Brandi, and I have finished placing the archive material in archive standard files and boxes. We have begun entering items in the finding aid. There are many artifacts, and the entry of these items will most likely take the rest of the semester to finish. Brandi had worked on another finding aid, so her insights in constructing the finding aid for this archive were helpful.
In thinking about the organization and construction of the finding aid for this archive, I viewed an on-line presentation developed by Eloquent Systems Inc. An more detailed explanation of their services can be found here. The company representatives explained their product, and provided examples form the Toronto Archives (one of their current clients). A screen shot from the presentation is pictured below.
The program by Eloquent Systems provides a finding aid, as well as an interactive on-line presence for your archive. With this system, patrons can search and view items within the archive from any computer located worldwide. There are many features for entry, including the development of tags, and authority files for individual items within the archive. The archivist can also choose which information is public, and which is private, and the database can either self generate accession numbers, or they can be entered manually. It was a very impressive program.
In addition, this week a number of students from area colleges came to the library to conduct research on comparative art papers. When Ms. Preston was assisting a patron, and another would arrive, I would assist the newcomer. They had many questions, and I attempted to answer as many as I could. It is good to get feedback, and one patron e-mailed Ms. Preston, saying I was very helpful.
Finally, the new Web Site has been launched. There are still a few minor problems to be ironed out, but the new Site is an improvement. A link to the Web Page is here.
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