Blog Topic #6

  In my last year of high school, I had a STEP Co- Op placement in the Newfoundland Provincial Archives, located in The Rooms. (Archiving is a career- area I'm looking at persuing.)While there, my main project was the Expropriation Files Project. Here's some back- ground on it...
  During the WW2, the Newfoundland government expropriated large portions of land for the buiding of navy- bases. (I'm prety sure it was navy.) Anyways... everyone who lived on said land had to submit claims for compensation. (Reports, photos, and so on- all of which were filed, boxed, and put into storage.
  My job, during my placement, was to search through these boxes. When I found photos, I assigned each a number (linking it back to the folder it came from), catalogued it, and put each into its own protective sleeve.
  When I had enough photos, I'd scan them into The Rooms' database, and print off a copies which would be returned to the folders the originals had come from. Meanwhile, the originals would be stored sepperately- in conditions more ideal for photograph preservation. (Especially important, because the buildings in the pics were G-O-N-E... and the photos were all that was left of them...)
  Towards the end of my placement, I asked afew of the people who work there if there were any courses they'd reccommend. That was when I first heard about the Library Studies Certificate Program, actually. (It was also my 'intro to scanning.' (Since then, I've scanned some drawings I've done, and put them online. If  anyone wants to see them, this is the link  http://eternaldrifter24.deviantart.com/ )
  

Smartphones and Libraries (Blog topic # 5)

  As more and more people get phones with internet, email, and so on- the possibilities for libraries become virtually limitless. If a library has a facebook or twitter link, for example, people can send quick requests while on the move, and maybe fit in a stop to the library on the way home. It's a major opprotunity that needs to be explored. (Also, it's that much more important that the library sites aren't overly cluttered. If people can't see any of the site links on their handheld screen, it doesn't do anyone any good.)