Category Archives: Archival description & finding aids

Debate: “Although digitization is useful for accessibility, detailed online item-level cataloguing is even more so”

I remember seeing that tweet from the “‘Democratising or Privileging: the Future of Access to Archives“ conference at University of Dundee last week and thinking that many in the U.S. might find it a controversial statement. I was reminded of it  this … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids | 30 Comments

Archives who have implemented linked data?

On Twitter I asked for suggestions of archives who have implemented linked data (or perhaps I should say linked open data?). I got a few responses from people who were beginning to implement or starting projects, but not much else. … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids | 10 Comments

A question for archivists with experience in the pre-Internet era

In a related, but different question that the one posed to researchers in the previous post, I would like the input of archivists with experience in the pre-Internet era. In the post targeted at researchers, I said: … my hypothesis … Continue reading

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A question for researchers with experience in the pre-Internet era

I’d like to confirm what I think is a pretty logical assumption about the driver for changes in archival practice. To do this I would like the input of people who conducted research in archives before the glorious age of … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids, History & related professions | 6 Comments

More specifics to get you thinking about submitting a proposal for a case study on description

The deadline is creeping up soon to submit a case study proposal for the two books I’m editing for Scarecrow about innovative practices in  archives and special collections–the book on management and the one on description (note these are two … Continue reading

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Anything new here for archives? “Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Historians”

Ithaka S+R’s Research Support Services for Scholars program has released the report of their NEH-funded study, Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Historians. Here’s a brief description of the project from the report’s Executive Summary: In 2011-2012, Ithaka S+R examined the changing research methods … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids, History & related professions | 15 Comments

Observations on remarks of Cecilia Muir, LAC Chief Operating Officer at #ACA2012

I’ve been behind in  posting information related to the ongoing situation for archives in Canada, but I hope to have some guest blog posts up for you in the next few days. In the meantime, after watching a firestorm of … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids, Government information, Organizational change | 10 Comments

Debate: The majority of users don’t care about provenance. They just want access to information.

I’m writing something today and in the course of doing so, I plan on making the claim that most archivists recognize that the majority (I would say the vast majority, but let’s just say majority for now) of users of … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids | 40 Comments

Winners: Best Use of Crowdsourcing for Description

Next, the spot light turns to the winners of the Best Archives on the Web awards in the category Best Use of Crowdsourcing for Description. This is the definition of the category: Whether through Flickr, wikis, blogs or allowing users … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids, Crowdsourcing, Flickr, Fun stuff, Tagging, Web 2.0 & Archives | 2 Comments

Winners: Best Re-Purposing of Descriptive Data

And now to highlight the winners of the Best Archives on the Web awards in the category Best Re-Purposing of Descriptive Data. As stated in the call for nominations: This award was inspired by the efforts of many archives to … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids, Best Archives on the Web awards | 3 Comments