Blogging for the Distance Librarian

Abstract

Based on user lookups, Merriam-Webster Onlineproclaimed “Blog” the word of the year for 2004.¹ Distance librarianship, until mid-way through 2004, was a subject that was underrepresented in the blogosphere. The inception of a blog called The Distant Librarian: Comments on the World of Distance Librarianshipis chronicled in this article, along with suggestions for how and where to get started, as well as how to incorporate blogs that support library services for distance students.     

K-12 Instruction and Digital Access to Archival Materials

Abstract

Providing K-12 schools with digital access to archival materials can strengthen both student learning and archival practice, although it cannot replace direct physical access to records. This article compares a variety of electronic and non-electronic projects to promote teaching with primary source materials. The article also examines some of the different historiographical and pedagogical approaches used in archival Web sites geared for K-12 instruction, focusing on differences between the educational sites sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration.     

Archival Reference and Outreach

Abstract

The archival profession is dynamic, adaptive, and undergoing continual change. This is particularly true in the areas of reference (or researcher) services and outreach. This article advocates reexamination of these functions, relating them more closely to each other. It maintains that archival records are underutilized and that archivists should address this issue by proactively reaching out to researchers and encouraging research use. Special skills are required to assist researchers to ensure that their use of archival records meets their information needs. The increasing creation and use of electronic records occasions even more attention to archivists' relations with researchers. Finally, there are several areas where archivists and researchers can and should work together to address common needs.     

Digital Archiving and Preservation: Technologies and Processes for a Trusted Repository

SUMMARY

This article examines what is implied by the term “trusted” in the phrase “trusted digital repositories.” Digital repositories should be able to preserve electronic materials for periods at least comparable to existing preservation methods. Our collective lack of experience with preserving digital objects and consensus about the reliability of our technological infrastructure raises questions about how we should proceed with digital-based preservation practices, an emerging role for academic libraries and archival institutions. This article reviews issues relating to building a trusted digital repository, highlighting some of the issues raised and possible solutions proposed by the authors in their work of implementing and acculturating a digital repository at Rutgers University Libraries.     

Grasping the Nettle

Abstract

The increasing utilization of computer technology in the public and private sectors, particularly since the mid-1980s, has brought about significant changes in the way organizations do their business. It has led to improvements in productivity, more timely delivery of services, and more efficient business communication; it has also had significant cultural impact. The technology has transformed our working environments, but there has not been an equivalent transformation in records and archival practice.

If the 1980s was the decade in which the tidal wave of electronic change hit us, the 1990s has seen the gradual realization that the new technology alone, without appropriate information and records management strategies, generates substantial risks. While the technology is promoted as the solution to all information management requirements, this message glosses over some critical issues. These issues go to the heart of the preservation of the corporate memory of our society.

In this article the author introduces us to major issues in electronic records management from an archival perspective. He illustrates these points through reference to policy development at the Australian Archives.     

Using Information Visualization to Support Access to Archival Records

ABSTRACT

As more archival metadata and archival records become available online, providing effective interfaces to those materials is increasingly important to give users access. This article describes five approaches from the hypertext and visualization research communities which can be used to improve such access: (1) navigating hierarchical structures, (2) illustrating networks of relationships, (3) viewing organizational processes, (4) using time and space as organizing structures, and (5) spatializing arguments and discussions. This article addresses particular challenges in applying these visualization techniques to archival records and considers novel challenges introduced by them for both archival organization and for visualization research.     

Assessment of Electronic Reserves Services at the University of Colorado,Boulder

Abstract

Assessment is an important part of any library service, including electronic reserves. This paper describes the assessment of electronic reserves services by means of a survey instrument administered at the University of Colorado, Boulder during the fall semester, 2003. As the University Libraries had moved from a predominately paper reserves environment to an almost completely electronic reserves environment at the beginning of that same semester, the survey offered a unique opportunity to compare student attitudes towards the two formats. We addressed planning for the survey, administering the survey, evaluation of the collected data, and reporting the results to teaching faculty.     

Schoolmen and Humanists

ABSTRACT

This article, the first of two on electronic text and electronic text centers, looks at the period from the end of World War II to the late Eighties. It is a survey of the early history of working with electronic texts and a number of major initiatives, projects and standards are discussed. The author argues that electronic texts can only be understood in the wider context of humanities computing which during this period mistakenly modeled itself after work done in the pure and social sciences. Such an emphasis was based on a limited view of the computer and has now been largely superseded by developments in technology more propitious to humanistic endeavor.     

Mapping the Socio-Technical Complexity of Australian Science: From Archival Authorities to Networks of Contextual Information

SUMMARY

This article examines the evolution of a national register of the archives of science and technology in Australia and the related development of an archival informatics focused initially on people and their relationships to archival materials. The register was created in 1985 as an in-house tool for the Australian Science Archives Project of the University of Melbourne. Its potential as a public reference guide for historians of science and technology soon became apparent. The story of the computerisation and publication of the register provides the background for the examination of the use of archival authority records as a means of finding better ways of connecting archives with their potential users. The success of this approach led to demands from the community for a generic database tool using a framework based on the authoritative entities associated with archival materials-an activity that we started to call contextual information management. The Online Heritage Resource Manager (OHRM) was created in response to these calls, and the story of its development as a tool for mapping networks of contextual information is told in the latter part of the article.     

The Archival Imagination of David Bearman,Revisited

Abstract

Many archivists regard the archival imagination evidenced in the writings of David Bearman as avant-garde. Archivist Linda Henry has sharply criticized Bearman for being irreverent toward the archival theory and practice outlined by classical American archivist T. R. Schellenberg. Although Bearman is sometimes credited-and sometimes berated-for establishing “a new paradigm” centered on the archival management of electronic records, his methods and strategies are intended to encompass all forms of record keeping. The essay provides general observations on Bearman's archival imagination, lists some of its components, and addresses elements of Henry's critique. Although the longlasting impact of Bearman's imagination upon the archival profession might be questioned, it nonetheless deserves continued consideration by archivists and inclusion as a component of graduate archival education.     

From University Heights to Cooperstown: Halls of Fame and American Memory

ABSTRACT

This article examines the development and function of American halls of fame as cultural memory institutions. By comparing the Hall of Fame for Great Americans with the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the author posits that halls of fame illuminate the ways in which cultural memory institutions can, through an archival process, preserve, instill, and/or distort a national memory.     

The zine anthology as archive: archival genres and practices

Jessie Lymn is a PhD Candidate at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and a casual academic in the Information Studies programs at both UTS and Charles Sturt University. Her doctoral research focuses on the archival practices of subcultural communities and how this furthers temporal and spatial understandings of archives.

Building on Eichhorn’s concept of ‘archival genres’, this article considers the recent spate of zine anthologies published in Australia and the United States as examples of these genres. It proposes that the anthologies are archives of content, form and practice, given that they commonly reproduce entire zines as visual material, not just text, and are produced by members of zine communities. This article argues that the anthologies’ narratives, presentation and distribution preserve ideologies of zine culture and that archival genres create spaces for the preservation of practices.     

To Bind or Not to Bind

Abstract

The decision of whether to bind paper copies or rely on electronic archives must be carefully considered. A comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of housing bound volumes and accessing electronic archives leaves questions about the reliability of long-term access, cost, and aggregate value of electronic archives. Criteria for evaluating electronic archives are provided, and archival models are presented. The consortium model offers real possibilities for handling both paper and electronic archives.