Weekend 14.

This weekend I worked with some of the special collection books, organizing and arranging them so that sets stayed together. This is a different section that what I previously worked with. This weekend marked the end of my practicum hours. I've officially reached the allotted time I needed. I will continue to volunteer at Beauvoir, as time permits, to continue to gain experience in archives. Special thanks to all who have helped me in the experience.

                                                

Weekend 13.

This weekend I mainly watched the desk and helped patrons as needed. There were a lot of events taking place at Beauvoir, so not many people made it up to the library. I also did a little bit of cataloging. This only requires looking up the book on the Library of Congress website and matching the call numbers that are listed on the spine label, if there is a label. Then, simply making note of that or any changes that may need to be made on a spread sheet. They do not have a formal cataloging system in place at this time, another Katrina loss they haven't quite bounced back from yet, but they're getting there.

                                                          

Weekends 11 and 12.

These weekends were pretty short weekends because I was only able to work a few hours. This past weekend I attended the Digi-day workshop at USM to supplement the digital training I haven't really had access to at my practicum site. There we worked with flat bed scanners, content dm, and enjoyed some presentations from digital library managers. The few hours I got in at Beauvoir were mainly spent helping patrons in the library, as the staff have been busy preparing for Fall Muster. I'm drawing close to the end of my time there, with just a few weekends left. It has definitely been a lot of fun and I will continue to visit and help them with up coming activities as my time permits.

Weekend number 10!

This weekend I got to experience some hands on preservation work. I learned how to apply archival wax to iron antiques to prevent farther damage from rusting. It was a very unique experience. The wax has a strong smell like a gun cleaner. The items we applied the wax to, Mr. Spence had already cleaned of any excess rust and debris. The wax we used was Renaissance museum wax. This type of wax is made in England and is used in the Royal museums. Because any work done to artifacts must be reversible, this wax will wash off in very hot water. Getting the experience of working with objects that are one hundred plus years old is very educational and rewarding.

         

Weekend number 9.

This weekend at Beauvoir was a slower weekend than normal because it was the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and there were a lot of events on the coast to attend. Beauvoir has their own Katrina memorial display, for which I have included a few pictures. They received a good deal of damage from the storm.

This weekend my work involved watching the desk in the library in case any patrons did come by in need of help with ancestry research. Most ancestry research patrons seek help with at Beauvoir is the search for information on a relative who fought in the civil war. There are a lot of resources to use such as cemetery records, pension records, enlistment records, wounded veteran lists, and more. It is interesting work and when I have extra time there without patrons, I enjoy searching my own family history.

Weekend number 8.

This weekend's volunteer time was very short. I was only able to work Friday because I attended the MS Book Festival on Saturday. For the day I was able to work, I did some reorganizing of the special collection bookshelf. The shelf space for this area is very small, so when more books need to be added to the shelf, it means shifting everything. It's actually a lot more work than it sounds, especially for someone as short as me, but I do enjoy working with the special collection books because you never know what treasures you might find there.

*Before.

*Cart that needed to be added to the shelf.

*A few treasures!

*After. (I tried leaving some space so it wouldn't be so hard the next time.)

weekends 5, 6, & 7.

The past few weekends I mainly helped patrons in the library. I greeted people who came in and helped them with anything they needed help with. Most of the patrons are just curious about the library and have general questions. Others come in to do ancestry work and need help finding documents regarding their ancestor who may have fought in the American Civil War. Beauvoir has many resources available for this type of research, including Fold3 and a large collection of confederate soldier reference guides. I am really enjoying my time volunteering here.

Weekend number four!

This weekend I worked on organizing the special collection books again. The staff found some more boxes and decided to move the location of the shelves to another room so that the room they were in can be used as a display room for the museum. Working with these books are so interesting. Most of this collection was property to the old Beauvoir soldiers home and some of it was the Davis families personal collection. The hope is to adventually have it ready for research purposes. It's getting there. I've got a good bit of hours in during the month of June, but I may not get many in July because I'm getting married. I've let everyone at Beauvoir know that I won't be there as much to volunteer in July but since our wedding is there, they'll still see me around. I'll be back in August for volunteer hours after our honeymoon is over, ready to work hard! I really am enjoying my time in archives!

Weekend number three!

This weekend was very interesting! I started a new project because someone else finished the previous one during the week. I worked on transcribing some of Varina Davis' personal letters. Some were hard to read because of the font or the fact that every inch of the paper would be used: front, back, and sides. A project like this just made it so personal. These were real people. It was so neat. Here's a little sample. I hope I get the privilege to continue this project during future visits.

Weekend number two!

My second weekend of archival work has come and gone. I spent the majority of the time organizing the special collection bookshelf. I'm sure I will spend a few more weekends working on this project. They discovered several more boxes that they didn't realize they had, so there will need to be some shifting. Next weekend, I have a cart full of the books waiting for me that were not labeled, so some cataloging will be in order. All in all, it is a really fun project, because I'm getting the opportunity to work with some really rare books and that in its self is a privilege.

First day of practicum work.

Saturday June 6, 2015 was my first day of practicum work for LIS 648. I am doing my practicum at Beauvoir, The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library in Biloxi, MS. It is not my first time doing volunteer work at Beauvoir. I starting volunteering there for another class related to my archival studies last year. When I was there previously, it was a under another librarian. Now they have a new librarian/archivist I will be studying and working with, Mr Spence.

Saturday I spend the majority of the day organizing several sets of books to find out if any of the sets were actually complete. Beauvoir is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, so there is a lot of reorganization taking place. There were around two dozen boxes of books that appeared to be the duplicates of a set that they do have completed and on the shelf for use by the patrons of the library. The books are The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.  The idea was if any of the books in the boxes were complete sets, then they could be sold. Another employee, Makayla and I, worked the majority of the day separating the books. We only ending up with two complete sets, one regular set and one navy set. We had about five half sets. We then boxed the books back up, this time properly labeling the boxes. The complete sets already had several interested buyers.

Next, we took a quick lunch break. There was a vendor selling hot-dogs, so we grabbed some food, headed to the break room and chatted while we ate. Once we returned to the library, Mr. Spence put us to work organizing the special collection books. These books were placed on bookshelves in a backroom without any rhythm or reason. The task at hand is to give these shelves some method to the chaos. Makayla had to return to the desk in the library to assist patrons. I managed to get through about two or three rows before it was time for me to leave. This will probably be a project that will span over several visits as it requires more attention and care than other projects.

Since I work full-time at a public library, my practicum hours are limits to weekends so I will resume next weekend with my new adventures of archives.