Bill Koester is an intern in the Kellar Library this semester. Follow along with his project at his blog! Here’s a report of his first week:
For this internship, I will be processing and rehousing the collection of Dr. James Kellar, a noted archaeologist and the first director of Indiana University’s Glenn Black Lab. The collection has been in storage for some time, and although it has been organized a bit into boxes along some subject lines, it has never really been examined closely. That will be my job.
The collection takes up fourteen small archival boxes, one large archival box, and a single extra file folder.
The first order of business is assessing the collection, which entails opening the container and examining the the documents inside of them. This first week, I was able to explore the single folder and the large box.
While the fourteen smaller boxes seem to have some order to their housing (at least according to their labels), the large box (simply labeled “Kellar”) would appear to be the collection’s miscellaneous box, or possibly a box for documents found after the rest of them were put in order. Inside was an array of different types of documents: newspaper clippings, correspondence with various people and within the IU department, some photographs, promotional materials for seminars, contracts and official documents from digs, academic records and payment forms. The documents had a mixed order to them. The newspaper clippings and less formal letters seemed to have been simply collected, their files sometimes overflowing. More official documents like official letters, contracts and payment or academic things were more orderly.
The initial assessment of the collection will likely take a few more weeks (although, it already seems to take less time to go through the documents than when I began on my first day). After that, my job will be to re-catalog and re-order the collection based on my assessment. After only this first box, I am still a ways away from deciding on a new order.
Don’t forget to check out Bill’s blog to follow his progress through the semester!