Highlight of the Week: Monday Morning!
Most Mondays signal the ending of the weekend and the beginning of the work week. For some, there is sadness and the desire to wish for a longer break and shorter work week. I have found that I have become content with the flow of my schedule and responsibilities at work. The average Monday morning duties aren't ones that I'd eagerly write home about but they are ones that I complete with ease as I welcome the events of the day and week. Although I've only opened the Harsh Research Center once I found satisfaction in doing so. The opening procedures during the morning include setting the gallery lights. There is currently an ongoing photo exhibition on display in the Harsh Research Center gallery of the Chicago Alliance of African American Photographer's works. After the lights are set, I power up the computers then take a look at Question Point, a Chicago Public Library online reference tool. The requests from Question Point are filtered from "Headquarters" (Harold Washington Public Library) to the Woodson Regional Library/Harsh Research Center (South Side), the Harold Washington Library or Sulzer Regional Library (North Side). All three repositories have unique archival collections.
I feel established as a processing archivist. I am gaining similar confidence with providing archival reference. I have provided archival reference assistance to patrons via Reference Services (in-house) and on-line requests. One of my favorite requests to date was from a patron through Question Point, a reference management service that provides libraries with tools
to interact with users in multiple ways, using both chat and email. The
Web-based chat tool with co-browsing capability, coupled with the email
reference component, enable seamless integration of chat, follow up and
referral, as well as one-stop reporting tools for all types of
reference services. In addition, libraries may opt to participate in the
24/7 Reference Cooperative to provide live around-the-clock reference
service to their community. [1] The patron requested a copy of a job description that may or may not have been located in one of four archival collections she'd researched over the summer. I located the document, which was a copy of a Principal Position Description located in the Howalton Day School Archives, scanned and emailed her a copy, charged her the fee then filed the documents. Fun!
The Howalton Day School Archives, 1946-1999, was the first African American private school in Chicago, and was founded in the summer of 1946 by three Chicago Public Schools teachers: June Howe, Doris Allen and Charlotte Stratton. On a bus, the three held their initial discussion of the deplorable educational facilities and instruction for children in the black community on Chicago’s South Side. Doris Allen Anderson later recalled that, “the schools were overcrowded and inadequate; many of them were too old and no longer functional. Teaching skills were overborne by discipline problems in rooms with 48 desks that had to accommodate 50 or more children.” In 1946 Allen had written to Mayor Edward Kelly complaining about the terrible conditions at Englewood High School, but Kelly did not respond...[1] For further reading, please access the online finding aid at: http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/cplarchive/archivalcoll/howalton.php
[1] http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/cplarchive/archivalcoll/howalton.php
The Howalton Day School Archives, 1946-1999, was the first African American private school in Chicago, and was founded in the summer of 1946 by three Chicago Public Schools teachers: June Howe, Doris Allen and Charlotte Stratton. On a bus, the three held their initial discussion of the deplorable educational facilities and instruction for children in the black community on Chicago’s South Side. Doris Allen Anderson later recalled that, “the schools were overcrowded and inadequate; many of them were too old and no longer functional. Teaching skills were overborne by discipline problems in rooms with 48 desks that had to accommodate 50 or more children.” In 1946 Allen had written to Mayor Edward Kelly complaining about the terrible conditions at Englewood High School, but Kelly did not respond...[1] For further reading, please access the online finding aid at: http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/cplarchive/archivalcoll/howalton.php
[1] http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/cplarchive/archivalcoll/howalton.php
No comments:
Post a Comment