So after all the posting during the conference this summer, I was hoping I'd have more momentum to keep writing through the fall. Well, it partially worked.
I've done a great job writing for my classes! Unfortunately, little time (or mental energy!) for other writing. This semester has been a very, very busy one. I've had two courses, plus my practicum. Basically, I was full-time grad student who was also working full time. Like I said, very, very busy!
But, I have a project to brag on now! My practicum was spent at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a university in the next town over, working with their digital resources librarians. And as a result of my work this semester, I've created a digital collection! I talked through the template with the librarians, and we created the fields, determined how we wanted to catalog and present the metadata (information on the item and how it's displayed on the page or not), and then I actually did it. I've cataloged about 50 issues now, all up on the website. Call me dorky, but I think this is really cool. I'm honestly quite proud of it :)
"My" collection is for The Baylorian, a student literary magazine. The Baylorian is a literary magazine now, but it didn't start out that way entirely. Back in 1912, it also had campus events and news, jokes and cartoons, odds and ends. Over time, it evolved to be a more traditional student literary magazine - more poems, essays, and short stories, and less Hints on Headgear (no really - hat fashion tips, May-June 1921). It's always been student created, though, which makes reading through them fun. Zach says it's not really schoolwork if I'm having this much fun reading them, but what can I say? They are fun!
Part of the fun was looking at what has changed and what hasn't over the past 100 years. Most of the issues I was cataloging were from the 1910s, after all. Every time there was something which was so very, very dated, there would be something that was still very true today. Jokes about freshman vs seniors, or men vs women, for example. Take away the slightly dated wording or vocabulary, and you'll have something you might hear on a college campus today. When the articles were on serious topics, that was even more striking. The more things change, right?
Some highlights:
- I love the names. Seeing as we started with the oldest ones first, I was cataloging issues from the 1910s, 20s, and 30s. Some of the names are very characteristic of their time, so sound very dated now (lots of Frances, for example, and a surprising number of Minnie). And some are good ol' stereotypical, small-town Texas (Lula Belle worked on the staff for several years, for example, and Ethelyne). And then you take them as a group, with five or six names on a staff... it just makes you smile. Of course, in 100 years, people will probably be thinking the same thing with all the Mikayla, Bella, and Madison now.
- 1920s debate speeches There were several collegiate debates in which UMHB participated, and the Baylorian later published all four speeches (two affirmative, two negative) from each debate. The topics: immigration reform (June 1922), and the purpose of the electoral college (should we keep it? May-June 1921). Take away the specifics on the immigrants and their country of origin, and you could hear the exact same arguments being used by candidates today.
- On Being a Twin (Fall 1931) shows that my niece and nephew would probably be fielding the same sort of questions 80 years ago as they do now. For example, on trying to distinguish themselves from each other: "Another brilliant idea of ours is to wear different clothes at times. The attempt is futile. The world then wants to know why we do not dress alike if we are twins."
- My favorite issue of all has to be November 1916. In the campus events news, there were write-ups of two -count them, 2- possum hunts. The Senior Class hosted one, and so did the Fine Arts department. Each had a write-up too. Excuse me: 'possum hunts. The apostrophe was apparently still standard at this time. Remember too: at this point, the school was still Baylor Female College, an all-women's institution.
- November 1916 also had an advertisement for a Turkey Trot in Temple, TX. In 1916, this apparently referred to REAL turkeys! Mr. Jarrell, owner of Jarrell's Mississippi Store, was planning to "turn loose a drove of fine turkeys from the roof of his building, Catch 'em and they will be yours." Funnily enough, Temple still hosts one of the Turkey Trots in the area, though nowadays it's a Thanksgiving Day 5K. We ran it last year :)
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