Spring is here! And with it comes longer days, rain-showers, colorful flowers, and yes, that all important task of 'spring cleaning'! Whether it is decluttering your house, cleaning out closets, or filing last year's photographs, spring is considered a time of renewal. The same concept is often true of our work here at the museum each time this season rolls around. 

This month, I’ve been privileged to work with our wonderful archivist, Molly Sauder to “refresh” an inventory database of historic photography.

The Robert E. Nail, Jr. Archives houses a photography collection that reflects the history and heritage of our area. This collection includes over 3,000 images, of which only around a third have already been individually cataloged. (The rest are currently grouped only by subject.) 

Of course, our ultimate archival goal is to catalog this collection in its entirety- because doing so is essential to the research, preservation and accessibility of these artifacts! 

But before we could begin our work towards this goal, some 'spring cleaning' needed to take place! 

To Do List:

Step #1

As collections grow and change over time, new archival standards are developed in our profession. Sometimes these changes include an update of inventory database software or its structure. 

Our most time-consuming step of this project was to re-evaluate some of the previous categories, descriptions and keywords in our database that are used to identify our photographs. Although this required significant time and forethought, this organization will ensure the accessibility of the collection. (A researcher visiting our archives will have an easier time locating images of interest to them.) 

Step #2

Just as items can be accidentally misplaced in your home, the inventory of the archival photography needs to be periodically reviewed. Our next job was to ensure that all the photographs of the collection were accounted for. This is a public archive- utilized by visiting researchers and then re-filed, so sometimes items can become misfiled. (They were all accounted for, by the way! *Whew*)

Step #3

This process is a timely moment to add new information/ context we may have discovered about the photograph since our last inventory. This could include new info about the content of the image (a subject, location or event) or info about the object itself (the provenance, creation process of the photograph, etc.)

Step #4

Once the above tasks have been completed, we will be prepared to move forward individually cataloging the rest of our photography collection.

This spring project has been such a fun opportunity to become more acquainted with the treasures of this collection. As we work, I’m reminded of the feeling of tending a garden- clearing, cleaning and planning- to ensure that our collection grows in health and scale for the benefit of future generations in our community. 

Jewellee Kuenstler, THC&P Coordinator