In the field of art and art history, an exhibition is not only an event which provides access to a specific selection of objects, but it is itself an important resource that provides additional context for understanding artists and objects, illuminates the current research on a particular topic, and marks our contemporary understanding of art at a particular moment in time. The exhibition-as-resource requires adequate accessibility and discoverability like any other library material, though has not yet received a standardized formatting method that can be applied to all exhibitions. In an effort to shed light on an under-researched area of both the art and library worlds, this project examines the current state of exhibition-focused research and resources through a multitude of perspectives: conversations with researchers and librarians, a case study harnessing the past exhibition information of the artist-run SOIL gallery, and an examination of a few access solutions implemented by museums and libraries.

With over 400 permanently sited artworks in their collection, the Office of Arts & Culture has advanced Seattle’s reputation as a cultural center for innovation and creativity. Increasing accessibility to this unique cultural collection introduces a new audience to the collective history of the artworks and the history of Seattle. One of the ways this has been achieved is by showcasing artworks on the Public Art Archive, a national online database of public artworks. By designing a digital curation of content from the collection, the artworks can be used for educational purposes, research, and artistic inspiration. The curation of art objects included preparation and organization into an established dataset. Each object entry includes information about location, description, artist statements, and images. Digital curation of this collection demonstrates how to provide a framework for collection accessibility while highlighting how the Office of Arts & Culture has invested in public art.

Howard Clifford, a photographer for the Tacoma News Tribune and Pacific Northern Airlines, donated to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections Division a large collection of his life's work spanning the 1930s to the 1960s. In the 1970s when a portion of the collection was donated, items were commonly dispersed into general subject files, robbing researchers of the important context only a complete collection provides. My efforts to re-establish the collection’s original integrity through archival processing are resulting in new physical and intellectual arrangement and description as well as digitization of items for access on the UW Libraries’ Digital Collections website. Not only will a comprehensive finding aid provide detailed narrative descriptions, but for the first time, researchers will be able to see Clifford's photographs from anywhere in the world.

The Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery has an archive room where they store a collection of historical photographs, brand material, maps, and anything that relates to the history of the winery or property. One of the pain points for this archive is the usability of the room; people do not know what is available in the room. To assist in this problem I centered my project on creating catalog and index records for the archive. The company will be able to access these records through a SharePoint Team site that lists the contents of the archive in smaller collections, sorted by relevant categories. I also used Value Sensitive Design to figure out stakeholder needs, specifically how they could be integrated into making the archive room an asset for the winery. Marketing and Guest Services will now be able to find answers to historical and brand questions about the winery.

The photographs of John E. Thwaites, a mail clerk sailing throughout Alaska in the early 20th century, offer researchers a valuable glimpse into the maritime, Native American, and industrial history of the region. However, access to this collection is limited due to unprofessional processing that took place decades ago, arbitrarily sorting the photographs into subjects and subsequently losing the gestalt. My project remedies this by intellectually arranging the collection to express the course of Thwaites’ life and work in Alaska. In addition, the creation of a descriptive finding aid and the digitization of the images will enable searchable access to the collection from anywhere in the world. After languishing for decades, this highly compelling collection will gain new appreciation and access and utilization will be more possible than ever before.

As part of their transition from a paper based circulation system to the online request system Aeon, the Newberry Library recognized the need for a stronger online presence for their unprocessed manuscript collections. Many of these collections were only described in paper inventories. My project addressed this information problem through the creation of collection level encoded archival description (EAD) records. Approximately 300 unprocessed collections now have an online presence in the library’s list of manuscript abstracts, a collection level finding aid, and are available for request in Aeon. Through the creation of these records, enhanced access is available to researchers around the world who may not be able to visit the library. Previously unknown collections now have a new visibility and can provide valuable research opportunities. The library’s archivists can use new interest in these collections to help determine the priority for processing.

The Elmer Ogawa Photograph collection is a large and mostly untouched collection of photographs by Elmer Ogawa, a Japanese-American photographer and native Seattleite. Many of Ogawa’s photographs document local Seattle history and social scenes during the mid-twentieth century. The collection has been inventoried but has not been fully appraised and only partly digitized. The project team focused on making the Elmer Ogawa Photograph collection manageable for future development and continued digitization. Through weeding extraneous photographs, assessing the collection for content, and adjusting the finding aid to reflect alterations, the team was able to refine and cultivate the collection. Completion of this project has allowed the University of Washington Special Collections Library to reallocate resources and storage space to other projects while making the Elmer Ogawa Photograph collection easier to maintain, digitize and showcase to the public.

On Saturday March 22, 2014 the communities of Darrington and Oso, Washington experienced the devastating effects of a massive landslide that destroyed property and resulted in the loss of 43 lives. Recognizing the historical significance of this event, the Darrington Historical Society (DHS) quickly began collecting artifacts and information related to the slide. Identified as a priority by DHS was the need to build an archive that was widely available to the public, helped the community to heal, and also had the potential to aid scientific research and rescue operations planning. Toward this end, our Capstone team worked closely with DHS and UW Special Collections to create a digital archive using the CONTENTdm platform. By creating a digital archive searchable via WorldCat, DHS ensures that the Darrington and Oso communities, general public, and research community can continue to access images, documents, maps, videos, and audio recordings associated with the landslide.

This project addressed the archival processing of a historic 35mm moving image and lantern slide collection. Our team focused on the problem of both preserving and maximizing access to this collection. In order to provide access to film of this size, digitization is essential, both to facilitate viewing and to prevent degradation of the original materials. The equipment required for this process, however, is prohibitively expensive. Accordingly, our team experimented with alternative digitization methods that use tools commonly available in archives. We also strove to put the diverse components of this collection into a useful historical context that would maximize its utility to researchers and patrons. Our project seeks to provide a model of processing that can be done to archival collections, even without extensive funding.

Greenwillow Books is a children’s book publishing imprint of HarperCollins publishing. Since 1979, Greenwillow has transferred its publishing records to the University of Oregon for preservation and access. However, a comprehensive finding aid accounting for the numerous accretions to the collection has been unavailable for many years. Under the direction of Stephanie Kays, the UO’s Archivist for Collection Management, I accounted for 280 feet of processed records, processed and oversaw student processing of roughly 200 feet of unprocessed accessions, rehoused a large collection of oversize materials, and deaccessioned over 50 feet of duplicate materials. The result was a 487.5 foot collection of author correspondence, edited proofs, artwork drafts, and more available to researchers in a searchable, published finding aid through Northwest Digital Archives (http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/). Access to this collection will be a boon to researchers of children’s literature as well as educators looking to teach object lessons on the revision process.