Practicum (and MLIS) DONE!

Yesterday, I completed my last day of my practicum at the Chicago History Museum.  And with it, for all intents and purposes, my MLIS degree as well!

As I was researching names, I used a rubric to denote the certainty of the women's recovered names.  I was able to complete the updating of authority records with all the names marked with a "1" (certain). This past week, I began reviewing the names marked with a "2" (possible, needs more research). After spending a little more time on those names, I was able to verify and then update authority records for many of those names as well. Over the course of the summer, I was able to recover the names of 147 women and correct the authority records and bib records to reflect the recovered names.  

There is so much more to do though!  There were over 500 items in the spreadsheet, and that's just women's names in the cartes de visite collection.  I made some headway, and I hope that more students, volunteers, and interns will be able to pick up where I left off.  I left behind a document recording my steps and any helpful tips for the next person who is researching the women's names.  One thing that I underscored was the importance of looking at the physical cartes de visite.  Not only are they amazing to behold, but often I found important details on the physical items which aided in name recovery.  Sometimes seeing the image of the person allowed me to match their image to another one I found online.  Other times, there was helpful information written on the back of the carte de visite, or just interesting historical information that I would note and then add later to the bib record.  

Mrs. J.A. Allen
(pre-marriage name not recovered),
from cartes de visite collection
at the Chicago History Museum

A funny thing happened this past Tuesday.  Chicago History Museum hosted an all staff picnic in the afternoon.  It was from 3-6 pm.  I was planning to work until 4 and then maybe stop by on my way out.  The metadata librarian who worked near me was planning the same thing.  At about 3:15, we were notified that we were not allowed to stay in the building.  Apparently the museum really wanted everyone to attend!  So reluctantly, the metadata librarian and I stopped what we were doing and went outside.  Well, I have to say I was glad someone forced us to participate! There was delicious food, a live DJ, and bouncy houses (family members were invited too). It was really nice to sit with some of the librarians in the department and chat. Enforced community building can feel awkward, but it was actually a really great way to build relationships at the museum.  It also felt like a memorable way to wrap up my practicum - a celebration.  

The photos in the cartes de visite collection were lovely, I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity to work with a major institution and to improve the cartes de visite collection. My blog post about what I worked on this summer was approved and it should be posted next week on the CHM website.  Very exciting!

Kind of random... but I thought I'd share a few images of women with amazing hair. Here they are, enjoy!



Mary Frances De Groff Lyman,
from cartes de visite collection
at the Chicago History Museum
Emily Kinsley Baumann, age 5,
from cartes de visite collection
at the Chicago History Museum



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