Digital Collections and Archives » news http://sites.tufts.edu/dca Tue, 10 Mar 2015 14:56:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.1 Samuel Berger Exhibit Case at DCA http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2014/05/16/samuel-berger-exhibit-case-at-dca/ http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2014/05/16/samuel-berger-exhibit-case-at-dca/#comments Fri, 16 May 2014 16:43:20 +0000 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/?p=2642 Tufts DCA is proud to welcome a new addition to our office: the Samuel Berger Exhibit Case! Generously donated by the Berger family, the case will display items from the Samuel Berger Tufts Memorabilia Collection (MS159) on a rotating basis.

Dr. Samuel Harry Berger (1948-2009) graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1973 before beginning an accomplished career as a pediatrician. Because of the strong connection he developed with Tufts during his years in medical school, he began collecting Tufts memorabilia related to all of Tufts’ schools and colleges and became well versed in the history of the university. Dr. Berger passed away on January 19, 2009, and his wife, Marlene Berger, generously donated her husband’s collection of memorabilia to DCA in 2013.

Stop by the DCA on the Ground Floor of Tisch Library to view the exhibit, which features items from the Berger collection related to sports at Tufts, representations of Jumbo (the university’s beloved mascot), and images of Tufts buildings. Highlights include athletics letter patches, a Jumbo charm bracelet from 1934, early 20th century Wedgwood china with images of Jumbo and iconic Tufts buildings including Ballou Hall and Goddard Chapel, and a 1947 calendar featuring photographs of the Tufts campus alongside the text of “Along the Row,” the title poem from a book of poetry about Tufts by former professor John Holmes.

This exhibit was designed and installed by Leah Edelman, Archives and Research Assistant, in May of 2014. It will be on display until further notice. For more information on the Samuel Berger Tufts Memorabilia Collection, stop by the DCA on the Ground Floor of Tisch Library.

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Data migration success http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2014/02/27/data-migration-success/ http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2014/02/27/data-migration-success/#comments Thu, 27 Feb 2014 16:35:16 +0000 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/?p=2553 Here at the DCA we manage a lot of material. We have images, folders of documents, ground breaking shovels and other three dimensional objects, digital files, books, and A/V material. In order to manage the material effectively, we need a system that helps us identify, describe, and locate it all.

In 2010 we undertook a project to replace our old collection management system with a new tool that would help us do our job better. This tool is an open source web-based application called CIDER (source code can be found on GitHub.) However, creating the application was only the first step of replacing our old system. We also had to migrate all of the data that existed in the old system to CIDER.

The migration process was no small feat. We had over 600 collections to migrate. Some collections had only a handful of records. Others had thousands of records. We had to standardize, clean up, check the accuracy, and transform all of the existing data before we could import it into CIDER. Once it was in CIDER, we had a complex QA process to ensure that every piece of information was migrated accurately and completely. Each record was touched at least four times before it was considered complete. It took some excellent coordination, motivation, and commitment from those who helped the process go forward and the staff who had to work in an environment where our our data was in two different places at once!

We are happy to announce that the migration and QA process is now complete and we wanted to share some statistics from the process:

  • There were nearly 250,000 records migrated as part of this process.
  • The first collection was frozen in the old system to prevent changes to the data was on December 20, 2011.
  • The QA process was finished on the final collection, 26 months later, on February 24, 2014.
  • A quarter million records in 616 collections averages to about 406 records per collection.
  • On average, we were able to migrate approximately 2200 records per week.
  • Three people worked part-time on the first step of migrating data from one system to another
  • Six people worked part-time on the final QA steps.

Chi Omega Christmas party for South End House

Time to pull out the tinsel and throw a party!

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Gone when the morning comes http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2014/01/31/gone-when-the-morning-comes/ http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2014/01/31/gone-when-the-morning-comes/#comments Fri, 31 Jan 2014 20:04:17 +0000 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/?p=2490 Today is my last day at Tufts DCA, and I keep dwelling on all the things I love about this place. There’s what I I love about Tufts University; today on my way into work, as I walked past the straw bales they put against trees so local kids sledding down the hill won’t hurt themselves, I thought about how one of the things that drew me to Tufts in the first place was how it is a member of the surrounding community. There’s also DCA, and everything I will miss here. Of course there’s the people and the work and everything that we’ve accomplished in the time I’ve been here, but let’s face it, it’s easier to blog about my favorite elements from our collections. Therefore I present for you:

Deborah’s list of five treasures she’s enjoyed finding in our collections, in no particular order:

  1. Outerbridge Horsey“. I know this record doesn’t look like much but I am so fond of Mr. Horsey. He’s my favorite name in the entire A New Nation Votes project. One thing I love about the Outerbridge Horsey family is that they understand how truly wonderful the name is: Outerbridge Horsey VII is alive and a practicing architect in Georgetown.
  2. Dog with sign protesting new dorms“, 1978. How can anyone not love this beautiful dog, who is very adamant that there should be no dorms.
  3. The Ginger-Beer Man“, 1890. This gregarious fellow has been my go to image for testing search for years.
  4. Marine Technology Transfer and the Law of the Sea“, 1984. This is a doctoral dissertation, submitted to the faculty of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, by the current dean of the Fletcher School. In between that dissertation and his current position as Dean, he was NATO Supreme Commander Europe. I am always so fascinated by the non-academia experience of the Fletcher faculty.
  5. I don’t have any particular favorites from the This I Believe collection, but I like the collection so much not just because I’m proud of how much work we put in to making this audio + transcript interface have lovely usability and accessibility, but because the content in general makes the 1950s real to me. Here’s a nice sampling: Annie Fisher, 1954, Nazrat Farooki, 1954, Vita Sackville-West, 1953, Yaroslav Chyz, 1952, Louis Brandeis, 1952, Violet Bonham Carter, 1952. What I love about This I Believe is how it blends famous people and regular Joes so seamlessly, without any presumption by either the show or the speakers that the two classes of speakers are any different from one another.

Woman leaping over a track and field hurdle, with one leg parallel to the floor in front of her and another parallel to the floor behind her
Diane Pilson, November 1979

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Welcome, Liz! http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2014/01/16/welcome-liz/ http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2014/01/16/welcome-liz/#comments Thu, 16 Jan 2014 18:40:02 +0000 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/?p=2481 We are pleased to welcome Liz Francis to DCA, who has joined us in a term appointment in the Records Archivist position. She has already become a key contributor to the archives team. I asked Liz to write a little something to introduce herself here. Stop by and say hello if you’re in Tisch. Welcome, Liz!

I am thrilled to join Digital Collections and Archives as Records Archivist. Stepping in to replace Veronica Martzahl, now Electronic Records Archivist at Massachusetts State Archives, I am grateful to my predecessor for, well, keeping such good records. My role at DCA is to oversee the intake of new collection material, both physical and electronic, and to process incoming collections to ready them for researchers. Jumping right in, the first collection I tackled, with the help of talented Tufts student assistants Elyse Werling and Grace Tam, was the Mobius records – more than one hundred boxes of materials documenting thirty years of experimental and performance art in Boston. Stay tuned for future blog posts about this important collection.

Before joining DCA in November, I assisted researchers at the Massachusetts Historical Society, processed archival collections at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and researched digital preservation strategies for the MIT Libraries. A long-time Boston resident, I am excited to delve into the rich history of Tufts and the exotic Somerville/Medford borderlands. My initiation begins with some background reading, Jumbo: This Being the True Story of the Greatest Elephant in the World by Paul Chambers. Outside of Tufts, I participate in the wider archival community by volunteering with our regional professional organization, New England Archivists, and our national organization, the Society for American Archivists.

If you see me around campus, don’t hesitate to challenge me to a Jumbo trivia face-off. And if you would like to discuss your own records, contact me anytime at elizabeth.francis@tufts.edu.

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Tufts Alum Eugene Fama Wins Nobel Prize http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/11/12/tufts-alum-eugene-fama-wins-nobel-prize/ http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/11/12/tufts-alum-eugene-fama-wins-nobel-prize/#comments Tue, 12 Nov 2013 19:51:09 +0000 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/?p=2432 Here at DCA, we receive a number of reference requests relating to Tufts graduates who have gone on to do amazing things. For some of these graduates, their career trajectories must have been easy to predict from the time they came to the hill. Oliver Platt and Hank Azaria, both noted actors, performed in a number of plays as undergraduates in the Drama department. Gregory Maguire, author of many books, including Wicked, completed his Ph.D. in English and American Literature at Tufts. Gordon S. Wood, the Pulitzer Prize winner who was perhaps immortalized by a certain bar scene in Good Will Hunting, graduated summa cum laude from Tufts, where he began his academic studies in history.

Sometimes, however, Tufts graduates go on to make their mark in unexpected ways. Eugene Fama, one of this year’s recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, is one such example. Fama, the Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, spent his time at Tufts studying not economics but French.

However, while Fama’s eventual chosen field might have come as a surprise to some of those who knew him here at Tufts, his level of success likely has not. As an undergraduate, Eugene Fama was a busy, well-rounded, and high-achieving student. In addition to playing both football and baseball, Fama was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sword & Shield, and the Society of Scholars. He won a number of awards, including the Cotter Prize for excellence in French, and was selected for Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. In his senior year, Fama received a fellowship for graduate study at the University of Chicago, where he earned an MBA and Ph.D. in economics and finance and then remained to teach.

Eugene Fama (left) winning Morgan Stanley-American Finance Association Award, 2008

Congratulations to Eugene Fama – yet another Jumbo making us all proud.

To see Tufts materials related to Eugene Fama and other notable Jumbos, stop by DCA Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm, send us an email, or give us a call at (617)627-3737.

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Journal highlights New Nation Votes Project http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/05/30/journal-highlights-new-nation-votes-project/ http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/05/30/journal-highlights-new-nation-votes-project/#comments Fri, 31 May 2013 01:49:51 +0000 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/?p=2303 The latest issue of the Journal of the Early Republic is composed of articles written using data found in the voting records which comprise the A New Nation Votes project. The opening article by Caroline F. Sloat provides a succinct introduction to the history of the project and to Phil Lampi, the gatherer of the data (and 2013 Tufts honorary degree recipient.) The Journal is full of articles by premier scholars who have long been associated with the project, including John L. Brooke, Donald Ratcliffe, Rosemarie Zagarri, and Andrew W. Robertson. Yet, to me, the most exciting article is by Lampi himself in which he discusses the resurgence of the Federalist Party between 1808-1816. My first job at Tufts was doing data entry for Virginia votes for this project. I had studied history during my undergraduate education (mostly European, admittedly), and was just returning to graduate school to get a masters degrees in library science and history. I was immediately taken by the number of Federalists who where running in – and winning – elections in Virginia well past the end of the War of 1812. All of the scholarship I had encountered previously told me that the Federalist party was long dead and buried by this point. But here was the data showing this conventional wisdom wasn’t supported by the numbers. This one encounter showed me the power this data holds, and I am very heartened whenever Phil gets to share what he’s found and whenever he gets the recognition he so truly deserves.

I would strongly encourage you to check out your local library to access this Journal. If they don’t carry the print copy, see if they subscribe to JSTOR or ProjectMUSE online resources.

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Commencement 2013 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/05/20/commencement-2013/ http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/05/20/commencement-2013/#comments Mon, 20 May 2013 14:27:22 +0000 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/?p=2280 Congratulations to Lois Gibbs and Phil Lampi on receiving honorary degrees during the Tufts University’s 157th Commencement on May 19, 2013.

Lester, Gibbs, Sauer, and Lampi at reception

Stephen Lester and Lois Gibbs from the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice with Philip Lampi from the American Antiquarian Society and Anne Sauer, Director and University Archivist, Tufts University Digital Collections and Archives

Phil Lampi with his honorary degree

Phil Lampi with his honorary degree

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Announcing release of Center for Health, Environment and Justice finding aid http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/05/17/announcing-release-of-center-for-health-environment-and-justice-finding-aid/ http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/05/17/announcing-release-of-center-for-health-environment-and-justice-finding-aid/#comments Fri, 17 May 2013 19:02:45 +0000 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/?p=2266 The DCA is pleased to announce that the finding aid for the papers of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice is now available.

cover image for Love Canal book by Lois GibbsThe Center for Health, Environment and Justice was founded in 1981 by Lois Marie Gibbs. The organization began as an information clearinghouse for environmental health issues and developed into an organization that focuses on raising awareness for environmental health concerns and assisting communities, organizations and individuals faced with environmental threats. CHEJ publishes a quarterly newsletter, Everyone’s Backyard, and works on campaigns that raise awareness of significant environmental threats to communities across the country and abroad. CHEJ works by conducting conversations with community leaders about their problems and provides advice, leadership training, education and assistance. Through this approach they are able to address a large number of environmental threats and empower communities to take action on their own.

Ms. Gibbs will be on campus this weekend to receive an honorary doctor of public service degree at Tufts’ commencement on Sunday, May 19, 2013.

 

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DCA celebrates honorary degree recipients http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/04/29/dca-celebrates-honorary-degree-recipients/ http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/04/29/dca-celebrates-honorary-degree-recipients/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:10:31 +0000 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/?p=2202 The DCA staff was overjoyed to see the announcement that Philip Lampi and Lois Gibbs are among the 2013 recipients of honorary degrees. Both Phil and Lois are amazing people who are hugely deserving of this honor, and they are near and dear to all of us at DCA.

Researcher Philip J. Lampi and project director John B. Hench of the American Antiquarian Society

Researcher Philip J. Lampi and project director John B. Hench of the American Antiquarian Society

As the New Nation Votes elections portal states, Philip J. Lampi has been collecting election returns for the past 45 years. His dedication and expertise in the area of Early American Politics has aided many contemporary scholars in their research at the Society. In the past, this body of election data was thought to be impossible to collect because of the vast and unwieldy nature of the unindexed newspapers and poor record keeping in this early period. He has received several grants over the years to assist him in his collecting. Under the current NEH grant, project staff and consultants at the American Antiquarian Society, DCA, and elsewhere are working to digitize a good portion of the tens of thousands of typed and handwritten tabulations and raw source materials that Lampi has accumulated as part of his life’s work. The project website will be updated frequently to monitor progress. The available election returns are fully searchable by such key index points as year, geographical constituency, office, names of candidates, and party labels.

Lois Gibbs is an environmental activist who formed the Love Canal Homeowners Association after discovering that her entire neighborhood of Love Canal, Niagara Falls, New York, had been built on a toxic waste dump which also included dioxin. Against strong opposition by local, state and federal government agencies and Occidental Petroleum, the organization succeeded and President Carter issued an Emergency Declaration in October 1980 to get 833 families evacuated and Love Canal cleaned up. Lois Gibbs and the association were instrumental in the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or Superfund. Gibbs founded the Citizens’ Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, eventually Center for Health, Environment and Justice in 1980 to support and assist community groups and is its executive director. She has published about Love Canal and their efforts to get it cleaned up and a TV movie was made in called ‘Lois Gibbs: the Love Canal Story.’ Lois’ papers, as well as those of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice are held by the DCA. A new finding aid for the collection will be released in the next few weeks.

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DCA receives new collection from Cultural Survival, a Cambridge-based NGO http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/02/22/dca-receives-new-collection-from-cultural-survival-a-cambridge-based-ngo/ http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/2013/02/22/dca-receives-new-collection-from-cultural-survival-a-cambridge-based-ngo/#comments Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:52:17 +0000 http://sites.tufts.edu/dca/?p=1935 DCA is pleased to announce it has recently signed a donor agreement with the Cambridge based organization, Cultural Survival, to preserve its historical records. Cultural Survival (CS) was founded in 1972 to assist indigenous peoples across their globe in ‘struggles for human rights, sovereignty, and autonomy.’

CS was founded by David Maybury-Lewis, Evon Vogt, Jr., Orlando Patterson, and Pia Maybury-Lewis and was originally loosely affiliated with Harvard University where David Maybury-Lewis was a professor of anthropology. To find out more about CS, take a look at its online history.


CS boxes from 2nd shipment

This week DCA received the second major transfer of historical records including office records, project and special project files, CS publications, reports, publicity material and limited runs of smaller indigenous publications that might be difficult to obtain elsewhere. Among these records, photographs, slides, and VHS tapes created by indigenous peoples will be invaluable in documenting a history long ignored in Euro-American discourse regarding indigenous issues, self-empowerment, and the development of indigenous organizations across the globe.

As part of this donor agreement, Ted MacDonald, CS first project director, also transferred about 25 linear feet of historical materials to DCA. His files cover the first 15 years of projects developed, funded, or rejected by CS and will reveal many gems: take here a look at a very early example of self-demarcation by the indigenous Ye’kuana in Southern Venezuela (creating ethno-cultural maps) completed in 1995.

<Ye'kuana Self-Demarcation Project (1995)
Ye’kuana Self-Demarcation Project (1995)

And then read a CS Quarterly article about this project, The Ye’kuana Self-Demarcation Process, published fifteen years later when such demarcation projects had become wide-spread.

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