December 9, 2019 (Monday), 9:15-4:00pm:

Hours completed: 6.25

Total hours completed: 67.25

Now that the display of the St. John’s Church exhibit was set up, I began working on writing the labels. I had no idea that label-writing was so intensive! I knew I needed to keep the blurbs short and to-the-point, using approachable language to explain some big (and religiously charged) concepts, so it was some slow-going work. I also had the added complication that many of the artifacts had not previously been documented, thus we did not have any confirming information regarding the pieces’ proper names, their origins, their materials, or their dates. The lack of this information meant some tricky tightrope-like navigation of how to present and explain these items without sounding like I didn’t know anything about them. (3 hours)

In the afternoon, Dave and I had a meeting with the digital repository group (Rose and Karl) to discuss options for another hosting platform besides DSpace. The proposal had been suggested by an administrator associated with the library, but overall, despite its drawbacks, Rose and Karl explained that switching to a new platform instead of simply waiting out the soon-to-be-released upgrade of DSpace would not be worth the risk, expense, and time it would take to transition. (1.5 hours)

In the Health Services Library, Dave and I scouted a new location for some of the special collection’s artwork, including a few signed works by Salvador Dalí which had recently been on display in the Rare Books Room. Prior to their display, the pieces were in a location that did not highlight their significance or encourage people to stop and view them, so we were hoping to find a new location that could better serve the pieces. (30 minutes)