DRAFT 02/23/00
**This material was prepared in February 2000 as a preliminary test of the state-wide county survey of cultural repositories. Work is nearly complete on the state-wide survey. See NC ECHO the state-wide digitization initiative. Data collected in this preliminary survey is not valid for a county-wide analysis of cultural repositories.
A. REPOSITORIES SURVEYED
| BUNCOMBE A1-Organization Name | County |
| AB Technical Community College | Buncombe |
| Air Force Weather Technical Library | Buncombe |
| Asheville Art Museum | Buncombe |
| Asheville Citizen-Times Library | Buncombe |
| Asheville-Buncombe Library System | Buncombe |
| Biltmore Estate | Buncombe |
| Biltmore Village Historic Museum | Buncombe |
| Blue Ridge Parkway | Buncombe |
| Christ School | Buncombe |
| Dry Ridge Historical Museum | Buncombe |
| ENG/Six Associates | Buncombe |
| Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County | Buncombe |
| Montreat College, L. Nelson Bell Library | Buncombe |
| Montreat College-Presbyterian Historical Society | Buncombe |
| N C Homespun Museum | Buncombe |
| NCDCR Archives and History Western Office | Buncombe |
| Olde Buncombe Co. Genealogical Society, Inc. | Buncombe |
| Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County | Buncombe |
| Smith-McDowell Museum | Buncombe |
| Southern Highland Craft Guild | Buncombe |
| Swannanoa Valley Historical Preservation Association | Buncombe |
| Thomas Wolfe House Memorial | Buncombe |
| UNC Asheville -D.H. Ramsey Library | Buncombe |
| UNC-Asheville Owen Gallery | Buncombe |
| US Forest Service - Southern Research Station | Buncombe |
| Warren Wilson College | Buncombe |
| Western North Carolina Nature Center | Buncombe |
| Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace | Buncombe |
| ROWAN A1-Organization Name | County |
| China Grove Historical Museum | Rowan |
| Corriher-Linn-Black Library | Rowan |
| First Methodist Church | Rowan |
| Hall House | Rowan |
| Historic Gold Hill & Mines Foundation, Inc. | Rowan |
| Horizons Unlimited | Rowan |
| Kannapolis History Associate | Rowan |
| Livingstone College | Rowan |
| North Carolina Transportation Museum | Rowan |
| Old Stone House | Rowan |
| Rockwell Community Association | Rowan |
| Rowan Museum | Rowan |
| Rowan Public Library | Rowan |
| Thyatira Presbyterian Church | Rowan |
| Utzman-Chambers | Rowan |
| Waterworks | Rowan |
Total institutions contacted: ____57___
Total institutions responding: ____44___ Buncombe _28__ Rowan __16___
B. INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION
How many institutions in the following categories?
a. Historical society |
b. Schools, colleges or universities |
c. Public library |
d. Museums |
e. For profit/ corporate |
f. Other |
TOTAL COUNT |
6 |
10 |
2 |
15 |
4 |
7 |
44 |
Other types of institutions listed:
1. Federal government (Climatic Data Center,Blue Ridge Parkway)
2. State government (NCDCR Western Office, Historic Resources Commission)
3. Nature center, zoo
4. Southern Highland Craft Guild
5. Preservation Society
6. Olde Buncombe Genealogical Society
7. Presbyterian Archives
C. COLLECTIONS
Number with acquisitions policies ____15_____
Number without acquisitions policies ____29_____
Types of materials collected currently held and actively collected.
| Held | Actively collected | |
| Paper records | 24 | 8 |
| Photographs | 26 | 5 |
| Architectural drawings, blueprints | 12 | 8 |
| Maps, plats | 10 | 9 |
| Sound recordings | 12 | 7 |
| Video Tapes | 13 | 8 |
| Motion picture film | 2 | 8 |
| Microfilm/microfiche | 8 | 2 |
| Computer media (tapes, diskettes, CD-ROMs) | 5 | 5 |
| Optical disks | 1 | 1 |
| Art objects (Paintings, works on paper, sculpture, decorative arts, ceramics, etc.) | 8 | 11 |
| Artifacts (archaeological, historical, utilitarian objects, natural history objects) | 11 | 11 |
| Other (specify) |
What is the earliest date encompassed by the survey? ___10,000 BC________
What time periods are represented by the holdings of repositories
surveyed?RANGE: (most materials fall within)
18th c. - 6 institutions
19th c. - 21 institutions
20th c. - 11 institutions
How many institutions have artifact OR object collections? ____33_____
In what areas do the repositories collect materials?
| Records Subject Areas | Curr. strength | Actively collect. |
| African Americans | 5 | 10 |
| Agriculture | 7 | 8 |
| Arts and Architecture | 18 | 12 |
| Business/industry/manufacturing | 7 | 8 |
| Civil War | 7 | 6 |
| Education | 11 | 11 |
| Environmental affairs/natural resources | 8 | 8 |
| Genealogy | 12 | 7 |
| Labor | 5 | 6 |
| Local History | 32 | 21 |
| Medicine and Health Care | 8 | 9 |
| Military | 6 | 5 |
| Native Americans | 5 | 7 |
| Politics, Government, Law | 4 | 4 |
| Religion | 11 | 6 |
| Revolutionary War | 2 | 3 |
| Science and Technology | 2 | 2 |
| Social service/charitable organizations | 4 | 5 |
| Transportation and communication | 5 | 5 |
| Women | 10 | 10 |
| Other (specify) | 9 | 6 |
Other collection areas specified:
1. Thomas Wolfe
2. live specimens
3. meteorological data
4. crafts of the Appalachian region
What object and artifact areas represent current strengths ? See below
What object and artifact areas are currently being collected? See below
| Object/Artifact Areas | Current strength | Actively collecting |
| Painting | 3 | 2 |
| Works on Paper (drawings, prints, w/c) | 6 | 7 |
| Sculpture | 5 | 2 |
| Decorative arts (furniture,
carpets, tapestries, lamps/lighting, clocks, etc.) |
15 | 9 |
| Minor arts (jewelry, toys, games, textiles, bedding, house-wares, ecclesiastical, military, musical instruments, coins, etc) | 14 | 6 |
| Tools, utilitarian implements | 17 | 10 |
| Technology, machines, Transportation | 5 | 2 |
| Archaeological artifacts | 5 | 5 |
| Gems and minerals | 3 | 2 |
| Biological specimens | 3 | 3 |
| Interpretative tools | 6 | 5 |
| Other (specify) |
PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONS:
| Photographic areas | Current strength | Actively collecting |
| Portrait | 20 | 17 |
| Landscape | 9 | 8 |
| Architecture | 20 | 15 |
| Civil War | 1 | |
| Military | 3 | 4 |
| Other (Specify) | 14 | 9 |
Other collection areas specified:
1. Construction (Blue Ridge Parkway)
2. Family reunions
3. Live specimens
4. Local history
5. Workers
6. Misc.
7. Crafts
Greatest number of photographs collected is in what area (s)?
Portraits
Architecture
General condition of ALL photographs surveyed is
GOOD (20)
FAIR (14)
POOR (1 )
How many have separate photographic materials storage? 9
How many store photographs with archival materials? 18
How many have photographs stored both separate and included? 8
What is the total number of photographic materials in ALL collections surveyed?
1,201,064 ITEMS (1,100,264 - without Climatic Data Center materials)
Into what period do most of the photographs fall? Probably 1900 – 1950’s ?
[NEED TO RE-CALCULATE THIS -difficult to determine from the survey instrument]
| Date | Total number for All Collections |
| Before 1870 | *Approx. 2% (8 institutions) |
| 1870 – 1910 | *Approx. 13% (24 institutions) |
| 1910 – 1950 | *Approx. 43% (34 institutions) |
| After 1950 | *Approx. 42% (23 institutions) |
[Percentages are very approximate as totals did not tally. Needs to be re-calculated, if possible? Revision of survey instrument? ]
Strongest areas for all collections surveyed? Local History
Strongest area for Rowan County? Local History
Strongest area for Buncombe County? Local History
[This information is not surprising but underscores the local nature of collections.]
D. SIZE OF COLLECTIONS
What is the size of the following surveyed repository holdings?
| BUNCOMBE A1-Organization Name | Total lin.ft | Total items | Other materials | Photographs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB Technical Community College | 15 | 110 items | ||
| Asheville Art Museum | ||||
| Asheville Citizen-Times Library | 139 | 94 lin.ft | ||
| Asheville-Buncombe Library System | 75 | 13 reels | 10,500 items | |
| Biltmore Estate | 300 | 10,000 items | ||
| Biltmore Village Historic Museum | 12 | |||
| Blue Ridge Parkway | 365 | 25 reels | 10,500 items | |
| Christ School | 12 | 1000 items | ||
| Climatic Data Center | 200,000 reels micro | |||
| Dry Ridge Historical Museum | 20 | 100 items | ||
| ENG/Six Associates | 15,000 | |||
| Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County | 40 | .05 lin.ft | ||
| Montreat College, L. Nelson Bell Library | 5 | 3 lin.ft | ||
| Montreat College-Presbyterian Historical Society | 10,000 | 80,000 items | ||
| N C Homespun Museum | 40 | 3 lin.ft | ||
| NCDCR Archives and History Western Office | 150 | 5 lin.ft | ||
| Olde Buncombe Co. Genealogical Society, Inc. | ||||
| Smith-McDowell Museum | 60 | 2 lin.ft | ||
| Southern Highland Craft Guild | 100 | 11000 items | ||
| Swannanoa Valley Historical Preservation Association | 4 | 1000 items | ||
| Thomas Wolfe House Memorial | 1 | .5 lin.ft | ||
| UNC Asheville -D.H. Ramsey Library | 423 | 160 lin.ft | ||
| UNC-Asheville Owen Gallery | 2 | 5,000 items | ||
| US Forest Service - Southern Research Station | ||||
| Warren Wilson College | 243 | 33,454 items | ||
| Western North Carolina Nature Center | 6 | 4000 micro | ||
| Y M I Cultural Center | ||||
| Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace | ||||
| ROWAN A1-Organization Name | ||||
| China Grove Historical Museum | 35 | |||
| Corriher-Linn-Black Library | 525 | 1000 items | ||
| First Methodist Church | 20 | |||
| Hall House | 24 items | |||
| Historic Gold Hill & Mines Foundation, Inc. | 10 | 150 items | ||
| Horizons Unlimited | ||||
| Kannapolis History Associate | 75 items | |||
| Livingstone College | 2000 | 1500 items | ||
| North Carolina Transportation Museum | 12 | 150 items | ||
| Old Stone House | 20 items | |||
| Rockwell Community Association | 100 items | |||
| Rowan Museum | 20 | 500 items | ||
| Rowan Public Library | 3500 micro | 10 lin.ft | ||
| Thyatira Presbyterian Church | 50 items | |||
| Utzman-Chambers | 20 | 100 items | ||
| Waterworks |
Total linear feet for ALL collections surveyed _____29,683________
[Data entry in this area of the survey needs work. The mixture of linear feet and items is a confusing one to sum. Also, the data is often incomplete in the surveys. Institutions had difficulty in determining which measure to use. Artifacts and art objects were rarely itemized in an organized manner and the survey instrument fails to accommodate objects well.]
E. ACCESS TO COLLECTIONS
What type of access is commonly used?
| a. Card Catalog | 11 |
| b. Collections inventory/catalog | 16 |
| c. Typewritten registers/inventories | 18 |
| d. Printed guide to whole collection (i.e. inventory, exhibition catalog, etc.) | 6 |
| e. Computer catalog accessible in-house | 16 |
| f. On-line public access catalog (OPAC) | 2 |
| g. World Wide Web site [omit URL] | 6 |
| h. Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) | 1 |
| i. OCLC | 4 ? |
| j. Other regional/national automated catalog (specify): | 1 RLIN, ANCS, DRA |
| k. Other (specify) |
[A drop-down menu on the survey instrument would be useful for types of
regional and automated catalogs.]What are the impediments to access?
| a. Can’t physically locate them | 8 |
| b. Lack of indexes or other finding aids | 21 |
| c. Necessary equipment not available (microfilm readers, tape players) | 5 |
| d. Records are deteriorated beyond use | 5 |
| e. Processing backlog | 17 |
| f. Other (specify) | 5 |
Other impediments:
1. not in digital form
2. impact on present business
3. un-reconciled inventory
4. lack of committed volunteers
5. lack of employees
F. USERS
Average number of research requests per year
[Some repositories misunderstood "average" for each year in each category. Can
this be re-worded?]
| Category | Number | Type of request |
|---|---|---|
| a. Mail |
Approx. 5,284 (Avg.250 per respondent) | Letters |
b . Electronic mail |
Approx. 17,292 (Avg. 1441 per respondent) | requests |
| c. In person | Approx. 47,524(Avg. 1900 per respondent) | daily visits |
| d. By telephone | Approx. 18,638 (Avg. 777 per respondent) | calls |
| e. No research requests | 6 [?] |
For what purposes are your collections used and for what percent of total use?
| Purpose of use | % of use | Responds |
|---|---|---|
| Genealogy | 26% | 16 |
| Local history | 40% | 25 |
| Scholarly research/publications | 10% | 19 |
| Undergraduate class work | 10% | 18 |
| Elementary/High School projects | 11% | 15 |
| Property/legal research | 28% | 8 |
| Publicity campaigns, public relations (for parent institution, local community) | 10% | 15 |
| Administrative/institutional support | 30% | 11 |
| Education/Interpretation | 25% | 24 |
| Aesthetic appreciation | 26% | 11 |
| Other (specify): | 2 |
[Percentage for each area represents the average percentage of all respondents for
that purpose of use.]Highest number of users? Local history and education and interpretation.
[I am a little puzzled by the Administrative/Institutional support figures?]
G. FACILITIES & EQUIPMENT
Historical records are stored in the following locations:
Where Total number who store
| Office area(s) | 20 |
| Stack area(s) | 15 |
| Storage room(s) | 26 |
| Attic/closet/basement | 12 |
| Warehouse | 5 |
| Gallery(s) | 20 |
| Other (specify) | 4 |
Other storage locations:
1. digital archives (Climatic data center)
2. archives (Southern Highlands Craft Guild)
3. gallery (Asheville Art Museum)
4. animals in Nature Center
What portion of the total storage area(s) are equipped with the following? (circle
closest estimate for each)
| Year round temperature controls | All - 25 | 75% - 2 | 50% - 5 | 25% - 3 | None – 5 |
| Year round humidity controls | All - 10 | 75% - 1 | 50% - 0 | 25% - 0 | None - 23 |
| Fire detection (smoke/heat alarms) | All - 29 | 75% - 3 | 50% - 4 | 25% - 2 | None – 4 |
| Fire suppression (sprinklers, Halon) | All - 15 | 75% - 1 | 50% - 3 | 25% - 0 | None – 30 |
| Security systems (motion detectors, locks, surveillance cameras, alarms) | All - 21 | 75% - 0 | 50% - 3 | 25% - 1 | None – 8 |
| Air filters are used | All - 12 | 75% - 2 | 50% - 5 | 25% - 1 | None - 26 |
| Objects are protected from excessive light | All - 20 | 75% - 5 | 50% - 1 | 25% - 2 | None - 8 |
[Generally, most collections did not have fire suppression systems and air filters and year-round humidity controls.]
H. PRESERVATION & CONSERVATION
How many institutions have a disaster recovery plan? 6
How many institutions have a trained conservator? 4
How many institutions have lost materials from one of the following in last 3 yrs.:
| Type of loss | Total number |
| Water (floods, leaks) | 3 |
| Fire | 1 |
| Theft | 9 |
| Miss-files | 4 |
| Other (specify): | 3 |
Other losses came from:
1. mildew and bad preservation
2. ?records just disappeared
3. some records got lost during storage, during moveI. STAFF & VOLUNTEERS
How many institutions have one or more persons in the following categories:
| Type | Total number in all | Total institutions having | Avg |
| Paid professionals | FTEs 229.55 | 24 | Avg. 9.564 |
| Paid nonprofessionals | FTEs 175.50 | 15 | Avg. 11.7 |
| Interns | FTEs 7.85 | 7 | Avg. 1.21 |
| Volunteers | FTEs 20.00 | 18 | Avg. 1.111 |
| Students | FTEs 3.75 | 5 | Avg. .75 |
| Other (specify) | FTEs |
These figures are dramatically impacted by the staff of the Climatic Data Center which has a professional staff of c.140 and a non-professional staff of c.160. If those staff are taken out of the data, the figures are more in line with the national trends. National trends show the majority of staff of all sites surveyed to be volunteers. For example, if the Climatic Data Center staff were removed from the total, the paid professionals of all Buncombe and Rowan sites would average approximately 2.874 per institution.
Where is training needed and at what levels?
| Basic | Intermed. | Advanced | Total | |
| Archival methods | 14 | 4 | 2 | 20 |
| Curatorial methods | 16 | 3 | 19 | |
| Uses of computers in archives | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Appraisal, collection development | 9 | 4 | 2 | 15 |
| Preservation/conservation methods | 7 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Disaster preparedness | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Scanning technology | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Database management | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Other (specify): |
J. FINANCIAL SUPPORT
How many institutions are in the following categories?
| Less than $1,000 | 11 |
| $1,000 - $10,000 | 7 |
| $10,000 - $50,000 | 3 |
| $50,000 - $100,000 | 7 |
| $100,000 – | 10 |
| Don’t know | 3 |
[Institutions often included the entire operating budget for the institution rather than the budget for the unit or collection or archive, etc.] Funding, however, falls at the high end of the scale and the low end of the scale. The middle is very thin.]
K. NEEDS & PRIORITIES
How many institutions have needs and in what areas?
What priority do they give those needs?
3 = major priority; 2 = moderate; 1 = minor; 0 = not a priority)
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increase funding | 23 | 9 | 5 | |
| Increase capacity of storage space | 20 | 8 | 2 | |
| Improve storage conditions (temperature, humidity controls, security) | 14 | 12 | 3 | |
| Improve staff training or expertise | 14 | 13 | 10 | |
| Encourage greater use of collections | 12 | 10 | 8 | |
| Improve finding aids/registration records | 18 | 11 | 11 | |
| Automate description systems | 10 | 6 | 9 | |
| Reformat collections (microfilming, imaging) | 3 | 5 | 4 | |
| Develop policies/procedures for new media | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| Develop acquisitions policy/selection criteria | 7 | 0 | 9 | |
| Increase solicitation of collections | 6 | 7 | 10 | |
| Preservation/conservation of collections | 3 | 10 | 3 | |
| Develop disaster plan | 4 | 6 | 7 | |
| Process backlog of acquired collections | 10 | 4 | 4 | |
| Increase visibility of or public support for historical records program | 4 | 3 | 10 | |
| Other (specify): | 3 |
Highest priority of institutions surveyed was to increase funding.
Second highest priority was to increase capacity of storage space.
Third highest priority is to improve finding aids/registration records. However 11
institutions indicated that this was the lowest priority.The lowest priority of all institutions surveyed was to develop policies and
procedures for new media.A surprising 10 institutions indicated that increasing visibility of or public support
for historical records programs was the lowest of priorities.
L. DIGITIZATION
How many collections have (any) digitized collections ? 9 institutions have a
portion of their collections digitized.How many institutions have any availability through the Internet (URL) ? 8 ?
How many repositories have a Web site? 4
How many store files in the following manner?
| CD-ROM | 4 |
| Hard-drive | 2 |
| Jaz or Zip drive | 3 |
| Other | 4 |
How many repositories follow a standard description model? 7
Note: YMICC survey form was just returned and data is not entered in totals.
Also, not all survey tables are represented in this summary report.