This is a fantastic idea - hoping some school librarians will take a cue from this. Teens need incentive to use library technology resources. Ebooks are a GREAT incentive!
http://www.slj.com/2014/05/books-media/publishing/california-town-librarian-leads-project-for-high-schoolers-to-publish-e-book/#_
Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, Sacramento Public Library Central Branch
Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, Sacramento Public Library, Central Branch
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Sacramento Room Wrap-Up
May 15th: Sacramento Room
Today I finished the EAD for the finding guide/aid to the Guth Family Papers. The archivist has sent it off to Collection Services for review and upload into the library catalog. Eventually it will find its way into the Online Archive of California - browse under Sacramento Public Library, Guth Family Papers and you'll see it there soon! It's nice that I can claim authorship to this guide.
This internship has really provided some valuable experience and helped validate my desire to go onto graduate school and focus on archival/special collections librarianship as a career path. I appreciate the time that both the SPL archivist and other special collections librarians spent training me how to use digital collections software and reference material for archival processing. I've learned that the field of archives and special collections librarianship continues to evolve and demands that professionals be adaptable to changes in digital technology. It requires a researcher's and historian's mentality plus strong visual orientation/love for art and the ability to process detailed computer metadata. I feel I possess all of these qualities and look forward to future internships/volunteer opportunities where I can continue to apply what I have learned from my experience in the Sacramento Room.
Today I finished the EAD for the finding guide/aid to the Guth Family Papers. The archivist has sent it off to Collection Services for review and upload into the library catalog. Eventually it will find its way into the Online Archive of California - browse under Sacramento Public Library, Guth Family Papers and you'll see it there soon! It's nice that I can claim authorship to this guide.
This internship has really provided some valuable experience and helped validate my desire to go onto graduate school and focus on archival/special collections librarianship as a career path. I appreciate the time that both the SPL archivist and other special collections librarians spent training me how to use digital collections software and reference material for archival processing. I've learned that the field of archives and special collections librarianship continues to evolve and demands that professionals be adaptable to changes in digital technology. It requires a researcher's and historian's mentality plus strong visual orientation/love for art and the ability to process detailed computer metadata. I feel I possess all of these qualities and look forward to future internships/volunteer opportunities where I can continue to apply what I have learned from my experience in the Sacramento Room.
Last Days in School Library
May 12th-14th: School Library
Spent the last of my hours in the middle school library re-arranging and shelving fiction books in between student CASSP testing. Although I had previously pulled the paperbacks to create a display, the teacher librarian did not approve of this approach. Without additional supplies to repair and rebind the damaged titles, the best I can do is weed those copies out and set them aside for the librarian to decide what to do with them. It's too bad because I am taking a book-binding and repair workshop at Natomas Charter School this Friday (May 23rd) - was hoping to apply those skills to this position but perhaps I can apply them in another library environment.
Ironically, on my last day of work (May 14th) I was able to do some reference work for a student who was doing a last minute report on Hitler. He came to me saying that he had checked the McKinley public library and that ALL of the books and biographies on Hitler had been checked out. A quick scan of our school's biography shelves indicated that the school's one copy on Hitler was also missing (popular subject!). So I educated the young man about the wonderful reference sources with biographical information - the school actually has an impressive collection of these sources. We eventually found a Grolier International Biography book on military leaders with a number of pages on Hitler's life. Plus I was also able to find a related books about Hitler's life as a child and World War II history. In the end, I think the student was satisfied with the information I was able to find for him.
I have found from my work experience in a middle school library that being a library technician can be rewarding from the service you provide the students. While they might not always show it, the kids do appreciate someone being there behind the circulation desk who is always available if they have a research, book, or computer question. Sadly many public schools today are lacking that familiar and helpful person in the library - whether it be a librarian, library technician, or even a parent volunteer. Until districts and faculty place a higher priority and respect for their libraries the status of public school libraries will continue to decline in my opinion. Unless you're truly committed to earning a teacher librarian credential, I do not recommend school library media specialist as a career or vocational path. However, I'm very grateful for the experience :).
Spent the last of my hours in the middle school library re-arranging and shelving fiction books in between student CASSP testing. Although I had previously pulled the paperbacks to create a display, the teacher librarian did not approve of this approach. Without additional supplies to repair and rebind the damaged titles, the best I can do is weed those copies out and set them aside for the librarian to decide what to do with them. It's too bad because I am taking a book-binding and repair workshop at Natomas Charter School this Friday (May 23rd) - was hoping to apply those skills to this position but perhaps I can apply them in another library environment.
Ironically, on my last day of work (May 14th) I was able to do some reference work for a student who was doing a last minute report on Hitler. He came to me saying that he had checked the McKinley public library and that ALL of the books and biographies on Hitler had been checked out. A quick scan of our school's biography shelves indicated that the school's one copy on Hitler was also missing (popular subject!). So I educated the young man about the wonderful reference sources with biographical information - the school actually has an impressive collection of these sources. We eventually found a Grolier International Biography book on military leaders with a number of pages on Hitler's life. Plus I was also able to find a related books about Hitler's life as a child and World War II history. In the end, I think the student was satisfied with the information I was able to find for him.
I have found from my work experience in a middle school library that being a library technician can be rewarding from the service you provide the students. While they might not always show it, the kids do appreciate someone being there behind the circulation desk who is always available if they have a research, book, or computer question. Sadly many public schools today are lacking that familiar and helpful person in the library - whether it be a librarian, library technician, or even a parent volunteer. Until districts and faculty place a higher priority and respect for their libraries the status of public school libraries will continue to decline in my opinion. Unless you're truly committed to earning a teacher librarian credential, I do not recommend school library media specialist as a career or vocational path. However, I'm very grateful for the experience :).
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Fun with EAD!
May 11th - Sacramento Room
On Mother's Day (yes, this was difficult) I faithfully volunteered again in the Sacramento Room to put in a few hours converting the finding aid I've written for MC 32 (George Guth Family Papers) into XML language. The conversion is done according to a reference standard known as encoded archival description (EAD) - essentially 'cataloguing' for archives. Following a template provided by the archivist, I assigned EAD tags for each component of the finding aid (collection title, description, abstract, extent, etc.) that will allow for the guide to eventually be viewable on the Online Archive of California. The Online Archive of California (OAC) provides free public access to primary sources—including manuscripts, photographs, artwork, scientific data and more—through more than 20,000 collection guides and 200,000 digitized images and documents. Some of Sacramento Room collection guides/finding aids that have already been uploaded onto the OAC website can be found at http://www.oac.cdlib.org/institutions/Sacramento+Public+Library.
The Online Archive of California also provides an guide for best practices in EAD, which can be found here: http://www2.archivists.org/groups/technical-subcommittee-on-encoded-archival-description-ead/encoded-archival-description-ead
Once my finding aid for the Guth Family Papers is encoded properly, it will be sent to the Library's Collection Services for a catalog record to be created - it will then eventually be uploaded onto OAC, completing my third objective for this semester's volunteer position in the Sacramento Room.
On Mother's Day (yes, this was difficult) I faithfully volunteered again in the Sacramento Room to put in a few hours converting the finding aid I've written for MC 32 (George Guth Family Papers) into XML language. The conversion is done according to a reference standard known as encoded archival description (EAD) - essentially 'cataloguing' for archives. Following a template provided by the archivist, I assigned EAD tags for each component of the finding aid (collection title, description, abstract, extent, etc.) that will allow for the guide to eventually be viewable on the Online Archive of California. The Online Archive of California (OAC) provides free public access to primary sources—including manuscripts, photographs, artwork, scientific data and more—through more than 20,000 collection guides and 200,000 digitized images and documents. Some of Sacramento Room collection guides/finding aids that have already been uploaded onto the OAC website can be found at http://www.oac.cdlib.org/institutions/Sacramento+Public+Library.
The Online Archive of California also provides an guide for best practices in EAD, which can be found here: http://www2.archivists.org/groups/technical-subcommittee-on-encoded-archival-description-ead/encoded-archival-description-ead
Once my finding aid for the Guth Family Papers is encoded properly, it will be sent to the Library's Collection Services for a catalog record to be created - it will then eventually be uploaded onto OAC, completing my third objective for this semester's volunteer position in the Sacramento Room.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Visit to Goodman Library!
May 9th - Goodman Library, Napa County
While awaiting comments from the Sacramento Room archivist on my work, I had a little time today to make a trip to the Goodman Library, home of the Napa County Historical Society, in Napa, California. You can read about the history of this library at http://wordpress.napahistory.org/wordpress/?page_id=1110. Constructed ca 1901/1902, this building is considered the longest continuously operating library in California. Ms. Alexandria Brown, Research Librarian, gave me a tour of the upstairs reading room and archives. I enjoyed my visit and learned of the many volunteer and internship opportunities for students of MLIS/Archival Studies programs. Looking forward to helping out at this library in the future :). The Society has received community grant money to improve collections storage conditions, provide equipment for the transcription of oral histories and digitization of photographs, and updating its online catalog which is run through PastPerfect online (http://napahistory.pastperfect-online.com/37471cgi/mweb.exe?request=ks). It's a treasure trove of local Napa and California history.
While awaiting comments from the Sacramento Room archivist on my work, I had a little time today to make a trip to the Goodman Library, home of the Napa County Historical Society, in Napa, California. You can read about the history of this library at http://wordpress.napahistory.org/wordpress/?page_id=1110. Constructed ca 1901/1902, this building is considered the longest continuously operating library in California. Ms. Alexandria Brown, Research Librarian, gave me a tour of the upstairs reading room and archives. I enjoyed my visit and learned of the many volunteer and internship opportunities for students of MLIS/Archival Studies programs. Looking forward to helping out at this library in the future :). The Society has received community grant money to improve collections storage conditions, provide equipment for the transcription of oral histories and digitization of photographs, and updating its online catalog which is run through PastPerfect online (http://napahistory.pastperfect-online.com/37471cgi/mweb.exe?request=ks). It's a treasure trove of local Napa and California history.
Finding Aid & School Fiction Collection Issues
May 6th - Sacramento Room
Spent a few hours today going over the remaining papers in the manuscript collection I'm processing - now officially named MC32. Reviewed two leather-bound ledger books dating from 1884/1885 belonging to the Guth family. Brothers George and John Guth emigrated to California from France ca 1850s. Both ran successful grocery/feed store businesses - the ledger books detail in script business operations (bills, receipts) as well as the information about the genealogy of the family. The archivist will review my finding aid for this collection, make edits, and explain process of EAD coding. Eventually this finding aid will be uploaded onto the Online Archive of California website. Also looking forward to receiving a little more Contentdm training through online tutorials before the end of the semester.
May 7th - School Library
The middle school is currently administering the CORE tests and the library has been reserved by classes for this purpose the last few days. Without direct guidance from a Teacher Librarian, I chose to wait to come in this Students are using the new MacBook Air laptops that were purchased for the middle school. Spent four hours processing backlog of returned books and reorganizing fiction collection per instruction of Teacher Librarian. The fiction collection is in serious need of weeding but no progress has been made on this to date (not for lack of trying on my part :) ). At least the fiction books are in better shape now than when I first found them - looking forward to a book binding and repair workshop at Natomas Charter School on May 23rd. Although I've pretty much taught myself how to mylar wrap and repair book jackets on the job, a document preservation workshop I took at the State Archives last fall provided some handy tips in this respect. My last official day at the middle school library is Wednesday, May 14th.
Spent a few hours today going over the remaining papers in the manuscript collection I'm processing - now officially named MC32. Reviewed two leather-bound ledger books dating from 1884/1885 belonging to the Guth family. Brothers George and John Guth emigrated to California from France ca 1850s. Both ran successful grocery/feed store businesses - the ledger books detail in script business operations (bills, receipts) as well as the information about the genealogy of the family. The archivist will review my finding aid for this collection, make edits, and explain process of EAD coding. Eventually this finding aid will be uploaded onto the Online Archive of California website. Also looking forward to receiving a little more Contentdm training through online tutorials before the end of the semester.
May 7th - School Library
The middle school is currently administering the CORE tests and the library has been reserved by classes for this purpose the last few days. Without direct guidance from a Teacher Librarian, I chose to wait to come in this Students are using the new MacBook Air laptops that were purchased for the middle school. Spent four hours processing backlog of returned books and reorganizing fiction collection per instruction of Teacher Librarian. The fiction collection is in serious need of weeding but no progress has been made on this to date (not for lack of trying on my part :) ). At least the fiction books are in better shape now than when I first found them - looking forward to a book binding and repair workshop at Natomas Charter School on May 23rd. Although I've pretty much taught myself how to mylar wrap and repair book jackets on the job, a document preservation workshop I took at the State Archives last fall provided some handy tips in this respect. My last official day at the middle school library is Wednesday, May 14th.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
I Street Press Book Publishing Workshop
May 3rd - Sacramento Public Library, Central Branch
OK, so technically this isn't part of my volunteer duties at the Sacramento Room, but I could not pass up the invitation from Special Projects Librarian Gerald Ward to sit in on a I Street Press book publishing workshop offered today from 10am-3pm. Mr. Ward did an amazing job walking a class of roughly 10-12 students through the process of developing a book block and cover using MS Word. There were some source of frustration, pagination and even/odd page breaks are a tricky component of developing the block. However, we had a little more fun developing our covers. I'm writing a publication about the history of Hawaiian/Native families along the Sacramento River from 1839-1916 - you can read more about that project on my blog at http://muliwai.blogspot.com/
After working on our book blocks and covers, Mr. Ward took us up to the second floor to watch a book being printed via the Espresso Book Machine of the I Street Press. The whole process took less than a couple minutes - the pics below show the finished product. Have to admit after watching how easy it is to publish through I Street Press that I'm hooked
OK, so technically this isn't part of my volunteer duties at the Sacramento Room, but I could not pass up the invitation from Special Projects Librarian Gerald Ward to sit in on a I Street Press book publishing workshop offered today from 10am-3pm. Mr. Ward did an amazing job walking a class of roughly 10-12 students through the process of developing a book block and cover using MS Word. There were some source of frustration, pagination and even/odd page breaks are a tricky component of developing the block. However, we had a little more fun developing our covers. I'm writing a publication about the history of Hawaiian/Native families along the Sacramento River from 1839-1916 - you can read more about that project on my blog at http://muliwai.blogspot.com/
After working on our book blocks and covers, Mr. Ward took us up to the second floor to watch a book being printed via the Espresso Book Machine of the I Street Press. The whole process took less than a couple minutes - the pics below show the finished product. Have to admit after watching how easy it is to publish through I Street Press that I'm hooked
Friday, May 2, 2014
San Diego Central Library: Springbreak Experience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLZeWjLxlwQ&feature=youtu.be
Manuscript Processing - A Juicy Story!
Sunday, April 27th - Sacramento Room
Four hours were spent today writing notes about the manuscript collection I've been assigned. Discovered a fairly juicy related newspaper article that is connected to this collection, which has added a whole other dimension. The main content of this collection are abstracts of records pertaining to the estate owned at Lot 8, N and O Streets, 20th and 21st street between 1848 to ca 1911/1912. The second item in this collection is a black, leather bound ledger book with a signature of "Mrs. Emelia Sprague" written on the front cover - this book tells a rather personal and tragic story of the Lavine Family and estate. Mrs. Anna and Emil Lavine lived the property on the North half of Lot 8 until they divorced in 1886. Anna owned the mortgage/lien on the property via Germania Building and Loan Association, the prominent broker/banker of the time in Sacramento. She then married a man named Louis Ziegler in 1888 and then died suddenly on August 26, 1889. The Sacramento Daily Union article, which I found in the California Digital Newspaper Collection, details the story of her untimely death by arsenic poisoning:
http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18890828.2.32&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Anna+Ziegler-----
Four hours were spent today writing notes about the manuscript collection I've been assigned. Discovered a fairly juicy related newspaper article that is connected to this collection, which has added a whole other dimension. The main content of this collection are abstracts of records pertaining to the estate owned at Lot 8, N and O Streets, 20th and 21st street between 1848 to ca 1911/1912. The second item in this collection is a black, leather bound ledger book with a signature of "Mrs. Emelia Sprague" written on the front cover - this book tells a rather personal and tragic story of the Lavine Family and estate. Mrs. Anna and Emil Lavine lived the property on the North half of Lot 8 until they divorced in 1886. Anna owned the mortgage/lien on the property via Germania Building and Loan Association, the prominent broker/banker of the time in Sacramento. She then married a man named Louis Ziegler in 1888 and then died suddenly on August 26, 1889. The Sacramento Daily Union article, which I found in the California Digital Newspaper Collection, details the story of her untimely death by arsenic poisoning:
http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18890828.2.32&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Anna+Ziegler-----
The timing and circumstances of the death, coupled with the value of the real estate, are suspicious - there's implication here that Anna's ex-husband Emil Lavine may have been guilty of foul play - but we'll never know. Great material for the Sacramento Room's storytelling programs though!
After Anna's death, the Lavine/Ziegler estate would become a tug-of-war in the courts between Emil Lavine (the former husband) and Louis Ziegler (the widowed husband). The abstract records indicate Mr. Lavine assumed guardianship over his children and responsibility for their mother's debt obligations. Durham Sprague was a surety for the bond issued to Mr. Lavine for paying money owed to Germania Building and Loan. The person or company providing the promise to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower (if borrower defaults) is also known as a "surety" or as a "guarantor". Mrs. Emelia Sprague was Mr. Sprague's wife.
Manuscript Collection & SPL Volunteer Luncheon
April 24th - Sacramento Room & SPL Volunteer Luncheon
Today I've begun processing a small manuscript collection associated with a local small owner business date from the late 1800s. The collection comprises a set of ledger books and abstract of title/chain of title legal records. I will be creating a simple finding aid using example from the Online Archive of California/Calisphere and learning about Encoded Archival Description (EAD) tags so the finding aid and collection may be digitized in a way that can be searched via the Online Archive or the Sacramento Room's/Sacramento Public Library's Digital Collections. I've been directed to read a number of links including:
http://www2.archivists.org/profession
http://www.loc.gov/ead/eaddev.html
http://www.cdlib.org/services/dsc/contribute/docs/oacbpgead v2-0.pdf
http://eadiva.com
This Thursday I only spent 2 hours volunteering but I will spend another 4 hours on Sunday, April 27th.
Got in a little networking and fun at the library today as well. As a volunteer of the Sacramento Room, I attended the Sacramento Public Library Annual Volunteer Appreciation luncheon in the Tsakopolous Library Galleria. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to bring my son to one of my favorite places to work :). Here are some pics from that event - the Wizard of Oz theme was awesome!
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