General Information:
~ Concept
~ Background

Meeting Information:
~ October 2001
~ October 2002

Textile History Resources

Member Organizations

Textile
History
Consortium

Transcribed Notes from the Textile Collections Roundtable held October 12-14, 2001

Goals for the Roundtable Weekend

- To examine why we do what we do
- To define our field of textiles
- To explore documentation strategies
- To look for possible links, collaboration and communication re: our collections
- To discuss expanding the field and the participants

Defining the Textile Story

- It offers insights into American history through the prism of textiles
- It includes Lowell the industrial revolution and America
- There are new views
   - Design and manufacturing
   - Beyond Lowell
- Institutional history / the history of people
- The story of place; the global story
- Other disciplines
   - Architecture
   - Women's history
   - Material culture studies
   - And more...

Others

- Corporate archivists / curators
- Designers
- Private collectors, both individuals and businesses
- Researchers
- Historians

Predicting (future research needs)

- The users
- The questions
- The interpretations

   Predictions are unreliable, so

   - Use documenting strategies
   - Review and reflect, often
   - Have and use specific collecting plans
   - Select collections that document in depth

More to the Textile Story

- Textile Education
- Textile research
- Marketing / retail
- Environmental impact
- Apparel
- Innovation / adaptation

Possibilities

- Continue this discussion
   - Listserve
   - Meetings

- Sharing information
   - Cooperative websites
   - Share policies
   - Innovative links
   - Collections

- Establish a consortium of museums and research libraries
   - Statement of purpose
   - Initial membership
   - First steps
   - Regional focus groups
   - Communications
   - Calendar
   - Other

   - Consortium purposes
      - Share information
      - Share collections
      - Encourage research
      - Encourage use of collections
      - Quality
      - Create framework for systematic cooperative collections development
      - Enhance technical access
      - Encourage graduate training
      - Advise developing museums and collections
      - Seek funding for support
      - Enhance integration of textile-related disciplines

   - Consortium membership
      - By institutions
      - By individuals
      - Seek geographic spread
      - International
      - Large and small
      - Institutions with important textile collections
      - All aspects of textile collections
      - Corporations
      - Other professional organizations

   - First Steps
      - Name the organization
      - Create website / portal
      - Create steering committee
      - Focus groups
         - Southeast
         - Northeast
         - Midwest
         - West

 

Photo: "Textile Enterprise" (N07-78_a), Tracy O'Neal Collection, Special Collections Department, Pullen Library, Georgia State University
Web design: DeAnna L. Janecek, Special Collections, Georgia State University, Dec. 2002