Fresh Perspective (student guest post)

Hello! My name is Ashlyn Pause, and I am an intern this semester at the Records Management Division. I am currently wrapping up my undergraduate degrees at the College of Charleston. I will be graduating in May 2024 with a double major in Historic Preservation & Community Planning and Classics with a double minor in Urban Studies and Art History. For this semester, my role at the Records Management Division is to digitize and create the metadata for historical documents tied to Charleston’s history that have not previously been available online. I chose to pursue this internship to get a better understanding of the process behind digitization and the online documents I often use in my own academic research. This internship has also expanded my technical skill set and my knowledge on how to conduct research.

My first project with the Records Management Division was the digitization and metadata creation for the City of Charleston Year Book Index covering the years 1880 to 1930. The index was created by Clerk of Council, Joseph C. Barbot, around 1931. The Barbot index is an unpublished typewritten manuscript with handwritten notes, corrections, and editions found within the pages. Barbot created this version of the index covering the Year Books from 1900 to 1930. Barbot then bound the already published 1880 to 1901 index created by George H. Holmes in the front of the index’s preface. One of the more interesting details about the Index is that it was professionally bound with a hardcover exterior, despite only being a draft and not a published copy.

The cover of the 1880-1930 City Year Book.

This was my first experience with scanning, digitization, and metadata creation. Therefore, this first project was a big learning experience for me. I would say the most interesting aspect of the process was learning about the metadata and learning how to create it myself. I appreciated how patiently I was guided and assisted by my friends in the Records Management Division and also those at Lowcountry Digital Library with my numerous questions.

A page from the typewritten 1900-1930 index.

I also enjoyed how self-guided the project was, especially with the creation of the metadata. I was able to teach myself and also learn from others, both of which are valuable experiences. Now that the index is accessible online for the world, I feel as though I have made a true contribution to research. This is something that is rare for an intern to accomplish. It is one of the many reasons I am thankful for an internship like this!

Please stay tuned to this blog for more information on my upcoming projects! I am currently finishing up my work on Board of Architectural Review photographs.

Ashlyn at work in the Records Management Division.