Herrera Metadata Project - Michelle Godfrey, March 19, 2014

Today I worked on MSS160-b4-f01 and was finally able to complete the remaining items in this jumbo folder. I also got to review previously completed items and go back to correct a few of my typos. Fortunately, there were no problems wrapping up of this project.

All good things come to an end and I have had a wonderful time volunteering here. I learned so much and will truly miss having this experience. It makes me happy and thankful to have been a small part in such a great place.

Best regards,
Michelle

Herrera Metadata, Michelle Godfrey - Feb. 18, 2014

Today, I was able to work more on MSS160-b4-f01.  As I get closer to the end of the folder, I noticed that some of the titles of the items could be revised for the sake of consistency. I also noticed that I need to revise some of the authors of the documents. Those should be relatively quick and easy updates and after the last few new items are done, the whole folder will be completed...finally.

Herrera Metadata, Michelle Godfrey - Jan 31, 2014

Still working through the MSS160-b4-f01. The only questionable item I encountered was a handwritten document with no date. I was not sure what title to give it and basically just did the transcription in the description field. All else went well and the end of this huge folder really is in sight.

Herrera Metadata, Michelle Godfrey - Jan. 23, 2013

Today I was able to resume work for MSS160-b4-f01. There were no problems with any of the items I was able to complete. This large folder still has several more documents to process, but the end is in sight.

Herrera Metadata Project - Michelle Godfrey, Dec. 18, 2013

Today, I continued working on MSS160-b4-f01. Fortunately, there were no problems encountered.  It's still a little hard to tell how much of this large folder is left to do but it looks like at least the half-way mark has been passed. Many of the documents are just duplicates so that makes some of the process go by faster.

Herrera Metadata, Michelle Godfrey - Dec. 11, 2013

Still making progress on MSS160-b4-f01. There was a problem with the computer shutting down to that awful blue screen for no reason and that slowed things down a little. I was able to resume and complete more items and now this folder is probably close to being half way finished.

Here's a look at the official letterhead from the City of Houston in 1948.
 

Herrera Metadata Project, Michelle Godfrey - Dec. 4, 2013

Still working in MSS160-b4-f01.

For the most part, everything seems to be working well except for a small inconvenience when accessing the document scans. After clicking on the image thumbnail, the new window would open as it should but nothing would appear on the screen even after waiting several minutes for it to load. Fortunately, clicking on the Refresh/Reload button once or twice worked to bring up the document scan.

Herrera Metadata Project, Michelle Godfrey - Nov. 20, 2013

MSS160-b4-f01

Today, I was able to access the project to continue working on folder 01 and made some corrections to a few items from last week. The only problem I found was that this week the system seemed to be slower than usual updating the records after hitting the 'Publish' button.

Herrera Metadata - Michelle Godfrey, Nov. 6, 2013

Today I was able to finish MSS160-b4-f03.  

It was nice to be able to resume work with those last few items that had the broken links. I am not sure if other folders in this collection have the same inconsistencies with letters and envelopes. Folder 3 had at least one record that contained both a letter and the corresponding envelope. There was also an undated letter scanned alone without an envelope and then there was another record with just an envelope scanned by itself.

I was also able to continued work in folder 01 and found no problems so far.

Herrera Metadata Project - Michelle Godfrey, Nov 1, 2013

This week I was able to continue work on MSS160-b4-f03 and finish the few even-numbered items that still remained in that folder. I was also able to begin working on f01. Everything went smoothly and I should be able to continue next week as usual.

Herrera Metadata, Michelle Godfrey-Oct. 16, 2013

Made more progress on MSS160-b4-f03 today. The only unexpected thing I came across was an envelope that got scanned with a letter it did not belong with. This folder also contains quite a few handwritten letters which are somewhat challenging to read through and describe.

Here are a couple of things I saw that caught my attention. There was an actual signature from Senator Lyndon B. Johnson on a letter sent to John J. Herrera.

signature of Senator Lyndon B. Johnson in 1954

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month and it was a timely occasion to see this postal stamp from 1954.

Hire the Handicapped - It's Good Business

Herrera Metadata, Michelle Godfrey - Oct. 9, 2013

Today, I continued working on MSS160-b4-f03. The folder is now about half complete.

A recurring issue is with having the original and duplicate copy of a document and creating a unique title for them. Many of the remaining items in the folder are handwritten, so fortunately there won't be duplicates to deal with. I also came across a few items that did not have a creation date.

Herrera Metadata - Michelle Godfrey, Oct. 3, 2013

Today I worked in the new folder, MSS160-b4-f03. It got a little confusing right from the start because the first item I opened was a telegram. What I didn't notice was that the telegram actually had two pages and once I read them together, things made more sense. Otherwise, there were no other problems with anything else in the folder.

Herrera Metadata Project, Michelle Godfrey - Sept. 26, 2013

Today I continued with MSS160-b4-f02. There were more duplicate copies of documents and I was unsure how to create a unique title for them because there is no indicator as to which one was created first. All the signatures on the pages look original because they are in blue ink. It would be nice to know if  they were signed at the same time or on different dates. All the items from this folder are now complete, but a few of the titles will most likely need to be revised.

Herrera Metadata Project, Michelle Godfrey - Sept. 19, 2013

Today I continued working with MSS160-b4-f02.

It turned out to be a day of duplicates because I have worked on some of these documents before. A couple of the legal forms appeared to be draft copies containing revisions and then some of the other documents may have been original copies without signatures. The only problem I found was when there did not seem to be any noticeable differences between two items and figuring out if they were simply copies of each other or if they actually had some slight variations. It also did not help matters that the dates were missing on the pages.

John J. Herrera Collection Metadata - Elaine Patton, 9/12/2013

Today I entered metadata for MSS160-b4-f05 & -f06 from the John J. Herrera Collection. Both folders were mostly letters and went smoothly.

I did hit a brief snag in f05 with a couple of pages torn from a calendar with regards to who counted as the creator and/or contributors to it. One page was completely blank on the calendar grid (i.e. no notes written on it), and I suspect it was only included because the image printed on it would have accompanied the next month, which did have some notes. The other folder had the somewhat thick "Abstract of Title to Part of Block 4 of "Westview Addition"..." which was a little perplexing to document. It took me back to some of the Old Vault Letters with the ongoing listings of Block X Lot Y, Block Z Lots ABC...

Herrera Metadata, Michelle Godfrey - Sept. 11, 2013

Today I worked on MSS160 and completed more items from box 4, folder 2. The only new problem was how to title a multi-page document that was split into four parts and contained more than one contributor on each section. I was also able to go back and edit some of the titles for the letters I created earlier and add the dates to them. There are about 15 more items left to do before this folder is completed.

Herrera Metadata Project, Michelle Godfrey - August 28, 2013

Today, I continued working with MSS160-b4-f02. The folder still has several items left to complete. There were no major problems, but I will need to revise the duplicate titles by adding their corresponding creation dates.

Herrera Metadata Project, Michelle Godfrey - August 21, 2013

Started working with the Herrera Metadata Project today. I began with MSS160-b4-f02. This folder contains 42 items and I completed just 8 of them. The process will go faster with more time and experience. I only found one item difficult to complete because it was written in Spanish.

Litterst Dixon Collection, Old Vault Letters - Elaine Patton, 4/29/2013

Today I entered metadata into ContentDM for photos from the Litterst Dixon Collection MSS1248. Several of the photos had two entries (one in each of the two databases/spreadsheets associated with the collection), but they generally supplemented each other. A couple initially seemed to have conflicts but were easily resolves: e.g., a building was said in one to be at Main and Franklin while the other said Main and Travis. Both street sets frame the same block, so it wasn't the conflict it initially seemed to be.

Neat photos! I can't get over how...small Houston appears to be/is in this one:

MSS1248-3652

For comparison, a modern picture with 2 of the recognizable buildings pointed out (the Gulf Building, now JP Morgan Chase Building, just right of center (orange arrow below), and the domed Courthouse, at left above (green arrow below):

What was the tallest (apparently) building on the skyline is dwarfed and scarcely stands out.

Also of note: a photo of people at Luna Park, an amusement park that opened in 1924 (nowadays part of its property is occupied by I-10 and I-45), and based on fashion alone, I would have never guessed the picture was taken in 1925.

MSS1248-2988 (cropped)

Today's Old Vault Letters: MSS0113-b01f12-08, -b01f15-01, and -b01f15-05. All were pretty clearly written and there weren't any particularly mysterious bits, save for a name here and there, though there are a few tears that obscure some words in the second two. The first letter is largely one big run-on listing of properties being transferred with very little in the way of punctuation, either between individual lots (e.g. ...one two three four six eleven...) or to connect numbers like 'fifty-five.' Whew. Easy to read and write, but also easy to lose your place.