|
Objectives: The Tobacco Control Archives (TCA) was established by the University of California, San Francisco Library/Center for Knowledge Management in 1994 to collect and organize primary source material for tobacco control policies and the anti-smoking movement in California, and to provide a central and organized repository for this unpublished information. California, a recognized leader in the anti-tobacco movement, presents a natural laboratory in which to study the development of tobacco control policies. The purpose of this project is the continued development of a primary resource for tobacco control efforts. The UCSF Library/CKM will add to the Proposition 99 campaign material, the anti-tobacco heath education initiative in California. The primary focus is to collect, preserve and provide access to media in video formats that are part of the statewide media campaign. Additionally, we will continue to acquire and process a limited amount of material in paper format related to Proposition 99 and subsequent tobacco control measures including Proposition 10 and the campaign for its repeal, Proposition 28.
Progress: This year the TCA received approximately 44 linear feet of records, including donations from Dr. Donald Beerline, Dr. Stanton A. Glantz, California Smoke-Free Cities, the San Juan School District, and the League of California Cities. We have attempted to obtain records from the recipients of the California State Tobacco Control Sections' Competitive Grants Program, and the Ethnic Networks. Contact was made with the Asian Pacific islander Tobacco Education Network and the Hispanic/Latino Tobacco Education Network. More than 90% of the archival collections TCA has received in the last six years have been processed and are available for research use. The indices of collection contents, called finding aids, were processed and made available through the Online Archive of California, a statewide database of archival collections. In 1999, TCA released on the internet the Joe Camel/Mangini v. R.J. Reynolds collection of approximately 76,000 pages of tobacco documents. TCA staff also cataloged all of the audio/visual materials in the archival collections, and developed a preservation plan for ensuring the long-time use and accessibility of these materials to researchers and the public. Through the website (http://www.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco ) and email reference service tobacco-info@library.ucsf.edu, TCA serves as a gateway to local collections and the world of tobacco control information. Tobacco-info answers questions from school children as well as queries and comments of graduate students, health care professionals, tobacco activists and lawyers. TCA's collections were part of one documentary television project from public broadcasting in Paris, France.
Future Goals: The TCA will continue to collect papers on the tobacco control movement in California and Proposition 99 clones in other states. Additional tasks are to document the Proposition 10 campaign and its implementation through the California Children and Families State Act, and the Proposition 28 campaign - the attempt to repeal Proposition 10. Once processed these primary resource materials will be available for use by researchers, students and activists in California and worldwide. |
|
The University of California at San Francisco (UCSF)Library/Center for Knowledge Management achieved the objectives of its grant improving access to primary source material in tobacco control.
In the spring of 2001, a project archivist, Arel Lucas, was hired, with specific experience with moving image formats as well as paper and other media. With an emphasis on Proposition 99 campaign and subsequent implementation, the archivist collected and processed 65.3 linear feet (space on a shelf) of documents, videotapes, audiotapes, CDs, DVDs and artifacts. The project archivist renewed and initiated contacts with agencies and individuals involved in tobacco-control projects throughout the State of California, as well as those in other states who have appropriate records.
In the fall of 2001, the archivist conducted an audit of all collections in the Tobacco Control Archives, listing the state of processing and suggesting priorities, and also surveyed a 100-linear-foot collection for possible future acquisition. Although records of the Proposition 10 campaign were not acquired as a discrete collection, since the campaign materials are still tied up in litigation, much content regarding this campaign and the proposition’s implementation was found in other acquisitions and existing collections. Implementing organizations were contacted, with some success in acquisition. All materials acquired were at least partially processed, and 10 of the 76 collections in the archives were newly described on the Online Archive of California , a Web-based resource that provides guides to materials held in libraries, museums, archives, and other institutions throughout California.
In the course of the project, the Tobacco Control Archives acquired (through donations and purchases) 124 videotapes, mainly from the California Media Campaign. The project archivist oversaw the transfer of all videotaped content in the Tobacco Control Archives (including 138 videotapes previously in the collections, plus the new acquisitions) to a master format for preservation, with access copies made and the originals preserved for the future. Then the archivist conducted a complete inventory of the videotape collection to ensure its integrity before shipping the master and original copies off site for safekeeping. Instead of a poster, and with the encouragement of the principal investigator and the Program’s research administrator, the archivist produced a 25-minute video sampler (“Video Rainbow”) both for presentation at the December 2001 TRDRP conference, and for the use of researchers.
Staff continue to respond to questions about the collection and tobacco control issues in general. During this period a Frequently-Asked Question (FAQ) section was added to the TCA page on the UCSF Web site. Email, telephone, and in-person research help were provided to researchers, students, academics, attorneys, and the general public, as well as to health and tobacco-control professionals. The scope of inquirers was international, and assistance was provided in 4 languages. |
