2006-2007ACADEMIC YEAR

2006-2007ACADEMIC YEAR

PROJECT PROPOSAL FORMAT

DEADLINE: Monday, October 9, 2006

Please submit proposals electronically to:

Dr. Andrea Hardin, Director of Institutional Research and

Title III Activities

Name Sybil B. McNeil

Division/Dept. Library/Archives and Special Collections

Phone 478-757-5203

Date Proposal Submitted October 9, 2006

Course Name(s) and Number(s) to be impacted Various courses across disciplines, as indicated in the grant narrative

Specify if this is an application for: ________STIPEND (Up to $1,500) OR

________1 COURSE REDUCTION

(subject to approval by Department Chair) OR

____X____EQUIPMENT GRANT (hardware and/or software including computers and educational software)

(for equipment grants, please detail needs in item 3 below)

Narrative: Please answer these questions

I. Specify how the class would differ from how you have traditionally taught it, describing innovative strategies to be employed.

I am seeking a laptop computer for use in the areas of Archives and Special Collections. I am very pleased that new software, PastPerfect Museum software (purchased by a Congressionally-directed grant through the Department of Education), has been placed on the server. The purpose of this software is to catalog the manuscript, special collections, and fine arts collections of the college. The Art Department and Art Conservation and Restoration Committee are eager for Wesleyan College’s art works to be cataloged, described, and managed in an efficient manner. This will also help maintain accurate inventory records for the Business Office and for insurance purposes. Digital photos of materials will greatly assist in this process and the PastPerfect software allows for photos to be incorporated into the description.

The Archives and Special Collections of the college hold many outstanding manuscripts and artifacts that are un-indexed at present. I receive research requests on a daily basis; the time involvement related to these requests can be overwhelming, as much of the materials used to satisfy the inquiries is both unorganized and un-cataloged. PastPerfect, while the initial time investment will be extensive, should alleviate these challenges for faculty and students.

Both the fine arts cataloging and the Archives and Special Collections components of the project require mobility. Separate computers for the Archives, the Georgia Room, and the China Room would be the ideal situation; however, present monetary constraints preclude this option. Therefore, a wireless laptop computer is a valid alternative, for it could be taken to the archives area, to the Georgia Room, to the West Gallery, or to any building on campus where valuable art and other furnishings are located.

Recent examples of research being provided by the Archives and Special Collections areas are as follows: 1) Associate Professor Elizabeth Renker from Ohio State University (project focused “…on catalogues and other English Department records from about 1870-1910”); 2) Beth Burmester, Ph.D. Director of The Writing Studio, and Asst. Prof. of English at the University of Georgia (“…a research project involving college women between the years 1911 and 1918, and ephemera related to writing, artwork, friendship verse, autograph albums, Victorian memory books, scrapbooks and/or Victorian confession albums”); 3) Megen Poynter, graduate student at the University of Missouri (“…trying to locate information on Wesleyan College's historical and financial beginnings”); 4) Michelle Urbani, student at the University of Michigan (writing a micro-history based on the life of Wesleyan student of the 1860’s, Sallie Love Banks); 5) Silvia Valdes, student at Florida International University (research on “…the development of Wesleyan College, as I see it as such a prestigeious [sic] 'female college' and not to mention, the first!”); 6) Elvis Butler, local writer (looking for information about the Wesleyan train depot); 7) Allyson Keating, Thomasville, GA (wanting information about relatives who were graduates of Wesleyan in the 1920’s and beyond); and on and on.

These are in addition to research by our own students. Many have questions relating to the history or some aspects of Wesleyan College lore. As well as assisting individual students, I have also worked with professors in developing for their classes research experiences with primary source materials. HIS 401 in Fall Semester 2005 had a Wesleyan History/Archival component in which students selected from a list of topics related to Wesleyan history and used archival materials to conduct their research. Most recently, I worked with HIS 399S and Professor Mark Hampton. Since materials are not indexed, he chose to explore the Archives and Special Collections areas with me and to create a series of specific questions for his students. I then made these materials available in the Georgia Room and arranged to meet with students in groups of two and three. I look forward to the day when students, professors, and outside researchers can use an online catalog resource to determine which materials in our holdings are relevant to their research. A laptop computer and the accompanying PastPerfect software will make that day come sooner.

Accredited programs in the fields of Library and Information Science and the related areas of Archives and Special Collections are few and far between. Wesleyan College students who work in these areas are encouraged to study further. Student workers man the Circulation Desk and provide assistance to librarians and to me as archivist. In addition, I have had archival interns each semester that I have been at Wesleyan. These students are exposed to the valuable resources of the college’s archives and learn aspects of storage and preservation. They assist with inquiries such as those listed above and have helped to re-create some of the spaces in the library that house archives and special collections. One student, a former archives intern, volunteers to perform such tasks as transcribing nineteenth century student compositions. The laptop computer purchased with grant funds will facilitate this process and PastPerfect software will make these available. Students will have the opportunity to photograph and input information into the program, and I welcome research by classes to supplement the information we need regarding the fine arts and histories in our Archives and Special Collections. With a laptop available, our Chinese students can actively assist in the transcription of materials in the Soong Sister Collection from English into Chinese to accommodate the many Chinese visitors to that collection, a hundred plus per year.

II. Discuss how your project would have benefits extending over time beyond this particular class or semester and how many students would be impacted.

As indicated in Part I of this grant narrative, the materials in the Wesleyan College Archives and Special Colleges are important to individuals on this campus, in this city, all over Georgia and throughout the United States. Studies of women’s issues and women’s colleges are ongoing, and as the first woman’s college, Wesleyan’s records and manuscripts are in great demand. Students who attend Wesleyan should be aware of this fact; and making the materials more accessible is my goal. Cataloging the resources available (and constantly being donated) will enable them to be more available to students and professors and will encourage the use of these materials to promote and develop use of primary source materials. The PastPerfect software has the potential of impacting classes across the disciplines, classes that include History, English, Women’s Studies, Art and Music.

III. Indicate software/equipment needed to accomplish the project and itemized cost estimate.

I am basing my laptop computer request on the requirements for the PastPerfect Museum software found at the web site http://www.museumsoftware.com/hardware_requirements.htm :