Update 17

The end of the semester is here! We have had a fairly productive semester and are looking forward to next semester.The latest product of our labors is the publication of the Lake Effect Names and Picture Index blog. Although there is still some work that needs to be done with it, the Name and Picture Index blog is now open to the public (I linked to it on the right), and it can help readers to gain a deeper understanding of the book by knowing and seeing the people mentioned in the book. We hope this blog will be a reading aide as well as a wonderful research resource.  For next semester, we are planning to set up some interviews to establish  an oral history of Waukegan and hopefully hear a different take on what went on in Waukegan. We also wish to accomplish a great deal more, so we are going to hit next semester full steam.

Update 16

Greetings everyone! Only a few bits of news today.

• Great news is that we have finally found another member for the Lake Effect Team! Today we interviewed Diana Conde and decided she would be a great fit for the team. We extend a warm welcome to the Lake Effect Project and greatly anticipate working together!

• Another point of news is that my lecture with Dr. Westley's class went wonderfully. The class seemed quite interested in the issues presented in Lake Effect; and we had a lovely discussion regarding the book and the archiving process.

Update 15

Hello all!

• The name and index blog is coming along rather well, although there is still work to be done with it. 
• We are still looking for a new team member, hopefully we can find someone soon. 
• A bit of interesting new news is that I will be a guest lecturer today for Dr. Lyn Westley's First Year Studies Class called Wild Chicago. The class is about Chicago and the environment around it. Waukegan being close to Chicago is a great opportunity for the class to study Superfund sites, and thus the class has read Lake Effect. I will be discussing the archiving process, my experience with Lake Effect, and address any questions they may have about the book. I cannot wait!

Update 14

Hello everyone! Here is what has been going on:

• We have integrated the name and index with the picture index. The final product will appear as another blog (address below), but it is still under construction at this time. I will have a post in the future of when it is completed.

http://lakeeffectarchivesnameandpictureindex.blogspot.com/

• We are still in search of a new team member and hope to find one soon.
• We have received the video of our interview with Susie Schrieber.
• The physical archive and the digital archive are well underway. A look at what we have done thus far can be found by clicking on the Archives and Special Collections link on the right.

Update 13

Welcome back everyone! After a nice restful summer we are back to the Lake Effect Project in full swing. Here is what we have in store:

• We are looking to add another member to the Lake Effect team
• In terms of the archive itself we are going to be organizing the materials and making the a formal archive account
• And we hope to begin the digital archive

Here is to a good semester!

Update 12

We are on hiatus till school starts up again in August.

Update 11

Hello everyone! We have had an exciting and productive last week. Here is a taste of what's been going on and what is to come:

• We have made two very successful trips to the Waukegan Historical Society. Head librarian Beverly Millard has been saving articles on the history and happenings of Waukegan and, more specifically, the Waukegan Harbor herself and was a great help. We also found a great deal of post cards, photos, maps, and drawings that are relevant to our project.
• We also had a great visit to the Lake County Discovery Museum thanks to the help of their archivist, Diana Dretske. She showed us a lithograph of Little Fort (Waukegan's original name) and a watercolor painting based off of the lithograph that were beautiful as well as many helpful postcards, other artists' sketches and maps.
• Yesterday we had an informative interview with Susie Schrieber, chair of the Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group (CAG)
• The picture I.D. document is nearly complete. We have located all but 18 of 69 photos
• We're looking forward to more interviews in the fall and we're excited about Nichols' upcoming lecture at Lake Forest College on October 27th

Update 10

The project is really underway now! We are planning on visiting the Waukegan Historical Society this Friday. The transcribed notes are complete and we are ready to begin a crash course on interviewing so that we can revisit people Nichols mentions in "Lake Effect." Sebastian is currently working on creating a picture-to-name document which will make it easy to look up photographs of those Nichols mentions. Dr. Dohrmann has begun to create a table of contents for the notes and interviews we have and I have been working on the first draft of the biography of Nichols for the online archive. More updates to come.

Update 9

Summer is here! We are ready to crack down on this project. Here is what we've been up to lately and what is coming up:

• We have finished an Excel spreadsheet that acts as a supplementary index to the book for names in the book that includes a quick description of who that person is.
• We are working to finish typing up the notes.
• A sparknotes-like document for the book has been created.
• We will be heading up to Waukegan sometime soon.

Update 8

• We are almost done with the school year and are excited to crack down and focus more heavily on the project in the summer
• A simple GIS map has been made, thus far it only shows: Illinois, Lake Michigan, and where Waukegan is located
• We discussed trying to connect our project to the clean up project for Ravine 7 
• We found information showing a connection between Lake Forest College and Johns-Manville
• Still in the process of recovering names to cross check and still only have two binders left to sift through
• Had a great interview with Nichols last week.
• An audio recording of the interview was created
• A typed transcript of the interview was also created

Update 7

• I only have two more binders of materials to read through till I have completely familiarized myself with the materials
• The Nichols interview date is approaching quickly
• More quotes have been added to the "Notable Quotes" document
• After I have sifted through the materials my next step will be to look up names of people mentioned in the book and the names of people mentioned in her materials, cross check them, and then find out more about them and maybe find pictures of them

Update 6

I am reading "Lake Effect" for the first time this week and really enjoying it. One aspect of Nichols' book that we discussed last Friday is the way in which she blends memoir and science together so well. I think this would be difficult to do but the book flows beautifully. My focus this week has been assembling the noteable quotes Sebastian mentioned and continuing to type the handwritten notes. I'm also really looking forward to interviewing Nichols this week and learning more about her.

Update 5

• We discussed the first two chapters of the book.
• We also came up with the idea of making a document of notable quotes.
• We came up with questions to ask durring the coming interview with Nichols.
• We  are keeping note of books that can be useful for the college to have in their collection.
• We also discussed doing a picture time-line, and to compare the beautiful Waukegan image as depicted by Ray Bradbury to the real images that make up what Waukegan truly looked like.

Update 4

• All of the pictures have been labeled.
• An interview with Nichols has been set up so we can create a biography stub about her.
• More to come!

Update 3

• All of the pictures have been scanned into the computer. 
• Most of the material has been read through and are under a loose form of organization. 
• We discussed doing a student symposium presentation for the 2011-2012 Symposium on the archiving process.  We are not certain of whether or not this is going to happen because the event is so far in the future, but the idea is on our radar.
• I have been looking a great deal at GIS (Geographic Information System) information and am trying to set up a GIS map of Superfund sites along Lake Michigan. I have encountered some setbacks, but will continue to work on this map.

Update 2

• Yesterday all of the hand written notes and interviews were copied and backed up.

• We are preparing to start working from Ravine Lodge.

Update 1

We received Nancy Nichols' materials about two weeks ago and began familiarizing ourselves with them. This week, our focus has been on organizing them and we started by typing up her handwritten notes.

Welcome!

Weclome to the Lake Effect Archives blog! I hope that everyone will find the sources here quite helpful.