Bring Your Hidden Treasures into the Light! Or Where do I start with these boxes?

WHO ARE WE? Cheryl Wright Manager, Organizational Learning & Development The Indianapolis Public Library cwright@indypl.org Christopher Marshall Public Services Librarian Indianapolis Special Collections Room The Indianapolis Public Library cmarshall@indypl.org

Library holdings need to be discoverable, this is especially important for local history materials which are likely to be scarcely or uniquely held These materials are the most critical to be discoverable because they ARE unique and are the most likely to be in dark collections

Photo of patrons at a local Branch Library World War I poster

What do I need

Getting started Look at overall picture (what do you have) – organize your boxes first Decide where to start (start small) Pull out one box of items and start with that Sort items into piles – find a common thread to use Decide what to keep, what to donate to other orgs/libs or discard Create subject headings for each stack Label files (using a pencil) – DO NOT WRITE ON ARTIFACTS Determine your storage method – archival boxes, vertical files Make a catalog record if needed Make a finding aid – broad list of topics (can be shallow or in-depth)

Activity – take items, sort, evaluate, create headings , document

General patron usage tips FINAL THOUGHTS How did it go? General patron usage tips QUESTIONS? Cheryl Wright, Manager, Organizational Learning & Development, The Indianapolis Public Library, cwright@indypl.org