Oregon Connecting to Collections (OR C2C)

1. Oregon Connecting to Collections (OR C2C) Umpqua River Lighthouse; Beaver Brand Oregon Prunes label from the Oregon State Archives; an artifact at Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Park

2. Oregon C2C Partners • Northwest Archivists • Oregon Heritage Commission • Oregon Historical Society • Oregon Library Association • Oregon Museums Association • Oregon State Archives • Oregon State Library • Tamaśtslikt Cultural Institute

3. Connecting to Collections • What • A national initiative • raise public awareness of the importance of caring for our treasure • Underscore that these treasures are essential to the American story • Why • http://www.imls.gov/collections/about/video.htm • How • An IMLS grant that supports assessment of preservation and disaster response training, collection care and support based on the Heritage Health Index

4. Heritage Health Index 2004 • All regions of the United States • Wide variety of institutions & organizations • Museums • Historical Societies • Archives • Public, Research & Special Libraries • Almost 75% of respondents characterized their institution as “small”

5. Heritage Health Index-Findings • U.S. Collections in Unknown Condition and in Need

6. Heritage Health Index-Findings • Institutions Reporting Causes of Some and Significant Damage to Collections

7. Heritage Health Index-Findings • Institutions' Need for Staff Training

8. Heritage Health Index-Findings Institutions with a Written, Long-range Plan for the Care of the Collection

9. Heritage Health Index-Findings • Institutions with No Emergency Plan with Staff Trained to Carry It Out

10. Heritage Health Index-Findings • Institutions with Funds Allocated for Conservation/Preservation in Annual Budget • Includes funds for staffing, supplies, equipment, surveys, treatment, preservation reformatting, commercial binding, etc.

11. HHI Recommendations • Every institution recommits to providing safe conditions for the collections they hold in trust • Every collecting institution develops an emergency plan to protect its collections • Every single institution assigns responsibility for caring for collections to members of its staff • Individuals at all levels of government and in the private sector assume responsibility for providing the support that will allow these collections to survive

12. Oregon C2C Call to Action! • Needs Assessment and Planning • What are your preservation and disaster response concerns? • What training do you need? • What is your training “readiness”? • Develop collaborative relationships between all cultural institutions throughout Oregon • Nurture collective advocacy for funding and support

13. March 2011 • Connecting to Collections Project: Needs Assessment Report • What Archival, Library, and Museum Personnel Need to Preserve Oregon’s Heritage Collections

14. Project Components • C2C Steering Committee Meetings • Regional forums, spring and summer 2010 • Eugene, Portland, Medford, Bend, Pendleton • Statewide survey, fall 2010 • Needs Assessment Report • Preservation Education Sources • Preservation Funding Sources • Leaders’ Summit, March 7, 2011 • Action plan, presentations, Spring 2011

15. Other C2C Products • Preservation Education Sources • Shawna Gandy, Oregon Historical Society • and MJ Koreiva, Oregon Museums Association and Umpqua River Lighthouse Museum • Terry Baxter, Terry Baxter, Northwest Archivists Past President • Preservation Funding Sources • Shawna Gandy, Oregon Historical Society • and MJ Koreiva, Oregon Museums Association and Umpqua River Lighthouse Museum

19. Funding for Preservation • Budgeted for preservation • No: 25% ($100 - $12 M) • Yes: 24% ($2500-$21 M) • $150 to $80,000 • Budgeted or Not • 50% • $50 to $360,000 • Mean = $2,000 • 1.7% of institutional budget

20. Staffing of Institutions/Preservation • Whole Institution • No paid staff: 28% • Up to 5 full-time equated (FTE) staff: 42% • Five or more FTE: 30% • Expressly for Preservation • No paid staff: 52% • some paid staff, either part-time or full-time expressly for preservation: 16% • assign staff preservation activities: 28% • Contractual: 6% • Volunteers: 46%

21. Learning Needs • 47 specific learning needs • collection care • collection management • disaster preparedness • advocacy • planning • technology • Collections in most urgent need of care • photographic items • historical objects • moving images • textiles • recorded sound • unbound sheets • digital materials • Learning forms • training • information • consulting • mentoring

24. Disaster Preparedness • 15% have a plan and are ready for the worst • 85% do not have a disaster preparedness plan that is current and ready to be activated • 40% are in some stage of plan development or have stalled in their planning.

25. Advocacy Needs • Becoming better able to write winning proposals and grants • Becoming better able to engage the public in financially supporting preservation • Becoming better able to recruit a workforce of staff or volunteers

26. Planning Needs • Developing long-range preservation plans and setting priorities • Fund-development planning • Disaster response and recovery planning

27. Technology Needs • Keeping up with technological change • Being able to resolve formatting issues • Understanding applicable web trends • Being able to use a computer • Being able to apply technology efficiently • For a cadre of respondents, basic computer skills: • Be able to troubleshoot computer hardware and do basic maintenance and repair (29%) • Be able to use a computer (23%)

28. Information Needs • Respondents want samples, tools, and lists that they can access on-line. • samples of specific documents (ranked higher overall than tip sheets) • training resources • tools for evaluating the effectiveness of one’s promotional strategies • resource list for locating expertise and consultants for preservation

29. Networking Ideas • Create a web-based portal that brings together regional and statewide training and best practices and resources for preservation (73%) • Establish an online network of heritage institutions and organizations (65%) • Offer regionally-based formal training (65%) • Create a web portal that facilitates communication amongst archives, museums, and libraries that has a preservation agenda (64%)

30. Priorities for Planning • Collection Care Training • Strategic planning and priority setting • Collection Management Training • Disaster Preparedness Planning • Practical Technology for Preservation • Informational Website • Preservation Advocacy • Networking for Preservation

31. Suggested Features of an Oregon Preservation Plan • A coordinated, sustainable, and dynamic virtual resource for staff and volunteers to find specific information, consulting, training, and mentoring for the purposes of preserving Oregon’s heritage collections. • Placement of computer technology particularly in the rural areas of the state where this technology is absent. • Face-to-face technical assistance to install computers and to train largely volunteer staff to use the computers and the virtual resource. • Network support for learning and sharing resources statewide and regionally. • A governance structure and collaborative funding plan to implement and sustain an Oregon Heritage Preservation collaborative.

32. Heritage Leaders’ Summit, March 7, 2011 • Kyle Jansson, Oregon Heritage Commission and C2C Project Director • Jim Bunnelle, Oregon Library Association, Preservation Roundtable Co-Chair, Lewis and Clark College Library • Rob Everett, Oregon Library Association President and Director, Springfield Public Library • Roger Roper, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer and Assistant Director, Oregon Parks & Recreation. • Dave Hegeman, Business Reference Librarian, Special Collections Coordinator, Oregon State Library • Shawna Gandy, Collections Access Specialist, Oregon Historical Society Research Library • Gardner Chappell, Oregon Museums Association President and Douglas County Museum • Keni Sturgeon, Curator & Museum Director, Mission Mill Museum part of the Willamette Heritage Center   • Kris Kern, Fine and Performing Arts Librarian, Portland State University Library • Layne G Sawyer, Oregon State Archives • Kelly LaChance, Education Director, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians • Kerry Tymchuck, Oregon Historical Society, Interim Director • Mary E Herkert, Oregon State Archives • MJ Koreiva, Oregon Museums Association and Umpqua River Lighthouse Museum • Normandy Helmer, University of Oregon Libraries • Judith Norton, Head, Access Services, Oregon Health & Science University Library • Tiah Edmunson-Morton, Archivist, Oregon State University • Jim Scheppke, Oregon State Librarian • Heather Bouchey, Curator, Washington County Museum

33. Leaders’ Summit Results Ask Oregon Heritage Commission to appoint a cross-disciplinary (Archives, Libraries, Museums) Oregon Preservation Advisory Board. The purpose: collaboratively plan and strategize on funding initiatives for preserving Oregon’s heritage collections. Make-up: representatives of professional organizations and agencies such as the Oregon Museums Association, the Oregon Library Association, the Northwest Archivists Association, the Oregon State Archives, the Oregon State Library, and the Oregon Heritage Commission. When: April through July

34. Suggested Initial Planning Agenda • Develop plan for requesting grants and other funds to implement the C2C Steering Committee’s recommendations • Statewide Inventory of critical objects and collections to ensure they are given attention • IMLS Implementation grant ($50-250K)

35. Oregon C2C Partner Organizations and Agenciesare grateful to the U. S. Institute of Museum and Library Services for funding a grant submitted on their behalf by the Oregon Museums Association

36. C2C Steering Committee • Kyle Jansson, Project Director, immediate past president of the Oregon Museums Association and coordinator of the Oregon Heritage Commission • Terry Baxter, Multnomah County Archives and past president of Northwest Archivists • James Bunnelle, Co-Chair of the Preservation Roundtable of the Oregon Library Association and Acquisitions/Collection Development Librarian, Lewis and Clark College • Gardner Chappell, Oregon Museums Association President and Douglas County Museum • Tiah Edmunson-Morton, Archivist, Oregon State University, and past president of Northwest Archivists • James Fox, Head, Special Collections and University Archives University of Oregon Libraries • Shawna Gandy, Collections Access Specialist, Oregon Historical Society Research Library • Dave Hegeman, Business Reference Librarian, Special Collections Coordinator, Oregon State Library • Normandy Helmer, University of Oregon Libraries • Mary E Herkert, Oregon State Archives • Kris Kern, Oregon Library Association representative and Fine and Performing Arts Librarian, Portland State University Library • MJ Koreiva, Oregon Museums Association and Umpqua River Lighthouse Museum • Larry Landis, Archivist at Oregon State University • Marsha Matthews, Oregon Historical Society Director of Public Services • Randall Melton, Tamaśtslikt Cultural Institute • Judith Norton, Head, Access Services, Oregon Health & Science University Library • Layne G Sawyer, Oregon State Archives • Jim Scheppke, State Librarian of Oregon • Keni Sturgeon, Curator & Museum Director, Willamette Heritage Center • Alex Toth, Oregon Library Association representative and Pacific University Library • Robyn Ward, Oregon Library Association, Co-Chair of the Preservation Roundtable and Serials Digital Access Specialist, Lewis and Clark College Aubrey R. Watzek Library • Lindy Trolan, Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde Indian Reservation

37. Questions and Comments? Umpqua River Lighthouse; Beaver Brand Oregon Prunes label from the Oregon State Archives; an artifact at Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Park