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Susan KlineSyracuse University LibrarySociety of American ArchivistsAugust 14, 2010
Cartoons in the Archives: Laughing Our Way Through 1,000 Feet
About my presentationPerspective of a special collections department within an academic library• Cartoons are approx. 1,000 lin. ft. of 30,000 lin. ft.• One area of pop culture we collect• 2 year NHPRC grant funded project
“Cartoons”- umbrella term for magazine (gag) cartoons, comic strips, editorial, political cartoons
Why bother with cartoons?Visual documents and records• visual expression of complex ideas
o editorial cartoonsForm of popular culture and entertainment• storytelling and narratives
o sequential "soap opera" detective and adventure strips
• beliefs about society and culture as reflected in forms of mass entertainment
Artistic value• genre of art and illustration
Cartoons at SCRC • 186 distinct collections (1,000 linear feet)• Comic strips and panel cartoons• Editorial Cartoons• Sports cartoons• Correspondence, proofs, promotional and other
manuscript material
Typical collection• hundreds to thousands of original artworks• 11”x14” to 2'x3'• Notes, marginalia, corrections
Comic strips
• Insert image here
Abbie an’ Slats cartoon from Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Library
Editorial cartoons
Paul Conrad cartoon from Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Library
Who are the users?Wide range of possibilities• Scholars in the fields of
rhetoric, journalism, political science, comics studies, art history
• Anyone looking for illustrations of a particular topic ex. Portrayals of American Indians in the mediao understand particular topics through
different types of sourcesKarl Hubenthal cartoon from Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Library
Who are the users?
Collectors and fans• Common questions about similar pieces,
people wanting values placed on works• large market for this type of art right now
Publishers• money to be made doing reprints of
complete runs and anthologies o Fantagraphics, Prince Valiant
• image permissions, copyright research
History of Cartoons at SCRCAcquisitions began arriving in 1960s • Some had accruals- Ted Key• Overall little activity past early
1970sProcessing• some processed...sort of...
o handwritten and typed lists and inventories
(some later OCR'ed)
o little rehousing o some attempts at subject
arrangement
webcomic courtesy of Derangement and Description, http://derangementanddescription.wordpress.com
Flash forward to NHPRCNational Historic Publishing and Records Commission detailed processing grant, 20082 years, 1 project archivist, and 1 student worker (2nd year of project, 10-15 hrs. wk)
Phases1. Survey2. Create MARC and EAD records3. Arrangement and rehousing4. Update MARC and EAD records (description)(#4 later combined with #3)
Project goals
Included...• Rehousing 134 collections (450 linear feet)• Create or update 134 EAD finding aids and
MARC records• Update Wikipedia entries for 30 cartoonists
and include links to the finding aids• Track use of collections as made available• At least 3 articles or presentations
Survey phase
Goals• find out what we had• determine rehousing requirements
Results• discovered even more "hidden collections"
than previously realized• detailed measurements of materials crucial
for estimating rehousing needs• understanding of past processing
Survey phaseWork products
• Database for project management
• Skeleton EAD finding aids and MARC to be revised later
Processing phaseStraightforward approach to physical arrangement
o Chronological or alphabeticalo date inventory in calendar format
Practices and literature reviewTook inspiration from the few places that have substantial amounts of cartoons
"The Organization and Categorization of Political Cartoons: An exploratory study" by Christopher Landbeck (thesis at the Florida State University, 2002)
"Indexing Editorial Cartoons," by Angie Chapple-Sokol Special Libraries, Winter 1996• Would be great opportunity for a follow up to see how people are now
indexing them? Contact newspaper, syndicates? Magazines?
For all collections:• OPAC records w/ links to
finding aid• LCSH and subdivisions• AAT terms related to the
genres• Particular attention to
biographical notes for obscure cartoonistso Little onlineo Who's Who in American
Arto cartoon and comics
reference works
Description
How detailed is “detailed”?• Item level access ideal but not feasible• Treat collections as someone's body of work not individual
piecesInfluenced by format• Comic strips
o date inventoryo description of strip in scope & contents note
• Editorial cartoonso date inventoryo ideally item level description with caption, date,
what it depicts
Description
DescriptionEditorial cartoonsWhat type of access do people want?• By a specific date?• By a specific caption?• By subject?
Is chronology enough to guide users to specific subjects?• yes and no • some concepts transcend time periods• problem with obscure and local subjects
Access by individual captions?• Not specific enough ("Next!" reveals little) unless
you have particular cartoon in mind
Description- indexing
Idea to index the cartoons at the folder level
Subjective process
What to index?• What is it of? vs. what is it about?
(elephant) = (Republican party)?• Interpretation issues- what is cartoonist's intent?
o labels (people, concepts, places)o easily recognizable people
Result:people looking for Fidel Castro can find all the cartoons of him throughout the same collection
Indexing for the finding aidProcessIndex data entered into Excel sheet• Instead of pg. #s, folder IDs (B1F1) for references to
each folder
Exported and generated EAD tags <index> tag <ref> tag
Result- list of subjects w/ links up to the folder listing and description
Possibility to export data later for a collection wide listing of subjects
Preservation
Rehousing• Custom clamshell comic strip boxes• Newspaper boxes• Map case storage for odd x-large items• Foldering of cartoons
o Minimize handling• Interleaving• Treatment concerns
o Weak, yellowed rubber cements
o tape
ChallengesRespecting original order• hard to know how it came since some were
partially processed decades agoScale of this particular project• What is feasible in just 2 years?• Balancing goals, timeline, successful outcome w/
what would be idealTracking down info about (now) obscure artists• fan generated blogs, databases helpful
But just digitize them all!• complex maze of rights holders of artists,
syndicates
Outreach and resultsIn addition to presentations...Wikipedia links and contributions
o Adds credibility to Wikipedia entrieso In conjunction with FAs indexed by Google- wider
exposure for our collections
Additional accessions from previous donors and single item additions from others
Exhibit and symposium during homecoming w/ alumni cartoonists; preservation lectureSense of how to manage large projects
Goodbye cartoon backlog!
Bill Keane cartoon from Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Library