Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a happy winter holiday and was able to take some time to reflect on the new year. Last year I was able to hop on board this amazing CLIR grant project describing digitized records from the YWCA of the U.S.A. records. I am thankful for all I have learned professionally as a metadata archivist and as part of a digital project, for the opportunity to learn about the YWCA of the U.S.A., and for the opportunity to learn about the fight for women’s rights and the rights of marginalized people. It has been a great experience so far.

For 2017 I have a few goals and milestones:

• Complete the description and QC of the microfilmed records
• Complete the description and QC of photographs
• Increase blog post content concerning metadata creation and processes
• Engage in professional development and increase my awareness of metadata practices and standards

I will post my progress, successes and setbacks (hopefully not too many!) here.

Now that there is some background information and content up on the blog, it’s about time for an update on the actual project. I have been working on the project for a full four(!) months now. After spending some time immersed in the microfilm records of the YWCA of the U.S.A. records I feel a renewed appreciation for the work that the women of YWCA USA have done for social justice issues since their beginnings in the late nineteenth century as well as a responsibility to do them right by creating rich metadata. There will be much more on metadata creation to come. Today I am going to focus on preparation. Continue reading →