Corporate Archives

When you see the word corporate, what does it make you think of? It makes me think of a stuffy office and an organization focused only on a business and not the people. Would you be surprised to know there are corporate archivists? Today in my class, we had a speaker talk about working as a corporate archivists. When working as a corporate archivist, the archivist will focus on the corporate office they work for. For example, our speaker works for Nationwide Insurance so all of her work focuses on Nationwide. Through the archives, she is able to keep track of records from the beginning of the company. These records can include documents from company picnics to personal files to records. Because of all the archives, the archivists is able to create exhibits for the company. She set up an exhibit based off a facebook profile and used records from the 50s and 60s to set up the exhibit. This got her coworkers interested in the history of Nationwide and of Columbus, Ohio where headquarters is located. Along with creating exhibits, she has created an intra-office blog where she finds items from the archives that relate to events going on in the office. After listening to the speaker, it makes corporate archives sound interesting. Just another thing to consider as I work my way into a career.

Technology

From the beginning of time, public historians have had to deal with ever changing technology.  Technology can be a good way to get new patrons to different public history events.  For instance, facebook and twitter is a great way for museums to get about information about special events.  Because of my facebook, I have learned that the Children's Museum of Indianapolis brought back the popular exhibit Barbie: The Fashion Experience. In a later blog, I will discuss that exhibit.  Had I not like the museum on facebook, I would not have learned the exhibit had come back.
Along with facebook, museums have started using the internet to get visitors thinking.  When I know I am visiting a museum, I like to see what kind of exhibits I can expect to see.  I also like to check hours and special events.  Once I'm at the museum, I will gather any kind of pamphlet I can to learn more about each exhibit.  While I'm there, I will look at each of the exhibits and will get online if I notice there is more information to be found.
These are just a few technologies that museums use.  There are many different types of technologies museums can use to keep relevant.  These technologies will continue to grow and museums will continue to grow with them.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

On Saturday, October 15, I participated in my 4th Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk.  Each year, thousands of people in Dayton participate in a three mile walk to raise money for breast cancer research.  This is an event that people participate in all over the country.
I have done the walk since 2008 and have been my group's team leader for the past two years.  I feel very passionate about this cause because my mother is a breast cancer survivor.  She was diagnosed my senior year of college. It was a difficult time for me because I was in my last semester and was not able to come home.  Because of this experience, I knew that I wanted to help raise money.  This is an even that I will attend yearly because I know that I am doing good.
The reason I'm blogging about the walk is that this is a public history event.  This event brings thousands of people together where they create a memory.  Any event that involves people and memories can be a public history event. When you are out in public, think about the difference places and events you attend.
P.S. If you would like to learn more about cancer research, please visit http://www.cancer.org/

Ohio Local History Alliance Annual Meeting & Conference

Today I went to the Ohio Local History Alliance (OLHA) conference in Worthington. It was such an amazing experience! The first session, This Magic Moment: Preserving Historic Photographic Materials, was presented by someone from Wright State on preservation of photographs. I never knew about the different kinds of pictures. It was so fascinating. I think if I am ever able to, I would like to take a class on preservation.
After that, I went to my first of three sessions about how to get students interacting in history. The first session, How to Start and Maintain a Young Historian's Program, was about getting younger students involved in the local historical society. This session was run by someone from the Clark County Historical Society. The biggest thing I learned from this session is it is not quantity but quality. The program director discussed how they might have seven students at each meeting but the students we actively involved. The students loved being involved. The other important thing I learned is that if you have students participate in a meeting like they did, then have lots of snacks.
Next, I went to a session called History is Not Boring! Reaching Out to Schools with Living History. I'm going to show some bias now, but this was by far my favorite session. It was run by a gentleman from the We've Know Rivers museum. His session was about getting students interested in history through living history. Throughout the presentation, he talked about what he did to prepare for his talks and then he gave us two examples. The first example was about a solider from the Civil War and the other was a slave. Listening to his presentation reminded me of what I love about history. I was so enthralled by his story that I wanted him to continue. After the conference, I thanked him for what he did and told him how inspired I felt after his presentation. I know he was excited to hear me tell him that.
Finally, my last session was run by someone from the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum. The session was titled How to Make History Cool: Engaging a Young Audience. When I read the title, I thought it sounded really cool. When I got there and they started explaining the about their history rally, I was apprehensive. Boy, was I wrong! The rally was at a local mall and contained multiple museums that had activities for the students. It was so popular that even the parents wanted to get involved. Because this was the first year they did this, they did not get as much support as the initially wanted. However, they should have an easier time getting involvement next year. An unexpected outcome of this was an economic boost. The mall had the largest crowd ever during the event. I was really excited listening to what they did during the rally that I could not wait to share it. I would love to do something like that around here. And before I forget, the woman from the museum said anybody was free to steal the idea but to let her know and her museum would come to your event also. If you are interested in contacting her, email me or leave a comment here.
This was a very good experience and I am so thankful I was able to attend the conference. I had been on the fence about join OLHA but after my experience, I signed up right before I left. Going to conferences is a good way to network and learn more about what is going on in the history community. I would recommend everyone who is a public historian to attend as many conferences as they can. I know I plan to now. Until next time.

Appraisal

A few weeks ago in my Introduction to Archives class, we learned about appraisal. Appraisal is when an archivist will get a collection from a perspective donor and determine whether the collection is valuable. By determining value, it means whether the collection would be beneficial to the archives. Appraisal can also be done for museums.
While we were learning about this, I couldn't help but think of the TV show Pawn Stars. The show takes place at a Las Vegas pawn shop. Throughout the show, people bring items that they think are valuable and the workers then appraise the items to determine if they are worth anything. While archivists are not allowed to determine if an item is worth a monetary value, they still can determine the item's worth.
From learning about appraisal, I have realized that public history is everywhere. Not just archivists can appraise things but anybody can appraise things. In your life you can appraise your own items.
That's it for now. Until next time.