Welcome to the Caldwell University Archives blog! This blog will update every month and keep you informed of current projects, events, and university history. This month's entry will simply be an overview of the archives and what goes on there.
The University Archives collects, preserves, and makes available materials related to Caldwell University. While most of these materials deal with Caldwell's history, more recent items are collected and housed in the archives as well in an effort to preserve a record of what the university is like now.
Preservation is a second key part of the archives. All items deteriorate over time but careful preservation slows this process and keeps materials as close to their original state as possible. To do this, we use acid-free folders and boxes; polypropylene sleeves for photographs; and keep the archives at a chilly 65 degrees throughout the year.
The last aim of the archives is to ensure that these materials are accessible and visible to the campus community. This is accomplished in a number of ways. Carefully arranging and cataloging the collections allows items to be found quickly and easily, thus improving accessibility. Collections are made visible through regular exhibits and by uploading photographs to ARTstor Digital Workspace. In these ways, the archives guarantees that the University's past will not be forgotten.
There is no "typical" day in the archives. Instead, several projects happen concurrently and overlap. One day may consist of digitizing photographs and slides.
The next day's tasks may deal with processing new materials and updating information online about the collections. Later, work may go into preparing for a new exhibit to be displayed in the Jennings Library. The archives also receives regular requests for materials, especially photographs, from various offices and groups on campus.
There is always something happening at the University Archives! In the coming months, we will share new and upcoming projects with you on this blog, as well show what happens behind the scenes.