Digital Archiving

             While interning with the archives department at the Space Telescope Science Institute one of the most challenging and interesting tasks I have had the opportunity to work on has been a digital archiving project.   The main project I have worked on was to organize and create original metadata for a collection of Technical Reports for the Hubble Space Telescope.  The reports were digitally stored on the website called Box but needed to have their metadata recorded and transferred to ArchivEra.  ArchivEra is the website that the Space Telescope Science Institute uses for organizing its collections online.  The goal of the project was to create a user-friendly research tool for employees at the Space Telescope Science Institute by allowing them to search through multiple collections using the metadata.  Eventually, the goal will be to make the material available to the public online.    

            I began the project by going through two collections of Technical Reports for the Hubble Space Telescope and adding an index of contents to an Excel spreadsheet.  The content had to be added in the spreadsheet separated by a semicolon, with no spaces separating the values.  After completing this project I added the index of contents to the material that was already in ArchivEra, but still needed an index of content. 

However, not all the material had been transferred from Box to ArchivEra, so I had to create further metadata for them, and then add them into ArchivEra.  The other fields of metadata were the title of the report, date, date range, creators, processing information, download URL, accrual URL, index of content (which I already added), and location of the report in Box.  Next, I had to ensure that the spreadsheet was saved as a CSV UTF-8 (Comma Delimited) (.csv) and that the information was formatted correctly.  Finally, I went into ArchivEra and uploaded the spreadsheet, which automatically added the metadata to the reports.    

This has been my most interesting project thus far in my internship because digital archiving is the skill I primarily wanted to learn during this opportunity.  I believe having digital libraries and archives is important because it allows more access to a collection despite location.  I have found this project challenging due to the complex formatting requirements and the unclear error messages from ArchivEra.  The formatting required for the project is quite complex and I have found it necessary to constantly check the manual provided to me to ensure that the metadata is entered correctly into the spreadsheet.  If the formatting is incorrect ArchivEra will not accept the upload.  The error messages are also unclear to me as they use codes to express the mistake in the spreadsheet rather than highlighting the incorrect text.  This means that if there is an error message, I have to go back through the spreadsheet and carefully analyze the values to find the error.  However, despite this, I have still enjoyed the project as it has allowed me to gain a new skill in archives and make myself more marketable for future internships and jobs.  I love the feeling of finishing inputting metadata and knowing that it will help researchers find the materials they need.  

                     Image from NASA website: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/.  

Living It Up at Livable Frederick

 Hello all!

 

Sasha here! I just finished up my first month as an intern with the Historic Preservation team at the Division of Planning and Permitting in Frederick County, Maryland. The Division of Planning and Permitting is a vital part of the Livable Frederick initiative, a community-based framework adopted by the Frederick County Council in 2019. This framework was designed to be a long-term strategy plan aimed at optimizing the quality of life for community members throughout the county, including sustaining high standards of civilian health, economic stability, and environmental balance. A large part of maintaining a ‘livable Frederick’ is ensuring clear and thorough goals regarding county growth and development, including the continued preservation of Frederick County’s historic buildings, landmarks, and atmosphere that have come to define the area. Livable Frederick’s vision for historic preservation includes multiple new initiatives that are expected to strengthen their overall approach, including a context-sensitive adaptable re-use goal, a ‘bottom-up’ preservation strategy for rural locations, and a focus on diversifying and expanding local history collections.

 

The Livable Frederick team at the Division of Planning and Permitting office is made up of about a dozen professionals, including urban planners, landscape architects, and a few other various engineer-types that oversee areas like sewage, water treatment, transportation, etc. My role as an intern is to work under the two preservationists on the team. Initially, I was slightly worried that—with only one historic preservation class under my belt—I would be in over my head. However, the work so far has been very accommodating, and has allowed me to build on my ‘historian’ skillset: research, archive-digging, and writing. The preservation team oversees historic buildings and landmarks throughout Frederick County, ensuring that they are being protected and documented while other development projects are being conducted. For example, there are plans in the works for the construction of a new High School in the county. A historic building that was once a slave quarter was discovered on the land, calling for new research, budgeting, and alternative planning to be initiated. Should the structure be incorporated as a historical site on the school campus? Should it be moved to a different site? How will that change its context? These are the questions that are being asked by the preservationists on the Livable Frederick team, as they and the other team members come together to try and strategize the best solution concerning the structure and the community. While I haven’t worked on this specific project (it’s still in its infancy stage, meaning the next intern will likely get a crack at it!), this gives you a good idea of the type of exciting work that is going on in the office, and how the internship is a great opportunity to enhance research and context-building skills, as well as have a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges arising in this field of public history.

 

In addition to research, there have also been opportunities to gain more practical knowledge of the historic preservation field.  I have drafted a few property descriptions, advancing my understanding of architectural and agricultural language tenfold (who knew there were so many different types of barns?!).  I have also begun to comb through Frederick County properties on the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (MIHP) list to look for cases of diversity that may have been previously overlooked when nominated. This project helps re-define and re-contextualize what we consider historic by enhancing the searchability and documentation of Maryland historic properties for more equitable representation.

 

Irish Railroad Museum

 

My name is Hunter Higgins and I am a senior history student at UMBC, with a minor in public history.  Before the time I graduate, I believe it is imperative that I work as an intern for a historical facility.  I wish to gain experience in my chosen field, and I know that my skills will prove useful to any institution that chooses to take me on as an intern.  This semester I am undertaking an internship with the Irish Railroad Workers Museum in Baltimore.  This facility is a small museum on the corner of Lemmon and Poppleton St., across from the B&O Railroad Museum.  It consists of several buildings that once inhabited working class Irish immigrants beginning in the 1850s.  With the help of our institution, these buildings have been refurbished and repurposed into both a historical recreation house and a generalized museum dedicated to the Irish immigrant experience.  As of now, this facility is the only working-class historical house in the state.  The facility consists of two buildings, one housing the welcome center and several exhibits detailing the experiences of Irish immigrants as well as the other working-class denizens of the neighborhood.  This building additionally features much of the original furnishings that were in the house since its construction in the 1850s, including the original horsehair plaster.  The second house, next door to the other, features a historical recreation of the actual family that once called this house their home, as well as recreations of the furniture and amenities that they would have used in their daily lives.  On the second floor of this building, as well, we have a recreation of the conditions on a “coffin ship”, the repurposed slaving vessels used to ferry Irish immigrants during the Great Famine.  To assist this facility during my internship, I conduct tours in both of these buildings, helping guest to become acquainted with the material as they explore the exhibits.  Additionally, we have new a exhibit in development, and I am working tirelessly on the demographics research that will help make it possible.

Surveying an Archival Collection: Maryland Folklife Network Internship

Hello Everyone,

My name is Josh Masser, and I am currently working as the Maryland Folklife Network Intern for UMBC’s special collections. The bulk of this internship is focused on processing a newly acquired collection of archival materials that is currently named the Mills of Baltimore County Collection. Archival processing is essentially the act of organizing, appraising, and defining a given collection of materials. The Mills of Baltimore County Collection is just one part of a larger collection of materials gathered by Charles L. Wagandt II. Wagandt was the founder, owner, and president of the Oella Company Inc., an organization committed to the restoration and preservation of Oella, a mill village just outside of Ellicott City. The Oella mill village, grew around Oella Mill, a textile mill that operated along the Patapsco River between 1808 and 1972. Wagandt was the great-grandson of William James Dickey whose family business W.J. Dickey and Sons had owned and operated Oella Mill since 1887. In 1973 Wagandt purchased Oella and launched his forty-year campaign to preserve the historic character of the village, which still exists to this day.

The Mills of Baltimore County Collection is housed in about eighty boxes of various sizes (and yes, I have looked in every one of those boxes already), for those of you familiar with archives this collection is currently about thirty-three linear feet. The first step in processing a collection like this is to conduct a survey of the materials. This involved going through the collection box by box and recording some of the general topics, dates, and contents. I really enjoyed this process, though I have to admit that it was difficult to not spend too much time on each box, my supervisor stressed that the survey is very informal and instructed me to spend no more than five or ten minutes on a single box. This became particularly difficult when I would encounter materials that related to Maryland textile mill history, a subject that I have become increasingly interested in over the past couple of years. Now that my survey is complete, I have begun to draft a processing plan for the collection, which outlines how I plan to approach organizing the collection and arguing why this collection will be useful for future research. The processing plan is both familiar and daunting at the same time, but I feel like it is starting to come together nicely.

The collection has a variety of materials related to the people of Oella, the W.J. Dickey and Sons company, and various research and oral history projects related to the same topics. I’ve looked at a bunch of photos, memorabilia, and various documents in the collection. I hope that I get the opportunity to look closer at some of these materials because I could only get a glimpse of them during the collection survey. In particular I would like to listen to some of the oral history interviews, look at some of the photos of the town’s rehabilitation, and read through some of Wagandt’s research materials.

Until next time,

Josh

Just some of the boxes that contain the Mills of Baltimore County Collection

Having a Role in the Future

 

           My internship this semester is at the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum (GLMMAM), where I have been a volunteer for over six years. Currently an all-volunteer organization, the museum is in the midst of a transformation, which will likely lead to the staff’s professionalization. Having completed the course work for my degree, I regard this internship as an opportunity apply and expand this knowledge while contributing to this transformation.

Founded in 1990, the GLAMMAM is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the aircraft manufacturer Glenn L. Martin Company and its successors, Martin-Marietta and Lockheed-Martin. Glenn Martin formed his eponymous company in southern California in 1910, shortly after his first airplane’s initial flight. His California facilities closed as a result of a 1916 merger with the Wright Company; and upon this union’s collapse a year later, Martin reestablished his company in Cleveland. Seeking more space and a climate more conducive to building seaplanes, his primary product at the time, Martin moved in 1929 to Middle River in Baltimore’s eastern suburbs.

Martin’s company had a significant economic and social presence In the Baltimore area. It expanded in the lead up to WWII, becoming Baltimore’s second largest manufacturer. Employment at the plant peaked at over 52,000 people during the war. Martin’s company was one of first defense industries to hire women factory workers, who became known as “Rosie the Riveters.” Women made up 35 percent of the company’s workforce by 1944. To accommodate the wartime influx of workers from the south and west, the company turned woodlands surrounding the plant into housing, developing a community. Martin produced nearly 9,000 bombers and patrol planes during WWII. Although combat aircraft continued to be its main products following the armistice, it also constructed one of first post-war airliners. The company eventually turned its focus to missiles, with its Titan being adopted as the booster rocket for the Gemini space program. A 1962 merger with American Marietta created Martin-Marietta, which became Lockheed-Martin in 1995. Under the Martin, Martin-Marietta, and Lockheed-Martin banners, the company maintained a presence in Middle River for 94 years, which ended when Lockheed-Martin left the area in 2023.

The GLMMAM is devoted to keeping this presence alive. The museum, which is located on Martin State Airport, has been an all-volunteer organization since its inception. I joined the staff in 2017, after spending eleven years volunteering at the College Park Aviation Museum. Currently, I manage the GLMMAM museum shop and serve as the head museum guide. From the start, however, my primary role has been working with the museum’s collections.

Lockheed-Martin’s departure from Middle River may eventually benefit the GLMMAM’s mission. The museum plans to move from its confined spaces on the airport to the office building formerly occupied by Lockheed-Martin. The 20,000 square foot building will offer the museum opportunity to explore and present Martin’s legacy more fully. It will also provide more space for education programs and involvement with the community. Although the GLMMAM has been capably run by a small group of part-time volunteers for the past 34 years, it will have to incorporate more professionally trained staff to meet this expansion, in my opinion. Furthermore, it will need to strengthen its practices to conform to current professional standards more closely.

To be part the museum’s professionalization was my reason for seeking graduate degree in public history. For my internship, I have undertaken the task of creating the museum’s collection policy and codifying its collection procedures. In part, this assignment is a chance for me to apply knowledge gained from public history courses. It will also be a learning experience. In preparation, I have been researching collection methods. Furthermore, I have been reaching out to comparably sized aviation museums in the region in an investigation of best practices. Based on these observations, I plan to tailor the policy and procedures for the GLMMAM.  

The GLMMAM is on a course to become a sizable museum. For over 30 years, it has thrived with a part-time, all-volunteer staff to preserve the Martin legacy in Baltimore and present it to the public. Its expected expansion, however, will likely require a higher degree of professionalization. With my internship project of creating collection policy, I have an opportunity to contribute to this transformation.

               The Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum

Maryland State Archives Internship

 

Hello!

My name is Gabe Morrison, and over this past summer, I was given the opportunity to intern at the Maryland State Archives in their digital acquisition, process, and publication department. While I did spend time at MSA’s office in Annapolis, I spent the majority of my internship working at MSA’s storage facility in Woodlawn, Maryland, which is about a 15 minute drive away from campus, so luckily enough, I was able to live on campus over the summer.

While working at the digital acquisition department, I was able to work on a variety of projects, all having to do with the digitized media that MSA holds. 

The main project I worked on was with MSA’s master negative microfilm collection, in which I was given the task to identify microfilm reels that were at risk of developing vinegar syndrome – a process in which a microfilm reel can become warped over-time, smelling like vinegar – and separating those reels from the rest of the collection in order to mitigate the spread of vinegar syndrome. 

Along with the microfilm project I worked on, I was also able to work with various materials which MSA needed to be digitized, or material that had already been digitized, but needed quality control review. This included marriage records from right after the second world war, land deeds from post-revolution America, and even correspondence between various acting Marylander generals and the Maryland State House during the Revolutionary War. 

Unfortunately during my internship I failed to consider that I should be taking pictures of my time at MSA, so I don't have pictures of the work I was able to do over the summer. Either way I thought I’d share a picture of the reading room of the Maryland State Archives office in Annapolis, it's one of my favorite reading rooms I’ve been able to work in.  

 

 

Merging Astronomy and Archives

            Hello, my name is Travis Clatterbuck.  I am a senior at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, with a History major and minors in Ancient Studies and Public History.  Over the Spring 2024 semester, I will be completing an internship with the Space Telescope Science Institute as an archive intern.  This will be my second internship with archives, a field I wish to further pursue after I graduate at the end of the semester.  Although I have some experience interning with archives, this will be a unique experience as it is with the organization that controls the Hubble and Webb space telescopes.  My previous experience was with a historic museum, so the material within the collection will be quite different. 

            My internship takes place at the Space Telescope Science Institute which is located on Johns Hopkins University Campus.  My work hours are typically Monday and Wednesday six hours a day, for twelve total hours a week.  Thus far in my internship, I have not yet begun any projects as I am still being trained.  However, the majority of the work I will be doing will include digital archiving, analog processing, and aiding in the curation of a small rotating exhibit.  For the digital archiving project I will be working with a website called ArchivEra to process the raw digital material that the archive has in pdf format.  The analog processing project will require me to process a couple of physical collections.  Finally, I am very excited to have the opportunity to aid in the curation of a small, rotating exhibit.  I have enjoyed the curation assignments that I have done in school but have never had the chance to do in a professional setting. 

            I am looking forward to having another opportunity to experience working in an archive, especially in a different type than my previous internship.  I think this internship will be extremely unique and is an excellent example of how archives and public history jobs can be found in almost all fields.  I am by no means a scientist or astronomer, so I am interested to learn more and see how I can bring my background in history and public history to a science-dominated organization.  I hope to share more on a specific project later on in the semester.