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SCHOAM! for October 2024
Special Collections, Historical Organizations, Archives & Museums
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in short: News | Grants | Ideas | Events | Webinars | Jobs | |
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News from SCRLC
New Member: Village of Aurora Historical Society
Soon to be renamed the Aurora-Ledyard Historical Society, this organization is our newest member. I had the pleasure of sitting next to their president, Shirley Egan, at a meeting of Cayuga County historians recently and I'm excited to see what great things we can accomplish together in the coming years. Shirley mentioned that they're currently applying for DRI funding for a reroofing project, the building of a historically accurate front porch, and the improvement of their backyard parking area, which hosts an active farmers market for 31 weeks of every year. They're also, of course, interested in accessioning the significant local history collection held by the suddenly defunct Wells College.
New Collection: Oneonta Yearbooks
This collection of high school yearbooks from Oneonta was digitized by Huntington Memorial Library for their Advantage Archives website. The library sent us a hard drive with copies of all the city directories and yearbooks, so that we could upload them to NY Heritage and better represent Otsego County.
New Collection: Cuba Poetry Society
This was funded by an SCRLC digitization grant to the Southern Tier Library System. Two local women founded the Cuba Poetry Society in 1932; one read poetry to the other while she did her ironing, and it blossomed from there. The collection includes 22 pamphlets with poetry and illustrations that are quite remarkable. It's very sweet to notice that over the years, two of the members eventually married.
New Collection: Cayuga Chamber Orchestra Collection
This was funded by an SCRLC digitization grant to the History Center in Tompkins County and will be finished in the coming week with an additional 100 programs. This collection of programs and media releases lists all of the local players of the Chamber Orchestra and collaborating groups (e.g. the youth orchestra and choral groups), as well as board members and soloists since the late 1970s.
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Grants & Assistance
Small and Midsized Capital Improvement Grants for Arts and Culture
These grants from the NY Council on the Arts are for 501(c)3 arts and cultural organizations. While the deadline is in January, there's a mandatory prequalification process to start now. These are no-match grants available to organizations with operating budgets under $2 million for "accessibility, artistry, cultural development, sustainability, health and safety, and structural and historical improvements." Larger capital improvement grants ($2M+) are also available, as are some grants specifically for the design stage of capital improvement projects. The 2024 awardees for these grants included the John W. Jones Museum in Elmira, the Deposit Community Historical Society in Delaware County, and Historic Ithaca.
Inspire! Grants for Small Museums
These grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services can fund many types of museum projects including preservation planning, conservation treatment, and digitization. They are specifically for museums (rather than libraries or archives). Due November 15.
National Historical Publications & Records Commission Archival Projects Grants
Apply for grants of up to $150,000 to be spent in one or two years, with a minimum 25% match. They are especially seeking collections that document the nation's legal history and that center the voices of Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Due November 7.
ICYMI: CLIR: Digitizing Hidden Special Collections & Archives
Initial applications are due by October 30 for projects that "deepen public understanding of the histories of people of color and other communities and populations whose work, experiences, and perspectives have been insufficiently recognized or unattended."
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Ideas & Inspiration
Linked Data Survey
Library researchers are surveying museums, libraries, and archives about their use of linked data. It should take 5-10 minutes and is available here. Please fill it out even if you don't use linked data at all.
Proactive Archives Collecting: The Belfast Project
There's an interview series on YouTube called Hot Ones, in which celebrities eat spicy chicken wings and answer thoughtful questions. At the end of John Oliver's interview, he recommended a book called Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, which I checked out via Libby. I echo his recommendation wholeheartedly and very specifically to this audience because a huge part of the story revolves around the role of archives. It's a compelling book for anyone and especially thought-provoking for people who steward modern history. Just think, would you wait until oral history informants died before submitting to an international subpoena in a murder case?
The Great Millinocket Game
Millinocket is a former paper mill town in the middle of Maine with about 4,000 people (making it the one of the most populous communities in a 45-minute radius). Organizations there are scrappy and clever, just like our members. This asynchronous, history-based fundraising event looks fun and might be something to imitate for your own purposes: https://www.millinockethistoricalsociety.org/game
Make it Flat and Keep it Flat
An organization in Central New York recently asked about tube-shaped storage for rolled-up drawings. The archivists in the group chat practically yelled in unison: "flatten them out!" Susan D'Entremont of CDLC dug out this excellent resource, explaining exactly how to best flatten rolled paper materials.
MANY Conference
The Museum Association of NY will be in Ithaca next April for their 2025 conference, which has the theme "Cultivating Community: Looking In, Reaching Out." Submit your conference proposal by November 8!
New York History Conference
Next June, Albany will be full of historians, students, educators, anthropologists, archaeologists, librarians, and anyone else interested in the study of New York's history. Submit a presentation proposal by December 15 and read more about the conference here.
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Happening in the Neighborhood
Black Print at Cornell
The Carl A. Kroch Library is featuring an exhibit about 19th century Black publications, including works by Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Frances E. W. Harper, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sojourner Truth, and many more. The exhibit was curated by Derrick R. Spires, Associate Professor of Literatures in English. Access to the exhibit space is possible through the Olin Library, which is again hosting a series of Chats in the Stacks lectures (also available over Zoom). "The Social Lives of Land" looks interesting!
Pumpkins, Eyeballs, Perfume and Urban Renewal in Corning
The Corning Museum of Glass has tripled the size of the studio space and will celebrate the new space with a party on October 18. Tickets are just $10 and include a drink. CMOG is awash with awesome programs this month: from pumpkin experiments to a rare online demonstration of how prosthetic glass eyes are made to the 62nd annual Seminar on Glass, this year focusing on glass and fragrance.
Save the date, November 13, for a presentation at Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning about the city's historic preservation and Urban Renewal with author Dr. Edward Mainzer.
Museums & More in Norwich
The Chenango County Historical Society, with its multi-building campus, is located on Rexford Street in Norwich across from the Northeast Class Car Museum and down the block from the Wheels in Time Diecast Museum and Bullthistle Model Railroad Society. They're all a part of the Museums & More festival this Saturday. They have a packed list of family-friendly activities planned, a new exhibit, a debut of Toliver & Wakeman (a play about the Civil War), and a meet-and-greet event with Congressman Molinaro. Later this month, they have a special walking tour about Norwich's architectural history, too.
Spooky Season in Elmira
Chemung County Historical Society's annual ghost walks sell out quickly! They'll be held next weekend, cost $25 per person, and include travel via bus between the museum and Woodlawn Cemetery, where guides from Friends of the Woodlawn will bring visitors along wooded pathways to hear actors of Elmira Little Theatre tell the stories of local ghosts. While waiting to board the bus, visitors can check out the latest exhibit by Erin Doane, all about Victorian mourning traditions.
Haunted History in Ithaca
Sign up for a spooky tour of downtown Ithaca for $20 and hear from Ben Sandberg, executive director of the History Center, with Heritage Ambassador Sherri La Torre. A recent History Center blogpost discusses "one of Ithaca’s most infamous serial murderers" and is definitely worth the three-minute read.
Eerie Elements in Delhi
(I'm not out of Halloween alliteration yet!) On October 19 and 26, the historic Gideon Frisbee House of Delaware County Historical Association will host Twilight Lantern Tours with Samantha Misa in costume. DCHA shared a WSKG video to let guests know what to expect, which is very helpful!
Oneonta Churches Tour
Greater Oneonta Historical Society has been busy with fundraisers and programs lately. On October 19, they have a tour planned of seven different historic churches. Each church has a different guide, and there are 15-minute intervals in between the locations so that visitors may travel.
Ken Burns and Debra Bruno in Cooperstown
In the first weekend of November, Fenimore Art Museum has two excellent events planned: a preview of Ken Burns' Leonardo Da Vinci with WSKG and Reckoning with Ancestral Sins: Uncovering my Family's Slaveholding Past with Debra Bruno. When you attend those events, make sure to leave plenty of time to explore the handful of exhibits up right now, which include American masterworks and a gorgeous, nostalgic collection of Caldecott Book illustrations.
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Zooms & Webinars Up Your Alley
Civic Actors: Communities of Practice to Support Civic Engagement
Friday, October 11 at 12 pm
Trustee Handbook Book Club: Governance Structure: The Role of Board Officers and Board Committees
Tuesday, October 15 at 5 pm
Introduction to Bibliometric Research for Librarians
Wednesday, October 16 at 10 am
Amigos Online Conference: Examining the Library User Experience
Wednesday, October 16 from 11 am to 3 pm || $250
Effective Communication (ESLN Academic Leadership Series)
Wednesday, October 16 at 12 pm
Digitizing 100 Years of Puerto Rican History & Culture
Wednesday, October 16 at 1 pm
The Adult Programming Equation
Thursday, October 17 at 10 am
What's in a name? (and what we learned about changing one)
Friday, October 18 at 12 pm
AI and Workforce Development in Libraries: Overcoming Barriers and Embracing Lifelong Learning
Tuesday, October 22 at 2 pm
Data Bloom: Data Visualization with R
Wednesday, October 23 at 1 pm
NNYLN: Nominating Collections for Digitization
Thursday, October 24 at 11 am
Leveraging AI innovations to improve student outcomes
Thursday, October 24 at 11 am
Attracting Students to the Liberal Arts Through Integrative Curricula
Thursday, October 24 at 2 pm
Preservation Interest Group: DHPSNY Services Information Session
Friday, October 25 at 9:30 am
Creating More Joy & Resilience in the Library
Tuesday, October 29 at 2 pm
Transforming Access: Libraries and Publishers in the Affordability Movement
Tuesday, October 29 at 2 pm
The State of Open Books: Where Are We Now? Where Next?
Thursday, October 31 at 2 pm
Data Bloom: Visualize with Python
Friday, November 1 at 10:30 am
NNYLN: Preparing for Digitization
Thursday, November 7 at 11 am
Open Affiliation Metadata: How Recent Innovations Help Libraries and Librarians
Thursday, November 7 at 2 pm
Strategies to Create Inclusivity in Established or New Experiences
Friday, November 8 at 12 pm
Vision, Strategy, and Planning (ESLN Academic Leadership Series)
Wednesday, November 13 at 1 pm
New York State Library Digital Equity Academy
Seven monthly pre-recorded lessons and group conversations. Free!
Email Lauren.Cardinal@nysed.gov to register.
In Person Events
SCRLC's Annual Meeting: Sustainable Libraries and Organizations
Sapsucker Woods, Ithaca || Wednesday, October 30
DHPSNY Fall Workshops: Caring for Photograph Collections
Syracuse, CLRC || Wednesday, October 23
Rochester, RRLC || Wednesday, October 30
Aurora, Howland Stone Store Museum || Tuesday, November 12
Chautauqua, Chautauqua Institution || Thursday, November 21
Pioneering AI from Classroom to Courtroom
Syracuse, Ithaca, or via Zoom || Friday, October 25
New York Library Association (NYLA) Annual Conference
Syracuse, NY || November 6 - 9 - Registration closes October 11
Supportive Practices in Change Management with Judy Rowe
Ithaca, NY || November 7 from 10 am to 1 pm, $60
Data Bloom: Visualizing Data in Special Collections
Rochester, NY || Tuesday, November 12 at 12:30 pm
Recordings & Follow-up Resources
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That's all for this month! Send me an email if there's anything at your organization you'd like me to include in the next newsletter: clovell@scrlc.org | Claire Lovell, Digital Services Librarian | | | | |
