Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to all.

Novel Cleaning for Architectural Plans

           The first thing you notice when you open a canister of architectural drawings that have been closed for 50 years is the smell.  Best I can describe it is that it is a little like strong candle wax.  This smell is from the resin that coats much of the material in the Castle Drawing Collection, which dates from 1914 to the 1950s.  The resin is embedded in the linen sheets of many of the sets of plans and also on the waxy tracing paper called vellum by architects.  The resin attracts dirt and in the case of the vellum has caused deterioration and brittleness not only in the impregnated papers but in anything around it.  All challenging to say the least. 

            Most of the sets are bound together by clips.  You know the kind.  Punch them through a hole and then open the two wings to hold the material together.  They look like brass, but I don't know what metal they actually are.  At any rate when they oxidize they create a blue crust on the clip.  This crust flakes off and embeds in the linen or vellum staining it a blue-green color.  Pretty color, but not so great for the linen and tracing paper. What to do to keep the crusty bits from scattering everywhere, which is what happens no matter how careful you are.  At first I used a very, very soft brush. It worked but I had to do everything twice. Then I went back to my days in the museum.  The way to clean linen is to lightly vacuum them through a screen using an up and down motion. (I talked about this several blogs ago.) You have to use a vacuum with a hepa filter of course and one that has variable suction speeds. (See blog on vacuums I have loved) These are costly, but the only way to go. First I vacuum the front and back of the clip to remove as much of the crust as possible before touching them. Then with gloves on I carefully removed the clips and vacuum the holes again. I’m sure a conservator would be horrified, but it worked. Never use a push and pull method vacuuming you can smudge the ink, which is embedded in the coating.  That’s only for the linen material.  For the vellum and tracing paper you have to use the brush method.  What  Waverly Lowe and Tawny Ryan Nelb recommend in their book Architectural Records is grating an eraser (buy at Gaylords or Hollinger) and brushing the bits lightly over the surface.  It does work well - tedious of course.  It’s impossible to get all of the blue stain off of any of the material, but once you remove the clips it won’t get worse.  If anyone has other ideas about how to deal with this problem I am all ears or eyes.

Architectural Drawings - The David S.Castle Collection

           Been busy for the past month.  Started a new project - interesting, but demanding.  The project is the processing of a collection of architectural plans designed by one of the most important early architects in the West Texas region.  His name is David S. Castle and he opened his architectural office in Abilene, Texas in 1915.  During his long career he designed many of the municipal buildings, courthouses, commercial buildings, churches, and residences throughout the West Texas region.  When he died his son, also an architect, closed the family business and moved elsewhere.  Before he left town he gave the plans from the Abilene office to the Tittle Luther Architectural firm.  They have preserved these important papers since the 1950s. 

            Our goal is to organize, inventory, and clean these papers so they can be digitized.  They have been housed in an unheated storage shed in either metal or cardboard canisters.  The plans are drawn on a variety of material - linen, tracing paper, vellum (waxy feeling coated paper, not calfskin).  The collection is large ( over 700 separate sets of plans) and has been touched only briefly during the 50 years the material has been in storage.  (The earliest set of plans so far dates to 1916- thirty years after Abilene was founded)  Processing the collection is a challenge because of the size of the individual pieces and their condition.  Dealing with material that is as large as 38” by 42” and is coated with resin is a little like wrestling slippery fish.  Learning the best method for handling, cleaning, and flattening the material safely and organizing it following the original order has been interesting and I will use other blogs to describe what we have learned as we learn it.  We only have one more week of work so I’m taking a brief break from this blog for the holidays. More in 2015 on archives, preservation, and architectural drawings and maybe fish. 

Conducting an Oral History Interview

            Last post I talked briefly about the technological changes in the recording oral history interviews.  As I mentioned this was a part of a program on oral histories sponsored by the Society of American Archivists and held at the University of Texas at Dallas.  The remainder of the program dealt with suggestions for conducting a good interview.  First and most important is articulation of a clear goal or purpose for the interview.  What do you want to learn and record from the individual you will be interviewing?  It could be learning about their family history, their experiences say in World War II, their experiences within a specific organization, whatever.  Once you’ve determined a goal for the interview then it’s time to do some homework.  Read about the topic.   What is the early history of an area, what are stories from a war or of a company? Homework is important.

            After you have some idea of what you want to know about and have done your homework about the subject then it’s time to list some questions related to the topic.  This will facilitate the interview and help you to clarify your own thinking.  Find out about the person you are interviewing and try to establish some rapport when you set up for the interview.  Sometimes people are nervous in front of a microphone so a comfortable relationship between the interviewer and interviewee is important.  Be sure you are familiar with your recording equipment and that it is working properly (take backups of memory cards and connections). Begin with an introduction including who will be interviewed and by whom, when, where.  The presenter also always asks for the interviewee’s birth date and includes that in the introduction.  He says he records this introductory information even before he gets to the interview. 

            Remember you are there to facilitate the interview not to dominate it. Don’t interrupt the interviewee.  Do ask open-ended questions. Do steer the conversation back if the interviewee wanders away from the topic. 

            Get a signed release form that includes digitization.  Be prepared.  Watch the “ums” and “ahs” or other annoying speech habits you may have.  They are most irritating for the listener, particularly a transcriber like me.

Have fun and learn lots.

Oral Histories and Technology

            Two weeks I went to a one-day training course dealing with oral history sponsored by the Society of American Archivists and held in the library of the University of Texas at Dallas.  The speaker, Fred Calabretta, is the curator and oral historian from the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut.  In his presentation he divided the topic of oral histories into two overarching areas: 1) conducting a good interview and (2) changes in technology for recording the interview.  (Unfortunately there are no real changes to the technology for transcription. I asked. Sigh!  Voice recognition software is simply not sophisticated enough yet.)

            I was most interested in the changes to technology.  As you know if you have read my previous blog thoughts that I have been working mostly with audiocassette tapes, which can have some real issues.  Now, of course, we have advanced to memory cards providing at least 630 megabytes per hour of recording. You can even record interviews on your smart phone although the quality is not quite there yet.  If you decide to go that route, make sure you have output and mike input capability.  The built in mike on smart phones isn’t good enough according to the presenter.  Also make sure you have an app on your phone to control the recording.  Check out Rode Rec for that. With apps you can, of course, record directly to your computer although external noise from the computer may cause a problem.

 Instead of IOS devices the presenter recommended a memory card recorder with external microphones - an XLR connection for the mike is best.  The recorder he mentioned specifically was a Marantz, which costs between $400-700.  Good external microphones are essential - generally the more expensive the better.  Bose, Sony and others make quality products.  There are several types - unidirectional (Cardioid), omni-directional, Lavaliere (clip-ons), and wireless.  Unidirectional will limit extraneous noise, but everyone must stay in one place. Omni-directional may be the most versatile as far as settings are concerned unless there is a lot of extraneous outside noise.  You decide.

            The most important thing to remember with digital recordings is that they are not permanent.  You MUST MAKE BACK UPS sooner rather than later.  He recommends gold CDs and external hard drives.  Audio files should be preserved in non-compresson WAV format. Be prepared to update the files whenever the preservation technology changes.  Remember those floppy disks? No, well that’s why you need to update.

Next time - preparing for oral histories

Vacuuming the Archive

 Vacuums I have loved

            Welcome to the world of archival and museum quality vacuums.  Isn’t that just what you wanted to talk about today? Anyway I am in love with this vacuum and I wanted to share.  This is the Nilfisk vacuum made in Denmark - or at least that’s where corporate headquarters are.  This vacuum was made especially for museums. Pricey, but well worth the money.  It is a hepa filtered vacuum with variable speeds so that you can adjust the suction.  That’s important if you are cleaning delicate items like textiles or in my case vellum architectural drawings. (architectural vellum, which is paper coated in a resin, as opposed to calfskin vellum).

            Anyway back to the vacuum.  All sorts of fun attachments come with the vacuum.  These are some of the small ones, which can be used for tiny crevices or for further decreasing the amount of suction.  What more could you ask for? It almost makes vacuuming fun and the super heavy filtering system makes it much safer for those of us with allergies than regular hepa vacs.

            The way you vacuum delicate material in a museum or archive setting is through a screen placed over the material and then using a up and down motion you work your way across the material.  Never push or pull like you would if you were vacuuming floors.  That would weaken threads.  It is tedious, but it does work.

Reference, Public Programming and the Archivist

        The last two important duties that I and others have listed as archivist's tasls are answering reference questions and developing educational programming about the archive and its collections.  These are the same duties undertaken by a librarian and by museum curators for much the same reasons.  Since archivists are the people most familiar with the collections, they logically are the ones to direct a researcher in search of primary documentation.  They are also the ones to undertake the research necessary to write a finding aid. Other research is directed to answering questions either submitted on line or by visitors to the archive.  That’s a brief introduction to the reference duty, my favorite task by the way.  I enjoy research.

            Public programming relies on research to be effective.  Programming can take many different paths.  Certainly exhibits are one avenue.  Classes in the use of primary documentation for research is another type of program offered by an archive.  Tours of the facility and introduction to the steps needed to access archival material are other types of outreach.  Some archivists give lectures or write press releases.  With the advent of the internet whole other ways of communication to the public have opened.  Most archives today maintain a website, a twitter account, are on facebook, and maintain a blog.  The archival world is really changing.  What once had been a haven for only university researchers is now open to the world through the web.  It’s great. 

Archival Duties - Preservation and Migration

            Preservation - taking care of the objects or items in the collection to deter their deterioration.  Migration - keeping online collections updated so they can continue to be accessed even as the technology changes.  Those are two essential tasks in the care of collections. 

            To preserve a collection you must manage the environmental factors that cause deterioration.  The first requirement is a stable humidity and temperature.  Dust and pollutants must be controlled and practices must deter mechanical damage from handling.  Often preservation requires re-housing in archival materials.  Sometimes depending on the composition of the object, it requires migration to a different medium because the original item is too unstable.  Putting newspapers on microfilm is a prime example.  Microfilm will last years longer than newsprint.  We’ve talked about most of this before.  When caring for objects the archivist makes the decision whether the object can or should be preserved or whether the information is what is important.  If it is the thing itself, re-house and store meeting the environmental controls needed for preservation.  If it is the information than find an alternative material.  Microfilm over newsprint.  CDs over videocassettes.  Digitization over audiotapes.

            If digitization is the choice or if the collection was born digital than the task of migration becomes paramount.  For documents the standard is to save the file as a pdf.  For a photograph, save as a TIFF.  Metadata, that is information about the digitized object are most important.  Metadata provide the information necessary for migration to occur when the technology changes.  Don’t count on anything lasting more than five years in its current digital state. Some upgrades are required even more often.  Archivists are still grappling with the preservation of digital material.  It will be an ongoing battle with I fear loss of an enormous amount of information.  I wonder how many of our favorite photographs saved digitally will actually be accessible in 50 years.  Not just archivists should be aware of this issue and work to keep their files updated.

Archival core duties - Arrangement and description

            Arrangement and description of collections are primary tasks for archivists.  Now we’ve talked about them before I know, but it can’t hurt to repeat.  As I’ve said before two of the goals that the archivist has in dealing with a collection are: to gain intellectual control (i.e. process the collection so you know what you have.) and to make that information accessible to the public.  To do that you look for any organizing principles that the creator of the collection might have had or if there are none determine what groupings you can impose on the collection.  These groupings are called series and can be things like correspondence; writings; photographs; and so forth.  Series can be further divided if necessary into subseries like (1) sent correspondence and (2) received correspondence.  The next level is that of the folder.  A folder level for correspondence could be a date (either month day or year), or a frequent individual correspondent. Most archives no longer inventory to the item level except perhaps photographs.  Briefly that’s arrangement.  Figure out an organizational scheme that exists or you impose one and organize the papers to follow that scheme.  Voilá arrangement.

            Description is quite simply describing the collection to your public.  Who created it, dates it covers, geographical area if appropriate, inventory and description of contents including an explanation of the series and subseries divisions.  This is called a finding aid and historically was what visitors to an archive would reference to determine which box of papers they needed. Today finding aids, at least the ones I wrote, are also on line as are the ones at other institutions like the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech and the archives at the University of Texas in Austin.  At one point on the wtda.org website for some collections you could click on a section of the finding aid and the link would take you to the records you wanted.  That feature will not continue when all of the images transfer to the Portal to Texas History.  The Portal does not use finding aids.  On that website metadata provide the search terms to gain access to the collection.  Finding aids will continue to be available on the wtda.org website, but a researcher will have to know to look for them - not everybody does- and the links to collections will be gone. (Most already are.)  I hope that the description part of an archivist’s job does not get too muddled with the age of digitization.  Metadata are all well and good for searching, but you simply cannot replace the summary information in a finding aid. Hope they don’t go the way of the dodo bird.  They provide valuable data about a collection and can provide enormous help for various types of researchers.  Hooray for finding aids.  Enough of my soapbox for today.

Archivist Duties - Appraisal and Acquisition

I just looked back over my blogs for the past year and a half and it seems I have neglected to talk about the actual activities that are part of an archivists duties.  There are four core jobs - appraisal and acquisition; arrangement and description; preservation and migration; reference and public programming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivist ).  These duties are also articulated in the Academy of Certified Archivists website (www.certifiedarchivists.org/) and provide the basis for testing to obtain certification. To simplify those duties even further, an archivist’s job is to take care of collections and make the information in them available to the public.   Today I’ll briefly explain appraisal and acquisition and I’ll talk about the others in subsequent blogs.

We’ve actually talked about appraisal before.  Appraisal should be the first assessment of the collection.  Initially the goal of appraisal is to determine the collection’s appropriateness for a particular archive and its condition. Does it fulfill the archive’s mission statement and collection policies?  Are there adequate facilities and resources to care for the collection? Will the donor sign a deed of gift relinquishing ownership to the archive? What will be necessary to make this collection accessible for use?  Does it have sufficient research value to preserve? Once the archive decides that the collection is appropriate for their institution then they move to acquire the papers.  One hopes that the acquisition is accompanied by some monetary donation to help pay for the processing of the papers.  For most archives funding is essential if they are going to be able to process and preserve the collection. 

That is the ideal. - appraisal first and acquisition second. Unfortunately most of the time a collection has not been appraised when it is given and accepted by the archive.  In fact in many archives collections are simply stored sometimes for many years with little or no accompanying information. Sometimes you don’t even know who gave the collection to the archives.  There are no deeds of gift, no permissions for release of information, nada.

A Deed of Gift is essential for the acquisition process.  The Deed of Gift protects the institution if the donor or their heirs want to remove the papers. I can’t tell you how many times that has happened to museums where I have worked.  The Deed of Gift helps avoid an expensive court case and the potential loss of an important collection. The Deed of Gift provides an opportunity for the donor to specify limitations on access as Lady Byrd Johnson did with Lyndon Johnson’s papers.  They could not be released until after her death.  Some material may be of a very personal nature and the donor may not wish that released during their lifetime.  Restrictions as long as they are reasonable are certainly acceptable.  The Deed of Gift should also allow for the publication and use of the material.   The Deed of Gift does not replace copyright protections.  A researcher wishing to publish copyrighted material is responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions.  That means that the archives must also have permission for the use of copyrighted material, especially in the age of digitization.

Often the acquisition process is accompanied by a monetary appraisal.  Professionals who are unaffiliated with the university or the donor are hired and paid for by the donor to conduct the appraisal.  The IRS requires an appraisal requesting income tax credit for all gifts valued at over $5000.   A monetary appraisal is also helpful to the institution for insurance purposes.

That’s a quick summary of initial appraisal and acquisition.  At least it gives you some idea of what those duties involve.  If the acquisition occurred before the appraisal then the archivist reviews the collection and determines what steps are necessary to either preserve, process, or dispose of the material.  Remember not everything should be kept.

Sample of a Deed of Gift

DEED OF GIFT

(Institution)

I (we) _____________________________________________________________

Of (address) _________________________________________________________________

Am (are) the owner (s) of the property described as follows:

I (we) desire to transfer said property as a gift to the (Repository or institution name)

I (we) do hereby irrevocably assign, transfer, and give all of my (our) copyright rights and right, title, and 

interest in and to the above described property to  (Institution or repository name)

Should I not agree to transfer and assign all copyrights I do give permission to the (repository name) to use

 reproductions for their catalogs, publications and other fair use purposes.

Are materials confidential and/or use restricted in any way? ______Yes ______No

If yes, please describe the nature of confidentiality and the length of restriction.  We cannot accept materials 

that need to be permanently restricted from access by readers.

I agree that this material may be made available for research according to the established procedures of the 

archives and including the Worldwide Web, subject only to restrictions otherwise listed.

Date:_________________________                                     Signed:___________________________________

                                                                                                                                               Donor

The (Archives name) hereby gratefully accepts this gift in accordance with the conditions specified above

Date:_______________________                                         Signed:____________________

                                                                                                         Title__________________________

* Adapted from Lowell, Waverly and Tawny Ryan Nelb. Architectural Records. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2006, p 86. 

Bookcases

                        This week I did an appraisal on a collection that had been donated to a small town public library.  Just as a reminder an archival appraisal refers to conducting a survey or overview of the collection determining the extent and makeup of the collection and its condition.  From that review you develop a processing plan.

                        The first thing I noticed was the shelving used for the storage of the material. Wood, of course.  Plywood actually, some unfinished.  The collection consists of books, photographs, scrapbooks and letters, none of which should be next to wood because it contains acid, which will damage the material.  Since throwing out one’s attractive wooden bookcases is not an option what can one do to retard acid migration and potential damage to your books and papers?  The Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/preservation/about/faqs/books.html#wooden) recommends lining the shelves with polyester or polypropylene film (used to be called Mylar)  This material is available from all of the archival supply houses.  It is inert and will serve to block the damage the wood can cause when it is direct contact with paper or other material.  Polyester and polypropylene comes in thicknesses from 2mil to 5mil.  It stands to reason that the thicker the film, the more protection.  I recommend at least 3mil or higher depending on your budget.  The thicker the material the more is the expense.  The 5mil material is also quite stiff perhaps more than you might like. I'm partial to middles.   Of course another plus for polypropylene or polyester is that they are a clear plastic so either are unobtrusive.  The film, as it is called, also comes in various dimensions or can be bought in a long roll so that it can easily be cut to the right size. 

                        So if you have valuable books or papers stored on wooden shelves you might want to consider inserting a barrier between your valuables and the wood.  It will promote longevity and deter the damage caused by acid migration.  Best of both worlds - pretty shelving for display with protection from the acid in the wood.

Oral Histories Continued

          Still catching up on oral histories.  (It takes a long time to transcribe even a 30 minute tape.)  Anyway I had two more thoughts as I was finishing a project for one of the institutions where I consult.  As I mentioned I do a verbatim transcription of the oral histories, but I’m not perfect by any means.  I do go over the tape at least three times before I declare it complete and then make a hard copy, which I edit.  It’s funny how your eye can see what it thinks should be on the page rather than what is actually there.  Because of that tendency I’d recommend all transcriptions be edited by a second person before they are available to the public.  To properly edit, the second person must review the transcript while listening to the tape so that they don’t correct what is the speech pattern of the speakers by making grammatical corrections.

The second thought - One of the things that one should do after a transcription has been completed for an oral history is to provide an abstract.  This is simply a summation of the topics covered in the recording and should include any information known about the participants.  The summation should include a listing of subjects including individuals mentioned on the tape.  The reason for this, at least in my case, is to make it easier to later add the metadata. The catalogers have told me this is incredibly helpful and saves them a great deal of time having to listen to the tapes or even to read the transcripts.

Thoughts on Oral Histories

            Part of my job over the last six years has been to transcribe audiotapes from oral history projects at each of the institutions where I am a consultant.  I’ve blogged about this before, but recently as I have been finishing a project for one of the institutions I was reminded of some considerations I haven’t yet mentioned.  As I noted before I do verbatim transcriptions, which can be tedious, but are worth the effort.  That does require that the tape be of at least decent quality.  Unfortunately not all tapes are salvageable.  We have access to a machine that can be tuned to reduce background noise and enhance the voice recordings, but it’s not a miracle worker.  Sometimes you have to admit defeat.  Now I know there are companies that can take damaged recordings and salvage them, but some recordings are just not worth the cost.  It’s hard to admit defeat, but I have three that I just can’t transcribe.  What I will do is recommend that the institution keep the tapes in case there is a way to enhance them later.  Of course, the best way to increase the longevity of tapes is to store them vertically in a cool (about 68 degrees F, but not below 40 degrees), dry place in an acid free box.  The following pdf has good suggestions for care.   http://www.iowaconserveandpreserve.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/AudioTipSheet.pdf 

Digitization of your special tapes is a good idea.  I have had the impossible to transcribe tapes burned to a CD so at least there is a copy should the original audiotape completely crater. 

                Another issue if you are considering digitization is to make sure that you have signed permissions from the participants since making a tape public can potentially cause legal problems.  Keeping the recording so that it is available only within the institution is one solution that some institutions have tried.  Some choose to make it public and take their chances with a possible lawsuit. The potential issues are copyright and privacy.  If you have any doubt consult a lawyer.

Disaster Planning

         Abilene flooded this week.  Abilene always floods even if there is only a little rain.  You think they would have planned the drainage better, but since it seldom rains, the attitude throughout West Texas seems to be “why bother”.  So far none of the archives have flooded to my knowledge, but that doesn’t mean some of them can’t.

        The first thing to consider in disaster planning is to determine the type of disasters that could potentially occur in your region and rank them according to likelihood of happening.  For instance, tornadoes are fairly common here as are severe storms causing flooding or hail damage.  On the other hand earthquakes are not so likely and we never have a tsunami.  Once you have prioritized possible dangers, next you need to do a site assessment. This step applies to an institution preparing for emergencies and also to a person considering potential home emergencies.  For example, my cousin has gotten pretty good at loading her belongings so she can evacuate quickly in the face of fire.  She’s had to do that all too frequently.  Once you have objectively assessed your site then it’s time to correct any problems that you might have found, such as, providing adequate locks to protect from theft, appropriate fire extinguishers.  (In some cases, a fire suppression capability may be better than a sprinkler system.)  

           An emergency call list should be available for every staff member and you should have one next to your phone at home or on your smart phone.  For an institution the list should specify who gets notified first if something untoward happens.  Of course the library directors or their assistants are at the top of the list, but sometimes the institution chooses the employee who lives the closest to be the first to be called.  It goes without saying that an emergency list includes police, fire, and maintenance. Did I leave anyone out? Once you have devised a plan for each potential type of disaster then you need to practice and to train your personnel for each emergency.  In some instances you need to act immediately to ameliorate the damage.  For example, being prepared for floods would include having arrangements with local businesses to provide freeze drying of materials.  Freeze drying deters the growth of mold and protects the material until you can begin the process of drying it.  Having a list of potential conservators available is another good idea.  For libraries and museums you need to prioritize the value of the material in your care.  A first edition book may be a lot more valuable than a magazine.  Think of it as triage for objects.  Hopefully before the disaster you have had your most valuable material appraised and have purchased appropriate insurance. 

          Thinking and planning for the unthinkable is important for everyone.

Hailstorm and broken windows

          Recently Abilene was hit by a major hailstorm – golf ball to baseball sized hail.  Over 200 cars were severely damaged.  The hail even went straight through some roofs.  One of the universities had the windows damaged on one side of virtually every building. Plywood was brought in by the truckload.  You get the picture.  The Special Collections area of the library has large windows on the damaged side of the building although only the study tables are directly behind those windows. Fortunately the archives are in a separate room without windows on the damaged side.  That brings up the need for both organizations and individual to have a disaster plan.  Prevention should be at the top of your to do list.  That means proper storage for your valuable papers.  Some people have fireproof safes or rent safety deposit boxes in banks.  Universities and other organizations have duplicate copies of the most valuable material in off-site storage.  Now, of course, computers offer another mechanism for storage.  Backing up in lots of places, as you know is important and really essential - the cloud, external hard drives, thumb drives, CDs.  For organizations microfilm is an excellent option. 

             For material that is important to you, like photographs, store them in a dark room or closet without windows.  Keep the material off the floor.  Don’t store anything that shouldn’t get wet in the basement.  If you must use a basement, keep items off the floor six to twelve inches to protect from flood damage.  For different reasons, an attic is a bad place to store valuable papers, photographs, and so forth.  The heat will cause rapid deterioration.  Do remember where you put things so you can access them quickly.  Make a list of what’s where if you have to.  My cousin lost some old family photos to a fire because she forgot what drawer she put them in and couldn’t find them in the rush of evacuation.  Make copies and store them elsewhere if you can.  Keep up with the changes in technology and update your records accordingly.  The internet is a great place to store your material, but it isn’t foolproof.  What is accessible today may not be tomorrow.  Just think Betamax.

               Off to New York tomorrow. More on disaster planning later.

Apps for Archives (and Everybody Else Too)

             At the Social Media training that I attended last week the most valuable information was an introduction to the various apps available to assist in the dissemination of information. The ones that interested me most deal with the addition of graphics to a Facebook page or a website.  I have been a committed Adobe Photoshop user up until they went to the monthly fee approach so I’ve been looking for alternatives.  One that was suggested in the training was picmonkey.com.  I haven’t worked with it yet, but from the demonstration it looks like it provides all the options that were available in the early versions of photoshop before it got so complicated.  Photoshop is great for graphic artists and professional photographers, but for me Picmonkey sounds like it provides everything I need for free. Two other options that help with graphics for social media page designs are listed below. These apps provide the correct sizing of images.  The sizing is in pixels and the program sizes the image without distorting it.  Either of the following work well according to the trainer:

 http://socialmediatoday.com/tara-urso/2393561/social-media-dimensions-blueprint

http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-media-image-dimensions_b44957

More after I try to design a business page on Facebook and go get a smartphone.  

Social Media Training

           Went to an all day training last week.  The topic was social media - in particular Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.  The workshop was aimed at non-profits and was sponsored by the Texas Forts Trail, a state funded program promoting tourism in West Texas.  (Note: In the early days of settlement, a line of forts to protect settlers was established from Ft Worth to what is now the Mexican border.  These forts were moved westward from Ft. Worth as settlement expanded.  The fort in Abilene, which was only used briefly, was founded in the 1850s) But I digress.  I figure I’m the last person in the world to join the 21^st century and learn about the value of these social media applications for organizations like archives.  I don’t even have a smart phone but will have to have one if I start using Instagram. 

One of the most appealing aspects of social media is that usage is free, but as the trainer pointed out "nothing is really ever free".  You can sign up for free, but to expand your audience you have a choice of different levels of paid ads.  They are reasonable and they do offer stats to measure their effectiveness, but you have to have a budget that includes outreach expenses and many non-profits don’t.  Of course the biggest expense for all social media apps is time.  To be of any value content must be ever changing.  For an organization that means staff time both in meetings to decide what should be added or by an individual assigned to constantly add more information. According to the trainer, the first step if you are an organization is to establish guidelines of what will be uploaded to social media.  Next for all of the apps except Twitter the information must contain graphics.  Sometimes all of the effort may be worthwhile and sometimes it may not be.  It certainly is something to consider before you commit your organization or yourself.

            Facebook is a good example of an app that needs frequent attention. As you probably know, you have to start with a personal page in order to launch a business page.  I think the most valuable benefit of these apps is to provide links to your website.  As the trainer suggested these apps can help promote special events, new exhibits, the availability of new collections, and get you known. Still you really have to consider if it is cost effective.  If you have enough staff and an advertising budget go for it, if not you really need to consider what your goals are and what you hope to achieve.  Maybe local newspaper and radio coverage reaches your audience more effectively. I’m going to see for myself with facebook.  Don’t think the others would work well for me, but they sound fun - all except Twitter which has no appeal to me.  I guess you either love it or hate it or so I'm told.