The
Traveling Archivist Program (TAP) is a nationwide effort initiated by the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) in which they provide
funding to individual states via their state historic records advisory board (SHRAB). From here the state board collaborates with
the state archives to reach out to cultural heritage institutions in desperate
need of assistance with their collections.
A Traveling Archivist (TA), appointed by the TAP managing body, visits
the sites after reading a self-assessment filed by the library, archive,
museum, historical society, etc., and makes recommendations to get their
collections access and preservation control up to the minimum professional
standards. The TA then follows up after
three and six months to check the status of the implementation. The site is responsible for adhering to the
recommendations made and also fills out follow-up surveys to help measure the
effectiveness of the program. There are
now multiple states that participate in the program, but the pilot TAP took
place in North Carolina and it is those efforts that we will examine.
The North Carolina TAP program began
in 2009 and has been successfully implemented over the last six years and has
reached 108 repositories (23 revisits)
in 54 counties, allowing them to not only improve on the established goals of
bringing things up to snuff, but also resulted in successful grant proposals
for continued support. One of the more surprising
of these cultural heritage sites that the Traveling Archivist assisted was a
state university. This was interesting
because the logic is a state university would be able to request assistance
directly from the state, as opposed to applying and qualifying for a program
run by your state, just out a different department. We also tend to think of learning institutions
as being more on top the collections preservation and access game that a small,
local historical society. The University of North Carolina at Pembroke has used
the services of the TAP up through at least 2013 (the reports are biennial and
the next is due later this year) and improved three of their collections: two
manuscript and one photographic. This
type of an institution is not normal of the collaboration between the NHPRC,
SHRAB, State Archives, and cultural heritage sites in the TAP program,
The majority of the repositories are
what one would think of when it comes to an outreach program aimed at improving
standards across institutions: historical societies, small house museums, local
history rooms. The Southport Historical Society
is one such example that typifies the program.
Their mission statement is nothing unique in that it is “dedicated to
bring together persons interested in local area history. SHS endeavors to do so
by providing opportunities for learning through programs and special events;
published articles and books; educational classes; and community projects that
will both enhance and preserve the unique history and heritage of Southport and
the surrounding area.” What’s missing? That’s right, the collections
piece. While they are dedicated to
preservation it appears to be more in the general sense as opposed to
archival/collection items. Therefore a
visit from a trained professional is going to be rather beneficial. The Southport Historical Society received a
visit from two professionals, Dick Lankford, the Traveling Archivist (formerly
state archivist), and Courtney Bailey, Records Analyst, N.C. Division of
Archives and Records. After a single
three hour visit, the team came up with two major recommendations: draft and
implement a strong collections policy, as none has existed in the history of
the Society, and reach a “consensus on how to proceed with providing enhanced
access to its archival collections, prioritizing some of the preservation
needs, and establishing a budget for the management and care of its unique
archival holdings.” These reports not
only led to finally having a collections policy, but also increased grant
funding and implementation of an online interface for accessing their research
collection.
These two examples represent the
extremes in terms of institutional size, that have taken advantage of North
Carolina’s Traveling Archivist Program.
Of the 108 repositories served, along with historical societies and
universities, are community colleges, genealogical societies, museums, local
history rooms at public libraries, and even institutional archives at
hospitals, churches, and other local organizations. While not all of these have publicly reported
on the results, the few that have allow mostly success stories to be
gleaned. This is not surprising as one
would not expect an official report to bad mouth grant funded assistance to
improve one’s institution. The largest success
story (in terms of a importance of project and amount funded) was the Mint
Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Since its founding in 1936 as the first art museum of the state, it has
been collecting art from all over the world as well as developing a special
collections area of manuscripts, photographs, field notes, sketches, books, and
any other documentation to support its art collection, as well as institutional
archives. None of this has its own
dedicated space. All collections that “document
the history of the museum: its governance and administration; registration
records; curatorial/exhibition records and research files, and records of its
affiliate organizations,” are filed in vertical hanging folders with not
specific order or division. After the
TAP site visit the Mint Museum was able to apply for and receive a $46,000
grant from NHPRC to “identify and establish a space for archival processing,
consolidate its approximately 200 cubic feet of records into one physical
location, process and provide basic online descriptions for those records, and
establish a records retention and collection development policy.”
The Mint Museum, Southport Historical Society,
and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke represent the success of
strategically applied governmental funding.
Of the reports I have read relating to the TAP, continued or increased
grant funding has been the biggest pay out.
I also feel that the Program is succeeding in the fact that it is bringing
small organizations and larger ones that have been slacking, up to modern
professional standards. Along with housing and handling, the TAP program
teaches basic EAD for finding aids to increase accessibility and also provide
direction to continued professional development for the employees or volunteers
of individual sites. Also the
independence of the project I think is a big success. Many places tend to drown out repetitive
requests from departments, especially if they are seen as “unnecessary.” However, nothing makes people wake up like
having the former State Archivist come to your repository, tell you what needs
to be done ASAP for your institution to not look like a bunch of unprofessional
yokels, to make people move. It can have
a reinvigorating effect as well on underfunded departments within larger institutions. While I could not find it outright said, I
feel this is the situation with UNC Pembroke: a small department in need of assistance
has been ignored by the higher ups until you have an official state report
being waved at you at the next Board or Trustees meeting. Once it is public that there are serious
issues, the exploration of funding opportunities is given the green light.
Many of the success of the TAP could
also be seen as potential failures or weaknesses. The independence itself could be a double
edged sword. The TA can only do so much
in a single visit, and brief follow ups three and six months down the
road. If the staff does not take kindly
to an outsider, the TA recommendations may be ignored causing further damage to
the collections. There is also the
aspect of application. An institution can
only be helped if it is willing to recognize their failures and reach out for
help, which some may not be willing to do.
Having encountered entrenched bureaucracies before, I can say I wouldn’t
be surprised if an archivist, collections manager, etc. was more or less made
to do the TAP, but after the fact did not follow the advice given. Also, from what I have seen many of the TAP
visits result in a course of action that requires more funding. IF an institution is unable to fund or
receive outside assistance, the Program goals may be dead in the water. The TAP is also has a limited scope in that
it only deals with non-object and non-material culture collections; so
basically paper, digital, and photographs are the only thing being consulted
on. Finally, the North Carolina TAP does
not report on its failures. From all the
official documents that I saw surrounding the program and its success, there is
no mention of failures or the recommendations not being followed.
Now that this project is beginning to
spread to other states (Connecticut begins its second round this year) it will
be interesting to see how the different states report on their successes and
failures and how open they are about them.
This is a useful program for many small and medium sized repositories,
but it would be sad to see all of these recommendations for improving the
record keeping of our cultural heritage come to naught.
Works
Consulted
"54th
Biennial Report of The North Carolina Office of Archives and History, 2010-2012."
Accessed February 22, 2016. http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/54th_Biennial_Report.pdf.
"55th
Biennial Report of The North Carolina Office of Archives and History,
2012-2014." Accessed February 22, 2016. http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/55th_Biennial_Report.pdf.
Gabriel,
Andrea. "The Traveling Archivist Program: Fostering Success for North
Carolina's Special Collections." History For All the People. 2012.
Accessed February 22, 2016.
https://ncarchives.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/the-traveling-archivist-program/
Library
Lines. Mary Livermore Library, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 20 n.
3, January 2012. Accessed February 22,
2016. https://www.uncp.edu/sites/default/files/Images_Docs/Library/Departments/Special_Collections/library_lines/vol20_no3.pdf
"NC
SHRAB - Education and Training." NC SHRAB - Education and Training.
Accessed February 22, 2016.
http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/shrab/education_training.htm#traveling.
"NC
SHRAB - Education and Training." NC SHRAB - Education and Training.
Accessed February 22, 2016. http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/shrab/education_training.htm#traveling.
"North Carolina Office of Archives and
History." North Carolina Office of Archives and History. Accessed February
22, 2016. http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/.
The
Society of North Carolina Archivists. The North Carolina Archivist, 83, Spring
2010. Accessed February 22, 2016. http://www.ncarchivists.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vol83_spring_2010_newsletter.pdf
The
Society of North Carolina Archivists. The North Carolina Archivist, 85, Spring
2011. Accessed February 22, 2016.
http://www.ncarchivists.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vol85_spring_2011_newsletter.pdf
Southport
Historical Society. Whittler’s Bench. Winter 2015. Accessed February 22, 2016. http://www.southporthistoricalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/SHS-Newsletter-Winter2015.pdf
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