Creating the Finding Aid in Archon
Green-Wood Cemetery uses Archon, an open-source Content Management System that allows institutions to publish finding aids for their collections and integrate within its records a digital library. Although Archon was developed in 2007 and later merged with Archivists' Toolkit to become ArchivesSpace, it remains flexible and user-friendly, providing fields for the institution to populate such as Arrangement, Description, Abstract, Subjects and Detailed Descriptions, as well as Scope and Content Notes about holdings at the Collections level. These form the backbone of the finding aid. Collections can also be described down to the series, folder and item level. For the lantern slide collection, I provided all the collection level information and input each of the categories as 58 separate series, noting a description about each one including what box they could be found in. Some of these, such as "Bridges" and "Buildings" also had sub-series. Eventually, individual items can be extracted from the metadata spreadsheet and used to add item-level records to each series. Although currently only the Green-Wood staff can view the information in Archon, it is part of the institution's long-range plan to make its collections visible to outside researchers.
Digitization
The lantern slide collection is a good candidate for digitization, as it is well-preserved and able to withstand handling yet, at the same time, the slides are aging, fragile and therefore vulnerable to loss. Hughes writes that the process should "create a resource that allows new types of use and advanced research...and should be undertaken to provide enhanced scholarly access." Digital surrogates can "give new life to valuable resources," she adds, and will indeed increase the value of the collection, making the images accessible to a wider audience, drawing attention to the institution, and aiding in preservation. Green-Wood uses an Epson flatbed scanner and VueScan software. A high-resolution of 1200 dpi was used for digitial capture. This is particularly important for photographs, and especially small images such as lantern slides, which often reveal many unseen and astonishing details when one is able to zoom in. After digitizing I assigned each image a unique identifier as described earlier, based on its series and the individual item number, then noted this file name on the Excel spreadsheet.
Green-Wood Cemetery uses Archon, an open-source Content Management System that allows institutions to publish finding aids for their collections and integrate within its records a digital library. Although Archon was developed in 2007 and later merged with Archivists' Toolkit to become ArchivesSpace, it remains flexible and user-friendly, providing fields for the institution to populate such as Arrangement, Description, Abstract, Subjects and Detailed Descriptions, as well as Scope and Content Notes about holdings at the Collections level. These form the backbone of the finding aid. Collections can also be described down to the series, folder and item level. For the lantern slide collection, I provided all the collection level information and input each of the categories as 58 separate series, noting a description about each one including what box they could be found in. Some of these, such as "Bridges" and "Buildings" also had sub-series. Eventually, individual items can be extracted from the metadata spreadsheet and used to add item-level records to each series. Although currently only the Green-Wood staff can view the information in Archon, it is part of the institution's long-range plan to make its collections visible to outside researchers.
Digitization
The lantern slide collection is a good candidate for digitization, as it is well-preserved and able to withstand handling yet, at the same time, the slides are aging, fragile and therefore vulnerable to loss. Hughes writes that the process should "create a resource that allows new types of use and advanced research...and should be undertaken to provide enhanced scholarly access." Digital surrogates can "give new life to valuable resources," she adds, and will indeed increase the value of the collection, making the images accessible to a wider audience, drawing attention to the institution, and aiding in preservation. Green-Wood uses an Epson flatbed scanner and VueScan software. A high-resolution of 1200 dpi was used for digitial capture. This is particularly important for photographs, and especially small images such as lantern slides, which often reveal many unseen and astonishing details when one is able to zoom in. After digitizing I assigned each image a unique identifier as described earlier, based on its series and the individual item number, then noted this file name on the Excel spreadsheet.
The Selection Process and Sampling of Chosen Slides
The potential research value of this collection can be glimpsed from a sampling that I set aside for possible digitization. As this project evolved I was considering the images that might best evoke the sense of time passing, and the ability of photographs to blur the past and the present—that sense of a lost New York—street signs, businesses, buildings and other evidence of a bygone era. These types of images can be the most stirring ones for the researcher of history, genealogy, and urban life because they bring the past into the present, connecting us in a very personal way. I was also seeking a wide enough range that could include people, landmarks, architectural details and transportation. My interest coalesced around images that were multi-layered in terms of the amount of information they could reveal to the viewer about everyday life in late 19th-early 20th century New York. There are many elements to a picture that can tell a story and provide important clues. A slide of a market scene on the west side of Manhattan, for example, features the small storefronts stalls where oyster sellers made their livelihood. An image like this harkens back to a time when the harvest in New York’s rivers was bountiful and supported a thriving oyster industry. Although the image is undated, the presence of a 38 star flag is an important clue, suggesting that picture was made sometime between the years 1877-1890. It was fascinating for me to discover a slide depicting a familiar neighborhood—for instance West 10th Street and Broadway—and recognize Grace Church and the layout of the street, but to marvel at the vanished businesses and signs of long ago. "Taylor's Dining Saloon," for instance, is written on a sign above one of the buildings: I had come across this business when doing research on dining establishments of turn-of-the-century New York and seeing this sign brought my own personal research to life. Another interesting feature of this image was a painted sign bearing the words "Ladies Restaurant" and a hand pointing in the direction of 10th Street. During this time in New York women typically did not dine out alone, but the introduction of the fashionable "ladies' restaurant" gave women a place where they could eat undisturbed without the company of men. A slide that depicts a view south from Broadway gives us a glimpse of the ephemeral Loew Bridge, constructed in 1866 to allow pedestrians to cross the busy street and unfortunately torn down by 1868 (the owner of the hat shop across the street claimed that the bridge was casting shadows on his business and, with the help of other merchants on his side of the street, successfully sued the city to dismantle it). Since Loew Bridge existed for such a short time we know approximately when this image was made, and it also gives us a more concrete timeframe in terms of how far back we can date the collection; this is believed to be the earliest slide. The slide of a Jewish family at Ellis Island, the only color image digitized for this project, was chosen for its unusual beauty as portraiture, as well as its potential value for a researcher seeking images related to immigration and Ellis Island, or perhaps even doing genealogical work. A slide of immigrant children in Thompson’s Alley, one of the small alleys on the Lower East Side, is reminiscent of the social documentary style used by Lewis Hine in his images of impoverished children, and reveals important clues about tenement living in turn-of-the-century New York. As Conway noted previously, the potential uses for a collection like this are numerous and not always predictable. It is up to the researcher to make previously unseen connections and to further scholarship by using it in new and exciting ways.
The potential research value of this collection can be glimpsed from a sampling that I set aside for possible digitization. As this project evolved I was considering the images that might best evoke the sense of time passing, and the ability of photographs to blur the past and the present—that sense of a lost New York—street signs, businesses, buildings and other evidence of a bygone era. These types of images can be the most stirring ones for the researcher of history, genealogy, and urban life because they bring the past into the present, connecting us in a very personal way. I was also seeking a wide enough range that could include people, landmarks, architectural details and transportation. My interest coalesced around images that were multi-layered in terms of the amount of information they could reveal to the viewer about everyday life in late 19th-early 20th century New York. There are many elements to a picture that can tell a story and provide important clues. A slide of a market scene on the west side of Manhattan, for example, features the small storefronts stalls where oyster sellers made their livelihood. An image like this harkens back to a time when the harvest in New York’s rivers was bountiful and supported a thriving oyster industry. Although the image is undated, the presence of a 38 star flag is an important clue, suggesting that picture was made sometime between the years 1877-1890. It was fascinating for me to discover a slide depicting a familiar neighborhood—for instance West 10th Street and Broadway—and recognize Grace Church and the layout of the street, but to marvel at the vanished businesses and signs of long ago. "Taylor's Dining Saloon," for instance, is written on a sign above one of the buildings: I had come across this business when doing research on dining establishments of turn-of-the-century New York and seeing this sign brought my own personal research to life. Another interesting feature of this image was a painted sign bearing the words "Ladies Restaurant" and a hand pointing in the direction of 10th Street. During this time in New York women typically did not dine out alone, but the introduction of the fashionable "ladies' restaurant" gave women a place where they could eat undisturbed without the company of men. A slide that depicts a view south from Broadway gives us a glimpse of the ephemeral Loew Bridge, constructed in 1866 to allow pedestrians to cross the busy street and unfortunately torn down by 1868 (the owner of the hat shop across the street claimed that the bridge was casting shadows on his business and, with the help of other merchants on his side of the street, successfully sued the city to dismantle it). Since Loew Bridge existed for such a short time we know approximately when this image was made, and it also gives us a more concrete timeframe in terms of how far back we can date the collection; this is believed to be the earliest slide. The slide of a Jewish family at Ellis Island, the only color image digitized for this project, was chosen for its unusual beauty as portraiture, as well as its potential value for a researcher seeking images related to immigration and Ellis Island, or perhaps even doing genealogical work. A slide of immigrant children in Thompson’s Alley, one of the small alleys on the Lower East Side, is reminiscent of the social documentary style used by Lewis Hine in his images of impoverished children, and reveals important clues about tenement living in turn-of-the-century New York. As Conway noted previously, the potential uses for a collection like this are numerous and not always predictable. It is up to the researcher to make previously unseen connections and to further scholarship by using it in new and exciting ways.