Archives Blogs: Ode to an Addiction

I'll come right out and say it: I'm addicted to blogs. I write a blog of my own and I follow 78 blogs of varying topics and themes. You heard right: SEVENTY-EIGHT. I really should get some help. Now I know that, like me, you've been following the Archives Month blog avidly this past week, but there are many other archives blogs out there to add to your blogroll. The archives blogs I follow introduce me to new issues and debates within the archival community, or just give me a fun story for the day. While I follow quite a few archives blogs, I'm going to highlight just a few of my favorites today.

1.  ArchivesNext.

This is the NBC newsroom of the archival world, chock-full of breaking news and ongoing debates and discussions. It also features a lot of guest posts from archivists, archival students, and professors, which broadens the blog's horizons. Recent headlines include: "Dramatic Change to NARA's Mission in New Strategic Plan?", "Spontaneous Scholarship for 2013 SAA Annual Meeting: How to Give, How to Apply", and "Gauging Interest in Group for 'Mid Career' Archivists." I can't help but feel up-to-date when I read this blog.

2. ArchiveGrid Blog.

So..... I love ArchiveGrid. Easy to search, easy to explain to patrons, and just fun to explore. And this blog is a lot of fun too. It provides updates and news about ArchiveGrid (like a post last week about Archival Descriptive Standards) but most of the time, it focuses on the collections and contributors to ArchiveGrid. Last month, a post about lunchboxes. Last week, a post about civil rights. This week, the George Washington Presidential Library. You never know what story you'll find on ArchiveGrid.

3. NARAtions. (Clever name, or what?)

Although the NARA blog is currently down (thank you, Congress), it should be back up and running when this temper tantrum is over. Aside from the politics, NARAtions is worth checking out. Like ArchiveGrid, it contains news about their institution, but also includes stories about particular collections or manuscripts, often with pictures. As someone who assists patrons with a lot of genealogy research, I also appreciate the updates about new records available on their website or tips on researching specific record groups. Thanks NARA!

4. Found in the University Archives.

I have to give a plug to UW-Madison here, and it's a plug I don't mind giving. Found in the University Archives is a fun blog, full of pictures, videos, and lots of really unique stories, all related to our fantastic school. It's a little off the wall (Oompa Loompas, anyone?), but that's what makes it catchy and exciting to follow. You never know what is going to be posted next. The blog is also an excellent example of how to use social media to promote archives and get people excited about "the old stuff."

There are many more I could prattle on about, but then I might be here all day. However, here are some other blogs you shouldn't miss: Off the Record (SAA's blog), Derangement and Description (check out the post they did when Disney acquired LucasFilm last year), the Smithsonian Collections blog, and Conservators Converse (the blog for the American Institute for Conservation.) A lot of archives and special collections do their own blogs as well, so if you have a favorite archive or library (mine is the National Library of Ireland), see if they have a blog to follow! Now if you'll excuse me, I have some blogs to read.

Drought Relief and the Agriculture Extension and Education Records

This year marks the centennial of a paragon of the Wisconsin Idea, the UW’s Cooperative Extension, a partnership between Wisconsin counties, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Wisconsin, which provides education to people where they live. Cooperative Extension applies UW research to everyday contexts, helping people understand and solve the problems affecting them. This summer, when southern Wisconsin faced a severe drought, Cooperative Extension maintained a blog with posts on resources to help farmers cope with the extreme weather conditions. 

During the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, Wisconsin farmers faced a devastating drought as well and Cooperative Extension also lent farmers a hand then. The Drought Relief Records, 1930-1938, just one Hollinger box in the Agriculture and Extension Education’s massive 300+ box collection, documents drought relief efforts. The documents are mainly surveys and reports, most of them from county agent Robert Amundson. County agents are Extension employees who provide education to farmers throughout the state.

One large survey that extension workers undertook was a study of the severity of the drought and its effects on crops and feed supplies. Based on the results, extension staff designated areas severely impacted by the drought, making farmers from those areas eligible for emergency livestock feed loans

Wisconsin Feed Survey Maps, 1934

The collection also contains Amundson’s report on soil conservation education in Outagamie County. With assistance from the UW Soils Department, Amundson and agents throughout Wisconsin educated farmers in areas with poor soil quality about drought resistant crops and methods to enrich the soil. Amundson held demonstrations on the benefits of growing alfalfa and using lime and phosphate as fertilizers, activities he documented in a photograph-rich report. 

First page of Amundson’s report 

Photograph from Amundson’s report 

Section of a page from Amundson’s report

The principal of Cooperative Extension’s blog from last summer and the surveys and demonstrations from the 30s are largely the same: using UW research to help farmers get the most out of their farms in difficult times. 

[Post Created by Rachel Thompson]