The library will be processing the collection of HSU emeritus professor and former Arcata City Council member Dr. Rudolf Becking. The collection, contained in some 90 boxes, represents years of research from Becking’s work in establishing, among other things, the Arcata Community Forest and the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. Joan Berman and Edie Butler will be coordinating the HSU effort over the next two years
Across the state, 33 collections documenting a range of issues—including irrigation, mining, forestry, agriculture, industry, land use, activism and research—will be processed. Until now these collections have been effectively hidden to researchers who have not known of their existence or contents.
The collaborative work will take place across several universities to uncover the bulk of material. Other institutions receiving the CLIR grant are California State University campuses at Chico and Fresno, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Riverside and the University of Southern California.
While each institution will independently undertake the cataloging work, the California Digital Library will host tools, training and a virtual meeting space to promote the exchange of ideas and advance the archival profession’s approach to uncovering hidden collections.
The project is funded by a $446,817 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by the Council for Library and Information Resources. Humboldt State has received $55,000 in funding for the next two years.