David and Sara direct you to items of interest

This week in Reference, we were required to develop a quick reference collection development document, fit for the sort of place we’d like to work in the future. Since I dearly miss Philadelphia, the following is what emerged. The unexpected result: my fake archive really needs a copy of Jefferson Moak’s Philadelphia Street Name Changes (2001). No kidding. Crazy for onomastics.

Introduction

South Philadelphia Memory is a hypothetical archive with three dominant functional areas. The first is a physical collection of transcribed oral histories, personal papers, photographs and realia. The second, adjunct to the first, is a digital repository (southphillymemory.org), presenting materials from the physical collection and digital objects contributed by members of the community (in a manner similar to OhioPix). The third area is a reference reading room, providing access to physical collections, and facilitating research in local history, biography and genealogy.

Imagined community

Believing that the uses to which a collection is put are not subject to intention – recalling the example of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, which began as a private humanities library, and became the premier architectural and interior design archive of the city – South Philadelphia Memory imagines an urban community of dedicated amateurs, contributing as well as seeking colloquial knowledge, local-historical anecdotes, and information on topics of personal interest. Scholars in urban history will find broader collections at the Atwater Kent Museum, Temple University’s Urban Archives, and the Archives of the University of Pennsylvania; those more interested in entertainment will enjoy the Mummers Museum. Our collections will prove pertinent to narrow-bore scholarship in domesticity, the immigrant and migrant experience, and related topics.

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