In the course of a single day’s work here at the Jean Outland Chrysler Library, I may process and catalog anything from Victorian travelogues to independent films starring heroes of the American counter-culture movement. Such diversity speaks volumes about the library’s commitment to building a truly comprehensive collection and also makes my job a lot of fun!
One of my priorities this week was reviewing and cataloging audiovisual materials. Whether in VHS, DVD, or even CD-ROM form, these materials will soon find a new home in the A. Kempton d'Ossche Art Video Collection. While adding an officially released and professionally produced biography of Pablo Picasso to the collection is fairly straightforward, the library also offers footage of past museum events, artist interviews, and taped art-related segments from news programs such as CBS Sunday Morning. A substantial portion of the un-cataloged audiovisual material has come to us with limited or non-existent documentation and the first step is often popping in a tape to see what’s actually on it. Once the suspense has passed, the detective work begins again and (hopefully) a catalog record takes shape as the tape plays. It’s safe to say that, when it comes to audiovisual material, the Jean Outland Chrysler Library offers researchers the chance to go off the beaten path.
In the midst of my work with tapes and videodiscs, I was able to describe and catalog three photo albums from more than a century before families could document a trip to Europe on a camcorder. Found together in a box in the library stacks, the three leather-bound albums date from 1875 and 1878 and, in early forms of photography, document a tour of Western Europe. I found it fascinating that a contemporary tourist would take or buy many of the same photos as those in the album and felt a tangible link to the past while exploring this fantastic resource. The albums reside in the rare books room and now have individual catalog records; I also created an archival finding aid to describe the three albums as one collection. Unfortunately, there are few immediate clues as to the origin and custodial history of the collection, but the albums can certainly stand on their own as valuable primary sources.
--John Curtis, Jean Outland Chrysler Library Cataloging Fellow
