October is National Archives Month, and we’re taking note by spending some time with the professionals inSpecial Collections at Mullins Library at the University of Arkansas. So far this October, we’ve toured the vaults, peeked inside collections in the midst of being preserved. And now we’re going to learn more about one of the final steps to making records and documents available to us, turning printed pages into easily searchable digital files.
“So it’s funny that you’re visiting today because I am in the process of creating the collection in the digital archive, and it’s a process.”
Martha A. Anderson is director of organizational development and head of digital services at Special Collections. On the October Monday I visited her office, her team was nearing the end of a major project, digitizing the issues of Sanatorium Outlook, a newspaper published at the Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium for decades. By 1940, it was the largest such facility in the country.
She points out quickly that, as she puts it, her team has done the “heavy lift” for months, digitizing page by page, microfilm by microfilm, and adding needed metadata to make sure researchers have quick access to what they’re looking for. She points to a computer screen on her desk.
“So I add the content and like here it says display. Anyway, so I added some of the content. I have the metadata, which is right here at the bottom. You can see the description of this paper.”
But the near end of one project just means the soft launch of working on another, like the papers of the late Sen. David Pryor. Advancements in technology mean greater reach to researchers. Documents once preserved on microfilm still meant researchers had to come to the library to view them. Making big documents like the Sanatorium Outlook available digitally means they can be viewed from almost anywhere.
But moving those words from microfilm to digital does not happen overnight. Martha Anderson says it’s almost like starting from the beginning, since her team doesn’t know what’s in each of those little black microfilm boxes.
“Since we don’t know much about the content when it’s in microfilm, which was the case of the Sanatorium, we have to digitize the entire reel. And then let’s say that the reel has 1,000 frames or pages. Then we have to organize the pages into the right version or pamphlet or periodical. Usually in this specific case, it’s about six or seven pages, but you have to organize it.
“In the process of organizing files, my staff retrieves what we call initial metadata. You know, like this is the name of the journal. This is the date. This is the time. This is the volume, this is the issue. And then I have to match that information with the files.
“Senator Pryor. So as you can see right here, this is David Pryor papers, MC 336, and this is the box. So this is what I was talking about. All of this is microfilm, but how do you tell what’s in it?”
Of course, not everything is on microfilm or on a page. Maps or oversized documents require special cameras for migrating to digital, like a massive table-like machine just outside her office that can, up to a point, do 3D scanning.
“Or you can use it like this. This scanner has several uses, like for instance, blueprints. But also let’s say that, you know, I wanted to be creative and I have an essay and it has 25 pages and the 25 pages fit within this large scanner space. When I scan it, because this is new technology, the scanner senses the pages. So I get 25 tiny scans out of this. I mean, you still have to organize them, but I think it’s very nice.
“The decays that you can raise the hinges depending on the thickness or something, or how much pressure, physical pressure you want to put on the material.”
Martha and her team continue to archive and preserve history and make details of the past available to the rest of us. Their work will no doubt make it to you in some way next year, as observations of the Great Flood of 1927 take place. And while those big events and famous people are important, she says this preservation keeps the small details, often as important, chronicled as well.
“The most fulfilling stories are in these small stories, the little details, the everyday life stuff. Like, think about it. I mean, COVID wasn’t long, long time ago, right? So what did the newspapers publish at the time? So what were we going through? How did we approach being sociable again? And some of us are still struggling with it.
“But I just think there is a lot in uncovering stories. Not just this is the team and this is what happened and this is the response. You know, the context within the periodical.”
Martha Anderson is director of organizational development and head of digital services for Special Collections at the University of Arkansas. Our conversation took place earlier this month in her office in Mullins Library on the University of Arkansas campus. You can find our other visits to Special Collections in honor of National Archives Month at kuaf.com or ozarksatlarge.com.
Kellams: I guess one of the things about archiving is there will always be something else to archive.
Anderson: Oh, yeah. Well, born-digital content grows exponentially. As you and I are speaking, somebody else is creating another form or writing another essay or publishing something new. So, yes, always adjusting to technologies and different ways of publishing and giving access to users.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
