Standards for Volunteers

Standards for Volunteers in the Cataloging and Metadata Services Department of the Houston Public Library

1. Attend an orientation and sign a job description/contract with Cataloging and Metadata Services.
2. Volunteers may volunteer between the hours of 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Volunteers are asked to come no earlier than 10 a.m., as this is when the parking garage is opened to the public.
3. Set and maintain a work schedule, with specific start and end times for each day scheduled day of volunteer work.
4. Give at least 24 hours advance notice if you will not be able to work your scheduled day, except in the case of an emergency (job interview, car accident, illness, etc.), when more immediate notice will be understood.
5. Volunteers cannot be more than 30 minutes late or have unscheduled absences more than 3 times. You must call or email with a legitimate reason if you are going to be late or absent. Failure to meet this criteria is grounds for immediate dismissal.
6. Perform the duties set forth in the job description. Use provided metadata guidelines or procedures.
7. Document your progress every day you come in to volunteer using the Cataloging and Metadata Volunteers blog on blogger. This requires a gmail account that should be shared with the Volunteer Coordinator.
8. Arrange for your parking ticket to be validated. This requires a manager’s signature and a stop in the FIDS office. FIDS office hours are 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Get your parking ticket validated as soon as you arrive.
9. Clock your time in and time out through the online time sheet provided. Round to the nearest half-hour.
10. Bring and wear your badge during the entire time you are volunteering, especially while you are in staff only areas.
11. In the interest of maintaining a smoothly operating working environment, we ask that volunteers take no more than a 15 minute break per 4 hours of work.
12. Drinks in closed containers (bottles, mugs) are allowed in the workstation. When working with archival materials, drinks are not permitted in the volunteer workstation. We ask that you eat any food in the break room and not at the workstation.
13. May listen to your own music, using your own headphones and devices, as long as staff members can still get your attention when needed, and you would be able to hear any sirens or alarms that might go off.
14. Volunteers must work a minimum 20 hours in the first 30-45 days of service. Failure to meet this requirement will result in immediate dismissal.

Rules unique to the Digitization Lab in the Julia Ideson Building

1. No food or water is permitted in the Digitization Lab under any circumstances. We request that you eat any food or water in the break room and not at the workstation.

Time Sheet Reminder

Just a general reminder:

For the volunteer Activities field, select the "other" button and fill in briefly what work you completed. "Metadata" or "Scanning" or "Cataloging." You don't have to be very specific unless you want to. The blog is designed for fuller descriptions.

For the Location Name field on the time sheet, select Digitization (third from the bottom). This is the name for our area (instead of the department's real name, Cataloging and Metadata Services.) And don't forget to hit Submit! The Time Sheet is available here.

Thanks again for all your work! We really appreciate the help you've given us.

Cecilia

Mary Sommerfeld July 5, 2012

Working from Drawer 2 of the Sheet music catalog I added 120 entries to the database.
The range goes from 408 to 528.
There are three entries highlighted for further consideration.
These 3 are line numbers 412, 474 and 507.

Elaine Patton 07/05/2012

Today I worked on creating descriptions of news clips from digitized KHOU news reels, completing:

• box 6701, reels 8, 21, 22
• box 6902, reels 2, 12, 15

This batch was pretty straightforward except for a pair of clips in 6902-02 that corresponded with titles that had  no relation to the actual content, though I think that's only really been a problem once before. This batch contained several clips relating to Muhammad Ali's draft evasion (which stood out to me since I had watched the 2001 film Ali just a few days ago, conveniently enough) and various Apollo missions, ranging from memorial service for the Apollo 1 astronauts to preparations for the Apollo 10 mission.

I also encountered footage of the jogging race between Judge Hofheinz and Mayor Welch at the Astrodome (6902-12, "Jog-In"), which I had previously seen in photographs elsewhere online while verifying their identities in clips I worked on previously. The last several seconds of this clip include a bunch of young people running across the field laughing, which gave a neat little overview of late '60s fashion. I also spotted an amazing bouffant in another clip, as well...how hairstyles change! Heard some incredible Southern accents once again, too, the likes of which generally just don't exist these days.

Jennifer Nuzzo July 5, 2012

I worked on the CF Richardson spreadsheet. The last file name I checked was MSS1457-048.

Progress on Sheet music drawer 2 July 3, 2012

I was able to add 108 more entries to the database.
There are 3 entries that have been highlight to reflect questions about contents.
They are #336, #393 and #401.
The areas in question are in red type.
Recorded by M.S. Sommerfeld.

Cecilia Williams - Monday, May 2, 2012

Example of a quick blog post about volunteer activities for the day:

I entered in cards #132 to #367 into the spreadsheet for the Sheet Music Collection.

Example of a problem to mention:

I wasn't sure how to fill in the Photographer field for the photograph titled "Aerial View of Houston." Did you want the name entered as "Phillip Morris," or "Morris, Phillip"?

OR

Had trouble using the Time Sheet. What department do I report to?