Minutes of the Adventist Resources Section
Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians
Montemorelos, N.L. Mexico
June 20, 1999
Mark 1:35. Jesus spent much time in prayer and probably in song. He arose early in the morning before the sun came up. A devotional life was a habitual thing for Him.
A devotional life should be a habitual part of our lives as well. By reading one chapter a day one can read the entire Bible in about three years. The Psalms are especially good for reflection. Dr. del Pigo reviewed several Psalms as well as Desire of Ages pages 54 and 55 where it says that Jesus was not so involved in the things of life that He neglected to pray. We should follow the example of Jesus.
The Bible is a library of books-history, prophecy, poetry, biography. We should study it well. It is like a library where we can direct people to the part of the collection which will best answer their question. Look to God for our help.
Europe, in general, lacks uniformity in what is being done to preserve Adventist resources. Newbold College has a good Adventist resource collection, though not on the par with what is found in North America. They do have the Emmerson collection which documents the life of a long-time church worker, evangelistic advertising materials, British Union and division minutes and some financial records but no correspondence, and some photographic material.
Norway and Sweden are dormant in the preservation of materials. Material is not lost but it is not being used, rather it is in storage. Norway is entering a difficult financial period which could conceivably lead to the loss of resources. Sweden is contemplating turning materials over to the state archives.
Denmark is a shining example in the north country. Their archives are quite well organized and some good research has resulted.
Despite a lot of excellent facilities we are still on the lookout for material which ought to be in an archive. Among the academic institutions of North America there is a diversity in the extent to which they collection Adventist resources. Some are very basic while others like Andrews University and Loma Linda University collect virtually everything.
Cooperation in North America: Most, if not all, academic libraries in North America have their catalog available via the Internet. This helps a researcher know where to go to find certain material. The Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index is a cooperative effort to provide indexing to SDA periodical resources. The cooperative obituary project helps users across North America with family history by providing a resource for obituary information on SDA church members. One other form of cooperation involves a list of what manuscript collections are held by each institution. Lastly, the General Conference Archives microfilmed and makes available to libraries back issues of a number of church periodicals.
The Inter-American Division currently lacks the ability to preserve its Adventist resources. It was tried a few years back in Puerto Rico but with disappointing results.
In Mexico, the Ellen G. White Estate office at Montemorelos does preserve some material such as minutes from the General Conference, the Division, and the Union. Several histories of the Church in Mexico have come out in recent years. The White Center is doing what they can but are limited in what they can accomplish.
In South America, the Ellen G. White Research Center in Brazil under Alberto Timm, is the primary collector of Adventist resources. More interest throughout South America recently in preserving our heritage due to the centennial of SDA work on the continent. Still a long way to go. There is more information on the early years located at Andrews University than in South America.
The new library at University la Plata in Argentina has a poor environment for the preservation of Adventist resources.
There is a lack of coordination in South America on the issue of who collects what. If there was more cooperation then perhaps more could be done. Many older members are moving away or dying leaving their material outside of the archives.
Local churches are active in preserving their history.
Comments, questions and answer time:
Several years ago at an Adventist Resources meeting like this, a three tier concept for the collection of resources was discussed. Under this scheme, libraries with less interest in collecting manuscript type of records would pass them to higher level centers such as Andrews or Loma Linda. This is working in the case of Southern Adventist University where they pass on material they do not wish to retain to Andrews.
The Adventist Resource Section of the ASDAL home page was mentioned. It was also recognized that this needs to be bi-lingual.
The larger centers are willing to share with developing centers what they can.
Check the Loma Linda University Heritage Rooms web page for more Adventist resources.
How about standards for preserving photographic images and making them available on the web. Merlin responded with a brief description of what they are doing at Loma Linda. They present a thumbnail image on the web page. Better quality available by request.
Is ASDAL the only group interested in preserving Adventist resources or are there other groups out their competing. None are known, and we hope this does not proliferate because it could make research even more difficult due to a wider variety of locations to which one must travel. It was pointed out that on the La Sierra University campus there are three groups which collect historical resources-the Stahl Center and the Women's Research Center.
Preservation is an umbrella term for issues related to choosing what collections to save and planning how to do it. It is more an administrative function. Conservation is the actual task of doing the preservation. These terms are often used interchangeably.
Twelve factors which cause the degradation of paper:
Natural components. Most paper contains residual acids from the manufacturing process. Acid-free paper is becoming more plentiful.
Hygroscopic nature of paper. Paper naturally wants to absorb water.
Chemical additives. Bleaches, dyes, sizing.
Air and air borne pollutants.
Production process. Leaves acid in the paper.
Wear and durability. Paper has a limited life span, less with more use.
Light. Ultraviolet radiation can damage paper.
Temperature. Higher the temperature, less life span for the paper.
Humidity. Moisture acts as a catalyst for paper deterioration.
People. Handling transfer oils from the skin to the paper.
Pests. Insects and other vermin like to eat the starch found on the paper and the binding materials.
Photocopy machine. The machine produces heat, light, and ozone which is very corrosive for paper.
General comments:
Never put original documents or photographs on display. If you do, do so for only 30 days at the maximum. Make a copy to use on display.
Rule of Preservation: never do anything you cannot reverse.
Store photographs as cool as possible (45-55° F.) and low humidity (35%). Best to use a mylar sleeve. Do not write on the photograph.
Anything worth saving is worth spending a little extra money and effort on. Not everything is worth this expenditure of time and money.
Never laminate. Encapsulate instead.
Cheapest environmental fix is to use fans to keep the air moving. This will reduce or eliminate the growth of molds. Should molds occur, separate moldy items from the rest of the collection. With a sponge, apply lysol. Let dry. After two weeks, if the mold does not return, then the book can go back on the shelf.
Hands-on workshop experience. Randy led the group through several conservation activities including: cleaning a dirty document; repairing a tear; checking pH; and encapsulation.
Terry Robertson, Seminary Librarian at Andrews University, told about how many languages in the world are being lost. The new generation learns a more popular language while the ancient language dies with the older generation. In Joshua chapter four, we read the story of how Joshua, under the inspiration of God, ordered the Children of Israel to bring 12 stones from the bottom of the Jordan River and set them up in a pillar to remind the people of God's leading.
Those of us interested and involved in preserving Adventist resources are also building a pillar or record of the past. This should help us to see and remember how God led in the past.
Randy spent a few more minutes wrapping up the morning experience.
The minutes of the June 21, 1998 meeting of the Adventist Resources Section were accepted by consensus.
The APL folks are working on version 3 currently. Release will not be for another year or two or more. ASDAL's Adventist Resources Section would like to be of assistance in this worthy project. A couple of years ago a committee was set up to work with APL to see how we could cooperate with them. The current vacancy on the committee was filled with Terry Robertson.
Merlin Burt briefly shared information on the new Ellen G. White Estate product. It is an interactive CD with photographs of the pioneers, a virtual tour of the White Estate office in Maryland, some video clips, children's material, plus version 3 of the writings of Ellen White.
Jim Ford announced an enhanced and expanded web home page for the Andrews University Adventist Heritage Center. Its URL is:
http://www.andrews.edu./library/collections/departments/ahc.html
Much remains the same, but two new features are now present:
Detailed manuscript collection registers to most of the processed collections. By clicking on the indicated spot you can see the complete register. This will allow potential users to have a better indication of what is available in a given collection. In the future we hope to have an interactive search program which will look for the occurrence of any name or word in any of the collection registers. For example, 666 or Questions on Doctrine. We are studying the possibility of allowing the registers to be viewed as a PDF document.
Interactive search for photographs using the Folio search interface. Researchers will soon be able to conduct a search for any name or word and then see a thumbnail representation of the photograph. Reproductions and scanned copies will be available for a reasonable fee to help cover our costs in equipment. We are beginning with our people file. Our total photographic images number around 30,000.
At last year's meeting this group asked Jim Ford to expand this project to include a few of the major non-NAD institutions. This year he reported on one additional institution added to the list. Avondale College has an extensive collection of serials, books, documents, and non-print materials related to the Church in the South Pacific Division. The collection is in various stages of processing. They also hold significant collections of documents from church employees. They also have non-print material from R. Hare and E. Were. They did not supply any additional details.
The Avondale College Ellen G. White Research Center holds a collection of antagonistic materials from Keith Moxon. They amount to about 0.5 meters.
Jim requested help from the group to hear of other institutions which would have manuscript material or significant materials which should be invited to report in the next year?
Jim Ford reported for the SDA Periodical Index Board. 1999 will be a very significant year for the SDA Periodical Index. I have three major advances to report to you today. On behalf of the Publication Board, I hope you are as excited about these as we are.
During this year the Index Publication Board has voted to move the print index to CD ROM. From a survey made last year we found the vast majority of subscribers had access to a CD ROM player on their computer. With this information the Board felt comfortable moving to a CD product. The CD will contain not just the one year which the print index did, but will include the entire electronic index from 1978 to the present. The embedded search engine is the Folio software which is the same as used by the Ellen G. White Estate's CD for the writings of Mrs. White. The subscription cost will not increase this year.
Also included on the CD will be the Cooperative Seventh-day Adventist Obituary Index. This includes listings for about 175,000 names.
At the same time the master for the CD ROM was made we converted the entire database to a Folio Infobase. From now on, all new data and all searching will utilize the Folio system. This means that when someone accesses the SDAPI database via the Internet they will use the Folio system. We apologize for the initial inconvenience and learning curve, but all new and improved ways of doing things require some re-learning. We hope this will be relatively painless and simple. Folio is a major provider of this type of interface and they make it their business to provide an easy to use yet powerful search tool.
The Index Board is exploring the possibility of providing full text access to at least a few key SDA magazines. We've explored the idea with two magazines and received positive feedback. There is some reluctance to make their magazine available as its published for fear of losing supporting subscriptions, but some type of delayed basis may be a possibility.
The switch to Folio as our basic software was spurred, in part, by the fact that it will handle full text much better than the previous system. We are exploring whether to provide text only which is fully searchable or also providing a graphic presentation which would include the artwork and other design elements missing in the text only approach.
Your comments and suggestions are encouraged.
Jim Ford reported on steady progress, though a bit slower this year than in some recent years. Only Walla Walla College assisted this year.
At last years meeting, Tony Zbaraschuk of La Sierra University volunteered to coordinate this project. It was to serve as a test for the larger issue of an SDA Bibliography project. Unfortunately, Tony has no progress to report at this time. Also, Tony is no longer able to coordinate this project and asks to be relieved of this responsibility.
Carolyn Gaskell presented a report on what she found by utilizing the standard general search engines and looking for hits about Adventists, Millerites, and several prominent Adventist names. She was quite surprised at how much she found without a lot of effort. She had a useful handout which contained many URL's.
The Adventist Resource Section, by unanimous acclaim, passed on its appreciation to Adan Suriano and his staff for the excellent service provided.
We have no record of Linda Maberly being voted a member of this committee as shown in the ASDAL program. This is to formalize the fact that she is not a member of this committee.
Chair of the committee. There was some confusion regarding the selection and term of the chair of this committee. Two years ago, Merlin Burt was elected to serve a one year term which was extended for another year. Merlin's term is up now. It was VOTED to operate according to ASDAL standing rules regarding the chair of a committee. The rule is that the committee will choose the chair. The term may be for the whole term of service or a portion of it.
Vacancies to fill. This year there are three vacancies to fill. It is unfortunate to have so many all at one time. The group felt the terms of service of the new members should be staggered so there will not be so many going off the committee at one time. Following some discussion and voting, the following three individuals were elected with the terms of service indicated:
The remaining members and their term of service are:
It was further voted that Marilyn Crane should be the chair.
The idea for this project has been around for many years. Little progress has been made due to too many questions and not enough answers along the way. Last year it was decided to pilot the bibliography by updating the SDA Dissertation index. Unfortunately, there is no progress to report on this, and the one responsible, Tony Zbarachuk, has asked to have his name removed due to a change of assignments.
Where do we go now? What does ASDAL want?
Technologically, almost anything is possible with enough time and money. But what do we want?
Is simply going to each libraries web site and searching enough? Or, could we do something with the Loma Linda and Andrews catalog and then assume this covers a certain high percent of the total? One suggested we use Pro-Cite or End Note for the list and avoid using Innovative Interfaces, Inc. which charges for each record. We probably do not need to concern ourselves with variant editions.
After some discussion, the Adventist Resources Section Working Committee was asked to study this project in greater detail and to provide more time at next years meeting to discuss this project.
There was a brief report on the Spanish language CD Rom of the writings of Ellen White.
A tour of the Ellen G. White Estate Center at Montemorelos was available following the close of the meeting.
