Monday, March 29, 2010
Dinner on Wheels
Remember that train lecture series presented at the Archives in January and February? It concluded with a real dinner on a real dining car (although the food was catered, because the actual dining car has problems with lead in the kitchen). Behold, some photos from the event - and the sharp-looking fellow in the hat is lecturer Rodger Stroup:
The Photo Policy
Since we've had some photo & image questions, we're going to interrupt today's posting of evil paper clip damage (also viewable on our facebook page) to clear up the photo policy for our viewers. It's pretty simple:
1. Technically, this blog has nothing to do, officially, with SCDAH. It is run solely in volunteer capacity. Ergo, SCDAH (the agency) does not own the blog content, but it tolerates it, and can - and does - object at any time when it feels misrepresentation has occurred. Any objected-to content is removed, because we're a friendly blog, and a friendly facebook.
2. Photos and images posted are posted by permission of their respective owners. SCDAH does not own the images unless they are actually borrowed from their image repositories. The images are deliberately not meant to be professional, high-quality reproductions, because that's not what we exist for. If you would like a high-quality reproduction of any document image you see, you'll need to go to the archives and request a copy for personal use. If you want a copy of any photo you see, you'll need to contact that photo's owner. This applies to facebook as well.
3. If you see yourself in a photo on either the blog or our facebook page, and object, or find your photos used without permission (for example, someone forwarded it along without your knowledge and it ended up here or on facebook), simply let us know (email the moderator) and it will be removed.
'Nuff said. Now y'all behave yourselves out there.
1. Technically, this blog has nothing to do, officially, with SCDAH. It is run solely in volunteer capacity. Ergo, SCDAH (the agency) does not own the blog content, but it tolerates it, and can - and does - object at any time when it feels misrepresentation has occurred. Any objected-to content is removed, because we're a friendly blog, and a friendly facebook.
2. Photos and images posted are posted by permission of their respective owners. SCDAH does not own the images unless they are actually borrowed from their image repositories. The images are deliberately not meant to be professional, high-quality reproductions, because that's not what we exist for. If you would like a high-quality reproduction of any document image you see, you'll need to go to the archives and request a copy for personal use. If you want a copy of any photo you see, you'll need to contact that photo's owner. This applies to facebook as well.
3. If you see yourself in a photo on either the blog or our facebook page, and object, or find your photos used without permission (for example, someone forwarded it along without your knowledge and it ended up here or on facebook), simply let us know (email the moderator) and it will be removed.
'Nuff said. Now y'all behave yourselves out there.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Stealth Reconstruction
There's a book tour/signing going on March 9 for Glen Browder's book, Stealth Reconstruction: An Untold Story of Racial Politics in Recent Southern History. That's 5:30pm at the Statehouse, and if you're interested in modern southern history, it looks to be promising. There's more to it than just that, so the flyers will be posted either here or on our Facebook site, or both, so you can see the rest.
Of note: despite the flattery printed on all the ads, the South Carolina Department of Archives & History is *not* a sponser of these events. It's nothing personal against the author or anyone else, we just don't want y'all thinking we're spending money we don't have on things we can't afford, no matter how interesting they may be.
Of note: despite the flattery printed on all the ads, the South Carolina Department of Archives & History is *not* a sponser of these events. It's nothing personal against the author or anyone else, we just don't want y'all thinking we're spending money we don't have on things we can't afford, no matter how interesting they may be.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Updates! and Notes on the Zen of Archiving
So it's been a while. Busy couple of weeks. Not a lot of good news floating around the archives, but on the up side, March 13 is the first Saturday of four that we'll be open with extra hours (8:30-5pm). Take advantage while you can!
It's contest season for those of you who are interested in the National History Day program, and for those of you who want to participate, they always need people to volunteer, whether as judges or simply to post signs. Odds are that there's a contest in your region, going on now. Or very soon. And of course, there's the state contest here in April. Start looking here.
Now, onto the zen of archiving. "Zen" being used loosely here, of course.
I've been chewing over the dichotomy of archival work, specifically that of public history. On one hand, as a professional, you're obligated to protect and defend, as it were, the records that constitute the known history of said particular locale (in this case, a state). On the other hand, you are summarily required to provide access to these records. Very often, these two demands are at odds - excess handling, copying, usage, etc. tends to destroy documents over time. But locking them away in a climate controlled, sterile environment for all eternity is (while perhaps best for preservation) contrary to everything the historical community stands for (knowledge and truth seeking), and in this case, possibly illegal (hence the public in public records).
Trying to find a happy medium, then, is the best one can presumably achieve. But how does one define balance between destruction and preservation, access and exclusivity? At what point is the line drawn, and a decision made: to prioritize preservation over access, or knowledge over future existence, or worse yet, that no one cares? Is there a way to do it all?
It's contest season for those of you who are interested in the National History Day program, and for those of you who want to participate, they always need people to volunteer, whether as judges or simply to post signs. Odds are that there's a contest in your region, going on now. Or very soon. And of course, there's the state contest here in April. Start looking here.
Now, onto the zen of archiving. "Zen" being used loosely here, of course.
I've been chewing over the dichotomy of archival work, specifically that of public history. On one hand, as a professional, you're obligated to protect and defend, as it were, the records that constitute the known history of said particular locale (in this case, a state). On the other hand, you are summarily required to provide access to these records. Very often, these two demands are at odds - excess handling, copying, usage, etc. tends to destroy documents over time. But locking them away in a climate controlled, sterile environment for all eternity is (while perhaps best for preservation) contrary to everything the historical community stands for (knowledge and truth seeking), and in this case, possibly illegal (hence the public in public records).
Trying to find a happy medium, then, is the best one can presumably achieve. But how does one define balance between destruction and preservation, access and exclusivity? At what point is the line drawn, and a decision made: to prioritize preservation over access, or knowledge over future existence, or worse yet, that no one cares? Is there a way to do it all?
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