My real purpose in being here is to continue to organize the historical archives of Woodstock School, Mussoorie, Uttarkhand, India. My co-conspirator on this project, C, is also here for a short time. We love to do this, but the challenge continues to be all of the office files that were put in the archives area. These files contain a few gems and important information that need to be saved for the archives, but also are about 90% 'junk' in the form of multiple copies of address lists, old disciplinary records, email printouts about trivial matters, ex-staff personal conversations, etc. etc. Going through these files is what took most of our time last October and is taking much of our time this year. It will take another two to three visits here to get through all of these.
As a result we are generating lots of scrap paper. This is also a challenge here as even used paper is a commodity (we used to buy peanuts or jalebis in the bazaar in a paper cone made of our old exam papers). We are shredding the most sensitive discards, and are putting the rest in giant trash bags - and we hope office staff will take these home to burn in their fireplaces because we don't want the papers to end up as jalebi bags.
Among the standard items in the archives are: runs of the Whispering Pine (yearbook), Quadrangle (alumni magazine), student poetry magazines, student newspaper, staff handbooks, school prospectuses, books published by the school and books about the school.
Among the fun stuff are: the original minutes of the Protestant Society that set up the school in 1852, Miss Marley's diplomas and academic costume, Fleming fern collections, early photographs of the school and students, memos about toilet paper use, etc. etc.!
I am creating a finding aid to the materials but it is hard to keep up with all that needs to be added. Right now the finding aid only exists in printed form and on my Google Drive. A publicly available index to the contents is still at least 5 years away. (my little camera doesn't take good closeups)
As a result we are generating lots of scrap paper. This is also a challenge here as even used paper is a commodity (we used to buy peanuts or jalebis in the bazaar in a paper cone made of our old exam papers). We are shredding the most sensitive discards, and are putting the rest in giant trash bags - and we hope office staff will take these home to burn in their fireplaces because we don't want the papers to end up as jalebi bags.
Among the standard items in the archives are: runs of the Whispering Pine (yearbook), Quadrangle (alumni magazine), student poetry magazines, student newspaper, staff handbooks, school prospectuses, books published by the school and books about the school.
Among the fun stuff are: the original minutes of the Protestant Society that set up the school in 1852, Miss Marley's diplomas and academic costume, Fleming fern collections, early photographs of the school and students, memos about toilet paper use, etc. etc.!
I am creating a finding aid to the materials but it is hard to keep up with all that needs to be added. Right now the finding aid only exists in printed form and on my Google Drive. A publicly available index to the contents is still at least 5 years away. (my little camera doesn't take good closeups)
