IndianaUniversity’sLibraryfocusingontheOnlineArchive
https://libraries.indiana.edu/archives
KelseyBawel
AdministrativeAspects
IndianaUniversity’sArchiveandRecordsManagementdigitallibrarymeanttocollect,organize,
makeaccessible,andpreserverecordsdocumentingIndianaUniversity’sorigins,development,and
activitiesofassociatedpersons.Itsmissionandgoalistoprovideoveralldirectionfordevelopingand
implementingarecordsmanagementstrategythatwilleffectivelyandsystematicallymanagerecords
throughouttheirentirelifecycle.ThearchivelibraryservestheIndianaUniversityfaculty,students,
alumni,staff,andbenefactorswiththemostlikelyusersbeingstudentsorthoselookingforIUrecords.
TheIUlibrarieshavemanydifferentlibrariansandstaff,butDinaKellamsisthedirectorofWellsLibrary
andtheUniversityArchives.Themaincollection,theArchive’sDigitalPhotographCollection,ismanaged
almostexclusivelybyBradCook.OthercontributorsincludeRachelHancock,CarrieSchwier,andKate
Cruikshank.Thesearethepeoplewhocuratethedigitalcollectionissuchawayastopromotetheuse
ofobjects,buttheselibrariansdonotdirectlyimposetheirideasonthematerialthroughcommentsor
reviewsasNikkiRobertsonsuggeststheyshouldinContentCurationandtheSchoolLibrary(Robertson,
2012).AffiliateinstitutesandpartnershipsareallIULibraries(whicharenumerous).Theonlyother
partnershipmentionedisthatoftheIndianaMagazineofHistory.Thismagazineisaffiliatedwith
IndianaUniversityandpublishedarticlesaboutIndiana’shistory(asthenameimplies).TheArchivesis
supportedbyIndianaUniversityandtheIUFoundation,whichreceivesfundsfromalumniand
benefactors.TheprojectissustainableasIndianaUniversityisawell-establishedinstitutionandhashad
anonlinepresencesince1987.
CollectionContent
IndianaUniversity’sArchivedoeshavetheircollectionpolicyprovidedontheirwebsite.The
CollectionPolicyaddressesmanyofthekeyissuesasidentifiedbySharonJohnsonsuchascontent,
vendorsupport,accessconcerns,andlegalissuesandalsostatesthatthescopeofthecollection
includes“recordsrelatingtothehistoryandcultureofIndianaUniversitythathavelong-term,indefinite
administrative,legal,fiscalorhistoricalvalue(Johnson,2012).Themajorityoftherecordscollectedby
theArchivesaregeneratedbyUniversityadministrativeunitsandacademicdepartmentsanddocument
theprocessofadministeringandmanagingtheUniversity.Anotherprominentbutlessvoluminous
sourceofrecordscollectedbytheArchivesaretherecordsgeneratedbyfaculty,studentandalumni
organizations.TheArchivesalsocollectsrecordsthatareabouttheUniversityandmembersoftheIU
community,evenifthecreatorofthesedocumentsisnotassociatedwithIU.Finally,theArchives
collectsonaselectivebasisthepersonalpapersofprominentIUfacultyandalumni.”Thiscollectionis
mainlypaperrecords(governanceandpolicies,financialrecords,biographicalinformation,publications,
etc.)andphotographs.WhileIULibrariesusesmanysubscriptionservessuchasJSTORandEBSCO,the
Archivesreliesmainlyondonationsandschoolgeneratedmaterialstomakeupthecollection.
InformationOrganization
ContentwithintheIUArchiveisorganizedmainlybycollection.ForexampletheArchive
Photographsareacollection,thentherearetheCharlesW.CustmanPhotographs,StudentLifeatIU,
etc.WithintheDigitalPhotographCollectionimagescanbebrowsedbythingslikePersonalName,
Place,andCity.Metadataisextensiveandwellthoughtout.Ifitispossibletonameapersonisthe
photographitisdone,adescriptionisgiven,title,topicsthatthephotographrelatestoarenamed,as
wellaslocationthephotographwastaken.Forimagesthatwerenotborndigitalthereisanimage
numberthatallowsthearchivisttolocatethephysicallocationofthatphotograph.Whiletheydonot
explicitlyuseDublinCore,manyofthemetadatafieldsandstandardsareverysimilar.Thelibrary
completesSouthwick’sandSkoric’sthreeprinciplesofmetadata:1)conformstocommunitystandards
2)interoperability3)authoritycontrolandcontentstandardsfordescription(Southwick,2013).For
organization,thearchiveusescategoriesaswellascontrolledvocabularyandaglossary(inthecaseof
thelibraryportion).CollectiondescriptionsinArchivesOnlineatIUareencodedaccordingtothe
EncodedArchivalDescription(EAD)format.
CollectionStorageandPreservation
TheIUOnlineArchiveshousesbothdigitizedmaterialanddigitallybornmaterials.Inthecaseof
digitizedartifacts,theoriginsarepreservedbytheassigningofauniqueimagenumberthatinforms
archivistswherethephysicallocationofthatimage.MostimagesseemtobehighresolutionJPEGsthat
canbesavedstraighttoapersonalcomputer.AspointedoutbyMarwaElSahn,partofthe
InternationalFederationofLibraryAssociations(IFLS),digitizationopensawholenewperspectiveto
millionswhohaveaccesstotheinternet.IndianaUniversitystaysuptospeedwithnewtechnologyand
anentireDigitizationLab(ElSahn,2013).TheopenLabprovideslargeformatflatbed,highspeed,
transparency-capable,andsheet-fedscannersfortextualdocuments(bound,loose-leaf,manuscript,
etc.),photographs,negatives,andsmalltomediumthree-dimensionalobjects.
CollectionAccess
Accessisahottopicinlibrarycirclestoday.Becauseitissomethingthateverydigitallibraryand
collectionmustdealwith,therearemanydiverseoptionsintermsofsoftwareandplatforms(Armes,
2014).TheIUlibraryembodiesthisbyusingdifferentsoftwaredependingontheformatofthedigital
itemstheyarepreserving/providingaccessto.Images:ImageCollectionsOnline(ICO,
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/images/public-index.htm)isawebapplicationthatprovidesaccessto
IUcollectionsofdigitalimages.IthasabackendcomponentknownasPhotocat,whichisusedto
manageuploadinganddescribingimagesandmanagingimagecollections.Imagesarestoredintheir
instanceofFedora(http://www.fedora-commons.org/),andICOdeliversthemfromthere.They
essentiallybuiltICOthemselvesanditlaunchedin2009.AudioandVideo:Avalon
(http://www.avalonmediasystem.org/)isthesoftwarebehindMediaCollectionsOnline
(https://media.dlib.indiana.edu/),whichstoresaudioandvideoinFedora.Thereareotherinstancesof
AvalonatIU(Kelleyhasatleastonerunning).ThesoftwarewascollaborativelydevelopedbetweenIU
andNorthwesternUniversityandisopensource.Itshouldalsobenotedthatwithbothofthese
services,themasterfilesareexportedtoandstoredincoldstorage.Thelibraryhasotherservicesand
platformsformanagingadditionalkindsofcontent(theIUScholarWorksinstitutionalrepository,theIU
DigitalLibraryofdigitizedbooks,ArchivesOnline,ourelectronictextservices,etc.).Whilethereisno
privacypolicylistedforthearchivesorthelinkedcollections,IUcarriesastrictprivacypolicycontract
withallofitsvendorswhohaveaccesstopersonalorsensitiveinformation.
TechnicalandServiceAspects
Thearchivedoeshaveanaccesspolicyinplacethatallowsanyonetoaccessthecollectionwiththe
exceptionofcertainrestrictedcollections.Therearefivemainrulesforaccessingthephysicalcollection:
1.Books,briefcases,packages,coatsandhatsmustbeleftinArchiveslockersbeforetheresearcher
beginswork.
2.Foodorbeveragesarenotallowedinthedepartment;smokingisprohibited.
3.TheuseofanykindofpenisprohibitedintheReadingRoom.Pencilsaloneshouldbeused.
4.Allmaterialsmustbehandledwithgreatcare.Researchersmustnotleanonmaterialsortrace,write
onorfoldrecordsorhandletheminanywaylikelytodamagethem.
5.Researcherswillmaintainthedocumentsintheordertheyarereceived.
Thedigitalcollectioncanbesearchedbyanyoneandthesystemworksproperly.Whileeveryonewith
aninternetconnectioncanaccessthecollection,allmaterialsinthecollectionareprotectedby
copyright.Ausermustgainpermissionfromthelibraryandthenuseacitation(thatisgiven)tocreditIU
withthecollection.Thelibrarymakesitveryclearthattheyownthecopyright,andthataccesstothe
materialisnotpermissiontopublishthematerial.
Frequentlytalkedaboutinthelibraryworldarebudgetsandbudgetcuts.Spendingmustgodownand
sometimesthisisatthecostofservices,bothtechnicalandcustomer.IUcombatsthisbyhavinga
strongonlinepresenceofreadyinformationinthehopesthattheseonlineserviceswillhelpanswer
questionsbeforetheygettothelibrarian(Cleary,2015).TheArchivehasservicesavailablesuchas
transferringrecords,instructionalservices,retentionanddispositionschedules,FAQs,chatwitha
librarian,emailalibrarian,andeventextalibrarian.Thewebsitealsolistsstaffmembersandtheir
contactinformationforquestionsthataremoresubjectspecific.
Bibliography(6references)
Arms,Caroline(2014).EnablingAccessinDigitalLibraries:IssuesAffectingUserAcceptance.Councilon
LibraryandInformationResources.
Cleary,Robert(2015).“TheCommitmentProblem”:SpendingtoZerotoMaximizetheEfficiencyofthe
CollectionsBudget.AssociationforLibraryCollectionsandTechnicalServices.
ElSahn,Marwa(October2013).GuidelinesforDigitizationProjectsforcollectionsandholdingsinthe
publicdomain.InternationalFederationofLibraryAssociations.
Johnson,Sharon(August2012).KeyIssuesforE-ResourceCollectionDevelopment:AGuidefor
Libraries.InternationalFederationofLibraryAssociationandInstitutions.
Robertson,NikkiD.(2012).Contentcurationandtheschoollibrary.KnowledgeQuest.
Southwick,SilviaB.&Skoric,Jane(2013).MetadataintoPractice.In,J.Monson,LITAGuide:Jump-Start
YourCareerasaDigitalLibrarian,127-144.AmericanLibraryAssociation