Pictured is the digitization capabilities of the archives in 2009: a single HP scanner for photographs and documents. COURTESY OF ARCHIVES
A look at some future projects in the diocesan archives
BY EDWARD WILSON, ARCHIVES
Each year, after The Western Kentucky Catholic’s break, I like to give an overview of what projects the archives will be setting our sights on moving forward. So, let’s get to it.
Like every other year, this year has been filled with a variety of projects both big and small. The day-to-day tasks, of course, continue. Information requests, accessioning, articles, and more, have been continuing at a solid pace. The completion of the monthly video series for the Mount’s 150th anniversary will soon be wrapping up. More exciting than these simple tasks, however, are the larger ones we have in the works – many of them being the culmination of a lot of prior work and discussion.
This year, the archives, with the assistance of the diocesan tribunal, has finished and will be releasing an informational booklet to our parishes. This booklet contains details about archival practices as well as assistance with many frequently asked questions about sacramental policies.
Perhaps one of the largest archival ventures in a long time is also coming to completion. The demolition of the Mount Saint Joseph Academy building displaced thousands of items from the museum. They have been placed in the archives until a decision could be made on rehousing or accessioning. After much discussion, a decision has been reached. I will go into more detail about this in the future, but the finish line has been drawn and completion of the process is within our grasp.
Perhaps the most exciting project of all is a large-scale digitization project at the Mount. This has been in discussion for a while now and groundwork is currently being laid. We have purchased several pieces of specialized equipment for the project and there is seemingly no medium we won’t be able to digitize. We will be able to utilize the reel-to-reel digitization center that we established at the McRaith Catholic Center over the last few years for audio. With the addition of the new technology purchased at the Mount, we will even be able to digitize film negatives and slides. We are currently working with the Mount’s technology department to find the best software for our specific digitization and access needs. There is a lot of software available, but some have become dated or have too limited a scope for the varied informational mediums we are dealing with. It is very likely that in time this project will be replicated at the McRaith Center.
As strange as it may seem to many, one of the primary goals of the archives is to help inspire the faith of the diocese utilizing our history. We try to keep this in mind with every endeavor we pursue. Christ has built this diocese with the heroic acts and heroic faith of incredible Catholics, and he continues to do so. The archives looks forward to another year of utilizing the past to inspire the present. We do this to build an even more courageous Catholic future.
Edward Wilson is the director of the Diocese of Owensboro’s Archives and the Archives of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. Comments and questions may be sent to [email protected].
Originally printed in the August 2024 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
