Assessment of Learning Experience
The objective of this practicum was to acquire skills and experience in a variety of library domains. Under the guidance of Kiffany Francis, Metadata Librarian at Cleveland State University Library, I was able to investigate many areas of interest, some of which have already proven useful to my career.
Most of my first week on the job was spent cataloging electronic resources for student subject portals. Many of the items were from the excellent (and free) Gutenberg <e> collection, a joint effort of the American Historical Association and Columbia University Press – a great resource that could be added to any library catalog. While I initially struggled with some of the more arcane aspects of cataloging, I eventually got the hang of it and now feel comfortable doing original and copy cataloging, using library software such as OCLC Connexion and Millenium, and classifying items using LC ClassWeb. An example of my work may be viewed here.
The next phase of my practicum involved creating digital collections and metadata for the very impressive Cleveland Memory Project. I was charged with processing an archival photo collection, consisting of about 70 images from the Parrish & Bingham Company plant once located on the city’s west side. I began by doing some basic historical research on the company, browsing through city directories, local history texts, plat books, newspaper clippings and encyclopedias. Once I had established a base of knowledge on the topic, I was able to catalog the items and write a description of the collection, placing the images in greater historical context. On the technical side, each image was processed – using Adobe Photoshop – according to internal standards for web display copies and digital archival (storage) copies. Additionally, I consulted with the archivist in Special Collections to determine a basic preservation strategy for the 80+ year old images, which posed a unique problem due to their being matted to linen pages and bound in a leather and metal screw ring album. The materials were published to a new collection in the CONTENTdm-based Cleveland Memory catalog and may be viewed here. Finally, an additional access point was created on the open web at the popular photo sharing site Flickr, and is viewable here. This struck me as a particularly good idea, since Flickr is popular around the world and thus has the potential to point researchers and other users toward the lower profile Cleveland Memory site.
During the last phase of my practicum (not including my final project), I processed archival collections and created several archival finding aids. The first finding aid I worked on, for the Lewis Turco Collection, was already in existence, but needed to be converted to the XML-based Encoded Archival Description (EAD) standard. For this, and for subsequent original finding aids, I used the EAD Finding Aid Creation Tool and followed DACS standards for archival description. The other two collections I worked on, the Alberta Turner Collection and the James A. Miller Collection, began as a single collection. It was only after an initial inventory, some research on the subjects and provenance, and several discussion about archival standards, that we were able to discern that the materials in question could rightly be separated into two separate collections. The findings aids, published at the OhioLink Finding Aid Repository, may be viewed using the following links: Lewis Turco Collection, Alberta Turner Collection, and James A. Miller Collection. Materials for each collection were placed in acid-free boxes and folders, and serious preservation issues were noted for later maintenance.
For my final practicum project, I worked on processing and publishing a portion of the large digital oral history collection held by the CSU History Department (where I am an alumnus and, as of this week, an employee). Although the collection of oral histories at CSU began more than 5 years ago, the department has not had the resources or expertise to publish the interviews in their entirety (although portions have been used to great effect on the Euclid Corridor Project, as well as in classes and workshops). Because I knew that part of my new job would be to make these items available to teachers, students, and the general public; I chose to begin the process during my practicum. After consulting with Kif and with the project leader at the History Department, it was decided that the materials would be cataloged and published (at least initially) to the OhioLink Digital Resource Commons, which runs on Dspace and utilizes qualified DublinCore metadata elements. To read more about my final project, including the challenges of working with oral history interviews, visit the Project Report page of this site.
Other activities carried out during my practicum included attending staff meetings, vendor presentations, and guest lectures (discussed further on my Daily Work Log). Like my frequent discussions with the CSU Library staff, these activities gave me an opportunity to view and participate in professional library work on a first-hand basis. I was also able to get familiar with the day-to-day tools of librarianship, something that I felt was lacking in many of my SLIS courses, which tended to focus more on standards, service, and theory. Overall, my practicum experience was very enjoyable and informative, and will surely be of continuing value to my career.
