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Rediscovering Alta California: Increasing Access to 18th and 19th Century Religious and Secular Collections The Mission Santa Clara Manuscript Project. Erin M. Louthen Santa Clara University May 2014. In the Beginning.
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Rediscovering Alta California: Increasing Access to 18th and 19th Century Religious and Secular Collections The Mission Santa Clara Manuscript Project Erin M. Louthen Santa Clara University May 2014
In the Beginning . . . • Origins and acquisition of the Mission Santa Clara (MSC) Manuscript materials • We didn’t so much as acquire as inherit • As far as we know, we’ve always had them in the archives • Some items have been (and continue to be) on display at the campus museum, the de Saisset • Additional MSC materials collected over time from various institutions and resources • Primary collector was Fr. Arthur D. Spearman (1899-1977), historian and University Archivist at Santa Clara University, who in the 1950s and 1960s created the artificial collection we have now
A Truly “Hidden” Collection • No catalog record in SCU’s OSCAR (OPAC) • Brief inventor(ies) written over time, in paper format only • Inventor(ies) scattered throughout various places in Archives & Special Collections • Several historical resources explaining bits and pieces of the collection, but no centralized inventory or definitive text on the subject • Discovery of collection mainly due to word-of-mouth
The Need for Discovery – An Appeal for Support & Funding • Pitching the project to the President’s Office • Identifying stakeholders and interested parties • Describing project priorities, goals and outcomes • Generating funding for the project • End result: Full-time temporary archivist position secured on soft money
Phase One of Project Approved! Now What? • Hire an archivist/historian to analyze and describe the collection • Challenges in finding the right person for the job • Decided that hiring a historian would be more appropriate than an MLIS grad • Idea that a historian could transcribe and create document context while the University Archivist could create the finding aid structure
The Mission Santa Clara Manuscript Project • Goals and Objectives: • Arrange • Describe • Conservation/Preservation • Identify items for future digitization • Create finding aid and publish on OAC • Easy, right? • Well, it doesn’t look so bad . . .
Sure, Not So Bad Until . . . • We were given the deadline: 8 months • Expectations were that we would accomplish the aforementioned goals, and to provide a project report to the President’s Office detailing our progress, our tasks in process, and tasks for the future. • If report was well-received and the project was deemed successful, the President’s Office would lobby for more funding to extend the historian’s appointment for another year.
Did We Meet Expectations at the Eight Month Mark? • Yes, at the series level: • We identified seven series: Sacramental Records; Informes (Reports); Fr. Viader’s Miscellany Book; Alta California Manuscripts; Ecclesiastical and Governmental Correspondence; Music Manuscripts; and Reproductions and Ephemeral Materials • We processed, arranged, described and created a basic finding aid for 31 boxes (out of 35) • We published the finding aid to the OAC • We received funding for another 1-year appointment for our historian, as well as funding to support digitization efforts (15 hours a week)
Next Steps: • In Phase Two of the project, we will: • Create a comprehensive finding aid with more description and context, possibly down to folder level • Translate select documents of historical significance • Digitize select documents for online exhibit to be published on SCU library website (and elsewhere?) • Work with a local book conservator to complete rehousing of specific manuscripts into custom enclosures
Next Steps (Part 2): • “Brown Bag” presentation about the MSC Project for SCU librarians and staff, faculty and students • Possible article? • Possible exhibit?
