My name is Rebekah Bain, and I am a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I am in the coordinated MA History and Master of Library Information Science programs, with an archives concentration.
I am very honored to be a part of the Curating Community Digital Collections 2019 cohort, and I have been enjoying working at Appleton Public Library. Working with the Local History Librarian, Katie Stilp, and attending various staff meetings, I have learned a lot about the many roles played at a public library, especially the important local history collections, which provide great significance to the community.
My primary objective during my summer in Appleton is to work with the digital photograph collections. I am organizing the photographs into collections based upon subject, creating an inventory of the photographs at the collection level, and compiling metadata of the photographs at the file level. Because many photographs currently have their metadata embedded into the file name, I must first maintain these contextualizing pieces of information before using the tool Advanced Renamer to organize compatible naming systems according to collections.
In addition to working with the digital photographs, I am writing a digital preservation policy which will not only cover the digital photograph collections, but also will one day include oral histories, documents, and any other digital material the library wishes to preserve. By beginning with the photograph collections, we are laying a foundation for future preservation actions that will ensure that these materials are saved for future use by the community of Appleton. Because the Outagamie Waupaca Library System (OWLS), which is housed in the Appleton Public Library building, was a part of Curating Community Digital Collections last year, I have been able to use their experience with digital preservation as a basis for my own work.
During a meeting with our team mentor, Erin Dix, archivist at Lawrence University, I had the privilege of touring Lawrence University Archives. It is always very interesting and valuable to see different archives and learn a bit more about their ways of preserving the local past.
I am really enjoying my time here in Appleton and learning a bit more about the history of the area through the historic photographs. Some of my favorites are of Appleton resident, Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born American illusionist and stunt performer, noted for his sensational escape acts.
I am very glad I can be a part of supporting the rich history of this community through digital preservation.
For more information about Curating Community Digital Collections, visit https://recollectionwisconsin.org/digipres.
This project is made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, #RE-85-17-0127-17.
