It took more than 120 volunteers and several boxes of tissues to complete a project undertaken by University Archives to record the messages and preserve the approximately 4,000 ribbons that were placed in the University's Ribbon Garden as a memorial to the victims of Sept. 11.

The transcription and preservation project brought people together in an unexpected way. Staff from the Trabant University Center director's office coordinated the volunteers, who included students, faculty, staff, retirees, people from the community, and one student who worked for several hours as part of his community service credit.

Volunteers were scheduled over a period of several weeks and used a simple database developed by the archives staff to record the messages.

Another workstation was set up for people to remove the ribbons from the rope and untie the knots.

Archives staff numbered each ribbon and, after each was recorded, spent time ironing them as recommended by both the art conservation department and the staff of the library's Special Collections Department as the best way to return the ribbons to a condition suitable for storage.

Archives staff are now proofreading the messages and flattening the ribbons for storage in oblong archival boxes.

The Ribbon Garden will not be forgotten. Selected ribbons also will be used in a time capsule placed in the DuPont Hall cornerstone, and a Ribbon Garden display will be posted on the University Archives web site.