The Caribbean Collection:
An Archival Survey of the Records of the
Jamaican and Trinidadian Communities of Brooklyn

Progress Report - January 2002


  •  A new Project/Field Assistant has been hired this month.  Her research concentration and experience are in two areas most relevant to the project's goals.  She has a background in both Archival and Caribbean Studies.  We welcome her to the project.

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  • The project coordinator presented a records management workshop for the Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (UJAA) at the Jamaican Consulate.  Caribbean historian and Advisory Committee member Dr. Calvin Holder accompanied the coordinator and helped to present the project from the perspective of a historian and educator.

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  • Ten organizations have requested survey participation as a result of the UJAA presentation.  Efforts have been made to contact each of these organizations and schedule appointments to begin taking document inventories.

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  • The project supervisor presented a project overview at the Advisory Board meeting of the Metropolitan Library Council (METRO)-the project's subcontracting agency.  Board members offered many useful suggestions for project direction.

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  • We have created a new form to allow for randomly arranged records.  This form is a chart that will permit quick recording of documents that are not arranged in an immediately observable order.  Series statements can subsequently be created at a later time from information gathered in this chart and the time spent of on site can be better distributed.

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  • The project coordinator met with Jim Dyer, a historian who has recently worked to identify issues with preserving private collections and was introduced to his study: The African American Collections Research Planning Study.  Mr. Dyer has agreed to join the Advisory Committee and has provided a new perspective the survey.  He has also been helpful in directing the project towards a possible promotional outlet.

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  • We have begun a new survey this month and the UJAA survey continues.

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  • The project continues to contact and follow-up with the historically significant Jamaican Progressive League and Tobago Alumni Association.

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  • Academic research about the Jamaican, Trinidadian & Tobagonian, and Pan-Caribbean community  continues so that the survey will accurately reflect the dynamics of the community.

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