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The Trials and Tribulations �of a Local Historical Society

Josh Liller�Historian & Collections Manager�(since January 2014)

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Growing Pains

  • 1972: nonprofit incorporated
  • 1973 & 1975: first museums opened
    • Oil House & DuBois Pioneer Home
  • 1988: first purpose-built museum opened
  • 1988: first curator hired
  • Staff Instability
  • “Florida History Center & Museum”
  • (Too) Many Hats

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My Predecessor: Lynn Drake

  • Community relationships
  • Genealogy
  • Past Perfect
  • No handoff due to health

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Offsite�Storage�Challenges

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Where I Come In

  • Alternative Skillset
  • Inventory & Organization
    • Collections Storage
    • Vertical Files
    • Photo Files
  • Cleanup & Standardization
  • Digitization
  • Outreach

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Lessons Learned

  • Tracking Time
  • Preliminary Inventories
  • Splitting Accessions
  • Folder-level cataloging
  • Outreach justifies cataloging & digitizing
  • The Present Will Become The Past
  • Planning

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