Snapshots of USF History - Updated!

CSF Francisline cheerleaders in formation
Over the past month my student worker, Jojo, and intern, Madison, have been busy, busy, busy! I tasked them with creating original metadata (information about information) for over 600 images, which depict events, people, and places from the University’s past. These images were added to the Sharing Our Past, A Visual History online collection.

This project was achieved through a number of steps; the first included digitizing the physical photographs. This was completed at the beginning of 2015. Over December 2015 and January 2016, I looked over all the images to see which ones would be selected for the online collection. This is known as “appraisal” and done at least twice to determine which images should be included based on their historical significance to the institution. Reasons images might not be included in the collection are:
  1. Redundant/duplicate material
  2. Photographs which are blurry and/or of poor quality
  3. Material that is the physical and/or intellectual property of another agency or individual (copyright infringement)
  4. Sensitive items that contain social security numbers or other information (health, educational) that is protected through federal legislation designed to safeguard the privacy of individuals

For our purpose, only the first two rules applied in the selection process. The next step was to upload the files into our digital collection management software, ContentDM Project Client. This software allowed us to add all the original metadata for each of the images, based on our metadata template. In the Sharing Our Past collection there are 11 metadata fields within the template: Title, Description, Subject, Date, Language, Type, Format, Rights, Publisher, Collection, and Identifier.

Screenshot of ContentDM Project Client
Jojo and Madison used a prepared Excel spreadsheet to help them fill in all the information, such as, names and dates, but needed to use their research skills to fill in any blanks. This included looking through the CSF yearbooks, Interlude, Encounter, and the main USF website. Once the metadata was added I checked their work and made any necessary changes, like spelling mistakes or formatting issues.

After the upload to the CARLI servers, the images were approved and indexed into the current collection, then made available on the finished website. A majority of the photographs were from the 1980s, and feature commencement ceremonies, men’s and women’s athletics, and general student life at USF.

Concept art for proposed baseball stadium, Gillespie Field



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

St. Joseph School of Nursing

Image
In 1997 the St. Joseph College of Nursing joined the College of St. Francis and on January 1, 1998 became the College of Nursing and Allied Health at the newly renamed University of St. Francis. But before this storied nursing school joined USF they had been training nurses in Joliet for almost eight decades. Here's an abbreviated timeline about the history of St. Joseph School of Nursing. 1866 - 4 women form the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Seelback, Germany 1876 - Those 4 Sisters arrive in Avilla, Indiana 1881 - The Sisters traveled to Joliet to care for those affected by an epidemic of typhoid fever 1882 - Joliet donates $600 towards the creation of a hospital to be run by the Sisters 1882 - The Sisters of the Sacred Heart purchase the Motherhouse on Broadway from the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate to use as the St. Joseph Hospital *** So begins the relationship between the two congregations. The Sisters of St. Francis provided education for the Si...
Read more

DISASTER PLANNING: Mold and Water Salvage

Image
Growth Cycle of Mold Last week I attended a workshop in Springfield, Illinois at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library to learn about salvaging mold and water damaged library materials. It was hosted by Jennifer Hain Teper, Preservation Librarian and Head of Preservation Services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Bonnie Parr, Historical Documents Conservator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The workshop included an overview of mold and library materials including: sources of mold, a brief introduction to health risks when dealing with mold, and options for remediation/removal. I did not know much about mold going into this workshop, so I was interested to learn some basic facts. For example, mold grows best at high temperatures and high humidity, which is why cold storage is best for archival materials. I also learned too new terms. Example of foxing, taken from The Private Library Foxing and efflorescence are two types of...
Read more

Sisters of Saint Francis Special Exhibit

Image
The Joliet Area Historical Museum is hosting a special exhibit: Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate - 145 Years Serving God, Serving Community . "The Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate transformed the landscape of Joliet through their ministry and the Congregation's building of a Motherhouse, an academy, a college, an orphanage, and a retirement home. This exhibit features facts pulled from their rich history, continuing the journey that Mother Alfred Moes began 145 years ago." Visit the Museum from June 6 through October 10, 2010 to view this amazing collection of photographs, information, artifacts, artwork and more about the Sisters' century and a half in Joliet. The Motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate - ca. 1912
Read more