Last night I slept poorly, and when I did my dreams equated the many piles of folders from previous administrations with khalighas [spelling?], a local invasive plant. I also found myself riding Indian trains and having to change trains at out-of-the-way stations and deal with the normal confusions of train travel. Then I was woken at 5:45 am by the sweet singing of the Himalayan Whistling Thrush. This started my day with a brief moment of grace.
Part of the reason I came on this trip was to check on the state of the archives at Woodstock School. In 1997 I had a summer research leave from my regular job, and I came here and spent 6 weeks providing some preliminary organization and access to historical materials. My intent had always been to return a few years later and continue the work, but life events intervened. On this trip I am just assessing what has and has not been done in the intervening 15 years, and to consider whether I might return again in the next few years to do some more processing.
I've found that the historical materials are in decent shape - a volunteer in the late 90s and early 00s expanded the system I had set in place and inventoried a lot more material.
What is more problematic is that the archives space has become the dumping grounds for old administrative files - proceedings of board meetings, grant applications, strategic planning documents, administrative councils, etc. etc. These are the type of thing that in library-land falls under 'records management' and should really be managed under administrative oversight as there are important policy issues, especially in the areas of retention and access restriction.
So, I am doing what I can in this brief 2 1/2 week stint here - mostly making recommendations and changing my mind every day as to whether I might want to return again her to this work.
Part of the reason I came on this trip was to check on the state of the archives at Woodstock School. In 1997 I had a summer research leave from my regular job, and I came here and spent 6 weeks providing some preliminary organization and access to historical materials. My intent had always been to return a few years later and continue the work, but life events intervened. On this trip I am just assessing what has and has not been done in the intervening 15 years, and to consider whether I might return again in the next few years to do some more processing.
I've found that the historical materials are in decent shape - a volunteer in the late 90s and early 00s expanded the system I had set in place and inventoried a lot more material.
What is more problematic is that the archives space has become the dumping grounds for old administrative files - proceedings of board meetings, grant applications, strategic planning documents, administrative councils, etc. etc. These are the type of thing that in library-land falls under 'records management' and should really be managed under administrative oversight as there are important policy issues, especially in the areas of retention and access restriction.
So, I am doing what I can in this brief 2 1/2 week stint here - mostly making recommendations and changing my mind every day as to whether I might want to return again her to this work.
