The Ethical Archivist

Hello Friends!

It is getting down to the last days of the semester here- and not just the semester but also my days in South Dakota. But, do not fret, I will probably (mostly likely) be back in Vermillion for one reason or another.

Today's entry is talking about what it means to be an ethical archivist. According to the Code of Ethics for Archivists on the SAA website:

Archives are created by a wide array of groups and provide evidence of the full range of human experience. Archivists endeavor to ensure that those materials entrusted to their care will be accessible over time as evidence of human activity and social organization. Archivists embrace principles that foster the transparency of their actions and that inspire confidence in the profession. A distinct body of ethical norms helps archivists navigate the complex situations and issues that can arise in the course of their work. 

http://www2.archivists.org/statements/saa-core-values-statement-and-code-of-ethics#code_of_ethics

What happens though when your collection contains information that contains explicit information about a murder or the collection was not obtained in a transparent matter? The best practices in ethics have slightly changed over the years- so sometimes it is not any one's particular fault, but it still means that the current archivist must make some serious decisions.

One of the first things that archivists do when they have obtained a collection is processing the documents- this typically makes sure that serious, personal or compromising information can be restricted or removed. Many times collections have a restriction placed on them by the donor- cannot be opened for X amount of years/or until after my death, sort of thing.

I had to read a really interesting article which discussed the slippery slope of a collection that was created and collected at Boston College containing interviews of former IRA members- in 1998 some of the protocols that oral history centers have created to protect interviewers from potentially implicating themselves or others in a prosecutable crime.

As a historian, I understand why these men did what they did in terms of keeping their project secret. The history of the violence in Ireland is decades long and still not fully healed. The intent- according to the historian in the group was to collect a cutting edge history for scholars in the future to go through. It was never intended to be used in the present, when so many former and active members of the IRA are still alive. 

I do not know what I would do in the situation at Boston College or the other Case studies given on the SAA website regarding the question of access and ethics in archive collections. I can only hope that I would be able to find a path that allowed for the integrity and protection of the collection to be secure enough that allowed for patrons to look at the voices of the past and present in a respectful manner. 

The article can be found here: http://www.chronicle.com/interactives/belfast if you are interested in reading it.

As always Peace,

-Kylie    

Exhibitions, Outreach, and Instruction!

Hello friends!

So, two posts in a week! The end of the semester is fast approaching and that means that I only have 2 more posts after this one! I have been having such a great time here in the archive and I have recently had the pleasure of participating in a library wide project involving high school students and creating a small exhibit inside the University Library using archival material.

The exhibit I created was to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mt. Rushmore. Most of you that read this humble blog know that I am not a native of South Dakota and a brief confession, I have yet to travel across this state to go see this monument in person. I relied heavily on the Mount Rushmore National Park website for information as well as some fun details from my friend and fellow student worker archivist Shelby who is from the Rapid City area. As far as I can tell people have found it interesting and informative so, it is a small success to say the least.


On November 9th the Yankton High School AP US History class came to the University Library to learn about how archives are valuable for primary document searches and best practices in using a library to do extensive research. A team of librarians, archivists, and historians stationed themselves on the second and third floor of the library to help out these young historians on their quest to complete the initial research that was required of them that day.

Their day began with a rotation between rooms which held presentations about the kind of information the students could access here at the USD library. They rotated through Oral History, Government Documents, a crash course in database searching, and fly by on how to use and search through archives. My involvement was to create a more narrow view of the normally broad lesson that Lisa teaches to university students at the request of professors like Dr. Rozum. I just used the topic theme the students last year had and framed my hypothetical project around a fairly easy subject- Mount Rushmore!

That is right, I used my research for my exhibit as an example for my part of the presentation. Thank goodness (kind of, sort of) that the archive has over 150 boxes from Peter Norbeck, one of the key individuals that made Mount Rushmore possible. As a former Governor and Senator of South Dakota, Norbeck has so much in his collection. I have to be a little grateful in that the majority of his documents are typed which makes using his documents for display and examples easier.

I really enjoyed being able to give the small presentation about historical method and research- because many of the topics that the students had chosen were not South Dakota related I was able to provide some tips regarding how to reach out the archivists out of state and- in my case- out of the United States.

In the afternoon I spent my time answering a lot of good questions and answering not so good questions (specifically- How do you get to J-Store again?) But I realized that even despite having to answer redundant questions the questions of substance were good, even excellent questions. It is moments such as those that remind me why I love working with students and being in the education field.

I have to do a brief shout out the library staff and USD faculty that were involved because it was a team effort that ended in a very successful manner. The students- even if they were bored by 2:00 in the afternoon. (I would have checked out by then as well- I love history and research, but a full day of it makes even me tired of looking at pages and pages of documents and J-Store)

All in all, I think that the hands on interaction with students and patrons has been my favorite part of interning with the USD University Archives and Special Collections.

Peace,

Kylie       

When a picture is worth, well you know. . .

Hello Friends!

I am finally get caught up in terms of work and I figured it was no time like the present to write up my blog about the science and art of Photograph archives.

Did you know that there is a book that is filled with all of the ways that photographs have been processed over the years? It is a solid four inches thick and is all description- no pictures or other fluff which is really awesome and pretty intimidating.

As I have been working here in the archives one of the most amazing things I have gotten to do is learn more about photo processing and conservation.

I am going to use this as a little PSA to all of you, since I know that you and your families have photo sitting in boxes, albums and frames throughout your homes.

Early photography from the late 1800s into the mid 1900s (into the 1970's ish)  was super complicated and took a ridiculously long time, but in terms of longevity they last a long time as long as they were taken care of. I use this broad period because even into the 1980s and 1990s before digital photography was a process- manual photo processing done well (which it often was not) took a long time to do.

Photographs can be damaged by a lot of things:

• Chemicals that were not washed away during processing
• Long exposure to light
• Off-gassing objects stored near photographs
• Acidic paper or plastic (often used in photo albums)
• Keeping different types of photographs (specifically b/w photos and color photos) together
• SO MANY OTHER THINGS

I like photographs because I think no matter the quality of the photo it gives a glimpse into the lives of a group of people. If has historical context- like a family watching to moon landing or President Obama's first swearing in ceremony- multiple perspectives gives an event more dimension. It's one thing to see a glossy professional photo of a historical event- it's another to find one in a family photo album. I think it makes it more exciting. 

But there are two things my friends that I want to be more specific on which I had found important and could potentially help you one day too.

1) Everybody has a family photo collection. Thrown into boxes or albums these family treasures sit and off-gas on to each other so that many of those photo will never see fifty years. I don't know about you, but I want to keep some of those photo around to show my grandchildren. But not all is lost! There are ways to help stop the degradation of your photos!

Invest in your pictures- I know that not everyone may be able to afford a fancy system that keeps pictures in a pristine environment but there are cost effective ways to store your pictures.

If you are an album person- go through your photo albums and determine if your photo album is acid free- It will be pretty obvious- anything before the 1980s is most likely not acid free and those pictures need attending to first. Finding acid free albums should not be too difficult- have a friend/child/grandchild help you move the pictures. It could be a great family exercise as you tell them about the people/places in the photographs.

If your pictures are in boxes- in my case, often just thrown into a large cardboard box. Take some time to assess those pictures and get a non-acidic box and some non-acidic paper/folders. The separation of those photos and storage in a safe place will help make those photos last much longer.

It is important that Black and White photos are kept separate. Due to some chemistry stuff B&W and color photos do not like each other and should be kept far apart.

There is an excellent book called A Guide to the Preventive Conservation of Photograph Collections by Bertrand Lavedrine. There is some specifics regarding collection care, but if you are interested, it is very readable and provided me- a non-photography person- quite a lot of excellent information in how to better take care of my own photos.

2) The second thing I learned was about the laws regarding photography. FERPA and copyright laws are complicated but both are really important to know.

FERPA is best known to college students as that thing that prevents their parents from snooping on their grades without them knowing. FERPA also is involved deeply in the use and display of university photography. If you are on campus in a building and a university photographer takes your picture- they cannot use it unless they have obtained direct consent from the student/faculty/ect in the picture. That means that after the magic date of the 1960s unless a photograph has a permission from that student for each picture- the pictures cannot be used in any circumstance.
    Here at the University Archive there are hundreds of photos without permission slips that cannot be used due to FERPA. The exception to this is student athletes and organizations (such as the Greek Orgs and Marching Band) that have compulsory permission slips attached to their groups. It's too bad that so many photos do not have permission slips- because even the archivist cannot ethically look through those photos. What history is being lost because somebody was too lazy/was not informed of the laws regarding photograph permission slips? Boxes and boxes (hundreds of pictures) here at USD and I could guess the same is similar to other university archives too.


Photographs are amazing pieces of history and I know that I have been neglectful in taking care of my own photographs. I hope that you learned a little here and if you have questions I would be happy to answer them the best I can!

Peace

-Kylie