Kelly in Kansas

Richard Rayner's article on what archivist Tim Rives discovered in the documents at the Eisenhower Library. A good read.

Labels: Ambrose, Eisenhower, Eisenhower Library, NARA, National Archives, Stephen Ambrose, Tim Rives

It's the start of another week and I'm certainly glad daylight savings time is over. It was too dark too late in the morning. We're finally having some great fall days and I wore myself out working outside yesterday. We've had so much rain that there hasn't been the opportunity to make steady progress on the outside work. 

I spent two days at the Eisenhower Library last week. There were newly released documents (or at least critical parts of documents) and I also discovered a new big topic to investigate after I finish the current one. I'm actually pretty excited about given that I can do such a much better job this time around. I had taken teachers to the Ike Library a few years ago but otherwise it had been over a decade since I had researched there. But I was looking at some of the same collections with new and much more experienced eyes and felt much more efficient. This is the part of my job I've missed - doing my work and not scrambling to get material together for teachers that they sometimes use and sometimes don't. 

I'm headed to a national meeting and looking forward to engaging with colleagues from a variety of disciplines. I'll be in DC again in a month so there isn't the push to see and do everything in the evenings there normally is. I'm headed up early so that I can get out to Archives II to meet with the Assistant Archivist who was responsible for my appointment to the committee. I solicited his latest insight into the NARA move to a more comprehensive digital strategy and so I will navigate out to College Park and then get myself back. No rain is expected which always makes traversing walking and riding to the meetings and walking around in the evening. We were there for the election this time last year and I still remember waking up at 3 am to hear Katie Couric say that as Pennsylvania went, so did the rest of the country. It was amazing to be in DC that next morning - I hadn't thought about what great effort it would take to buy a newspaper announcing the election results. And, since we were near the capitol area, there was the post-election buzz in the air. 

The semester is on the downhill slide. Lots of grading awaiting me and managing some various personalities in both positive and less than positive ways. 

I'm using Facebook more for daily updates and to share but I'm not quite ready to let go of my version of reflective practice. I should be putting big project updates on that blog but I have to get a bit more organized. And I'll be learning Wordpress as a result of some of my service activities. 

Fall is definitely one of the best things about the academic life. And living in the Midwest. We had outstanding color this year despite what seemed to be the continual rain torrents. 

Labels: academic life, ACERA, DC, Eisenhower, Eisenhower Library, electronic records, ERA, Facebook, fall, Harry Truman, NARA, National Archives, Washington, WordPress

NARA seeks input into the development of alternative models for Presidential Libraries. Read the Request for Input here
and submit to: pres-lib-alternatives@nara.gov.

As someone who has visited ALL of the presidential libraries operated by the National Archives and Records Administration and as someone who has conducted both graduate and post-graduate research in seven of these diverse institutions, I think it is important to explain how important location is to each of these institutions and to NARA as an entity.

When President Harry Truman worked within his presidential administration to provide for a presidential library system that would benefit not only himself but also his successors, he clearly envisioned a tangible explanation available for all American citizens to visit and explore. Knowing that not every citizen can afford to visit the nation's capital city even once in their lifetimes, this Missouri native knew that allowing presidents to choose locations throughout the United States for their presidential libraries would allow more citizens from all over the world access to these important components of our nation's heritage.

I disagree with the assertion that a 'central location' would be beneficial. Not only would we lose the character that Texas brings to the LBJ and Bush Presidential Libraries and the Boston metro area brings to the Kennedy Library, we would also lose the expertise that archivists focusing on one collection bring to the table. Their expertise is quite simply essential to not only finding the appropriate records for a particular research interest but in understanding them. While there is a place for supervisory archivists who manage much more diverse collections at the National Archives locations in DC and Maryland and the regional branches throughout the nation, we would lose a piece of our history if we changed our approach to the presidential libraries.

First, I applaud the possibility of asking the foundation to provide more funding for the initial building as well as past legislation to limit the size of future presidential libraries. Electronic records will make this much more feasible over the next few administrations. And, I know firsthand from seeing them myself and from talking to directors of presidential libraries that the presidential gifts collections are sometimes the most cumbersome and physically largest components to manage. It would be a common sense approach to allow the foundation to also oversee the "care and feeding" of these historical artifacts.

Second, presidential museums are often more than controversial, especially during their initial iteration and/or while the president is still alive, but they are an important component of understanding the man from Michigan or the man from Kansas who became president. Having said that, however, it would be a more suitable alternative to separate the museums from the presidential libraries than the move the entire presidential records component to Washington, DC.

Third, if the only option is to move the presidential records to a central location, I would highly encourage NARA to look at locating that 'central repository' in a cost-efficient and climate-controlled atmosphere location in the nation's heartland. The caves surrounding the Kansas City metro area (both Kansas and Missouri) provide numerous possibilities here. Furthermore, this location would be more accessible to more of the nation's citizens, whether they are researchers or just interested members of the public.

Teaching American History grants have provided funding to take teachers and undergraduate and graduate students to presidential libraries across the nation and they continually comment on better understanding "the man" who was president by actually seeing where he "came from". This importance of this tangible component of history needing "place" to actually occur cannot be overstated. Washington, DC, is a wonderful place but also not accessible and much more expensive than visiting the locations where most of the presidential libraries are now located.

As a member of the Advisory Committee to the Electronic Records Archives, I wholeheartedly support the most efficient ways to organize presidential records that are already primarily electronic but also ensuring that all of the nation's citizens have a "people" connection to those records. The digital world has drastically changed my entire life but people are still a key to understanding the world around us.

Finally, and most importantly, presidential libraries should be processed systematically and not primarily through FOIA requests as they are now. Imagine going into a collection of millions of records and having to look for the needles in the haystacks. It goes back to a basic rule of scientific management, handle any particular piece of paper (or electronic record) as little as possible rather than having to go through it several times to figure out whether or not it is relevant to a particular lawsuit. Why do specialized segments of American society get first access to the records? Instead, it should be left to the expertise of experienced archivists to complete the initial steps of the processing of these diverse presidential records before FOIA is allowed to be activated to get at what may be some of the more controversial records.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Kelly A. Woestman
H-Net President and
Professor of History and History Education Director
Pittsburg (KS) State University
woestman@pittstate.edu

Labels: NARA, National Archives, presidential libraries

For some reason, I'm less stressed than starting other school years. I think I have more confidence and a renewed outlook to enjoy the students. The main thing I seem to have more in the front of my brain is that there is only so much I can do as the instructor and the rest is up to the students. The old you can lead a horse to water but can't make them drink argument.

The mentoring meetings were interesting. I'm starting my 15th year at my institution and it was insightful to see what new faculty are being told about what to expect. The main thing I came away with is how department-specific all-around success can be. My new colleague possesses numerous types of experiences prior to his arrival and I have no doubt he will do well. That will be quite a change from the previous occupants of his position.

Our opening meeting was the most fun as always - getting to see people you may only see once a year. For my part, however, I noticed that I am no longer one of the young pups and have quite a long tenure here at 15 years. Our department meeting went quite quickly thanks to our chair and then we had lunch together.

Enrollment day was quite typical - no one came in but I did answer an email at 6:30 am (at home) and a phone call. My assumption is that online enrollment has decreased the numbers showing up in person for help.

The graduate class for grant teachers has their first assignment due this week so that they can finish by Thanksgiving. The short interval between Thanksgiving and Christmas is so hectic for teachers that it works out best for everyone that way - especially since they have already been in school for a couple of weeks.

I"m going to take a more relaxed approach to the teaching methods course and go through some more modeling experiences for them. The basic assignments will be the same but we will do some more collaboration and peer review - especially before turning in assignments. What I have planned will lead to ensuring they are even better prepared and my not killing myself with the such intense grading duties normally associated with this course. We'll see how it works.

We're also utilizing the newly available features in our version of ANGEL - the blogging and wiki functions. It will make it much easier for me to keep track of individual blog entries since they will be collected in one place. I also have a plan to stay on top of grading a bit better and not get buried too quickly - esp. if I'm spending more time grading an assignment than a student does in preparing it (as in the past).

I hope I am not getting old and cranky but just more realistic about the parameters within which I work. I need to focus more energy on the tasks that I can bethttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifter control the outcome - ie research and publishing.

I have a book project trip and a state conference in September and then in October I'm off to New Orleans and Miami for conferences/H-Net meetings and then Houston for a conference in November. I'll probably also have a meeting in November or early December. That will be plenty with having to be in New York for over a week in early January.

Labels: back to school, classes, conferences, H-Net, NARA, students

New Archives Facility for
National Archives – Central Plains Region

The National Archives Central Plains Region in Kansas City will move to a new facility in the Union Station complex. The move is expected to take place in late 2008.

“This new facility offers easy public access in the heart of Kansas City. It is also an opportunity for the National Archives, working in partnership with the community, to highlight our extensive research services,” said Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein. “We will be able to feature innovative outreach efforts through student training programs, civic education, special events, and other learning experiences that invite broad public participation and promote civic literacy.”

The new Central Plains Regional Archives facility will be located in the former Adams Express building, a part of the Union Station complex. Under the supervision of the General Services Administration, the historic building will be renovated and then leased to the National Archives. Upon completion, the Central Plains Region will then move from its present facility at the Bannister Road Federal Complex, where it has been since 1969.

Treasures of the Central Plains Region include records relating to the milestone Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, Wild West showman “Buffalo Bill” Cody, President Ulysses S. Grant, and Walt Disney which are among the 50,000 cubic feet of records in its holdings. In commenting on the move, Professor Weinstein said, “The Central Plains Region will serve as a focal point for promoting greater appreciation of the region’s role in American History. The new facility will allow us to better showcase the treasures that we hold in trust for our citizens.”

Labels: Kansas City, NARA, National Archives, Project Primary Sources, research, Union Station

OK, this is the last trip for awhile (and normally this meeting is earlier in the month). I'm headed to DC for a National Archives electronic records meeting and there are always interesting discussions and insights from all - not only the DC internal agency bureaucracy but from the influential people representing a diversity of public and private sectors sitting around the table.

And, can I say, I love Midwest! They were able to find me an exit row seat and so I don't have to sit with the back of a seat in my lap like on the last two Southwest flights - it's unusual to get behind two inconsiderate people in a row (leaving the seat ALL the way back even when they are resting their head forward and not even touching the back of the chair). My seat doesn't recline but at least I'll have space in front of me.

We're staying near L'Enfant Plaza which has quite a few restaurants and interesting activities. Time to board.

Labels: ACERA, electronic records, flight, NARA

To continue yesterday's post, I wanted to underscore one of the most important points underlying all the controversy over the timely release of presidential records - there just simply aren't enough people and resources to process any faster. Here's Fawcett's quote explaining how she would like NARA to be able to approach the process:

I would try to do the processing more comprehensively. If you think of an intersecting line, the FoIA requests would eventually start to intersect with the records that have already been systematically processed, so they would be open and available. That would mean there would be a continuing decline in what people would have to FoIA, and the staff could get the records out in a more timely fashion.

We are making some modifications to our system in that we take a look at our FoIA requests, and we attempt to bundle them, so that if we have a number of FoIA requests on a specific related subject, we will bring them together.

For example, say we had a lot of requests on Afghanistan, but they cover different aspects of Afghanistan, we'd probably try to identify the majority of files that would cover that subject and let researchers know that we're processing that systematically, and then process it that way and notify all the FoIA requesters at the same time when the material is done. They are likely to get the material much more quickly that way. But again, it depends on the subject interest of the FoIAs, and FoIAs really come in based on what's happening. You know, Hillary Clinton is running for president, so we have FoIA requests asking for her records.

Labels: access, NARA, National Archives, presidential records