Rebecca Goldman
Drexel University Archives
August 14, 2010
Our HIST285 project
Research a technology at Drexel
 Develop a thesis, and find supporting
material in the Archives
 Create a digital exhibition of findings on
the Archives website

A HIST285 exhibit
Why collaborate with an
undergraduate class?
opportunity for outreach
 learn new things about our collections
 support Library's mission
 students are future alumni
 stress test for our procedures
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HIST285 by the numbers,
Fall 2009
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90+ student
researchers
9 group projects
10-week quarter
And…2 full-time
Archives staff
Challenges in Fall 2009
tracking team research progress
 scheduling researchers, interns and
student workers
 tracking offsite storage requests
 tracking scan requests

Managing the hordes:
Solutions for Spring 2010
JIRA

Bug-tracking software customized for
tracking reference questions
You can assign and schedule
reference questions…
…add attachments and
comments…
…track progress on a question…
…and search the whole database.
Google Calendar

Track researcher appointments, student
and intern schedules, and archives
closures on the same calendar
Google Spreadsheets

Track requests from off-site storage (on
a small scale)
Paper files

Folder for each group
 Sign-in sheet to track when groups come,
which members come, and what Archives
staff need to do before the next visit
 Scan request form
 Paper materials generated during research
(research notes, photocopies of materials,
printouts of search results)
Looking to the future
Future plans for HIST285
More instruction on exhibition design
 Have students blog about their
experiences
 Find ways to involve interns in the
process
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Thinking about working with an
undergraduate class?
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Recommend good research topics
Maintain contact with students
Set multiple deadlines
Group projects suck
Manage expectations of the Archives
Manage your own expectations of students
Participate in creating assignments and
grading
Be a partner in the research process
What do students think?
Some survey responses
All said archives research was at least
“sort of fun.”
 All said research took as much time or
less time than they expected
 Most common favorite part: seeing old
documents and photographs
 Used to keyword searching, and would
have preferred to have more content
available online

“I'm a nerd and felt like Batman
when I was doing it.”
Contact info

Rebecca Goldman
Digital Archives Technician,
Drexel University Archives
RebeccaGoldman@drexel.edu
http://www.library.drexel.edu/archives
Thanks
Photo credit: Drexel University Archives
 Drexel University Libraries
 Dr. Erik Rau
 Laurie Rizzo
 Rob Sieczkiewicz
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