9500 Euclid Avenue Cleveland City Council Cleveland, Ohio 44195 • ; '- / Tel: 216/444-2929 • Fax: 216/445-6868 Virginia Weygandt ...... :.... ): ... <\>uncil Internet: lautzef@ccf .org ' ,l.....l.. Clark County Historical Society r.--u ., ' ISSN 1047-5400 -;..... 1.(

CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Please be sure to notify the treasurer (see I address above). Material may be copied from this issue for noncommercial use, provided that proper credit is gf n.

Cleveland Oinic Foundation Archives, P-22 9500 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44195

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