Grand Rapids History & Special Collections Student Internship. Fall 2009

Grand Rapids Public Library.
Grand Rapids History & Special Collections
Student Internship. Fall 2009

Project Description: Ladies Literary Club Collection. Minutes Transcription Project
Staff: Rebecca Mayne, Archivist, 616-988-5402 x5495
August 25, 2009

Fall 2009 Internship

The LLC Minutes Transcription Project was started in the Summer 2008 and continued into the Fall 2008. Funding was suspended during Spring and Summer 2009, and the project is now ready to resume.

The Summer 2008 the intern began with the earliest minute book available from the Club. To date, word-for-word transcriptions of the eight (8) minute books have been done, up to 1889.

Particularly for these earlier years, the greatest challenge in this process is reading the handwriting of the various secretaries. Some clues come from the context of the information within a sentence and paragraph. A review of other documents in the Ladies Literary Club Collection, to become familiar with names, is an additional help. The growing knowledge of the Ladies Literary Club by the transcriber, as experience is gained through the work, is another tool to success. Additionally, where national events and history is involved, the Internet is often useful to search for the correct spelling of the name of a known author or visiting speaker. For example, at least one former U.S. President visited the Club, and a check of Web sources for such notable visitors may help clarify date and context, as well as name spelling. For local names & events, there will be an orientation to the various databases, files and books, which might provide clear date, event, or name information, when the handwriting is not clear.

The end product expected for these minutes are GOGGLE-searchable PDF documents, which will be mounted on the Web, linked to items listed in the finding aid.

This internship position requires 13 weeks of work at 10 hours per week, for a total of 130 hours for the semester, paid at the current minimum wage level. Students working on history or English degrees, or planning to advance to library or archival work, may be mostly likely to find this work interesting. However, students from any degree area, who believe they have the patience and skills for this type of work, may apply. Any student with a love of history, and a careful attention to detail, will enjoy learning U.S and local history through this project, as well as becoming acquainted with the resources of the Grand Rapids Public Library Local History Archives. A regular work schedule each week is expected.

Those interested in applying for this internship should contact Rebecca Mayne, Archivist, at 616-988-5402 x5496 at the Grand Rapids Public Library to set up an interview.

Background Information

The Ladies Literary Club is an important Grand Rapids historical women's institution, which dissolved in 2005, turning over its building to Calvin College, and offering the historical documents of the organization to the Archives at the Grand Rapids Public Library. The Ladies Literary Club was a leader in the initial creation of the Grand Rapids Public Library.

Coll. 275, the Ladies Literary Club Collection, at the Grand Rapids Public Library Archives, was first created from materials in the Local History book collection and from miscellaneous unprocessed archival holdings. When the Ladies Literary Club disbanded, the Grand Rapids Public Library was happy to receive the official historical documents of the organization, which combined with the existing holdings creates a more comprehensive history of this significant historical Grand Rapids institution.

Much of the Ladies Literary Club Collection has received basic processing already, and a draft finding aid guide, documenting the holdings has been created. This guide lists material held, but does not, however, provide access to the information within the documents.
http://www.grpl.org/wiki/images/9/9e/275.pdf

One of the most frequently asked questions, by researchers of this collection, is about the programs and speakers at the Club, over the years. Most of the information on the Club's programs is held in a number of documents throughout the collection, not in a few items specifically designed just for program planning or description. Thus, indexing and access projects are being done, to assist staff and researchers, to identify where the information is located, within the many documents of the collection. One type of document where information on programs is recorded is in the meeting or board minutes.

The transcriptions of the minutes not only provide access to programming information, but provide names of leaders, and information on the other activities of the Club.