Moses on Writing

            Now that I have finished my second box of digitizing I feel like I have the hang of things and am indeed- as one of the other interns said- becoming a robot.  I am at over two thousand digitized items and nearing halfway through the first step of my third box.  As my internship starts winding down, I become more and more intent on finishing as much as possible before I leave to graduate back in Florida.  The idea that I have digitized and found the metadata for so many letters alone isn’t the main source of work I have encountered.  It is reading all of those letters and picking out what is important in them, as I may have mentioned before.  Finding gems are one of the best parts of the job especially when I can relate to them.  That’s one of the best parts about digitizing.  You can find things to relate to that you never knew existed.  

Property of the Ralph Rinzler Archives, Smithsonian

               This is one of the letters that caught my attention.  In a letter to Nancy Brown, Moses Asch shows a very human side of himself that is ordinarily difficult to find.  Asch was so driven towards his goal that oftentimes that is all that could be seen in his letters and his work.  Like I talked about in my last post, sometimes people forgot that he was a human who had human problems and emotions.  (Maybe they thought he was a robot, too!)  

               The discussion about writer’s block and the “creative artist” was something I had never seen Asch talk about before.  It was almost sentimental and he was exhibiting a lot of personality.  In a way it was a pep talk.  This was a wonderful change from the other letters where he had to defend the contracts his artists had signed.    He was supportive of Nancy Brown and her creativity, even if it meant delving away from the children’s music that was so popular in the 70s.  

               Though I must warn, what is digitized is not always all that is there.  There is more out there than what the internet can show you.  Never stop looking just because you think the internet and digital mediums are good enough.  Digital resources should NEVER replace physical contact and the desire that curiosity produces.  

Cinderella

 This was a relatively big week.  The first notable thing was that I met my 1,000 digitized item mark and well exceeded it. I have now digitized around 1300 items!  It’s a personal goal and I feel relatively proud of my progress so far!

I was also able to attend one of the Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lecture Series at the Library of Congress.  The lecture was given by Margaret Yocom from George Mason University.  The lecture came at a perfect time- I had recently returned from a weekend home with my niece.  One of her favorite movies currently is Disney’s “Cinderella.”  The lecture I went to happened to be about a lesser known Cinderella than the mainstream, less gruesome and politically incorrect version that the Brothers Grimm originally created.  Even before other authors changed the original version, the Grimm Brothers edited their own version to change with the times.  However, the themes that stuck were incest and fur.  Those are two things that current Cinderella models leave out completely.  Cinderella in the Grimm Brothers’ versions was called “Allerleirauh” which translates into “all kinds of fur.”  

It wasn’t the story itself- as terrifying and odd as the original version is- that got my attention.  It was the mysteries that Dr. Yocom solved to find the origins of Cinderella.  She analyzed the works and illustrations in a way that allowed her to learn new things about folklore and the stories of Allerleirauh and Cinderella.  What kind of parallels could have been drawn between the previous versions and those of today had the manuscripts been digitized and preserved as we are doing with the Moses Asch project?  This can extend to all manuscripts that have been completely or partially destroyed or lost.  I am currently digitizing letters between Folkways and everyone that contacted it.  Will this help people draw different types of connections in the future if something happens to the originals?  

The lecture was not only interesting- and a great topic for dinner conversation- it also allowed questions about my current work to grow.  These are the best kind of lectures, I think.  The brain wasn’t made to just listen, it was made to process and apply what we hear to help up create or understand other things.

The week ended with meetings at the Dibner and Cullman libraries.  These libraries contain the American History and Natural History museum’s rare book collection.  It was a dream come true.  I have always loved museums, but there’s something about rare books that draws me in more completely.  

However, it was my trip to the Natural History museum store that led me back to Moses Asch.  One of the people working at the store and I started talking about Folkways records.  She was so excited to hear about my internship and what I was doing with the Smithsonian.  Her interest in Moses Asch was a great way to see that this project was going to be important to people- even people you just happen to meet.  My conversation with the Smithsonian employee really made Moses Asch seem like a superstar of the Smithsonian! 

Context is everything, even when you’re digitizing

As of Thursday I have digitized 829 items since starting at my internship.  I like to think that this is a strong number and I cannot wait until I get to 1,000 objects digitized and their metadata perfectly filled out and ready for researchers!  Though the step after that- uploading it to the Digital Asset Management System- is what really makes it available.  While it may not be part of my job I will hopefully be learning the process of uploading the documents in the upcoming weeks. 

One of the things I have noticed during my internship is the importance of the context of the object.  The question that I was advised to ask myself was “What is important to the story?”  This is a lesson that I haven’t heard since high school and middle school.  During those years the lesson was drilled into me.  That, along with the idea of making every word count, were our mantras.  I never knew that they would come back to help me after I had left the Creative Writing program at Lavilla and Douglas Anderson. 

When I look at a document or a picture I have to consider it on a number of levels.  Most of the letters in the correspondence folders tell a story.  The obvious story might just be about royalties or making a new album, but the underlying story is one about the people involved in the letters.  The letters allow a window into these people that they might not know is there.  How you interact with someone speaks volumes about what kind of person you are.  I like to think that I am being introduced to a number of different people as I digitize and enter metadata.  Moses Asch is usually involved in at least a portion of each person’s letters so I feel like I am getting to know him especially way.  He is definitely a spitfire when it comes to his work!

In order to decide if a keyword should be attached to each document I have to consider if it is important to the story that the letter is telling.  It is easy to tag every subject or proper noun that you come across, but sometimes easier does not always provide the best information.  There is such a thing as “information overload.”  If a researcher is looking for information about music made in or about Paris they may get frustrated to find all the letters sent from or to Paris.  Metadata is a way to help archivists, librarians, information specialists AND researchers.  There are many facets to consider before typing in the first things you see.  You have to let yourself, at least on some level, become a part of the story.  Whether the story is one envisioning the researchers of the future or making the letter’s contents come alive is up to the archivist! 

I should add that, in some cases, there is a set way to enter metadata and that you can’t do it willy-nilly.  There are certain terms that are required or listed (the Library of Congress keywords have been very helpful!).  Even deciding of which of those to use is sometimes more of a challenge that you would originally think. 

Choosing my words very carefully and taking heed of context are things that I thought might never leave the pages of my short stories and poems.  Yet, I have found that quite a bit of my Creative Writing training has come in handy- not only in my college career but my professional one, as well!