UMN Press Files Survey
To hire a qualified professional to assess the archival collections held by the University of Minnesota Press.
$4,500,000 the first year and $6,500,000 the second year are for history programs and projects operated or conducted by or through local, county, regional, or other historical or cultural organizations or for activities to preserve significant historic and cultural resources. Funds are to be distributed through a competitive grant process. The Minnesota Historical Society must administer these funds using established grant mechanisms, with assistance from the advisory committee created under Laws 2009, chapter 172, article 4, section 2, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), item (ii).
Available upon request. grants@mnhs.org
This project has created a survey of the University of Minnesota Press collection to document the two largest series of filing cabinets that were selected as best candidates for a potential move to the University Archives. To determine files that must stay on site with the Press for both practical and legal reasons, we were hoping to assign to each file an active or inactive status regarding files that contain active legal documents such as original contracts, which our team learned was more complicated than expected, as discussed above.
Preservation issues were addressed by removing all rubber bands, identifying and rearranging special material oversized formats into oversized folders, and noting yellowing papers and fading glue substances from the 1920s through 1970s. Fortunately for the materials surveyed, aside from yellowing and minor tears to page ends, there are no pressing preservation issues.
In total, project staff finished the survey of 36 filing cabinets, consisting of 145 drawers, containing 6,230 folders, totalling 290 cubic feet. This survey averages 1.5 hours per cubic foot.
Available upon request, grants@mnhs.org