Week 28 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

Last week marked the final training session for the new OPAC. There were about ten volunteers who attended the training ranging in age from 21-65. The document I created to help the volunteers through the cataloging process was well received overall, but I felt there were some improvements that could have been made. The first thing I would change on the document is the font size, a larger type (greater than 12 point) allows the volunteers to easily read the text. Another feature of the document I would change is using circles to highlight important parts of the screen instead of arrows; arrows have a tendency to get lost in the text.

Last week, I began creating the finding aid for the Khalid Kwame Collection. This jazz collection consists of about 10,000 machine readable artifacts (e.g. CDs, Tapes,and Albums), 7,000 pieces of textual documents and a few pieces of AV equipment. While working on the finding aid I wrote a biography on the Kwame by pulling information about his life from business cards, wills and donor forms.

Week 27 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

Last Saturday I gave a presentation/training session to the volunteers about how to catalog a book. For the training session I put together a detailed workflow. I was surprised by the amount of time it takes to successfully construct a receptive workflow. The features of a successful workflow are; being detailed , use arrows and circles to emphasize the important areas of the screen and make the steps bold.

The second part of the training session was focused on pulling Library of Congress Subject Headings. Every item that is cataloged must have at least one subject to facilitate in the retrieval of information through a search. The item I used as an example to pull subject for was a Kwanzaa Kufi Bear. Kufi bears are teddy bears that adorn a Kufi Hat and often have Kente Cloth clothing and/or accessories. MCLM has two Kufi Bears in their collection,one that is identical to the one in the picture above and another that is Kwanzaa themed.

Week 26 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

My database management skills were on full display last week. The desktop database has officially migrated over to the full online catalog. Post-migration there are some things left to do before the database is available for the public.

In order to jump start our volunteer staff MLCM is holding two training days in the following weeks. I will be heading the training by teaching a diverse group of volunteers how to catalog a book. The basic procedure for cataloging books can then be applied to catalog any number of items. Currently, I am developing a workflow that will easily lay out this new procedure.

Besides database management, I have been working with a volunteer in the writing of a NEH grant. The grant will bring funding to MCLM to help preserve our vast collection of scrapbooks and photo albums. Most of the scrapbooks were put together by Dr. Mayme A. Clayton while others were purchased. An impressive item we have in our collection is a Lena Horne scrapbook. It is believed this is her personal scrapbook, containing personal information about breaking her leg in 1942, a little known public fact.

Week 25 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

Last week at MCLM we had our first annual Family Fun Day! This event provided an opportunity for parents and children to enjoy all that MCLM has to offer. There were many activities for the children to partake in; The California African American Genealogical Society was there helping older children and adults create a family tree. The younger children enjoyed the Obama and Marie Dickerson Coker coloring pages. At two separate craft tables the children made aviation goggles (in celebration of the Tuskegee Airmen) and African shakers (similar to those used in Kenya).

Some amazing art pieces that were housed at MCLM went out on loan to The Museum of African American Art for a one week exhibit. This exhibition loan contained pieces from Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden and Richard Yarde.

Last week, MCLM also welcomed representatives from ArtStor. ArtStor is a digital library that gathers images from heritage institutions across the nation. Apparently, the number one request from their users is more African American images. I have yet to decide what items will be digitized but it will likely be a selection of magazines, sheet music and photographs.


The Library by Jacob Lawrence

Week 24 at MCLM

Last week was marked by the First Annual Volunteer Outing! A group of about ten volunteers, including myself and Cara, visited The California African American Museum. We were guided thorough the exhibit, The African Diaspora in the Art of Miguel Covarrubias: Driven by color, shaped by Cultures, the items displayed were enthralling! Covarrubias, although Mexican, depicted many African Americans and Africans in his numerous art works, books, caricatures and collages. The most dynamic piece was the 12 x 24 foot collage that depicted the different cultures of the world. The medium used for the piece was lacquer on canvas, but Covarrubias manipulated the lacquer it to make it appear as if it was colored pencil.

Last week, I also discovered an amazing piece of ephemera in the "secret room." It is the face of a mammy archetype, measuring 1.5 x 1ft. It is possibly apart of a float or statue judging from the makeup of the face, some sort of papier-mâché. In this same room I happened across a framed image of a slave sitting in front of her cabin. Both of these items I selected to be digitally photographed and included on the new MCLM website, which is to be launched soon!

Week 24 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

The Southern California Edison Day of Service was a success! About 40 people came ranging in ages from 15-65. The volunteers helped inventory posters, a record collection, newspapers, the Marilyn White Collection, blue prints, and the Dianne Watson collection. The volunteers also pulled Library of Congress numbers for a recent accession to MCLM, The Khalid Kwame (Buchanan) Collection.

With this many volunteers the blue prints and posters are now completely inventoried! The work that would have taken months to complete was essentially done in 4 hours, this is monumental and exciting!

Alyss Hardin
I.M.L.S. fellow, M.L.I.S.
The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

Week 22 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library And Museum

Last week, MCLM welcomed the South Los Angeles Chapter Jack & Jill. There were about twenty children, ranging in ages from 6-17. The children partook in three separate activities. First, the Jack & Jill members learned about the methods of nonviolent protesting. The children then sang songs of freedom and made protest signs. The event was a huge success and MCLM looks forward to again welcoming the South LA chapter as well as other chapters of Jack & Jill.

There were a few new volunteers that began this week as well. One volunteer began an inventory of machine readable items. The other new volunteer completed an inventory of the Sarah Agnew Sheet Music Collection.

Alyss Hardin
IMLS Fellow, M.L.I.S.
The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum