Friday, July 28, 2017

Board of Trustees Records Now Fully Processed

Good news! I'm happy to announce the completion of one of my most significant projects to date. After a year and half, Board of Trustees records are now available for research!
Only a small number of the plastic bins containing Board
records that were accessioned and transferred to the archives. 

Oh so long ago, the Board records arrived at my office in more then 230 plastic bins and jumbled up with records of other university administrative offices.  I began the daunting process of separating out the records that pertained only to the Board.  Several months elapsed before even this "baby" step was completed. Finally, at the end of one year, I thought that I had finished processing the collection into neatly arranged archival boxes only to realize the infamous fourth floor closet of the Claibourne Smith Administrative Building was devoted almost entirely to Board records. Oh the horror! Imagine my disappointment when dismantling the beautifully arranged boxes to make way for such a significant accrual.Working slowly over time, it took me from January 2017 until now to organize the additional materials, weed out the duplicated items, and fill the gaps in the collection.

It seems my work was completed just in the nick of time! Or maybe it was right on schedule.  Last week I received a reference request from one of the Faculty chairs for Board materials.  Having a well organized collection enabled me to quickly and definitively conduct the requested research.

This morning I completed the final step by uploading the finding aid to the archive's online LibGuide page. I think a finished finding aid is one of the most beautiful and rewarding sights! Take a look and see for yourself: http://desu.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=34342922 

What's next you ask? Well, there are still 68 plastic boxes left to process. And after that there are oodles of records transferred from the Jenkins dorm basement. And after that there are still records in the admin building. And after that...it never ends. Any volunteers? 

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