November 1st - 24th (weeks 10-13)

The beginning of the month was mostly the aftermath from the "Color Play" exhibit, wherein the artist Diane Ross, got wonderful input from everyone in attendance. I managed to get Papa Johns to donate some pizzas, and Dr. Nuwer thanked me for tking the initiative to help the success of the luncheon. Shugana and Dr. Nuwer were very busy the following week with travel, etc. The local workload increased on Thursday, November 11. I arrived at the reference desk of the KRC to complete some typical tasks that Shugana wanted me to accomplish. Instead, she threw me a curveball.

There was a KRC cart with accession sheets, a book dedicated to creating and maintaining archives, and notice that there is indeed another archive within the Gulf Park library that she presided over. That collection, the Gulf Park Women's College (GPC), spans from 1920s-1971. Primary sources were stacked up on the tables, items removed from the collection were lying everywhere, and Shugana gave me the task of whipping this archive into shape. I first started by creating a workspace, creating an attack strategy, and formulating some ideas on how to organize the collection in a beneficial way.

I created a master file of GPC yearbooks in good condition that could only be accessed if a librarian is present. I created this because there were multiple copies of many yearbooks within the collection, and people were clipping pages out of the yearbooks. I did a complete yearbook inventory, concluding that 5 yearbooks were missing from the original inventory. I also accessioned new yearbooks into the collection. The following week I began accession of primary sources in collections. It has been a rigorous process, including the various projects associated with the collection (stemming from people looking to find original photographs of the pier and seawall, and Hardy house fountain project). I am almost 3/4 done with accessioning the collection, while documenting an addendum in the process...describing all new items in the collection. Several librarians have given me positive feedback on what I have done, thanking me for resolving a multitude of issues. During this time, I was also completing tasks for the KRC on the 3rd floor. Organizational objectives, building new easels, boxing up an exhibit, and maintaining an exhibit case on the first floor.

This has been quite a rewarding and tough month for me in my practicum. I am happy I have accomplished so much in so little time. (Aside from trying to potty-training my 2 year-old son Xander, work, and take 3 other classes). It is all worth it!

October 4th - 29th (weeks 5-9)

The past month has been a bit slow. Dr. Nuwer and Shugana have been attending events and conferences and "Life in a Snapshot" exhibit came to a close on the 29th. I spent my time at the practicum making flyers, answering phones, and transferring data from government e-publications to an excel file for upload to the KRC CONTENTdm directory. This past Friday was a great experience. I took down the "Life in a Snapshot" and "Art at Gulf Park" exhibits and removed the screws. Diane Ross, the creator of the "Captured Moments" exhibit we will be opening November 2nd, came around 11 a.m. on Friday with matted photographs that were to be hung behind plexi-glass covering. It was a great experience and there were plenty of hands to get the exhibit hung within 4 hours. I packed up the previous exhibits because Dr. Nuwer was moving it back to the Hattiesburg campus. I also met with Ken, store manager of Papa Johns, who agreed to donate food to the exhibit opening to alleviate entertaining costs of the opening. I will post later this week on the opening of the "Captured Moments" exhibit at noon on Nov. 2