PACSCL's "Hidden Collections" Processing Project

PACSCL “Hidden Collec0ons” Processing Project    Temple University Barnes Club  November 18, 2010  Holly Mengel, Project Manager   Courtney Smerz, Project Archivist 

What is PACSCL?  Philadelphia Area Consor0um of Special Collec0ons Libraries – CooperaEve group of special collecEons libraries with shared goals for their  collecEons – Founded in 1985 with 16 member libraries – Today, PACSCL is composed of 35 member libraries  • 4,000,000 rare books   • 260,000 linear feet of manuscripts and archival materials   • 9,000,000 photographs, maps, architectural drawings, and works of art on paper  • BUT, PACSCL itself, does not own collecEons – Long history of consorEal work  www.pacscl.org 

Hidden Collec0ons Project • PACSCL developed and administered • Funded by Council on Library and InformaEon  Resources’ (CLIR) Cataloging Hidden Special CollecEons  and Archives iniEaEve  www.clir.org/hiddencollec0ons/ • Process and make accessible for research approximately  200 hidden collec*ons of manuscripts and archives • 23 parEcipaEng PACSCL repositories • 27 month‐long project 

What are hidden collec0ons? • Hidden collec0ons:  – Unprocessed or under‐processed collecEons  – NOT research ready  – NOT adverEsed to the researching public  – 1000s of hidden collecEons in Philadelphia 

Why are they  NOT research ready?  • Not physically or  intellectually accessible  • Have been on the shelf for  a long Eme  – Repository staﬀ does know  what’s in them 

The problem with hidden collec0ons • Managing archival collecEons is Eme  consuming • BACK LOG of work to be done • BUT ‐ If no one knows its there, and no one  uses it, why keep it? 

How PACSCL is dealing   with Hidden Collec*ons • Follow‐up to PACSCL survey project,  2006‐2008 • Processing / making accessible 200  hidden collec*ons • Processing:   • The act of arranging an archival  collecEon,  • Providing archival quality housing,  and  • Describing the collecEon, or wriEng a  ﬁnding aid • Finding aid: a catalog of the collecEon, which communicates to  archivists and researchers what is in the collecEon and how to access  the materials quickly and easily 

Experimenta0on, archivally speaking • Using “MPLP”  – Processing at a less intensive rate  – CollecEons range from the 17th to the 21st centuries • Use student labor • Use the Archivists’ Toolkit database • Create a model to eliminate processing BACK  LOGs 

…Making collec0ons   research ready… Before archival processing  AXer archival processing 

…And easier to find • Created a central online finding aid site  – Developed by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries  – Finding aids from all 23 repositories in one place  – We are adding new finding aids all the Eme  – We are NOT digiEzing collecEons  findingaids.pacscl.org • Related collecEons all over Philadelphia  – i.e. the Wister family, women’s history, horEcultural collecEons,  etc. • CollecEons and informaEon in unexpected places  – Word War II photos at the Academy of Natural Sciences 

Searching capabili0es • Search across repositories • Search in a singular  repository • Keyword searching • Faceted searching  – Select as many or as few  facet categories as you like 

One year in… 74 unhidden collecEons in 13 repositories: Academy of Natural Sciences Bryn Mawr College Chester County Historical Society College of Physicians of Philadelphia Drexel University Archives & Special    CollecEons Drexel University College of  Medicine Free Library of Philadelphia Haverford College Independence Seaport Museum Library Company of Philadelphia Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia Temple University, Urban Archives Wagner Free InsEtute of Science 

Upcoming processing work  • Another 70 collecEons to go  Temple University, Special  CollecEons  Historical Society of Pennsylvania  Presbyterian Historical Society  Philadelphia Museum of Art  University of Delaware  NaEonal Archives  Rosenbach Museum and Library  This is just the 0p of the iceberg 

What are we processing?  • The American RevoluEon  • The Arts: Fine Arts, Music, Performing  Arts, and WriEng  • Business and Commerce  • Colonial History  • EducaEon  • Family Histories and Genealogy  Just about anything!  • History of Philadelphia Cultural All with a HIGH research value  InsEtuEons  • Law, PoliEcs and Government  • MariEme History  clir.pacscl.org  • Medicine  • Military History  • Race and Ethnic History  • Religion  • Science  • Travel and Tourism  • Women’s History  • WriEng, Publishing and Bookselling 

Favorite ﬁnds • American Women’s Hospitals photographs, Drexel University  College of Medicine • Lubin Manufacturing Company records, Free Library of  Philadelphia • Samuel George Morton papers, Library Company of Philadelphia • Samuel X Radbill papers, College of Physicians of Philadelphia • Vaux family papers, Haverford College • Upcoming… William Penn family papers, Cox TransportaEon  collecEon, Pennsylvania Ballet records, Presbyterian missionary  papers… 

How to ﬁnd us…   …and the collec0ons  clir.pacscl.org  ﬁndingaids.pacscl.org  ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ www.pacsclsurvey.org/  www.pacscl.org www.clir.org/hiddencollec0ons/ 

PACSCL's "Hidden Collections" Processing Project

by Holly Mengel on Feb 22, 2012

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PACSCL’s "Hidden Collections" Processing Project Presentation Transcript