Zoo Archives: Field notes from the
Wildlife Conservation Society


Steven Johnson
Former Manager, Bronx Zoo Library
Wildlife Conservation Society
Bronx, NY 10460

Current email: stevejzoo @ gmail.com

[Paper presented at AZA Regional Workshop, Milwaukee, 3 May 2003, as revised for publication in AZA Regional Conference Proceedings 2003 (AZA, 2003).]

In 1979, when I became archivist at the Bronx Zoo, I was delighted to find an entry for the National Zoo in the second edition of the Guide to the Archives of the Smithsonian Institution, published in 1978. That brief entry showed that I was not first archivist in the United States to work with zoo records. At that time, my fellow archivists, in corporations, government, and corporate libraries, reacted with nervous laughter or disbelief when I told them about working in the basement of the Bronx Zoo's Monkey House, where the archives had been stored prior to my arrival.

Since then, interest in zoo archives and history has grown enormously. Recent dissertations and books on zoo history follow a decade during which increasing numbers of graduate students and professors visited the Bronx Zoo to do research in the archives. AZA offered a history session at its 1992 meeting in Toronto and later deposited its archival records at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. More recently, the Zoo Registrars Association added archives to its agenda.

During this same period, a variety of collections of zoo related archives found their way to public and private libraries and archives, which make their catalogs available on the internet. As a result, it is no longer difficult or unusual to find information about zoo related archives and manuscript collections.

Recently, I was browsing the web site of the Forest History Society and happened across a description of the Marlin Perkins Papers, 123 feet in extent, at the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection, University of Missouri-St. Louis Library. Though these papers reflect Perkins career, including his television work, they also cut across his career at the Buffalo Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo, and St. Louis Zoos and represent one of the resources scholars should consult when they study twentieth century zoo culture. The unexpected Marlin Perkins Papers entry at the Forest History Society web site is a good example of how the archives of zoo history can be found in locations far from the monkey house basement.

Funding, Results, Use and Recommended Practices

At a time when many zoos, including my own, are cutting budgets and face the threat of layoffs and closing facilities, it is reasonable to ask, who can afford zoo archives? In this paper, I will pay special attention to the history of funding for archives activities at WCS. I will also describe:

For the definition and description of zoo archives, see my paper from the Toronto conference (Johnson, 1993) and my report for the Zoo Registars Association (Johnson, 2002). These papers are available at my personal web site, www.westnet.com/~sjohnson.

Who Funded the Archives?

1974 was a year of budget crisis in New York City. Among other cutbacks, the Bronx Zoo eliminated its full time solo librarian. Yet it was at that time that the New York State Council on the Arts funded a photo archives preservation project at the zoo, undertaken jointly with the New York Botanical Garden, the zoo’s neighbor in the Bronx.

Just a few years later, NYZS looked to the Bronx-based H.W. Wilson Foundation, for support of archives. The Wilson Foundation's donation paid for an archives consultant to do a preliminary inventory of the accumulated, mostly paper archives of the organization. That report was the basis for a proposal submitted to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) in 1978. NHPRC liked that proposal, but noted that they had also received a similar proposal from the New York Botanical Garden. NHPRC suggested a joint proposal to hire one full time archivist and several part time assistants, and purchase needed archival boxes and folders.

When NHPRC approved this proposal in 1979, both the Botanical Garden and the New York Zoological Society were still experiencing extremely tough financial times. Still, each institution was able to find donors of funds to match the NHPRC grant. These matching funds came from local institutions, not from donors with a particular interest in archives.

After the one-year grant, the two institutions continued to share the activities of an archivist until 1983. Then the Bronx Zoo combined the position of archivist with the position of librarian. There was no room in the operating budget for a full time archivist or a full time librarian, but the combined position could be justified and funded. The mix was about 80 per cent library activities not connected with the archives and 20 per cent archival activities. During times of special projects, described below, the proportion of time devoted to archives grew to 50 per cent or more.

Looking back at the early funding, one error we made was not to reapply to NHPRC for a second year's funding after we submitted on our report on the first

year of work. I later learned that NHPRC, and other agencies, often funded a second year for otherwise successful projects which still had more work to do.

Several years later, in 1988, the New York State Documentary Heritage Program funded our proposal for a preservation survey of archives and library facilities by the North East Document Conservation Center.

The Center, better known by its initials, NEDCC, is one of several regional conservation centers in the U.S. The conservation centers are good sources of information on sources of funding available to purchase their services. Funding agencies usually require a preservation survey of facilities before they will fund more substantial preservation activities in archives or libraries.

Later, in 1997 and 1999, the New York State Documentary Heritage Program funded proposals for preservation microfilming of the correspondence and scrapbooks of William Hornaday, first director of the Bronx Zoo. The project covered both Hornaday’s work as director of the Bronx Zoo and his private activities as a conservation activist. To date the project has preserved more than 75,000 page images of Hornaday’s correspondence, manuscripts and scrapbooks on more than 115 rolls of microfilm.

In 1997, a special internal fund for strategic planning at WCS provided $25,000 for purchase of compact mobile shelving to maximize use of the archives room in the administration building basement.

Management liked the space savings so much that in short order they purchased the same style of shelving for the library books and journal collection, the publication department, and the photographic archives and library.

This acquisition of shelving happened because, well in advance of any hint of funding, I had identified the need for compact shelving and obtained proposals from the vendors in this field. When the strategic planning process reached me, and I was I asked what would make a substantial difference in operations of the library and archives, I did not have to think twice before answering.

Vendors who serve the archives market are accustomed to a long lag time between initial proposals and funding of projects. You should not be reluctant to call a vendor for information even if you do not have funding lined up.

Next, in 2001, the New York City Council's special scientific fund provided for purchase of a digital microfilm scanner and printer and a digital book and document scanner and printer.

When the Bronx Zoo's General Director, Richard Lattis, asked me if I could come up with a $35,000 capital equipment proposal by next week, I was happy to say yes. I could prepare the grant proposal with only several days notice because I had already done the extensive research on these big ticket items. When funding suddenly became available, it was easy to assemble an updated proposal that included the latest model numbers and specifications.

In summary, grants paid for much of the archival activity at the Bronx Zoo since 1974. However, from 1983 onwards, archives support was included in the operating budget in the form of salary for the librarian, who has specific responsibility for archives activities.

Products of the Archives Program

Arrangement and description of the archives have produced a series of finding aids and databases used to maintain and access archives.

Finding aids and databases

 

Preservation Microfilming

More than 200 rolls of microfilm were created and processed to archival standards. The microfilm masters are stored off site by a records management vendor.

Archival microfilming seems quaint in a time of digitizing and publication on the internet. When these projects were undertaken, funding agencies did not fund digitization as a preservation tool. Even now, digitization as a preservation strategy is in its infancy.

Digital Archives Collection

Availability of the digital imaging stations at the Bronx Zoo Library has led to building of a Digital Archives Collection. The users of archives like to receive records in the form of PDF files, whether on cdrom, as email attachments or via a web browser. Candidates for the Digital Archives Collection have been selected on the basis of past requests and potential for future use.

The digital collection has much potential for growth. Initially, growth will probably come from published annual reports and near print scientific report literature, rather than unpublished records. Recent changes in copyright law, extending copyright on unpublished materials to 75 years past the death of the author, may impede digital publication of unpublished correspondence not written by WCS employees.

Who Uses the Archives?

Internal and external reference use of the archives is an ongoing, somewhat unpredictable product of the archives program. Internal uses have included:

External use of the archives runs the range of published and unpublished articles, books, theses, motion pictures, and uses as specialized as the AZA reintroduction database. Frequent subjects of research queries include William Hornaday, Will Beebe, Raymond Ditmars, Ota Benga, Fairfield Osborn, Carl Rungius, and Madison Grant. Other subjects include bison reintroduction, bathysphere dives, the Heads and Horns Collection, and animal collectors.

Internal and external use of the archives each play a different role in helping to build support for a zoo archives program.

In my experience, zoo administrators are more impressed by internal use of the archives, and usage from the zoo community, than in potential external use from academic researchers or anyone not connected with a zoo.

When attempting to obtain funding for a zoo archives program from external sources, particularly state and federal agencies, however, it has been far more important that the zoo demonstrate willingness to permit external use of records. When applying for funding, applicants should it helpful to be able to list published research by outside researchers who used an institution's unpublished archival records. Grant applications may be enriched with letters of endorsement from researchers who have used a collection in the past or who want to use a collection in the future.

In general, researchers from the zoo community may seem likely to focus on questions of interest to zoo people: the histories of individual species or taxa in zoos; zoo keeping practices; and biographies of zoo people. Academic and other outside researchers may seem more interested in zoos for what zoos suggest about human societies in general or how zoo history may express broader social trends. In order to obtain support from zoo administrators, and funding from outside sources, one needs to have both internal and external users of the archives.

Recommended Practices for Zoo Archives

1. Know the legal status of your organization -- and your archives

Zoos which operate as units of government must act as other public agencies in dealing with archives, particularly in terms of public access to records. From a positive perspective, city, county, and state zoos should have access to the same records management and archival facilities and resources available to other, comparable public agencies.

Zoo which are privately owned, or operated by non-profit organizations, have fewer limitations on how they deal with archival records. Private and non-profit organizations remain subject to federal and state laws on records retention, with special requirements on records of federal and other grants.

Knowing the legal status of your archives includes learning how copyright applies to different categories of archives and manuscripts. Knowledge of copyright is particularly important in any digital reproduction of archival records. Practices which were acceptable in microfilm preservation and publishing are often not acceptable in digital projects. When dealing with copyright, possession of an object is not nine-tenths of the law.

 

2. Find related information at other institutions

Evaluating the archives held by any institutions requires putting them in perspective. For an old institution, records may have arrived at other libraries or archives. At the Bronx Zoo, it helps me to know that the Library of Congress holds other collections of William Hornaday's unpublished papers and correspondence. It is also vital for me to be able to tell researchers that Princeton University holds Will Beebe's diaries and that the Denver Public Library holds a collection of American Bison Society records. I was surprised to learn that some of the early minutes of our Board of Trustes were available at the New-York Historical Society Library, because the family of a long time president, Fairfield Osborn, left the family papers to that library.

Many research libraries and historical societies report their archival holdings in their individual online catalogs and in library networks, such as OCLC and RLIN. These resources are typically not accessible to search engines such as Google. Online catalogs must be searched individually with browsers or collectively with special software. OCLC and RLIN are accessible only to subscribing institutions. However, the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) web site at the Library of Congress provides free access to archives and manuscripts in the OCLC and RLIN databases. Many zoo related archives are listed in NUCMC.

3. Use consultants for preliminary surveys

For preliminary surveys of inactive records, surveys of active records, and preservation surveys, the Bronx Zoo has been well served by consultants. In my experience, management will talk speak more candidly with an external consultant than with an employee. I found outside consultants particularly useful in a facility-oriented preservation survey and in records management surveys. State and federal funding agencies usually require a report by a preservation consultant as a requirement when applying for preservation grants.

4. Research big ticket items in advance of funding

My experiences with compact mobile shelving and digital imaging stations have convinced me that there is no down side to investigating big ticket purchases even when there is no obvious source of funding. At a time when archives are moving to digital formats, but standards for production equipment keep changing, your big ticket item may be a specifications for contracts with a digital records service bureau or the price of buying offsite storage from a consortium of libraries of universities.

5. Cooperate with other institutions

Funding agencies, including the Institute for Museum and Library Services and the NHPRC, love cooperative projects. My institution was well served by joint projects with the New York Botanical Garden. Though the WCS has not engaged in one to one formal cooperative archival activities in recent years, the benefits of past efforts are enduring.

Less formally, one can engage in cooperation by getting to know the people at state and metropolitan historical records advisory boards and regional library councils. Professional groups for archivists and librarians can provide leads on consultants, related records, off site storage, and any number of other subjects bearing on zoo archives.

I invite news, comments, and questions related to zoo archives.

References

Johnson, S. 1993. Hornaday, Beebe, Crandall, and more: Archives at the New York Zoological Society. AAZPA/CAZA Annual Conference Proceedings 1992, pages 321-326. Available at: http://www.westnet.com/~sjohnson/aazpa.htm

Johnson, S. 2002. Zoo registrars asked: What's the scoop on zoo archives? Report for Zoo Registrars Association, 2002. Available at: http://www.westnet.com/~sjohnson/zooreg.htm

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) Searchable at:http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/nucmc.html

North East Document Conservation Center (NEDCC)www.nedcc.org
Web site includes Preservation 101 (online course), Preservation of Library and Archival Materials (full text manual), and many leaflets.

Regional Alliance for Preservation. www.rap-arcc.org
Site includes contact information on regional preservation organizations located through the United States.

Society of American Archivists http: //archivists.org
Leading professional organization for archivists in the United States. Many resources available for free download; important links; publishes and sells literature of archives field.

 

Converted and posted, 29 October 2003.