Week 7

This week I returned back to my working on the Catholic Church Extension Society files. After having completed my survey of the material, I have begun to start sorting and organizing the files. This is an important step in maintaining a collection because it allows the archivist to access the material quickly and accurately by having it sorted into an organized collection. This is also an important step in order to help create finding guides, that assist in locating each individual item. Since most of these files are letters, I have decided to sort them alphabetically by the name of the person or group in which these files are sent to. There are some files that cover the same topic but are addressed to different individuals but since they are part of the same group, they will be categorized together by the name of the group. This way, files pertaining to the same topic will not be separated and harder to access. Next week, I will be continue to sort through and organize the collection.

Week 5 and 6: Surveying and Open House

For week 5 I continued to work on surveying the Catholic Church Extension Society's general correspondence files and I finished my survey. Most of these files contain letters of donations and their corresponding letters. There are also some pictures and applications that people have filed as an appeal for aid. These documents provide an insight into how the society worked and what their purpose was. The next step will be to sort these files in order to create a system in which they can be accessed.

For week 6 I was asked to assist in doing research and help organize for the Archives department's open house. The open house is meant to showcase the Archives department's material and to bring awareness to people about the departments purpose. As part of the research, I was responsible for searching through and selecting pictures that can be used in the showcase and used to highlight the department's collection. 

Below are examples of material I surveyed:

Photo From Native American Missionary

Checking Slips & Account Book

Blueprint Drawing

Newspaper Article