MVZ Archives contributes to the OAC

Posted on December 17, 2012 by cfidler

The MVZ Archives has published its first two finding aids to the Online Archive of California (OAC). Researchers can now find the Inventory to the Paul Elias field notes and the Inventory to the James F. Lynch field notes on the OAC website.

Users will notice an emphasis on geographic names. Because this data is critical to researchers, we decided to take the time to include the hierarchical structure of the higher geography. This matches the structure used in the MVZ specimen database, Arctos. The thought is that down the road, we will be able to match up entries in the database with finding aids. This will help in that process.

For those that are interested, we are using Archivists’ Toolkit to catalog our material. Archivists’ Toolkit only has the MARC 651 field for geographic names . Unfortunately, you cannot add more MARC fields to Archivists’ Toolkit, otherwise, the MARC 662 field (Hierarchical Place Name) would have served us well. We also realized that the traditional controlled vocabularies would not be as helpful  to our researchers and to any future efforts to link the database. So I added Arctos as the Authority Source in Archivist Toolkit. Name authorities are critical for the integrity of our records and I feel comfortable using Arctos for that purpose.

Note: We are not exporting MARC records from Archivists’ Toolkit.

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Museum Archivist

Posted on December 17, 2012 by cfidler

I’d like to formally introduce myself before I post more updates on the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology’s (MVZ) Council for Library and Information Resources (CLIR) grant.  My name is Christina V. Fidler and I am the Museum Archivist working on this grant. I am very excited to be a part of this project. The museum has a rich history and I am eager for the collections to become accessible. Anyone who is interested in the study of early 20th century vertebrate fauna of California will especially find the collections fascinating. The MVZ researchers were/are pioneers in their fields and I look forward to making their materials available.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the grant or the MVZ Archives.

Christina V. Fidler

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Robert C. Stebbins papers

Posted on December 7, 2012 by cfidler

I spent a quiet Friday morning boxing up the Robert C. Stebbins collection and it is now barreling through my door; all ten cubic feet of it.

Ominous cart knocking at my door

Ominous cart knocking at my door

Stebbins’s 33 years at the MVZ were prolific ones. His collection includes unpublished manuscript material, research and data for his many publications, and correspondence.  The collection also includes collaborative species distribution map ranges, which he would send out to various institutions and colleagues.  They in turn would return the maps with their own annotations.

Stebbins routinely made his own personal collections of various topics that interested him. His collection on amphibian decline is especially impressive and includes correspondence on the topic. I’m not entirely sure how these small “libraries” will fit into the larger picture of the collection, yet. While mostly made up of published material, they are important aggregations of information, not only for Stebbins’s research but for the academic community.

Stebbins oil painting, 1993

Stebbins oil painting, 1993

In addition to his research and manuscript material, the Stebbins collection includes his scientific illustrations and oil paintings. Visitors of the MVZ can find his paintings scattered throughout the museum.

Robert C. Stebbins is best known for authoring the Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. You can read more about Robert Stebbins on the MVZ website.

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The Archives Project and a Trip to Hastings

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Michelle Koo

My name is Kira Dodd and I am the Archival Project Coordinator at the MVZ. In January 2012, we were awarded a three-year grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources to catalog and make more accessible the Museum’s hidden archives of fieldnotes, correspondence, annotated maps, images, and artwork. This exciting new project will eventually provide access to evidence of the historical, ecological, legal, and sociological context for the vertebrate specimens that comprise the Museum’s collections.

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The “Museum” and “Workshop” at Hastings.

As one of the first major steps toward our CLIR grant goals, I joined Principal Investigators Michelle Koo and Carla Cicero on a day trip in May to Hastings Natural History Reserve in Carmel Valley, Monterey County, California. Our mission was to evaluate the quality, quantity, and current state of preservation of the historic materials at the Hastings facilities, and to return to the MVZ with as many of those valuable materials as possible. Outgoing Hastings director Mark Stromberg kindly provided us with a preliminary inventory of the material prior to our trip, but it was not until we arrived that we were fully able to grasp the scope and condition of the collection. Continue reading →

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Cal Day History Displays, Part 1: Snowbound

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Michelle Koo

Decades before GPS units, cell phones and SUVs with 4-wheel drive, collectors valiantly journeyed into difficult terrain and remote, never-before-collected locations to bring valuable specimens back to the MVZ. With roads and settlements in these localities not yet constructed, such expeditions were lucky if they found a trail to follow. Combined with a lack of easy communication methods, such treacherous traveling conditions had the potential to create unforeseen complications for the collectors.

 The story described in “Snowbound”, presented as a display at Cal Day on April 21, 2012, is just one example of the challenges that collectors willingly faced and boldly overcame for the sake of the MVZ’s research and collections.

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Annie Alexander and Louise Kellogg: Snowbound

Annie M. Alexander, 1935

On December 22, 1936 in the town of Big Pine, California, MVZ founder Annie Alexander (1867-1950) and her companion Louise Kellogg (1879-1967) packed up their Franklin automobile with supplies and headed out for Saline Valley in Inyo County, California, an area previously unexplored by the MVZ. Unfortunately for the two women, what began as a week-long collecting trip soon transformed into a month-long exercise in survival.

With a sudden burst of inclement winter weather near the New Year, Annie and Louise’s only viable way out of the valley became blocked by a thick layer of impenetrable snow.

Louise Kellogg, date unknown

Their attempts to make their way through the snow proving fruitless, even with the assistance of miners from the nearby Bunker Hill mine in Lead Canyon, the women had no choice but to make camp and await rescue.

It would not be until January 26, 1937 that a rescue expedition, set in motion by worried MVZ director Joseph Grinnell and executed by museum preparator Ward Russell and his assistant Bill Richardson, would prove successful in clearing the road and extricating Annie and Louise from the valley.

Continue reading →

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