24. Wesford Historical Society--continued
Record Keeper: Marilyn Day
Usefulnes and Importance: A diverse and important collection of Westford records; the second largest after the Towns records. |
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Dates: 1700s--present Est. Cu. Ft: 90, plus 1 large map case in the Westford Museum
Condition: The Cottage building is not fireproof or climate controlled. While some collections are in fireproof file cabinets, many materials are in cardboard boxes and a fire would be disastrous. An item-by-item accession inventory is being created, and was approximately half finished in May (about 4100 items have been entered onto the Excel database) This will be a great help when this collection is processed-and processing portions of it should be a priority. |
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Recommendations: This is an important collection of archival materials. Although the building is owned by the Town, I do not believe Town records can be kept here unless the Town passes an article authorizing this. It is important to check with the Records Management Unit of the State Archives about the legality of this. It also seems that the Historical Society and the J.V. Fletcher Library should further refine their collection policies so they are not collecting the same materials. Both seem particularly rich in mid-19th through early 20th century documents. Since both collections have materials that need conservation work, special care should be taken that this work is not duplicated. Also, each organization should carefully consider what subjects each will collect in the future. Perhaps the Historical Society would like to
concentrate on 20t" century business, or the arts in Westford, while the Library chooses to specialize in 19th century photographs. Decisions also need to be made about processing and arranging the collection. However, priority should be give to placing the materials into the available file cabinets to give some measure of protection against fire and/or leaks. Perhaps Simons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science could be contacted to see if a student in the Archives Program could begin processing a collection as part of his or her coursework. Please see the "Discussion" section concerning the need for an archive. |
