1. Unveiling the Mission Santa Clara Manuscript Collection: A Multidisciplinary Perspective Part One – The project Erin M. Louthen Santa Clara University December 10 th, 2014

2. In the Beginning... Origins and acquisition of the Mission Santa Clara (MSC) Manuscript Collection materials – We didn’t so much as acquire as inherit – As far as we know, we’ve always had them in the archives – Some items have been (and continue to be) on display at the campus museum, the de Saisset Additional MSC materials collected over time from various institutions and resources – Primary collector was Fr. Arthur D. Spearman (1899-1977), historian and University Archivist at Santa Clara University, who in the 1950s and 1960s created the artificial collection we have now

3. A Truly “Hidden” Collection No catalog record in SCU’s OSCAR (OPAC) or in WorldCat (OCLC) Brief inventories written over time, in paper format only Inventories scattered throughout various places in Archives & Special Collections Several historical resources explaining facets of the collection, but no centralized inventory on the subject Discovery of collection mainly due to word-of-mouth

4. The Need for Discovery – An Appeal for Support & Funding Pitching the project to the President’s Office Identifying stakeholders and interested parties Describing project priorities, goals and outcomes Generating funding for the project End result: Full-time temporary archivist position secured on soft money

5. Project Approved! Now What? Hire an archivist/historian to analyze and describe the collection Challenges in finding the right person for the job Decided that hiring a historian would be more appropriate than an MLIS grad Idea that a historian could transcribe and create document context while the University Archivist could create the finding aid structure

6. The Mission Santa Clara Manuscript Project: Phase One September 2013 – May 2014 Goals and Objectives: – Arrange – Describe – Conservation/Preservation – Identify items for future digitization – Create initial finding aid and publish on OAC Easy, right? – Well, it doesn’t look so difficult...

10. Sure, Not So Difficult Until... We were given the deadline: 8 months Expectations were that we would accomplish the aforementioned goals and provide a project report to the President’s Office detailing our progress, our tasks in process, and tasks for the future. If the report was well-received and the project was deemed successful, the President’s Office would lobby for more funding to extend the historian’s appointment for another year.

11. Did We Meet Expectations at the Eight Month Mark? Yes, at the series level: – We identified seven series: Sacramental Records; Informes (Reports); Fr. Viader’s Miscellany Book; Alta California Manuscripts; Ecclesiastical and Governmental Correspondence; Music Manuscripts; and Reproductions and Ephemeral Materials We processed, arranged, described and created a basic finding aid for 31 boxes (out of 35) We published the initial finding aid to the OAC We received funding for another 1-year appointment for our historian, as well as funding to support digitization efforts (15 hours a week)

12. Moving Forward: Phase Two of the Project May 2014 – August 2015 Given the 1-year extension of the project, we were able to regroup and determine some of the tasks we wanted to accomplish with the collection on a more detailed level: – Create a comprehensive finding aid with more description and context, sometimes down to folder or item level – Translate select documents of historical significance – Digitize select documents for an online exhibit to be published on SCU library website (and elsewhere?) – Work with a local book conservator to complete the rehousing of specific manuscripts into custom enclosures

13. Phase Two of the Project (continued): Scholarly communication(s): – Presented at the Society of California Archivists (SCA) Annual General Meeting in Palm Springs in May 2014 – Promoted the project through professional channels as well as the SCU library website, social media, etc.

14. Continuing Steps: May 2014 – December 2014 – Where are we now? Since presenting at the SCA in May, we have: – Processed, arranged, and described the remaining 4 boxes in the collection (for a total of 35) – Identified two additional series to add to the collection, bringing the total number of series to nine – Continued creating detailed descriptions of manuscripts and other materials in the collection – Begun digitization efforts of select manuscripts and materials – Worked with the book conservator on the last phase of custom enclosures for specific materials – Are investigating other collections in our holdings and identifying items that need to be integrated into the Mission Santa Clara collection (such as pictorial works)

15. Next Steps: December 2014 – August 2015 Where do we go from here? – Six months to wrap up the project: Finalize and publish the revised (and much more descriptive) version of the finding aid on the OAC Update the collection’s catalog record in OSCAR and WorldCat (including links to the finding aid and related Mission Santa Clara collections at SCU) Continue to add digital surrogates to the online collection Promote the revised finding aid, the collection and the digital collection to SCU and the academic community

16. The Future is Wide Open: August 2015 and Beyond Future opportunities: – Additional presentations at the Society of American Archivists Annual Convention, the Mission Studies Association or other professional venues? – Translate the outcomes of the project into an article for publications such as the Journal of Western Archives? – Apply for a grant to bring together a collective body of work from SCU and other Northern California repositories about the Mission Era and Alta California?

17. Concluding Thoughts... This is not a static collection or a static project This is a work in progress and there is much more to be done It’s up us to continue this work and keep the momentum going about this amazing collection

18. Images of the Collection

20. It’s Up!

21. Unveiling the Mission Santa Clara Manuscript Collection: A Multidisciplinary Perspective Part Two – Digitizing Thomas Farrell Santa Clara University December 10 th, 2014

22. Digitizing the Mission Santa Clara Manuscript Collection

23. Choosing images: Who is the audience?  Researchers  People interested in the locale, missions, indigenous peoples or culture of the area  General public interested in the topics contained in the collection

24. Choosing images: Based on audience Historically important: signatures of important people, items showing cultural change, references to historical events Representative of the series, so people will know what to expect from viewing the physical collection Aesthetically pleasing

25. Digitizing : What kind? For replicating physical experience or content?

26. Digitizing: How? Camera scanner good resolution non-destructive cool lights Adaptable to many sizes of items Specs: 600 dpi sRGB color space Archived as.tif presented as PDF

27. Metadata Considerations: Make it useful to researchers Make it compatible with related collections Follow best practices Include rich descriptions

28. Image platform CONTENTdm  Indexing/Full text searching allows cross-collection searches when researching a topic  Full-sized image downloads are enabled

29. Image platform CONTENTdm Search limiting with facets Choice of collections to search

30. Presentation Metadata turned into item page display

31. Presentation Main goals Link to OAC Show series’ contents at a glance Link to each item directly