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Saint Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church records
The records of St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church of Philadelphia, one of the collections held at Temple University’s Special Collections Research Center, sheds light on a unique aspect of...
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“Two Gun” Bessie and the case for better folder titles
One of the issues with working with a legacy finding aid is that previous descriptions can easily fall short. Such is the case with the MOLLUS collection, and we tried to go back through folders with...
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Why is a Museum Director like Indiana Jones?
While working with the records of Langdon Warner (Director of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Arts, 1917 to 1923), we were struck first by the fact that Mr. Warner was far away from...
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Surprise! The Marion Turner Stubbs Collection is…probably not what you expected.
Many times, in archives, we come across collections that do not turn out the way we expect. Perhaps the processing time takes far longer than we anticipated due to a box full of deconstructed file...
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Minimal deaccessioning
The parameters of our Hidden Collections project generally preclude any deaccessioning efforts from being part of the process. We’re tasked with moving at a relatively swift pace – roughly twice the...
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…A File By Any Other Name???
Letter found in Boggs’ correspondence. Archives coursework doesn’t prepare you for the fact that legacy file names may have multiple personalities. Local naming conventions sometimes resemble nicknames...
View ArticleOn collaboration
The PACSCL Hidden Collections project involves a great deal of collaboration. We work with a processing partner each day. We exchange ideas and stories with the other processing teams. And we work with...
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More Pragmatism, Less Protocol
More Product, Less Process is a great way for putting our workflow into perspective in archives. Some tasks do not require a lot of detailed attention, and a cursory run-through along with some...
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SAA Student Poster Re-Cap: “Reprocessing: The Trials and Tribulations of...
from the poster presented at the Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting, August 2014, Washington, D.C. by Annalise Berdini, Steven Duckworth, Jessica Hoffman, Alina Josan, Amanda Mita, &...
View ArticleA challenge from the Superintendents
When I first approached the Archdiocesan Superintendent of Schools records at the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center (PAHRC), I was concerned to say the least. In fact, I was...
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I Love It When a Plan Comes Together!
One of the lessons I’ve learned during the course of this project is that often, despite your best efforts, processing will inevitably lead to snags that slow down your pace and extend processing time....
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Giving 110%: Processing Completed!
Training the first cohort of processors. I’m pleased to announce that our 12-month processing phase of the project has been completed successfully! Overall, the amazing project team efficiently...
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Stop and Smell the Roses
Long ago, when it was snowing a lot and often, Alina Josan and I spent eight weeks at the Germantown Historical Society. The majority of our time at GHS was spent with the records of the Germantown...
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