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Newspapers, Baker, & replies to statements



The controversy about the microfilming is a very healthy topic for
discussion here, but if you haven't read the book, please be aware that
newspapers are just the tip of the iceberg.  De-accessioning is a serious
problem, if not a scandal, and all should be aware of what the substance of
Nicholson's points.  I can speak from experience that many institutions are
making choices that are not in their best interest, but only in the personal
interest of the person making the decision.  If archivists don't clean up
their act, perhaps community oversight committees would be in order to
regulate the practice.

> Given the level of publicity Baker is getting, it behooves us as members of
> the community most under fire here to get the word to these people that
> there's another side to the story.
and:
> First, I seriously doubt that gross negligence and crass incompetence in the
> microfilming of paper records is anywhere near as widespread as Mr. Baker
> claims. In a competent microfilimg laboratory, there are carefully
> formulated and followed guidelines for all aspects of the work, including
> inspection of the finished product and reshooting of inferior work.

Please look at these examples, and let me know what the "other side of the
story" is. Either you have legible, high quality microfilms or you don't.
If the originals have been destroyed,  you threw the baby out with the
bathwater.

    The "Oregonian," which is the NWs largest and oldest newspaper, and who
won two pulitizer prizes yesterday, is a classic example of illegible
microfilm.  In most 19th cent. newspapers, the local news is illegible
because of a stupid lighting problem.  Any serious photographer would know
how to light the subject properly, in this case about twenty years of post
civil war papers are wiped out and the problem persists until WW2 era,
probably 5-8% of a century's worth of information is wiped out.  Nothing has
ever been done about it of course!

    The second largest paper in the state is the "East Oregonian". IT WAS
MICROFILMED TWICE.  The first time, they only did the weekly edition, and it
is so out of focus anyone could tell with a glance it is useless.  It was
microfilmed a second time, complete, and these are good.  Unfortunately,
only one set of positives were made, which were filed in the Umatilla county
public library, ALONG WITH THE NEGATIVES, and patrons for the past twenty
years have been using both the positives and negatives for viewing, ruining
the original films, and despite the fact i have called everyones attention
to this the original negatives are still in the drawer for the public, no
one has done anything about it.

    A third example (I could go on ...) is the Burns Times Herald, the
largest paper in SE Oregon. Every other page is out of focus for about a
decade.  The librarian will not use the microfilms because of the poor
quality, instead bound volumes of the newspaper from 1901-1910 are handled
daily by patrons.  They are still in good condition, although getting a
little frayed.

>> The average archives, at least in my experience, is staffed by at best 4
>> or 5 people (most have only one or two), with the occasional volunteer.

I volunteer one day a week at our Hist Soc, and many many other researchers
do.  I think if you only have an occasional volunteer, you need an outreach
program.  Managers of archives don't get paid to archive, they get paid to
direct the activities of others who do the archiving.  Your job is to drum
up interest and community resources to accomplish the goals. Mayby
Nicolson's book is just the thing you've all been waiting for!

> However, I do have a few questions, not the least of which is, "will he
> pay postage due on a couple of tons of crumbling newspaper, deaccessioned
> after microfilming, that I might want to send to his Repository?

There are hundreds of people who would be happy to come pick them up.  It is
a scandal how much money this stuff is worth.  If you don't want it --sell
it, don't throw it away!

>  No
> doubt he has a staff of librarians who have cataloged all the newspapers,
> including item-by-item holdings, years published, and variant titles.
Lets give credit where credit is actually due here.  Most newspaper indexes
were written by the newspaper staff over a period of years, and these were
given to the library or historic society.  There have been a few federal
index projects. The only library-generated index that I have ever seen was
only for birth/death/marriage records, and was prepared as an off-duty
volunteer project by the librarian.  Many of the old card indexes are what
Baker is complaining are now being discarded, having been microfiched.

> I'd also expect a large, strong and literate crew of people who shelve the
> bound volumes or loose newspapers in boxes, as well as retrieve them for
> researchers (with a short turn-around time).

Most of us know the ropes.  You send your request to the library of congress
a few weeks in advance and hop on a plane.  Researchers know what has to
happen, and are more than willing to work with your policies.

>   Are there planetary
> scanners (not flatbed ones that might further damage the aging paper)
These are getting cheap.  Buy an obsolete digital back (uses the red filter)
for a Hassleblad.

> Plus, I don't want to pay more than 10 cents a page for copying.  Is the
> copier paper pH-neutral (not "acid-free" as the under-informed say)?
Neutral ph paper is cheap.  If a patron brings it a ream, will you let them
use it?  I bought a Minolta copying reader, and it is always loaded with
document grade paper.  I was instructed to do this by the University of
Oregon, who has requested that I leave them my papers in my will.

> Does Mr. Baker have state-of-the-art HVAC, fire-suppression, and security
> systems?  Surely, he wants to protect these valuable records of
> civilization.
No, but he's got the papers at least, and he put his money where his mouth
is.  I do the best I can afford, I bought steel map cabinets.  Check your
local utility company or state government surplus and you can probably get
them for free.

This discussion brings to mind the film, Farenheit 451, where books are
destroyed by the government, and private citizens take it upon themselves to
memorize them to preserve them.  That is what is happening today.  I know of
many people like Nicholson, and myself included, who preserve large
collections of historically important newspapers that libraries have tossed,
and we expend our own personal resources to preserve them.  He should be
given credit for making this personal sacrifice to do what he can. The
rhetorical questions posed about Nicholson's efforts, in the letter designed
to discredit his book, only highlight the shortcomings of public
institutions' preservation of newspapers; can you name any institution that
accomplishes the laundry list of items mentioned?

>>  Instead of looking for
>> ads in such a research library, I would suggest you contact a research
>> library which specializes or as the designation is now used "area of
>> excellence" for advertising or where the library's area of excellence is
>> in your field of study.
It is not advertising per-se that researchers are interested in.  Generally,
it is specific information about local companies or individuals, and
advertising is one of the best sources of information to be found in old
newspapers.  It is a mistake to view history writing in the model of the old
century, where you limit your research to a topic.  Nowadays you have to
understand your subject in the context of their world, that is what the "new
history" movement is all about.  That is why researchers are interested in
reading complete newspapers.

Tom Robinson

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