Volume 59, Spring 2000
President’s
Message
-
Tim Pyatt
Retrieval
of Archival Finding Aids Using World Wide Web Search Engines
-
Kathleen
Feeney, 1999 Gene Williams Award winner
Institutional
Profile: The American Dance Festival
Archives
-
Laura Clark Brown
Meet
the New Editor
-
Greta Reisel
Website
Abstracts
-
Debbi Blake
Book
Review
-
Stephen Miller
News
from Around the State
Upcoming
Workshops
President’s
Message -
Tim Pyatt
How quickly a year goes by! It seems like only yesterday that I was writing my first newsletter message as your president. This has been an exciting and professionally fulfilling year – I am grateful for the opportunity that you, the members of SNCA, have given me.
As you will hear at the spring meeting in Chapel Hill, our membership continues to grow. Increased student participation has helped spark this growth. The Executive Board is working hard to insure that SNCA’s programming and services continue to grow and improve to meet the increased demands and needs of all our members.
One of the ways SNCA is starting to reach out to student groups is through support of their professional growth. We have had student members speak at meetings and serve on the Executive Board. Last fall the Development Committee recommended that we assist student SAA chapters in their efforts to bring in guest speakers and related events. We hope to broaden this support next year. I encourage all North Carolina student archival associations to consider SNCA as a potential partner in their programming.
We also plan to launch the Jackson meeting scholarship next year, hopefully in time for the fall meeting in Charlotte. The fall meeting will also be the first of several proposed cooperative meetings with other professional organizations. We plan to invite members of the new Society of South Carolina Archivists will join us in Charlotte. In the fall of 2001, we will meet jointly with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Group (MARAC) in Roanoke, VA.
Next year we will also be discussing whether our current dues level is sufficient to support the services and programs SNCA provides. As mentioned in the last newsletter, I have appointed a task force of in-coming president Ed Morris, former president Russell Koonts, and treasurer Jason Tomberlin. They will evaluate SNCA’s financial needs and report their findings and recommendations to the membership.
The Nominations Committee has forwarded a promising slate of officers for your consideration at the spring meeting. In addition to the elected offices, there are a number of other SNCA leadership opportunities available. We will have committee volunteer sign-up sheets at the registration table on March 17 th . Every committee has openings and I personally invite you to get involved. If you are a new member, new to the region, or a student, this is an excellent way to meet colleagues and be active in your profession. And for you long-time members, SNCA can always benefit from your experience and knowledge!
If you are unable to attend the Spring meeting, but would still like to volunteer, please feel free to contact either myself or incoming president Ed Morris. SNCA Committees include:
Thank you for supporting SNCA – I hope to see you in Chapel Hill this March!
Retrieval of Archival Finding Aids Using World Wide Web Search Engines - Kathleen Feeney, 1999 Gene Williams Award winner
Editor’s Note: The following article is an abstract of Kathleen Feeney’s original, a Master's paper for the M.S. in L.S. degree, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, August 1998. Her paper was also published in the most recent issue of American Archivist: "Retrieval of Archival Finding Aids Using World Wide Web Search Engines,” American Archivist 62.2, Fall 1999, 206-228.
Increasing the visibility and accessibility of collections has traditionally been a major goal of archivists and manuscript curators, who have sought to make information about their holdings available to those who are physically distant from a repository and to ensure that potential researchers are aware of valuable archival resources. In recent decades, developments in computer and network technology have offered archivists many new means of making their collections information available to a broad array of remote users and of making this information electronically searchable, in the form of databases, catalog records or full-text inventories. Most recently, resources have been devoted to the development and implementation of Encoded Archival Description (EAD), a standard for encoding electronic archival finding aids.
Many of the rewards of electronic description have been realized by archives; others have been envisioned for the future. But the effective introduction of computer technology into archives requires significant and consistent investment in hardware and software and in training and education. Because few archives find themselves blessed with an overabundance of money or staff, the third ingredient in the successful implementation of electronic description is an understanding of the strengths and limitations of various technologies and an assessment of the needs of researchers and collections.
The purpose of this study was to begin to address one of the broadest questions surrounding the accessibility and effectiveness of online archival finding aids: How will researchers locate these resources? The study explores the usefulness of online finding aids as tools for locating archival collections, and assesses the ease with which researchers may locate archival information using popular web search tools.
To this end, searches were performed using two large and popular World Wide Web search engines, HotBot (www.hotbot.com) and Altavista (www.altavista.com). Search terms were chosen from topical and personal name headings used in manuscript inventories published by the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (At the time the study was completed, most online SHC inventories were in a plain text format, and the site did not include a search engine.)
Three searches were performed using each topical subject heading. First, the heading was simply entered into the default search screen first presented to a user upon accessing a search engine site. The subject heading was then entered as a properly formatted Boolean search. Finally, a search was performed for the heading as it appeared in the finding aid, in Library of Congress format. (For example, one heading was entered in the following forms: "tobacco North Carolina history 19 th century"; "tobacco AND "North Carolina" AND history AND "19 th century"; "Tobacco--history--North Carolina--19 th century".) Personal name searches were entered in both proper and inverted forms. ("Eleanor Meade Platt" and "Platt, Eleanor Meade") The results of each search were examined to determine the number of SHC finding aids retrieved by the search engine and the ranking they received on the list of results.
The results of most of the searches are unlikely to surprise anyone familiar with Internet searching-- searches often retrieved unmanageably large result sets (sometimes more than one million items) and the majority of SHC finding aids containing the search terms were not among the first 100 documents listed. The searches did produce some interesting results. Most significantly, resources other than online inventories published by the SHC, but relevant to SHC collections, were frequently retrieved. These included subject guides to the collection and the inventories published online in conjunction with a commercially produced microfilm version of many SHC manuscript collections.
The findings of this study suggest that the World Wide Web is too large and heterogeneous a search ground in which to locate archival holdings information by commonly used Internet searching practices and that full-text inventories are most valuable to researchers who have already located a repository’s online resources through other means, rather than as pointers to archival collections. The study provides indirect support for the creation of cooperative databases of finding aids and of electronic versions of repository guides and subject bibliographies and for the continued creation and refinement of MARC AMC records for collections. Most broadly, the study argues that archivists interested in the development of electronic holdings information must clearly explore and define the needs that these resources are expected to fulfill and the ways in which they might replace, supplement or duplicate other descriptive tools.
Kathleen Feeney received a MSLS from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1998. She worked as an archives technician in the Manuscripts Division at the Library of Congress and currently is working as a project archivist on an NEH grant-funded processing project at the City Archives of Philadelphia.
Institutional Profile: The American Dance Festival Archives - Laura Clark Brown
Martha Graham teaches at the American Dance Festival,
1957. Photo by Dora Sanders.
Dance is among the most difficult art forms to document and preserve. The live performance of dance happens in a fleeting moment, and often dance exists only in a choreographer's memory or in a social group's collective remembrances. Dance repositories such as the American Dance Festival Archives are attempting to keep dance in the historical record. As a part of its mission, the American Dance Festival (ADF) seeks to document and preserve modern dance, an indigenous American art form, through the reconstruction and continued presentation of master works and through an active archival program.
ADF traces its origins back to July 1934 when the leaders of the then nascent art of modern dance – Martha Graham, Hanya Holm, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman – left New York for the summer and gathered at Bennington College in Vermont. These choreographers trained students, and created and presented works. The Bennington School of Dance was the summer home for modern dance from 1934 to 1942. World War II curtailed the active summer school, but residencies and performances continued through 1946. In 1947 Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut, hosted a pilot program based on the Bennington experiment, for dance teachers, college dance groups and young dancers. In 1948, Connecticut College became the official home of the American Dance Festival, which continued to train the next generations of dancers and choreographers and to present both classic and avant-garde modern dance. ADF moved to Durham, North Carolina, and Duke University in 1978. Each summer ADF students, performers, and other participants from all over the world invade the lawns, studios, libraries, dormitories, and theatres of Duke University for the six-week school and performance season. An office for ADF’s year-round staff resides on Duke’s East Campus.
The sixty-seven-year history of the Festival is also, in part, the history of modern dance in America. ADF has been the scene of over 500 premieres and commissioned works – many of which are landmarks in modern choreography. Many of today’s emerging choreographers and the masters – Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Donald McKayle, José Limón, Meredith Monk and Trisha Brown to name only a few -- have passed through ADF’s doors more than once as students, teachers, performers, and later recipients of the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement. International companies, including Dai Rakuda Kan of Japan and Guangdong Modern Dance Company of China, have made their US debut at the American Dance Festival. The American Dance Festival has actively documented and preserved this rich history of the organization, the art, and the artists in an extensive archival collection.
ADF’s archival program began in the fall of 1993 when a disaster forced the organization to look at its records. ADF had stored its non-current records in a Durham warehouse without climate control, shelving or any organization, and in 1993 heavy rains flooded the warehouse. The ADF staff of arts administrators had no librarians or archivists in their immediate circle, but they recognized the tragedy of losing these materials and with it, ADF’s history. ADF sought and received help from Duke University Libraries and the North Carolina State Archives. The State Archives -- already storing master copies of ADF’s films by 1993 – temporarily stored and dried over 300 record cartons of waterlogged materials. Duke University Libraries and ADF tackled the big questions following the salvage and rescue, and fashioned a wholly new partnership that continues to expand and evolve.
The biggest questions Duke University Libraries and ADF faced were: who would own and manage the collection, where would the materials go, and what would Duke’s role be. ADF retains both ownership and responsibility for the preservation of its growing archives. ADF is an active and growing organization with a deep historical perspective. The past of who, what, when and why is a vital part of ADF’s continued existence, and non-current records are frequently accessed and used within the ADF community of staff, students, teachers and performers. Therefore, despite the tremendous commitment of time, money and resources it takes to run an archival program, ADF decided to keep its archives within the organization, and hired the first ADF archivist at the end of 1993. However, a non-profit dance organization, without permanent facilities, and that each year seeks essential funding to present a festival, had few internal resources for an archival program.
The Duke University Libraries offers assistance in a variety of forms, including storage, access and the invaluable expertise of its staff. In return, ADF makes its collections available to the public through Duke University Libraries. The archives are stored in Duke Offsite Stacks Annex and accessible in two locations. A video viewing collection is available at Duke University’s Lilly Library, and these videos of performances, classes, panel discussions and informal showings are cataloged in Duke’s online catalog. Other archival material may be used in the Dalton-Brand Research Room at Duke University’s Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library. Research in the ADF collection requires a reference interview with one of the ADF archivists, but the viewing collection is available to anyone during Lilly’s hours of operation. The staff of Duke University Libraries also advises and helps the ADF Archives in numerous technical and public service areas.
ADF Archives’ current holdings consist of approximately 600 linear feet of administrative and festival records and photographic materials and over 2000 films and videos. The gems of the collection include rich correspondence files from students, teachers and performers, beautiful still images of dancers in performance and in class, and unique footage of choreography presented at the American Dance Festival. The Archives grows each year. ADF actively documents the season primarily through photography and videography, as well as through printed items such as programs. The Archives oversees and manages the video documentation, and photographic materials are transferred to the Archives after each season. The administrative departments also use records retention schedules to transfer non-current records.
In 1999, ADF received a grant from the National Initiative to Preserve America’s Dance (NIPAD, a grant program under the umbrella SAVE AS: DANCE and underwritten by The Pew Charitable Trusts) for a two-year project to extend its model partnership with Duke University and to increase physical and intellectual access to the collections. The grant allowed ADF to hire an assistant archivist, Greta Reisel, who is currently processing early administrative and festival records. At the end of the project, ADF will produce and disseminate a guide documenting its archival procedures and policies and the collaborative process in its partnership with Duke University Libraries. The guide will serve as blueprint for other dance and cultural organizations to develop linkages and relationships with archival repositories.
In addition to its collaboration with Duke Libraries, ADF is an institutional member of the Dance Heritage Coalition (DHC). The DHC is a national alliance of major dance collections, including New York Public Library and the Library of Congress. Formed to strengthen the national dance documentation and preservation network, the Coalition seeks to make accessible, enhance, augment and preserve the materials that document the artistic accomplishments in dance of the past, present and future.
The American Dance Festival Archives is an institutional repository that serves the institution, but by creating access through the Duke Libraries, the Archives also encourages external use, research, and scholarship on the historical and cultural significance of modern dance. The ADF Archives helps makes the ephemeral art of modern dance a little more tangible for the record.
Staff:
Laura Clark Brown,
Director of Archives
Greta Reisel, Assistant
Archivist
Access:
Video Viewing Collection is available at Lilly Library, Duke University East Campus during their hours of operation.
Following a reference interview with Laura Clark Brown or Greta Reisel, other materials are available at Dalton-Brand Research Room, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University.
Contact Information:
Office: 715 Broad
Street Durham, NC
Mail: PO Box 90772,
Durham, NC 27708-0772
Telephone: (919)
684-6402
Fax (919) 684-5459
Email:
lcbrown@acpub.duke.edu
and
gereisel@acpub.duke.edu
Website: www.americandancefestival.org/
Meet
the New Editor -
Greta Reisel
Beginning with this issue of The North Carolina Archivist , I assume the responsibilities of editing the newsletter for the next two years. Sarah Koonts has held this position over the last few years, and in that time, she has shaped the newsletter into an attractive, informative quarterly. I hope to uphold her precedent and also continue to mold the publication to meet the needs of the SNCA membership. Both aesthetic and content-oriented input is welcome.
Now a little about myself: I am currently the Assistant Archivist at the American Dance Festival in Durham, a dream job for my dance and history proclivities. Previously, I filled project archivist positions at the Forest History Society and North Carolina State University Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives. I also have worked at the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough as a Public History Fellow during my second year as a Public History Master’s student at North Carolina State. Before moving to North Carolina from St. Louis for graduate school, I filled a temporary position for one year as an Assistant Archivist at the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis. I hold an A.B. in History with a minor in French from Washington University in St. Louis, and a M.A. in Public History with a minor in History from North Carolina State University. After living in St. Louis all of my life, I am enjoying the change of scenery and weather in North Carolina!
I look forward to editing The North Carolina Archivist . Please feel free to contact me with comments, suggestions, or recommendations at gereisel@acpub.duke.edu or (919) 684-6402.
Genealogists are often the most frequent users of the various archives in North Carolina. More and more, a commonly heard anthem is "I saw it on the Internet!" In order to be as conversant with this newest genealogical tool as our patrons, we can start our searches with these excellent sites.
Cyndi's List http://www.cyndislist.com/
The ultimate starting point for a genealogical search is Cyndi's List. Created and maintained by Cyndi Howells, this site includes 47,250 links arranged in 120 categories and cross-referenced. During any given month there are another 12,550 (more or less) links that are new and uncategorized. Ms. Howells is diligent about checking for bad links and also monitors the content of the various sites closely. As an outgrowth of this groundbreaking site, Ms. Howells has published the book Netting Your Ancestors and has a busy lecture schedule.
Family Tree Maker http://www.familytreemaker.com/
All of the major commercial genealogical manufacturers have websites with various services available for both beginning and advanced researchers. One of the best is maintained by Family Tree Maker. In addition to a genealogical forum and a search of the index of its genealogical library (a subscription service), there is the very impressive family search function. Just type in a name and a search is made of genealogical websites, reference CDs, and compiled family trees. A display details the list of hits and a click of the mouse takes you to each one. Additional features of the site are how-to articles and a section called “Genealogy Help” that includes help at all levels of expertise.
USGenWeb Project http://www.usgenweb.com/
This non-commercial website is maintained by volunteers whose aim is to provide Internet websites for every county in every state in the United States. It provides individual state pages that are an excellent starting point for researchers. Also maintained by USGenWeb are census and tombstone projects that can be tremendous resources for genealogists. One thing to keep in mind about the web nannies for the state sites is that they are sometimes not even in or from that state; they could be anywhere. This can greatly affect their knowledge of a state and its peculiar quirks and laws.
UK & Ireland Genealogical Information Service http://www.genuki.org.uk/
For genealogists looking to research their roots in the United Kingdom, the Genuki site is a noncommercial site of great value. For the most part, it relates to primary historical material, such as census records, rather than to the work of genealogists, such as GEDCOM files. Sections about beginning genealogy and research issues related to the United Kingdom and Ireland are very informative. The site has jumping-off places for each county, much as USGenWeb has for the United States. Valuable links at this site can take you to the PRO, maps and atlases, and census information.
Family Search Internet Genealogy Service http://www.familysearch.org/
Sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, this site has attracted a great deal of attention since it launched its family search function. The Ancestor Search section searches three huge databases: the Ancestral File, the International Genealogical Index (IGI) and websites (by last name only). Also included in the site are various beneficial genealogical aids. One of the newest aspects of this impressive site is the ability to view the microfilm list in the Family History Library Catalog. Once the researcher finds microfilm of interest, the site gives instructions for finding the nearest Family History Center where the film may be ordered from Utah.
Nielsen, Jakob. Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity. New Riders Press, 1999. Pp. 419.
Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity is written by Dr. Jakob Nielsen, widely recognized as the foremost Web usability guru today. While primarily focused on commercial Web design for e-business, Nielsen’s book contains many important guidelines for designing not only effective library and museum Web sites, but also for designing interfaces to the digital libraries and archives of the future. “Bad usability equals no customers,” according to Nielsen. The same can be said of library Web sites: bad usability equals no patrons or users. Nielsen's book and research focus on improving the usability of the Web, rather than cutting-edge design or technical aspects like many other Web design books.
The bottom line of Nielsen’s research is that users are very impatient. A major flaw in Web usability is creating pages that do not load quickly or are confusing to use and navigate. Slow download times and poor usability cause users to quickly look elsewhere for the information they need. Likewise, site design or navigational elements that are unclear or unpredictable and require the user to spend time learning how to navigate will also cause users to quickly leave a site. Nielsen includes many findings on user behavior, and ultimately concludes that simplicity is the key to satisfying users.
Designing Web Usability begins with chapters on individual page design, content design, and site design. Reports on research findings of internet users’ monitor size, browser versions and use, and connection speed provide support for Nielsen's suggestions on design. Sites should be logically laid out, and designed to suit a variety of different monitors and browsers with speed in mind. Topics covered include: cross-platform design, response times, the importance of navigation and site structure, URL design, search capabilities, and the use of appropriating linking, frames, and metaphors for the Web.
Nielsen’s chapter on content design is one of the most valuable chapters in the book. Users come to a Web site not to see the design and layout of a site, but to find information. What kind of content to include and how to write for the Web are thus key issues. Based on research on how users read text on the Web, suggestions on content design include the importance of keeping text short and punchy – Web users just want the facts – making texts easily scannable, writing effective page titles and headlines, using plain language, and legibility. Users want to quickly get an overview of what the page is about and what it contains, and then look further into the topics they are interested in.
Chapters on accessibility for users with disabilities and international use are also very valuable. Creating Web sites that are accessible by users with disabilities is very important for libraries, and may be a legal obligation in many cases. Considering international use and how users view and interpret Web sites outside the United Sates is another subject not covered in other books about the Web. Nielsen gives an excellent overview of these subjects and provides pointers to more information.
Designing Web Usability is based on Dr. Nielsen’s extensive research and gathers together summaries of his findings and Web design suggestions with a plethora of examples of both good and bad design from actual pages found on the Web. Nielsen’s excellent Web site, www.useit.com, is also a treasure trove of detailed research findings and tips on Web design and usability issues. Readers who want a solid overview of the subject with many examples and a well-laid out presentation will be interested in starting with Designing Web Usability and then moving on to the Web site. If you just want the detailed facts, tips, and findings of Nielsen’s research, or are on a limited budget, stick with www.useit.com as most of the information included there is summarized in the book. Anyone who creates Web sites will greatly benefit from Designing Web Usability : The Practice of Simplicity and Nielsen's Web site.
Employment and Professional Activities
John Ansley has been promoted to Senior Librarian of the North Carolina Collection at the Durham County Library.
Elizabeth Dunn is now Research Services Librarian at Duke University’s Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. Formerly Reference Archivist for the Center for Women’s History and Culture, she will continue public service and exhibits work, though now related to all subject areas, not specifically women's studies.
Walt Evans , Master’s student in the Public History program at North Carolina State University, will be working with the Iredell Papers project at the Division of Archives and History during the spring semester. He will be assisting with research for annotation.
Effective March 1, Roslyn (Lynn) Holdzkom was appointed Head of Technical Services for the Manuscripts Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. Lynn joined the library's Manuscripts Department in 1986 as assistant technical services archivist and was appointed manuscripts cataloging librarian in 1997. She has also served as University Archivist for the University of Washington.
Donna Kelly has been appointed as the Department of Cultural Resources representative to an interdepartmental steering committee for NC Project Green, a state government effort to sustain the environment by encouraging recycling and waste reduction. She also helped mount and staff a book exhibit at the Social Studies Conference in Greensboro, February 16-18, 2000.
Stephen Miller has been appointed project manager for the NC-EAD project, a multi-institutional Encoded Archival Description (EAD) project including Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and the North Carolina State Archives. The goals of the project will be to build consensus on best practices for EAD encoding, develop software tools for encoding and display, and create a prototype database of finding aids from the participating institutions.
Sarah Nerney has been chosen by the North Carolina State Archives as the Elizabeth Ross Intern for spring term 2000. This position is generously funded by the North Carolina Genealogical Society. The internship is split between reference hours in the Search Room and a small arrangement and description project of Beaufort County deeds.
Sam Shine , Minority Outreach Coordinator for the Office of Secretary, was presented the John R. Larkin Award on January 14, 2000 at the Annual State Employees Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Program. Established in 1998, the John R. Larkin is a tribute to a North Carolina state employee whose contributions to human and race relations is the workplace or community are especially noteworthy and exemplary. It is one of North Carolina's highest honors for human service.
Richard “Dick” Shrader , first president of SNCA and reference archivist at the Southern Historical Collection/Manuscripts Department of the UNC-Chapel Hill Library, is retiring May 1.
Collection Development and Preservation:
The UNC-Chapel Hill Manuscripts Department recently made available the following groups: papers, 1900-1989, of Susie Marshall Sharp (1907-1996), Reidsville attorney and the first woman elected a chief justice of a state supreme court; and papers, 1906-1993, of Benjamin Franklin Swalin (1901-1989), Chapel Hill author, composer, and conductor/director of the North Carolina Symphony.
The North Carolina Collection at the Durham County Library recently acquired a collection of more than 30,000 photographs originally from the D e-Rhodes Studio of Durham. The collection consists of portraits of Durhamites taken by Grace Parham Rhodes from the 1940s to the 1980s.
The Digital Scriptorium and the Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library are pleased to announce the completion of the William Gedney Photographs and Writings Website, available at http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/gedney/ . From the mid 1950s through the early 1980s, William Gedney (1932-1989) photographed throughout the United States, in India, and in Europe. When he died in 1989, he left an extensive archive of his life's work, which now resides at the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University. Funded in part by a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and representing over a year of work by project staff and Duke students, the William Gedney Photographs and Writings Website includes extensive selections from Gedney's finished prints, work prints, contact sheets, notes, notebooks, handmade photographic books, book dummies, and correspondence. Over 4,900 photographic images are included, as well as over 1,200 images of writings and notebooks, and over 270 images representing nine digitized photographic book projects. Eight of Gedney's notebooks have been fully transcribed and are available as both text and images, and a typescript is available as electronic text. All are searchable and browsable in a variety of ways, and the site includes extensive background information on William Gedney's life, work, and the subjects of his photography. The site represents possibly the largest catalog of an individual photographer's life and work available on the Internet today. Technical information helpful to those considering or planning similar digital imaging projects is also included in the site.
Exhibits, Projects, and Workshops of Note:
Historic Oak View County Park is currently exhibiting "Notable North Carolina," which runs through May 13. The exhibit consists of biographies and artifacts of 50 people who were
influential in North Carolina's history. Guest speakers, demonstrators, and re-enactors will participate on special weekends: April 8, highlighting the Nineteenth Century, and May 13, the Twentieth Century. On these “Century” weekends, the NCSU Student Chapter of the SAA will be selling refreshments. For more information, please call (919) 250-1013.
The North Carolina Collection, Durham County Library , has received a grant to create a web page for the Collection and to put the Durham Historic Photographic Archives online. This site can be viewed at the following URL: http://dbserv.ils.unc.edu/projects/reavis/index.htm. The Collection has also received a grant to begin the Durham Oral History Project.
Olivia Raney Local History Library (Wake County) has recently received a microfilming camera. The Library is arranging to get a camera stand made for it, and they look forward to becoming proficient in using it, particularly to film some in-house records and newspapers. Perhaps in the future, the Library can share it with other collections who have a small project and a small filming budget.
The NCSU Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists is sponsoring a presentation, "Documenting and Preserving Human Rights in Archives and Museums," during NCSU's Human Rights Week, March 19-25. Dr. Sally Peterson, Curator of Folklife at the NC Museum of History, and Dr. John David Smith, Director of the Master’s of Public History Program at NCSU, will discuss the importance of creating, keeping, displaying, and using paper records and three-dimensional objects in the essential project of rendering people's lives and experiences visible and memorable. The event will take place on Wed., March 22, at 2:00, room 3118, Talley Student Center on Cates Ave., NCSU. For further information, contact SCSAA President, Ruth Bryan, email:ruthbryan@mindspring.com.
Publications:
Brian Edwards of the Outer Banks History Center has recently published “A Brief History of Prohibition in Northeastern North Carolina” in Tributaries (October 1999).
Laura Clark Brown of the American Dance Festival Archives has recently published “New Orleans Modernism: The Arts and Crafts Club in the Vieux Carré, 1919-1939,” in Louisiana History (Spring 2000).
Donna Kelly of the Division of Archives and History has compiled the "Selected Bibliography of Completed Theses and Dissertations Related to North Carolina Subjects" for the January 2000 issue of the North Carolina Historical Review .
Spring Seminar, Triangle Chapter of ARMA, April 6
"Knowledge and Technology: Marriage Made for the New Millennium?" will be the theme for the annual spring seminar of the Triangle Chapter of ARMA International (Association of Records Managers and Administrators) on April 6, 2000, during National Information and Records Management Week (April 3-7, 2000). Presentations will include a keynote address by Rick Webb, Chief Information Officer of Information and Technology Services in North Carolina's Department of Commerce; Dr. Michael Pemberton, the new executive editor of ARMA International's Information Management Journal ; and Dr. Paul Jones, head of University of North Carolina's MetaLab and an instructor in UNC's schools of journalism and mass communication as well as of information and library science. The seminar will be held at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill. Morning refreshments and registration will begin at 8 a.m. The seminar will conclude around 4 p.m. Registration will be $75 for non-ARMA members, $60 for ARMA members, and $50 for students.
Additional details may be obtained from Ed Southern at the State Records Center: 919-733-3540 or esouthern@ncsl.dcr.state.nc.us
Association for Recorded Sound Collections Presents Basic Care and Management of Sound Recordings Workshop, May 31
The Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) is offering a one-day introductory workshop on the basic care and management of sound recordings, in conjunction with the ARSC Annual Conference at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (May 31-June 3, 2000). The session will focus on general principles and practices of caring for and managing sound recordings. Discussion topics include: history of sound carriers, preservation, storage and handling, access, and copyright. Workshop presenters are: Samuel Brylawski, Head of the Recorded Sound Section, Motion Picture, Broadcasting & Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress; James Farrington, Head of Public Services, Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music; Peter Kiefer, Coordinator of Fred Waring's America, Pennsylvania State University; and Sara Velez, Assistant Chief of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Workshop registration fees are $50 for ARSC members; $60 for non-members. Registration form and payment must be received by April 28, 2000. Attendees will be receiving confirmation notices and information on exact location.
For additional information, contact Sara Velez (212/870-1662) or Nancy Seeger (202/707-5494)
If you have not subscribed to the SNCA Listserv, you can do so by sending an email message to listserv@listserv.ncsu.edu In the body of the message, type the message: Subscribe SNCA-L (your first name) (your last name). An example of that message would be: Subscribe SNCA-L Greta Reisel.
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Contributions, suggestions, and recommendations to The North Carolina Archivist are welcome! Please keep your eyes and ears open for happening news in your repository or museum and forward it to the newsletter editor, Greta Reisel, at American Dance Festival, P.O. Box 90772, Durham, NC, 27708-0772, (919) 684-6402, fax (919) 684-5459, or email: gereisel@acpub.duke.edu.
The North Carolina Archivist is the newsletter for the Society of North Carolina Archivists. Members are encouraged to contribute by submitting articles, book reviews, and information on recent job changes, professional development, acquisitions, exhibits, workshops, projects, and publications. The newsletter is published quarterly, and this issue was designed using Microsoft Publisher 98.
Newsletter Editor:
Greta Reisel
American Dance Festival
P.O. Box 90772
Durham, NC 27708-0772
(919) 684-6402
Book
Review -
Stephen Miller