‘What a setting for a mystery’: Yaddo, the Yaddo records, and the memory of place

‘Yaddo’, recalled composer Aaron Copland, ‘became so much a part of my life that I tend to forget how strange the name sounds to those not familiar with it.’ By its very delineation, vagary of purpose, and posture of cloistered withdrawal, Yaddo is defined by a meticulously cultivated and carefully guarded tradition of community and cultural identity; one that was carefully preserved (and, in turn was informed by) the formation of an archive. My point of query centers on the particular consequences of the bond between historical trace and physical place being severed (as perhaps it always must be) when the very materiality that informs an institution’s ‘memory’ is irrevocably distanced.     

Understanding the context of records creation and use: ‘Hard’ versus ‘soft’ approaches to records management

Current records management methodologies and practices suffer from an inadequate understanding of the ‘human activity systems’ where records managers operate as ‘mediators’ between a number of complex and interacting factors. Although the records management and archival literature recognizes that managing the active life of the records is fundamental to their survival as meaningful evidence of activities, the context where the records are made, captured, used, and selectively retained is not explored in depth. In particular, the various standards, models, and functional requirement lists, which occupy a vast portion of that literature, especially in relation to electronic records, do not seem to be capable of framing records-related ‘problems’ in ways that account for their dynamic and multiform nature. This paper introduces the idea that alternative, ‘softer’ approaches to the analysis of organizational functions, structures, agents, and artifacts may usefully complement the ‘hard’, engineering-like approaches typically drawn on by information and records specialists. Three interrelated theoretical and methodological frameworks—namely, Soft Systems Methodology, Adaptive Structuration Theory, and Genre Theory—are discussed, with the purpose of highlighting their contributions to our understanding of the records context.     

Access to records for people who were in out-of-home care: moving beyond ‘third dimension’ archival practice

A right to preserve one’s culture is recognised in the United Nations human rights treaty system. Individual and collective cultural identity within government and private archives can be enabled through a participatory approach which acknowledges record subjects as record co-creators. This article analyses cultural human rights instruments found in international and domestic Australian laws as warrants for a participatory archive within the Australian context, premised on the recognition of the rights of those who are subjects of the record to add their own narratives to records held in archival institutions, and to participate as co-creators in decision-making about appraisal, access and control, thus shaping and reshaping the archive from their perspective. To this end, it proposes the use of social media to enhance cultural rights and cultural identity. Adopting the principle of rights maximisation, a participatory approach lessens the impact of the right to be forgotten on cultural rights. The article concludes that Australian archival policy makers and jurisdictions which have a human rights regime, have a clear mandate to give priority to the preservation of records of distinctive cultures, in particular those of Indigenous peoples and minorities.     

From Archive,to Access,to Experience––Historical Documents as a Basis for Immersive Experiences

Libraries have been the key to preserving culture and historic legacy for centuries. One such treasure cataloged in The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) Libraries is a collection of over 33,000 Sanborn? Fire Insurance Maps. Originally kept safe in metal drawers, the library has embarked on a journey to digitize this abundance of information, combine it with other media such as photographs, and make it accessible through a web interface. Inspired by these efforts, we accessed this information and took it to the next level. Using state of the art 3D modeling and immersive technologies, we created a historic 3D model and immersive experiences of Penn State, exemplarily for the 1922 campus. The resulting experiences can be accessed through the web but also through head mounted displays (HMDs) and mobile phones in combination with VR viewers such as the Google Cardboard. Additionally, they can be used anywhere in the world or on the campus itself as a way to enable remote and in situ experiences and learning. Immersive experiences let us connect to the past, the present and the future, and as such offer value to digital cultural heritage efforts.     

Deep Participation in Underserved Communities: A Quantitative Analysis of Hearken’s Model for Engagement Journalism

ABSTRACT

Hearken is a proprietary news engagement platform growing in popularity. Under the Hearken approach, audience members are invited to participate in the newsmaking process. Hearken strives to assist news organizations in providing local and hyperlocal content that meets audience needs and demands while preserving elements of the journalist’s role as gatekeeper. Hearken has also worked to help news organizations reach underrepresented populations with mixed results per its own anecdotal analyses. This study employs a quantitative content analysis comparing one year’s worth of coverage at four different local NPR affiliates in the United States to provide a breakdown of Hearken content versus traditional reporter-driven content in the following four categories: emphasis on hyperlocal coverage, story topic prevalence within local and hyperlocal coverage, emphasis on coverage of underrepresented communities, and story topic prevalence within coverage of underrepresented communities. Findings reveal listener-driven Hearken content favors hyperlocal news on lifestyle issues while reporter-driven stories emphasize state-level governance and politics as well as local crime. These indicate a stark contrast between the content audiences want and that which journalists tend to report. The nuanced normative implications, possibilities and limitations of Hearken’s model of “deep participation” are addressed in some detail.     

New business models: AgBiotechNet™, a case study

The article examines the launch by CABI Publishing of a new internet product called AgBiotechNet™. The product was launched in January 1999 and features a range of content from news stories through to review articles and a bibliographic database taken from CAB ABSTRACTS™. The article describes the pre- and post-launch phases of AgBiotechNet™, and does, so the author hopes, provide some pointers on what it means to develop a new business model for the internet.     

Eisenhower's ‘atoms for peace’ speech: A case study in the strategic use of language

This article examines the speech “Atoms for Peace,”; delivered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 8, 1953. The author demonstrates how a complex rhetorical situation resulted in the crafting and exploitation of a public policy address. Far from serving as a precursor to nuclear disarmament, the speech functioned to bolster the international image of the United States as a peacemaker, to warn the Soviets against a preemptive nuclear strike, and to alert the American public to the dangers of a nuclear exchange.     

ADONIS: a document delivery solution? A case study

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Public records and minorities: problems and possibilities for Sámi and Kven

The Kven and Sámi peoples of northern Norway have been represented as groups without a voice in public records. Through the project ‘National Minorities in Public Records in Norway,’ however, hundreds of documents written in the Sámi and Kven languages were found inside the public archives. These documents were neither labeled, nor cataloged in any way as non-Norwegian-language documents. This essay raises a number of questions related to how a lack of knowledge has influenced our understanding of ethnic minorities both in archives and in research related to minorities. Furthermore, recent experience leads us to a few more questions concerning the usage of sources. How do Norwegian ministries treat requests for access to official documents less than 60-years old related to the Kven and Sámi peoples? How were documents in minority languages arranged and archived by archival personnel? How can an oppressed collective memory serve as a counter-memory for minorities? How can archival documents change our understanding of minorities? What might archivists do to make minorities more visible in archives? This paper describes my personal experiences and reflections in connection with the project.     

Get ‘Em In,Get ‘Em Out: Finding a Road from Turnaway Data to Repurposed Space

Statistical analysis and comparison of library print and online holdings are used to reduce shelf area and inform index back-file purchases. Nikki DeMoville of California Polytechnic State University’s Robert E. Kennedy Library combined Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources (COUNTER) JR2 Access Denied usage reports, holdings information, and print circulation data to identify journals exhibiting a high desirability for online access and low print circulation. In this presentation, DeMoville shared how further combination of this data with ScienceDirect quote lists for back-file journal packages and Web of Science metrics could be used to support the efficient de-selection of print journals, allowing the library to recover the maximum amount of physical space while also acquiring backfile access to those titles most frequently needed in electronic format. The presentation detailed the workflows and comparative methodology used to reach collection management and development decisions for journal coverage, with an emphasis on before and after metrics.     

‘You see a baby die and you’re not fine:’ a case study of stress and coping strategies in volunteer emergency medical technicians

This study investigates the experiences of volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) with respect to stress and coping strategies they employ. Research has shown negative implications of work stress in high-reliability organizations, like paid Emergency Medical Services (EMS). While most first responders in the United States are volunteers, little research has examined how their work stress experiences may differ from their paid counterparts. Twenty-five EMTs working in volunteer fire departments participated in one-on-one interviews. Using an inductive approach, four stressors were identified: types of calls, extensive sense of duty, competency concerns, and knowing the patient. Theory of Conversationally Induced Reappraisals explains the effectiveness of the Formal, Informal, and Escape Coping Strategies identified by participants that mitigated stress. This study concludes with recommendations for volunteer EMS organizations: (a) financial assistance for Employee Assistance Programs, (b) social events that encourage communication and interaction; (c) recommended/sanctioned time off, and (d) a clear recruitment/retention plan.     

Virtual Information for Patient Care—VIP Care: An Electronic Collection to Promote Learning Among Third-Year Medical Students

Virtual Information for Patient Care (VIP Care) is an electronic collection of materials assembled to promote learning among Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) clinical clerks. Materials in the collection are selected on the basis of how well they match the core clerkship learning objectives. Consistent with TUSM curricular emphasis on utilizing evidence from research, VIP Care articles are culled, when possible, from Hirsh Health Sciences Library's electronic Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) resource collection. This article describes the VIP Care collection within the context of the larger Patient Logs project of which it is a part and explains how this collection helps promote learning. It also reports on the process of compiling the collection as well as some of the methods librarians have adopted for publicizing the collection and keeping the content current.     

What online machine learning can do for knowledge acquisition—a case study

This paper reports on the development of a realistic knowledge-based application using the MOBAL system. Some problems and requirements resulting from industrial-caliber tasks are formulated. A step-by-step account of the construction of a knowledge base for such a task demonstrates how the interleaved use of several learning algorithms in concert with an inference engine and a graphical interface can fulfill those requirements. Design, analysis, revision, refinement and extension of a working model are combined in one incremental process. This illustrates the balanced cooperative modelling approach. The case study is taken from the telecommunications domain and more precisely deals with security management in telecommunications networks. MOBAL would be used as part of a security management tool for acquiring, validating and refining a security policy. The modeling approach is compared with other approaches, such as KADS and stand-alone machine learning.     

Broadcasters’ attitudes toward public responsibility: An Ohio case study

Certainly one key to a licensee's response to community needs is the perception by top station executives of their station's role in the community. The following article is an adaptation of some research findings of a dissertation conducted under the supervision of Professor Walter B. Emery at Ohio State University in 1971. The author, now an assistant professor in the department of speech and dramatic art at the University of Iowa, received a research grant from the National Association of Broadcasters to help conduct the study.     

A Landscape Archive: Methods for Interaction Design,Preservation, Access,and Mapping—A Case Study

ABSTRACT

The National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway) acquired the archive of Tim Robinson in 2013. Robinson is a cartographer and writer who lived, studied, and documented the landscape surrounding Galway Bay over the course of 40 years. This article describes the methods taken for the digital preservation, access provision, discovery, and digital mapping of this landscape archive. It describes a user interface that allows exploration and discovery of the landscape archive on a digital map, linked to the archive, which allows the user to interact with the material from a perspective of place. The aim of this is to provide an enhanced user experience and create potential for teaching, research, and community engagement. The archive can also be accessed using more traditional hierarchical archival discovery interfaces and is selectively digitally preserved and accessible as a digital archive.     

“Seans chernoi magii na Taganke”: The Hunt for Master and Margarita in the Pravda Digital Archive

This article describes the process of tracking down an obscure yet politically and culturally significant Russian theater review, “Seans chernoi magii na Taganke” by N. Potapov, published in Pravda, the official organ of the Soviet Communist Party from 1918 to 1991. What at first appeared to be a routine reference question turned into a journey full of twists and turns, a quest for the missing review. The purpose of this article is threefold: to highlight some of the challenges that librarians and researchers face when working with Russian, East European, and Eurasian materials; to inform researchers about the capabilities and limitations of the Pravda Digital Archive and similar databases (e.g., Izvestiia Digital Archive, Literaturnaia Gazeta Digital Archive) produced by East View Information Services; and to encourage discussion about the preservation of and long-term access to research materials from the region.