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Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!
Well, I am back from my week long trip to Washington DC for Alternative Spring Break. I was at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History with four other SI students. The museum is actually under construction until at least summer 2008, so it was really cool to walk through most of the first floor to get to the Archives Center.
I spent the week processing the papers of Joseph Pedott, basically he is the guy responsible for making the Chia Pet and the Clapper famous. I had never done processing before so it was a great experience. My supervisory archivists helped me when I had questions and did alittle guiding in the very beginning, but for the most part the organization of the collection was up to me. After processing I created a finding aid using the DACS format, which I thought would be scary from classroom discussion but turned out to be very easy. My project was also great as I got alittle taste of how to deal with audio/visual collections. Although, I think I can live without ever having to see a Chia or Clapper commercial again in my life!
The archival staff also helped to supply lunch for us all. For 3 of the days we had archivists talk to us about their specialities and work experience (photographs, A/V, etc.) The other days we were about to just have casual, informal conversations with the archivists. It was interesting to hear about their experiences and also refreshing to hear how great they thought our program was! The Archives Center also seems to want interns for the summer if people are interested (they are unfortunatly unpaid, but great experience)
Another great thing about the week was that I got out of work at 4pm. This left plenty of time to check out some other museums and see the sites of DC. Not to mention it made it to 60 degrees with sun on Friday! Overall, it was a great trip. The Hotel Harrington will always have a special place in my heart and the van rides to/from DC were priceless. I'll see what I can do about getting some ASB pictures up on here in the next few days.
Clap on! Clap off! The Clapper!!
Posted by cassch at March 6, 2007 01:32 PM
