3.2 Make Existing Materials More Accessible

In relation to existing materials, our project had the opportunity to expand access to materials that already existed at the main archives and special collections unit of TPL, the Northwest Room. Specifically, the Northwest Room had several collections related to the goals of the project that were not sufficiently arranged, described, or digitized.

Interns from our project assisted the Northwest Room with processing and digitization projects that supported the joint goal of identifying and mitigating gaps and silences that exist within local history collections, especially around marginalized or underserved communities. This included:

Digitization and description of specific images from the Tacoma News Tribune Photograph Files including images of the

• Puyallup Tribe, Salishan

• Hilltop

• Vietnamese refugees

• various protests, strikes and demonstrations

Images were selected for digitization based on how they addressed topical or representational gaps in the Northwest Room’s existing digital collections.

Arrangement, description, and select digitization of local periodicals like the

• Northwest Dispatch

• The Tacoma Facts

• Tacoma Indian News

• Northwest Indian News

• Northwest Asian Weekly

• Asian American Alliance News

• Jewish Transcript

• The Voter.

Arrangement, description, and digitization of the papers of local activists Sallie Shawl and Arthur J. Miller.

Arrangement and description of materials related to the 1990 Puyallup Tribe Land Claims Settlement.

These materials are now available to the public and have subsequently been utilized in community archives programs.

3.2.1 Classification and Labeling

After collecting the stories, we labeled and classified the artifacts to ingest into the digital repository for long term preservation and for community access. We established Community Subject Headings, which are similar to traditional library subject headings but developed in collaboration with community members throughout the cataloging process.

The Community Archives Center Project Associate, barrow, worked with community members and oral history narrators to include the subject headings that they preferred to be associated with their oral histories.

Before and after recording oral histories, barrow provided time and space for narrators to identify

• their group affiliations

• clarify and verify subject heading terms

• text for descriptions

• text for the authority records (i.e. biographies for organizations and individuals).

This practice was done through in-person discussions and email for both existing and new artifacts.