Margot Note's Blog, page 46
October 23, 2017
Self-Employment Success Strategies
I received such wonderful messages about my original post on self-employment that I wanted to follow up with more tips.
Around this time of year last year, I first got an inkling that I wanted to work for myself. I knew how to work for others--interview, job acceptance, review, promotion--but I just couldn't make myself do it anymore. Getting laid off after years of working in a dysfunctional organization turned me off to the normal 9-to-5 life. It seemed far healthier to put my labor into a company I owned that reflected my values and directly benefited me.
It hasn't been easy. Every day is a physical, personal, and professional boot camp. I love what I do, and I'm thrilled to help organizations solve their archives and records management problems.
I have faith that I am creating something bigger than myself and putting good into the world. I've collected some of the lessons I learned so far.
Don't FessAvoid canceling calls or meetings whenever possible. When I have a lot to do, I always feel the need to cancel my events but I don't. Building my business doesn't stop just because I have deadlines. My word is everything, so if I say I'm going to do something, I am. Canceling means I have to reschedule the call or meeting, and I'll inconvenience the other person.
The only time I canceled a meeting was because I had been in the ER until 3 am with my husband when he dislocated his shoulder. Even that was done with reluctance.
When someone cancels on me, unless it wildly inconveniences me, I feel joyous!
Embrace the Woo WooI like doing magical things (using the tarot, burning sage, and lighting candles) because they are a cheap, easy way to self-soothe.
It's not necessarily that I believe in the power of tarot cards, but I find that they are so open to interpretation that they are helpful in getting me to tap into my feelings. When I feel the need, I pull a card from a deck, and check out the meaning at Biddy Tarot. Tarot helps me listen to my intuition.
Apologize Without ExcusesWhen you're working for a client and mess up, apologize without excuses.
For example, I was photo editing for a client who was writing a book about art conservation. I often had to secure permissions of photographs of paintings before or after restoration phases. As you can imagine, it was sometimes hard to determine the correct phase. For two images, I got the wrong ones. My client was lovely about it, but I felt awful. My first inclination was to write an email justifying my mistakes. I realized the best, easiest, and most professional solution was to apologize for the mistake and offer a remedy--the time it took to correct the mistake was free of charge, of course.
"I'm sorry, and here's how I'll fix it" is all you need to say.
Your Clients' Finances are Their BusinessOne of the best pieces of advice I received early on in consulting is not to worry about my client's finances. Clients find me because they are already motivated by a problem they are trying to solve. One assumes that they have the means to pay me as well.
I once gave a quote for a project that I was worried was too high. The client accepted it without pause. I later met with them in their finely appointed home so my money worries were completely unjustified.
If a client is unhappy with your prices, they will let you know. I've been lucky enough to have clients that accept my quotes. I offer a competitive rate and a lot of value. In time, I've been getting more comfortable quoting prices because I know I do excellent work. The first client is yourself!
Be EnthusiasticI tend to be straightforward in my emails, so I make it a point to be enthusiastic. Get excited about your project. Let your clients know that you are thrilled they contacted you and hired you. Use exclamation points in emails! Cheer on the phone! Wouldn't you rather work with someone that is delighted to work with you rather than someone who is even measured?
Don't Price Yourself Too EarlyPricing projects takes time. You want to work on a series of calls or meetings, building up a number of small yeses. When the fee comes up too early, it's a bad sign. I usually hold off until I have more information.
Even when the price is out there, you may not agree. Instead, say that you would really like to work with them and you're sure you can agree on something that makes sense for you both. By the time the money is mentioned they will have gotten to know you well enough that they will want to work with you. It's just a matter of explaining how you determined the amount, and they will most likely agree because they understand the value they are getting with the cost.
If you are bidding on a project where you think that the other quotes will be similar, what additional value can you offer? Remember that clients buy for value not cost.
Understanding TimeWhen you work by yourself, time becomes valuable. You can make decisions easily, solve crises right away, and whip up a proposal in no time. You have to understand that your clients can't move so quickly. I can write a proposal in an hour, but the client may not be able to sign off on it for weeks.
I'm also getting better at adding time to project schedules. I know I can finish a project in two weeks, for example, but not if I have to pause my work to wait for supplies or resources from my client.
I also routinely add 30 minutes to whatever my travel time estimation is; I'd rather get to my appointment 15 minutes early than have to flag down a taxi because the subways are delayed.
My work time is different now too and out-of-sync with my 9-to-5 clients. I usually work from about 12 pm to 7-11 pm. I avoid sending late night emails because it makes it seem like I'm burning the midnight oil. Instead, if I'm working late, I draft important emails and send them when I first wake up. (I used to have a boss that routinely emailed at 2 am, and it made me worry about her!).
I can attest that time seems the slowest when you are waiting for your final invoice to be paid!
No Gods, No MastersYou are the subject matter expert in your business.
When I first started working for myself, I bought classes from two well-known online course sellers (whom I won't name, but you may have heard of them). I thought they could provide the answers for me, but the courses were overpriced and the content under-delivered. The experience made me feel ripped off, and there's no way I want to mimic their techniques and make my clients feel icky too. I imagine that most online classes are this way, and I’m glad I discovered this expensive lesson early rather than later.
I’ve also been approached by people who have offered to open doors for me and to introduce me to people in the field and big clients. I’m wary of that too because when people want to help you, they do. They help you, quickly and quietly, because it’s the right thing to do, it makes them feel good, and they like you. They don’t make a big fanfare of it like these guys did, implying that you might owe them something in return.
I’ll add here that these eager helpers were all white, older, heterosexual men. While no one acted like Harvey Weinstein, there was an unmistakable sleazy vibe. Yes, there are creeps too in the higher echelons of the library and archives field!
When I told a friend about what happened during a recent occurrence, he offered these encouraging words:
Remember Margot, you have done and are doing great things with your work with legacies via personal and institutional archives. You are an author, corporation owner, and entrepreneur and are highly educated. Remind XXX that you already have a “service” and do not need to establish one...Don’t let someone try to create and sell to you what you already are!
In short—you are the expert. Don’t give predatory people any mind, and know that the majority of people are good and will help you if they can.
Be AwkwardOne of my insights of accepting myself through self-employment is to also accept my awkwardness. Over the years, people have pointed this out in some not-so-nice ways. Part of being awkward is that you know you're being awkward, but you don't know how to fix it! If I say something now that sounds silly, I just laugh it off and continue talking. Most people are gracious when you misspeak. Anyone else is an insecure jerk.
Work Never Ends, but Your Life DoesThere will always be work to do: writing, business development, networking, marketing, client work, administrative work, and personal work. Self-employment allows me to take advantage of opportunities that pop up like a long, leisurely lunch with friends. Sure, I could've continued my current project during the time. The work would still be there, but that lunch wasn't. I can take time off in the middle of the day as needed, but it just might mean that I have to work longer hours the next day.
If you're self-employed, what tactics do you use to get the best of yourself? If you hire consultants (especially in the information sector), how can we serve you better?
Like this post? Never miss an update when you sign up for my newsletter:
Follow me on Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
October 16, 2017
How to Preserve Band Flyers
I often think about how I stumbled into my profession. Becoming an archivist wasn't calculated but something that I moved towards inadvertently. I started my first archives project before I even knew what an archivist was.
The project was preserving my husband‘s band flyers. Bill Florio was part of Bugout Society, an infamous New York hardcore band in the 1990s. (In another band, he plays live every Thursday at 11 pm EST on The Chris Gethard Show on TruTV.).
His bedroom wall was covered with band flyers. They were a preservation nightmare: folded, torn, and crumpled; brittle due to poor quality paper; and exposed to direct sunlight. The worst part was that they were stuck to the wall with mounting putty which caused an oily residue to soak through the paper.
Flyers are ephemera: they are meant to publicize an event and not necessarily to be kept beyond it. They are primary sources that provide a peek into the New York hardcore scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They show what bands played together, the venues that were popular, and the concerns of the time. Their aesthetics are important too: the artwork had to be bold enough to catch your eye, and the black-and-white graphics had to be easy to replicate on photocopy machines.
I knew these flyers were important to him, and to the history of the music scene in New York City. I decided to preserve them for him as a present. I carefully pried the flyers off the wall, trying not to further damage them. I kept the tears as they were because to fix them would cause further damage. I also tried to remove tape where I could; if it was more damaging to remove the adhesive, I left it intact. Flyers aren't meant to be pristine, so the patina of their damage was authentic. I bought an archival-quality binder with a slip cover to keep out dust and light, and I arranged them in order in the binder. I bought something similar to the binder below; click on the title to learn more.
Archival Methods Matching Three Ring Binder and Slip Case Set[image error]
I later digitized the flyers and displayed them online. (You can learn more about digitization projects in my book, Managing Image Collections: A Practical Guide). The process was easy, inexpensive, and can be easily repeated for items that matter to you.
The NYHC flyer collection can be seen in whole on my Pinterest board. A few of my favorites are below:
Part of the mission of Creating Family Archives: How to Preserve Your Papers and Photographs is to bring archives to the people. Perhaps you're not interested in your genealogy or family history. The collections that hold the most meaning to you could be ephemera related to bands you've been in or watched live. The punks who regularly attended ABC No Rio or the Sunday matinee at CBGB's may have become your real family. Whatever your passion, preserve it!
In the coming weeks, I'll be archiving his zine collection too. So if you're into punk-related archives projects, you won't be disappointed.
Like this post? Never miss an update when you sign up for my newsletter:
To learn the preservation secrets used by libraries, archives, and museums to protect their priceless materials (that you can also use for your family heritage items), read my book:
Creating Family Archives: How to Preserve Your Papers and Photographs
By Margot Note
Follow me on Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
October 9, 2017
Capture Your Halloween Memories with 50+ Questions
To celebrate Halloween, I'm offering my readers a treat.
I've created an oral history kit with over 50 questions to capture family memories about All Hallows' Eve. The questions are crafted to give you more than yes or no answers and are tailored to uncover information about your loved ones.
I've also made it that anyone--young or old--can be asked these questions. Ask them to the oldest member of your family and the youngest and compare answers. You may discover Grandpa's favorite "tricks" he played on Goosey Night!
What was a family member's favorite Halloween costume over the years? Mine have ranged the gamut from the usual (angel, graduate, ladybug) to the strange (Lady Miss Kier of the band Deee-Lite, a Norwegian Black Metal dude in corpse paint, the Zodiac Killer).
Me (upper right corner) as a pensive princess in first grade.
Find a quiet place to interview your subject, and ask questions one at a time. Be a good listener, and use body language that is encouraging. Nod, smile, and use silence to allow them to talk further. If your interviewee makes a general statement, ask for specific examples. I also encourage people to be flexible when conducting oral history interviews. Pick up on promising stories introduced by the interviewee, even if the topics are not planned. Most importantly, enjoy yourself!
Interested in my other oral history kits? You can also download:
300+ Personal History Questions Workbook
Family History for Mothers Kit
Family History for Fathers Kit
Enter your name and email address to gain access to 50+ Halloween Family Memory Questions, as well as a subscription to my newsletter:
To learn the preservation secrets used by libraries, archives, and museums to protect their priceless materials (that you can also use for your family heritage items) read my book:
Creating Family Archives: How to Preserve Your Papers and Photographs
By Margot Note
Follow me on Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
October 8, 2017
Review of Academic Archives: Managing the Next Generation...
Review of Archives: Principles and Practices by Laura A. Millar (New York: Neal-Schuman, 2010).
Review of Digital Dialogues and Community 2.0: After Avatars, Trolls and Puppets. Edited by Tara Brabazon. Chandos Publishing Social Media Series. (Oxford, UK: Chandos, 2012).
Review of Disaster Management in Archives, Libraries and Museums by Graham Matthews, Yvonne Smith and Gemma Knowles. (London: Ashgate, 2009).
Review of Information 2.0: New Models of Information Production, Distribution and Consumption by Martin de Saulles. (London: Facet, 2012).
Review of Navigating Legal Issues in Archives by Menzi L. Behrnd -Klodt (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2008).
Review of Project Management in Libraries, Archives and Museums: Working with Government and Other External Partners by Julie Carpenter. (Oxford: Chandos, 2011).
October 4, 2017
A Spooky Short Story
In keeping with my favorite time of year, enjoy this short story I wrote about two of my favorite things--creepiness and archives!
Déjà Vu
by Margot Note
She better keep her dirty mitts off my work, I thought as I opened the wrought iron doors of the historical society. The start of another day at the archives.
The dark entryway of carved mahogany smelled of lemon wood polish and an odor of time: the distinctive scent of old books. A combination of grassy notes and a hint of vanilla over an underlying mustiness, the unmistakable smell is as much a part of an archives and library as its holdings.
Dirty mitts? I asked. No. The hands of us archivists are clean, lotion-free, and occasionally white-gloved. With skin dry from frequent washing, it’s shocking how much blood paper cuts—an occupational hazard—can yield.
The archives and manuscript collection of the Echo Valley Historical Society was held in the former home of Dr. W. Durand Durand. Durand served in both houses of the New York Legislature, was prominent in Echo Valley business affairs, and co-founded the local newspaper. He granted the three-story brownstone, built in 1888 and located in the historic High Street district, to the town, along with his estate and personal papers.
Elegant traces of his house remained, like the grandfather clock in the front hall. In the Comtoise style, imported from the French region Franche-Comté, it featured a curved, potbellied case, elaborately carved ornamentations that framed the opalescent clock face, and a gleaming pendulum and weights. Despite its age, the clock required winding only once a week for eight-day movement. The foyer in which it sat was accessible by a series of stone steps, so that, entering the building eyeing the clock, everyone must gaze upward.
Otto, the grizzled security guard, sat at the reception desk, reading a battered copy of In Search of Lost Time that he never seemed to finish. A screen streaming video from the security cameras flickered to his right, which he glanced at occasionally. He nodded “Hello” as I walked past.
I entered the reading room that was once Durand’s ballroom. The walls were paneled in painted wood, and the floors were parquet. Tables of polished wood topped with brass lamps formed two columns along the length of the space. A chandelier, its cut-glass ornaments glazed with grime, hung from the center of the room. The ceiling, a filigree of cracks, was decorated with constellations that gave the researchers occupied below an otherworldly appearance as if they were working on the moon. Along the back wall stood glass-fronted cabinets containing Durand’s objets d’art from his extensive travels—timepieces, snuff boxes, statuettes, and other items. Morning light streamed through the double bay windows to the east. As time passed, sunbeams swept across the double rows of work tables.
An oil painting of Durand, vexed and jowly, loomed to the west. Trained as a doctor, his interests in cosmology, physics, and history developed throughout his life. The more esoteric the topic, the better, I learned from processing his archives and manuscripts.
Mrs. Salas squatted at her usual spot—the second table to the left—inspecting a box of genealogical records. She took notes on a piece of scrap paper beside her. Bob, a visiting journalist in all black, adjusted knobs at the microfiche machine. Finding more information than he expected, he had stretched his investigative trip indefinitely. Elderly Mr. Renner, at the back of the room, was examining land use maps again. Hannah, our research archivist, surveyed users from the reference desk.
I walked through a set of doors to the back office. After a series of project archivist gigs, I was grateful to have a permanent position and the regular paycheck that came with it. I was this close to being hired full-time at my last assignment, but taking care of my ailing father impaired my work. I never knew what to expect during his decline, as he moved from his apartment to a nursing home, hospice, and, finally, urn.
The stress, over time, affected my marriage. At my lowest point, I was without a job, partner, home, or savings. What’s past is prologue, I thought to comfort myself. Once my Dad’s estate was settled and the divorce papers signed, I moved to Echo Valley for routine, order, sanity—but little did I know what I would encounter.
“Good morning,” I greeted Mimi, the executive director, in her office. Mimi had a silver bob and sharp eyes behind bifocals and wore a uniform of cashmere twin sets and slacks. She was a creature of habit. It was rumored that she ate the same lunch every day—cheese sandwich, orange, and tea—since she started working at the historical society as a graduate student. She rose to archival assistant, associate, manager, and, finally, director. She personified 30 years of institutional history—and the organization’s secrets as well.
“Morning. Remember to call about the deed of gift today.”
“It’s on my to-do list.”
It was the third time Mimi had reminded me this week. She repeated herself daily:
“What are we going to do about the HVAC system again?”
“Why did we select and appraise this collection?”
“Where’s the user agreement policy?”
“When was the EAD updated?”
“Whom did we meet today?”
And so on.
Mimi crafted a mosaic of Post-it notes with reminders on her cluttered desk. She reminded me of my father at the beginning of his Alzheimer’s. As with Dad, I learned to act as if everything was normal. To remind them of their faulty memory only caused frustration, embarrassment, and anger.
Would Mimi retire? Or would she be pushed out? When I was hired six weeks ago, the chairman of the search committee hinted that I might succeed her. I coveted Mimi’s job, but I hid my intentions.
She rifled through my work, that’s as much as I had figured out. I first knew something was wrong when I arranged a series of new acquisitions, only to find that the folders were back to their previous state the next day.
My penciled notes about the collection were erased; no traces remained. From that day forward, I photocopied my notes at the close of each workday and brought them home. Comparing what was to what had been was evidence that something happened.
Did Mimi distrust me? Did she forget that I was working on Durand’s collection? She originally processed the papers, but I was describing them more thoroughly. After my work was tampered with, I reviewed our inventories and discovered some of Durand’s rare artifacts were missing and their database entries were deleted.
Durand had been a prolific diarist and collector. Ouroboros, an ancient symbol depicting a tail-devouring serpent, was a recurrent motif in his letters. He amassed anatomical drawings from around the world, maps of arteries and veins—some primitive and crude, some finely rendered and startlingly beautiful. Along with his paper files, the historical society owned paintings, tapestries, and decorative arts including Gothic and Renaissance furniture, Oriental rugs, and Greek and Roman objects.
I found valuable material undocumented, such as a series of antique French medical books about bloodletting, trepanning, and other medical “arts.” Some amphorae, kraters, and kylix were photographed and assigned catalog numbers, but were missing from the collection.
I suspected Mimi of stealing. She might be hampering my progress so that I wouldn’t discover the extent of her theft. Stealing by fellow archivists cut at the core: a betrayal, a perversion, a violation of everything sacred to the profession. From my training, I knew to remain professional and non-confrontational. To wait, observe, and document. I needed proof.
At night, I drifted to sleep, exhausted. I woke throughout the night, frightened and unsure of where I was. A deluge of hypnagogic images raced through my brain; I dreamed of work: cartons of papers, digital files, and ArchivesSpace indices. Acid-free folders cut my fingers; I bled. I dreamed of Durand’s manor with its inner dimensions seemly larger than its outer ones. Its warren of chambers: the butler’s pantry, the maid’s quarters, the root cellar that smelled of rot. Faces of strangers never before glimpsed by me thrummed beneath my eyelids. In a state of consciousness that was neither sleep nor waking, I saw Durand before me. Rubicund, he had a lapidary face with hooded, haunted eyes and gray hair brushed back from his forehead.
During diurnal hours, I became drowsy as my lack of sleep caught up with me. In my fugue, I repeated tasks, commencing a project and realizing that I had completed it earlier. Having much to do, I never made progress.
Walking to the processing area to start the day’s work, I returned to my current project of extensible processing of the Durand papers. I wanted all holdings to have a baseline level of arrangement and description to aid in their access, with more granular description reserved for historically important collections. A Sisyphean task, I realized. The historical society had legacy systems and colleagues, volunteers, and researchers who resisted change. Opposition to a new order occurred in all repositories, but the Echo Valley Historical Society was particularly set in its ways.
When I first suspected something was amiss in the archives, I upgraded our closed circuit camera system. I tried to fix a virus in our network too. Our computer system sometimes failed to back up the day’s work; other times, it duplicated files. I searched eBay and contacted booksellers and specialist dealers in the area to raise awareness of the missing items. I insisted that Otto perform exit searches for our researchers. I discreetly monitored our outgoing mail.
I thumbed through the folders. The Durand collection consisted of correspondence, memoranda, and reports about his medical and civic affairs, catalogs of art holdings, family correspondence and biographies, artifacts and ephemera from world travels, and scrapbooks. Durand collected extensive papers on his family, aristocrats from Senones, France, the capital of Salm-Salm, a state of the Holy Roman Empire.
In his later, frankly eccentric, years, Durand became interested in what he called his phantom time hypothesis. From what I could tell from his papers, he believed that a scarcity of archeological evidence could be dated to 614 to 911 AD. He found discrepancies between the ancient calendars and the astronomical year; he discovered that October 4, 1582, in the Julian calendar was followed by October 15, 1582, in the Gregorian calendar. From this and other gaps he calculated, he concluded that time skipped three centuries and that the early Middle Ages never happened. According to him, the presence of Romanesque architecture in tenth-century Western Europe suggested that the Roman era was shorter than what was conventionally thought. Durand vacillated between believing that the years were added to the calendar by misinterpretation by astronomers and mathematicians to deliberate falsification by ancient world leaders. A wild idea! Durand seemed mad in his twilight years. How would I explain that in a finding aid?
The day before, I removed duplicates from his correspondence and placed them next to the carton of materials I was working on. The stack was no longer there. I found a folder that I remembered had contained many copies. The duplicate papers were interspersed where I had initially found them.
“Mimi, do you know anything about the papers I left here?” I looked her straight in the eye.
She stared back. “Papers, no. I don’t know if I asked yet, but please call about the deed of gift.”
***
In my office, I studied call slips to note what files were most requested. I developed a system to track and analyze the use of our archival materials. The data helped me prioritize processing for collections with the highest research value. I also had an ulterior motive. I was reviewing chain of custody documentation for missing materials to determine a systematic pattern of loss.
While going through the call slips, I noticed Emme Salas’ schoolgirl script. Call number 1989-024/006 this week. The same call number the week before. And the week before that.
With a spidery scrawl, Bob requested microfiche record group 55, then 56, then 57 the next day. And here it was again—record group 55, 56, and 57. He had been cycling through this record group since his arrival two weeks ago.
I looked at Mr. Renner’s call slips; he requested our WPA land use surveys, hand-painted and collected into ten maps per book. He asked for the third volume today, the second during his last visit, and the first before that. And, I realized as I arranged the call slips by date, he had been looking through this triad for the last three years.
***
Otto left work at 6 p.m. every day after he made his final rounds.
“I’m staying late to catch up on work,” I told Mimi. Once everyone left, I went to Otto’s desk. Made of dark mahogany, it contained many drawers and pigeonholes; his seat was an antique swivel chair, with a well-worn crimson cushion. The desktop was cluttered; on it were a Tiffany lamp of exquisitely colored glass and a computer that displayed grainy, black and white views from the cameras that were placed in the foyer, reading room, processing room, and storage areas. Finally, I would obtain proof of Mimi’s activities.
I logged into the computer and found the previous day’s video of the processing room. I saw myself: walking in and out, sorting files, and writing down notes. Mimi entered the processing room from her office, then exited to the reading room at 11:10 am. I played the section again. Mimi didn’t even look at my files. She returned to her office twenty minutes later. I continued watching. At 2:10 in the afternoon, she walked in again and then out to the reading room. At 2:30 p.m., she ambled back to her office. I watched the rest of the video: Mimi entered the processing room at 5:10 p.m. and left for the reading room. She returned to her office at 5:30 p.m.
I switched to the reading room video. I saw Mimi enter, chat with Hannah, and then walk to Bob at the microfiche machine. She moved to Mr. Renner to look at his map, then talked to Mrs. Salas. She returned to the back office. I forwarded the tape to 2:10. Mimi walked to Hannah, then to Bob, Renner, and Salas and returned at 2:30. I forwarded the tape to 5:10 and watched: Hannah, Bob, Renner, Salas, and return.
I let the video play as my thoughts wandered. Renner submitted a call slip. Hannah answered the phone. Mrs. Salas opened the Hollinger box in front of her and took out a folder. JJ, a page, rolled a cart of boxes to the reference desk; Anna, another page, passed him with her cart. Bob stretched backward from the microfiche reader. Mimi entered the room.
I fast forwarded the video and pressed play. Renner got up with his call slip. Hannah reached for the phone. Salas opened a box. JJ pushed his cart; Anna moved hers. Bob stretched. Mimi entered. I fast forwarded…and saw the same scene.
Was the video looped? Didn’t Otto notice the repetition? I played the present day’s video of the reading room—and I spied a pattern. I fast-forwarded. The video displayed the correct date, and the time stamp changed as the video ran. In my numbed state, my mind worked rapidly as a machine. As everyone repeated themselves, slats of sunlight moved throughout the space as the day continued. The beams marked the passage of time, yet everyone conducted the same activities as if on a Möbius strip.
Mimi, Otto, Hannah, JJ, Anna, Bob, Salas, and Renner. Durand Durand. W: double-u. From Senones in Salm-Salm. Anyone who entered the archives existed in a vacuum where time didn’t exist. It mirrored and repeated itself. Mimi wasn’t forgetful. She hadn’t been stealing. Like the ouroboros, time was cyclical at the Echo Valley Historical Society. Durand Durand had indeed found a lost period—phantom time—a duration that jumped forward and back, iterating and resonating on itself. A time palindrome.
Aha! The grandfather clock tolled. I woke, startled. My head had slumped forward onto my crossed arms. I rubbed my face, my dazzled eyes. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. The brownstone was silent, and the sepulchral foyer receded into darkness.
The wavy glass of the front lunette distorted the moon. I gathered my belongings. As I walked outside to my car to go home, I drew a deep breath. The crisp air carried the scent of wood smoke and the sweet decay of leaves. I would return tomorrow and take control—physical, intellectual, and temporal—of the archives.
***
She better keep her dirty mitts off my work, I thought as I opened the wrought iron doors of the historical society. The start of another day at the archives.
October 3, 2017
October 4th is Ask An Archivist Day
To kick off American Archives Month, Wednesday, October 4th is Ask an Archivist Day. This day-long event, sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, will give you the opportunity to connect directly with archivists in your community—and around the country—to ask questions, get information, or just satisfy your curiosity.
As professional experts who do the exciting work of protecting and sharing important historical materials, archivists have many stories to share about the work they do every day in preserving fascinating documents, photographs, audio and visual materials, and artifacts. Increasingly, archival work extends beyond the physical and includes digital materials.
Use #AskAnArchivist on Twitter to ask your questions about what archivists do are anything else related to archives. Your question will be seen instantly by archivists around the country who are standing by to respond directly to you.
Have a question for a specific archives or archivist? Include their Twitter handle with your question, and they will answer you.
Don’t have a question right away? Search Twitter for #AskAnArchivist and follow along as questions and answers are shared.
I'll be following along, and answering questions myself. My Twitter handle is @margotnote.
September 28, 2017
Facebook Live: Store and Display Your Archives
Join me this Sunday, October 1st at 9 pm EST via Facebook Live on my Creating Family Archives group page. If you're not already a member, come join the fun!
All you need to do to join me is click this link and watch the video on Facebook at 9 pm EST. (Don't live in the Eastern time zone? Convert your time zone here).
Once you have organized your archives and protected them in enclosures, you must find a safe place to store and display your treasures. As a family archivist, you have come so far in protecting your heritage items. Storage and display of your archives is the last step in ensuring the appropriate and permanent care of your records of historical value. Storing your collections properly will make them available for use both now and in the future. Join me in this session as we discuss the best ways to store and display your family treasures.
To participate, please join my group, Creating Family Archives here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CreatingFamilyArchives/
To learn the preservation secrets used by libraries, archives, and museums to protect their priceless materials (that you can also use for your family heritage items) read my book:
Creating Family Archives: How to Preserve Your Papers and Photographs
By Margot Note
ike this post? Never miss an update when you sign up for my newsletter:
Follow me on Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
September 26, 2017
The Ultimate Archival Supply Shopping List
The most common question I receive from people learning how to create their family archives is what supplies to buy. I've curated a collection of the best, most affordable, and most useful archival products that every home archivist should invest in.
New to archives? Here's a quick primer to what it means when a product is of "archival quality."
Archival supplies are available from several distributors, such as Gaylord Archival, Hollinger Metal Edge, and University Products, through Amazon, and even in stores, most notably The Container Store. I always suggest The Container Store to clients who have never seen or worked with archival supplies before; the store has a small, but marvelous selection of archival boxes, folders, and enclosures in their Photo Storage section.
Depending on your archival needs, you may want to buy all of these materials or only a few.
Here are some items to consider buying, with links to my favorite products below:
Creating Family Archives: How to Preserve Your Papers and Photographs (mandatory, of course!)No. 2 pencils and a sharpener (I'm assuming you already have these)A mini spatula to carefully remove staples and photos from sticky surfacesArchival-quality clips to replace traditional paper clips that rustA book and document cleaner, like Absorene A PH testing penArchival-quality file folders (I prefer letter-sized folders with full tabs. Order more than you think you'll need because you'll go through these quickly).Clear, archival photo cornersDrop-spine archival boxes to store materials flatVertical file archival boxes, best for letter file foldersBankers boxes for when you have a lot of files (Paige No. 15 Miracle Boxes are the easiest to construct and the most durable. I'm WILD about these boxes and will use no others for my clients).Photo boxes with photo enclosuresPhoto envelopes Clear plastic enclosures for papers, pamphlets, family records, and small mapsArchival photo album kits (I prefer cream pages over black).Unbuffered or buffered acid-free tissue (If unsure of the materials you're protecting, chose unbuffered).I am not affiliated with any of the companies I've mentioned in this post. If you purchase an item, I receive a small percentage of the sale through the Amazon Associates program.
To learn the preservation secrets used by libraries, archives, and museums to protect their priceless materials (that you can also use for your family heritage items) read my book:
Creating Family Archives: How to Preserve Your Papers and Photographs
By Margot Note
Like this post? Never miss an update when you sign up for my newsletter:
Follow me on Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
September 21, 2017
Facebook Live: Preserve Your Books
Join me this Sunday, September 24th at 9 pm EST via Facebook Live on my Creating Family Archives group page. If you're not already a member, come join the fun!
All you need to do to join me is click this link and watch the video on Facebook at 9 pm EST. (Don't live in the Eastern time zone? Convert your time zone here).
Bound volumes of yearbooks, ledgers, journals, Bibles, and commercially produced books tell stories about our families. Books are composed of diverse materials, such as paper, cloth, leather, paste, and glue, which deteriorate at different rates. Like all organic materials, these elements are vulnerable to the conditions and changes in the environment in which they are retained.
Books can be treated similarly to scrapbooks and albums, without the additional preservation problems caused by mixed materials. Many rare or unique editions may have intrinsic or sentimental value in your family collections. Learning how to care for your historical books will allow you to pass on your valuable library to your children and grandchildren. In this session, I'll teach you how to best preserve your books and bound volumes.
To participate, please join my group, Creating Family Archives here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CreatingFamilyArchives/
To learn the preservation secrets used by libraries, archives, and museums to protect their priceless materials (that you can also use for your family heritage items) read my book:
Creating Family Archives: How to Preserve Your Papers and Photographs
By Margot Note
Like this post? Never miss an update when you sign up for my newsletter:
Follow me on Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
September 14, 2017
Facebook Live: Preserve Your Scrapbooks and Photo Albums
Join me this Sunday, September 17th at 9 pm EST via Facebook Live on my Creating Family Archives group page. If you're not already a member, come join the fun!
All you need to do to join me is click this link and watch the video on Facebook at 9 pm EST. (Don't live in the Eastern time zone? Convert your time zone here).
The perfect place to showcase and protect your precious family memories, document your family’s history, and create a lasting gift for future generations are through scrapbooks and photo albums. However, preserving these objects take special care and consideration. In this session, we'll explore the special preservation needs of these items.
To participate, please join my group, Creating Family Archives here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CreatingFamilyArchives/
To learn the preservation secrets used by libraries, archives, and museums to protect their priceless materials (that you can also use for your family heritage items) read my book:
Creating Family Archives: How to Preserve Your Papers and Photographs
By Margot Note
Like this post? Never miss an update when you sign up for my newsletter:
Follow me on Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
