Entering this week I was able to learn another new aspect to archiving and collections management. My experience at the offsite saw the introduction of a new important skill when it comes to digitizing records. Additionally, I continued in familiar tasks such as completing audio logs from an interesting set of interviewees.
It is best to begin with the highlight of this week which was my time at the offsite location. I continued cataloguing items of recently passed Commissioner Mary I. Johnson. However, after a certain point I was stopped and tasked with beginning to learn more about the digitization process. This involves how the History Center makes specific items available for online viewing within various collections. The first step of this process was taking appropriate pictures of the items. I was shown how to have the proper set up and adjust lighting to capture an item. While learning this I realized a few important things to keep in mind. For one, the item should be as straight as possible in the photo. Though this seems simple I realized that occasionally it could be hard to center the camera or ensure that it wasn't crooked if I changed the angle to capture a larger item. Next, there was a specific protocol to the pictures as well. Each item would include at least 2 pictures. The first picture would be the item with a black slate prop. The black slate contains important information about where the item is located. It features the object number, accessions number, and then a number representing the count of the item within the collection. Therefore, it would be necessary to first take a picture of the item with this black slate and afterwards another picture without it. Furthermore, if the item was a box or something with a backside I would have to capture more pictures of these details.
In completing my first round of pictures I began to get the hang of things. There were small mistakes such as the lighting being off. Sometimes I found myself struggling to move the lights around the makeshift set but still inevitably learning about the best way to obscure shadows. Also, I needed some time to get used to the features of the camera I was using. At times, my images would be out of focus and I would have to retake them. Other times the camera battery would die on me and I would have to wait for a new one to recharge before continuing. Overall, by the end of my time at the offsite I felt comfortable with this new skill. I am eager to learn more about the uploading process and the details that go behind making items available for viewing online.
Then, the remainder of my week focused on more familiar tasks such as audio logs and research. While doing audio logs I again realized how important it is to explore even the smaller details. When I write audio logs I try to keep things as general as possible for certain descriptions. However, I will simultaneously have a note pad open to write interesting facts down or keep track of a timeline that a person is giving. While listening to one oral history I had gotten an hour and a half into this 2 hour interview and could generally tell what my short biography would be for the subject. The person was known for their work in local environmental preservation. It would have been easy to just leave her bio there and summarize the overall interview as about a woman who is a fixture in her community and works with preservation organizations. However, in the middle of the interview she made an off handed comment about being involved in so many things like boards, committees, and being a commissioner. Though, she did not stay on it long this sparked me to do my own research. I discovered that she was a commissioner for the city of Oakland in 2006. This new information added an eye opening new perspective for her biography. It allowed me to include further information that showed her dedication to her community. Moreover, it showed me how essential it is to be active listening and catch these small tidbits as they can reveal larger more important information. Another significant audio log was listening to that of a woman whose father was a survivor of the Holocaust. Her harrowing tale of his journey was insightful and poignant. She also detailed her work in keeping her family's memory alive and learning more about what happened to certain relatives who were separated during WWII. This interview provided another crucial lesson by emphasizing the significance of oral histories and keeping the stories of others alive. It proved how it can mean so much to those in the future and be a lens into evaluating the past. I hope to continue learning more of these important lessons for the remainder of my internship.
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