Archival Practicum: Day 4

Back at my practicum today! I processed even more folders today, with a new record of 50 folders processed. I am definitely finding my stride with this project, however, I am starting to realize that processing the patient files is going to be a huge undertaking. I am barely at the B's and am a fifth of the way through my practicum hours.... I'll admit that I find myself getting distracted by the contents of the files, but that gives me hope that I can keep shaving time off by being more focused.

While working today, I talked with some of the volunteers about how the UPH looked when they first started moving materials out. Like I mentioned at the start of this practicum, the home was vacant for a few years, so some of the home was in disrepair. Additionally, according to their stories, the archive documents were a bit of a mess! A window was broken in a room on the top floor, and the documents from the room were/are unfortunately moldy (one of the projects I hope to work with the archivist on is cleaning mold off papers). Thankfully, once the materials were moved away to a climate-controlled facility, they found out the mold was/is inactive (benefits of a super dry climate), so they probably were only moldy due to the direct exposure to rain and snow. Other rooms that stored archival materials were also in disarray, because unfortunately, people would break into the home to vandalize and steal things. So some rooms just had documents strewn across the floor. They shared some photos with me, but note that it looks like an archivist's worst nightmare!

Like something out of a scary video game...

Thankfully, everything has since been moved out of the home and into the secure archives. I do hope to get a tour of the home at some point during this practicum, though!!

Stats:

• Files processed: BACKINS - BECKWITH, 50 folders (115 total folders processed)

• Hours: 8hrs (32 total hrs)