As soon as I finish them, the Museum of History and Industry posts the new archival "finding aids" on the Northwest Digital Archives. This is really nice. Here's a definition: A finding aid is a document containing detailed information about a specific collection of papers or records within an archive. They are used by researchers to determine whether information within a collection is relevant to their research. ...If you're interested in such things, here's a direct link to the latest finding aid:
http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv67358
Like the other collections I've worked with so far, the Robert D. Ashley records are about the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. But this collection was larger and more challenging, and had everything from old phonograph records to slides, photographs and all types of fair publications and tourist memorabilia. It took several months to complete. If you glance at it, you will see what looks like an insane amount of detail, all of it intended to help future researchers ferret out what they are looking for.
(A certain person who lives with me will occasionally make a snide comment that a librarian capable of such detailed work should better organize the home book collection. Oh, well.)
One of the best parts of these projects is doing background research on the donor, and writing a biographical note. We found out that Robert D. Ashley was the chief Legal Counsel for the World's Fair, which must have been a complex job even in that simpler time. He lived a long productive life in Seattle, and made many contributions to the community-- he was key player in saving the Pike Place Market in the early 70's.
I know I've mentioned before how much I enjoy working at the Museum once a week. The 50th anniversary of the World's Fair is coming up in less than two years, and it's rewarding to help the Library make these old collections more accessible. The MOHAI Library is a Seattle treasure.
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