Volume 2, No. 3

South Florida Collections Management Center

Re:Collections

Summer 2012

What’s New . . .

Collection Tours

Recent groups to receive tours of the SFCMC collections include the board members for the Everglades Association and staff from BICY, who came over for a field trip to learn more about the collections and the SFCMC. The next staff tour day will be August 24, 2012, in celebration of Founder’s Day. Tours are limited to 10 people each and will be offered at 10am, 1pm and 3pm only. Please email to register for a tour.

SFCMC Staff Spotlight

Meet Meg!

Meg Eastwood is the SFCMC’s summer 2012 archives intern. Meg was hired through the National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE) internship program and is funded through the NPS Backlog Cataloging Program. Her project is to process, arrange, and catalog hundreds and hundreds of DESO photographs.

Meg grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona and has a BA in Biology from Grinnell College. She is currently pursuing an MS in Information Science from the University of Texas at Austin. When not processing archival materials, Meg like to read, bake, and spend time outdoors hiking and camping.

NPS Web Catalog Update

The NPS has re-vamped the Web Catalog! Check out the new interface and find out what is in your collection at http://museum.nps.gov/ParkIndex.aspx

DESO Archives

SFCMC archivists are wrapping up backlog cataloging for the De Soto National Memorial Resource Management Records, focusing on photographic materials, multimedia and electronic files. We expect to eliminate the backlog for DESO this fiscal year! The archives document everything from beach erosion-control efforts to the controversy surrounding the former De Soto Celebration landing re-enactments. A staff favorite is the photographic subject card file kept by the park from 1947-1976. Highlighted here is a card from the “public amusements” category showing the 1957 “De Soto Queens” on the grandstand at the Hernando de Soto Historical Society’s annual De Soto Celebration (held at the park from 1939-1993).

Conservation Corner

Conservator James Swope visited the SFCMC and BICY during the week of June 18th to conduct an artwork collection condition survey (CCS). Swope worked closely with Registrar Jennifer Stafford and Museum Technician Siobhan Millar to evaluate individual paintings, framed photographs, and works of art on paper, including preparing condition reports and treatment recommendations for individual works. The CCS documentation will be used to pursue funding

Specimen Spotlight

Cuscuta pentagona, also known by its common name, fiveangled dodder, is a parasitic leafless climbing vine. It’s a member of the Cuscutaceae family, although it is sometimes placed in the morning glory (Convolvulaceae) family as well. It is completely dependent on the host for nutrition. It never kills the plant but it affects the overall fitness. The plant can be identified by its orange stems and small inconspicuous white flowers. C. pentagona has a wide distribution and a variety of hosts. In the Everglades it usually grows in disturbed areas and prefers herbaceous to woody species. This native vine represents the only member of the Cuscutaceae family and the only pentagona species in the EVER herbarium collection. Economically the Cuscuta genus has been important in traditional medicine in the treatment of jaundice and fertility issues.

Archives in Action

The SFCMC would like to say a big THANK YOU to the EVER Fire and Maintenance Divisions for helping us implement the move of the freezer room to a new area at the Robertson Building. Your help and the extra space are very much appreciated!

In May, all of the freezers used for cold storage of films and for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) were moved. The old freezer room has been converted back into an office and is providing additional archives processing space for our team. The additional space in the freezer room also enabled us to add two new desperately needed freezers, providing long-term preservation for the collection.

Before and After Treatment

The SFCMC coordinated treatment of four ceramic figurines by the Maryland Archeological Conservation Lab. The artifacts were recovered last year by BISC Cultural Resource Manager Chuck Lawson at one of the park’s shipwreck sites, as part of his ongoing research project.