WWU Archives and Record Management Assists Yellowstone National Park Project

A collaborative project between the Archives and Records Management graduate program in the Western Washington University Department of History and the National Park Service will assist Yellowstone National Park with preparing archival and manuscript records for research use. This $165,000 project is funded as part of the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit of NPS. The project began on Aug. 25, 2011 and will extend through Nov. 30, 2015. The Yellowstone National Park Archives document the history and science of the world’s first national park, now a United Nations Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site. The manuscripts, photos, maps, films, oral histories, administrative records, and scientific data document the natural and cultural resources and the development of their management. With a long history of data collection in the park, the archives supports research in climate change, biodiversity, and ecosystem dynamics. “The records are rich in topics ranging from geophysics, geology and ecology to archeology, tourism and history. They document such significant events as the extensive Yellowstone fires of 1988, returning bears to natural feeding habits, and the eradication and eventual reintroduction of wolves,” said Western History Professor Rand Jimerson, principal investigator for Western on the project. Yellowstone National Park and Western will work collaboratively to arrange and describe archival and manuscript records from Yellowstone National Park. The program will include arranging archival collections, cataloging them into the NPS Collections Management System, and preparing finding aids to assist researchers in using historical Park documents. Once arranged and described, these important archival collections will be more available to researchers, including Yellowstone staff. Increased intellectual and physical control will also improve security and preservation of the materials. The finding aids resulting from this project will made publicly available on the Yellowstone National Park website. WWU graduate students in the Archives and Records Management program will work on the project either for internship credits or to gain additional experience in hands-on archival activities. They will participate in all aspects of collection management, including analyzing records for retention, applying records schedules, preparing materials for archival storage and preservation, developing processing plans, arranging collections, describing and cataloging collections, and performing reference services related to the materials. Professor Jimerson, will select the research assistants (students and/or recent graduates) and provide general supervision for the WWU students. Yellowstone archivist Anne Foster will manage the project and provide on-site supervision. Jimerson will visit the Archives during the initial phase of the project and at least annually for the term of the agreement in order to determine the needs of the Archives and to evaluate the progress of the agreement. WWU’s Archives and Records Management Program, established in 1972, is the only comprehensive graduate training program for archivists in the Northwest. The course of study exceeds the standards of the Society of American Archivists’ “Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archival Studies.” Requirements include both a 500-hour internship and a master’s thesis, providing practical experience in an archives as well as an opportunity for original research and writing. The program has previously successfully collaborated with Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades National Parks.