Developing Assets Before Internships

       It really isn’t until you start your internship that you really find out how qualified you are for it.  When I started my internship with the Smithsonian I was worried that there were things that I did not know that would make the internship difficult to adjust to.  However, I found that you cannot remember everything you learn or see what is truly applicable until you are working on your internship. 

            All of the things I have learned about museums, digital history, and librarianship that were once stored inside of me waiting for library school and my career to start flourish when I am put into situations such as internships.  Before I started my internship with the Smithsonian I had had no hands on training in archives.  I was slightly terrified that there would be a steep learning curve.  The first day or two was overwhelming.  Not only was I learning archival practices, but I was learning how to use software and devices that I had never seen before.  While I had used a scanner before, it was nothing that could produce the high quality of scans that the Archives scanner could. 

            I found that all of the videos and lectures about archives were ingrained in me and I could use them to help me understand the massive amounts of things I learned at the Smithsonian.  Accession numbers were not nearly as terrifying as I once thought they were.  The organizational system, which is quite different than what I have been exposed to during my time working in libraries, was manageable.  It even made more sense in context then it ever could out of a textbook.  It is important to realize that learning only begins in the classroom; it does not end in the classroom.  One cannot fully understand what they are taking notes on and being tested on without firsthand experience.  However, without these firsthand experiences I would have never been able to take away as much as I did from the internship.

            I also learned, while shopping for a new printer for myself, that all scanners do not have a removable top that can be removed to scan negatives.  It was hard to explain to the sales associates at Target what I was doing to their display printers, but it was at that moment I realized that I had learned and grown because of my internship.  I am no longer willing to accept a printer as just a printer- I look for the technology that has so quickly affected the digitization movement.  I am sure, as I move on to other internships, I will start looking for Adobe Bridge and assessing the metadata standards that are used. 

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!