Revisiting Archive
Collections
Jon Newman & Len Reilly
For
Revisiting Archive Collections
Developing a methodology for
capturing and incorporating new and
hidden information into archive
catalogues.
Context
User-generated content
National
Agendas
Professional
cataloguing
standards
<
Customer-focused
culture
ICT
developments
?
>
National agendas
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Access,
Inclusion,
Cultural Diversity,
‘Relevance’
Community Engagement
PIs/Standards
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Current debate over Archive Self-assessment
Funding
Customer-focused culture
An expectation that individual voices are heard
& valued: feedback, consultation
 Citizen Journalism/Social Media
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‘stories told from a position of first hand
knowledge and partiality’
Reality television
Public History
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‘The democratisation of the academy’
ICT developments
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Web 2.0
Social Networking sites
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blogs, chat rooms ‘wiki’ sites
Folksonomies
Review sites – restaurants, hotels, cinema, hospitals
E-petitions
‘Crowdsourcing’
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The ESP Game
Professional Cataloguing Standards
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‘Provider capture’?
Acknowledging the suppressed first-person
prefixes in catalogue description:
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‘I think that this is…’
‘I think the important features of this are…’
Backlogs v. Revisiting
Comparison with museum standards
Current Archive Initiatives 1
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Cataloguing projects using a cultural focus
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Cataloguing projects using a community focus
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TNA’s Caribbean Heritage project
Birmingham’s ‘Connecting Histories’
Tyne & Wear’s Swan Hunter cataloguing project
ESRO’s ‘Letter in the Attic’ project
Revisiting Archives Collections pilot
Community Archives and post-custodial relationships
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CAAP
Commanet
Community Archives portal
Current Archive Initiatives 2
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‘Wiki’ approaches to capturing user input
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TNA’s wiki site
http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk
‘challenging the traditional methods of authorship… and
facilitat[ing] the ´democratisation´ of history.’
University of Michigan’s Polar Bear Expedition
project
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‘current online finding aids merely reproduc[e] paper
finding aids without taking advantage of their electronic
environment.’
Current Archive Initiatives 3
But, they are generally
 Isolated
 Pragmatic
 Project-Based
 Impermanent
 Unsustainable
Revisiting Archive Collections
Developing a methodology for
capturing and incorporating new and
hidden information into archive
catalogues.
Theoretical and Practical issues
What are the wider goals?
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Improve description and catalogues;
Make archivists sensitive to collections and
their users;
Use UGC to engage new audiences;
Present new information;
Improve service to existing users?
Who are the potential contributors?
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How identify them;
How reach them;
On what terms do they wish to participate –
how deal with IPR, what is their preferred
method of participation?
Which materials are most suited to this
approach?
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Poorly catalogued material;
Un-catalogued material;
Heavily used material;
Underused material;
Material likely to interest specific groups;
Material likely to hold concealed
significances?
What categories of new data is likely to be generated
and what further problems do these raise ?
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Un-contentious corrections;
More detail at item level (greater precision);
Broader representation of research areas the
material would support;
Associations or observational responses?
New association or observation
My tribe is Manyema, this is Waha.
This reminds me of the cultural
tradition where we come from (the
same region but different tribes) of
playfully mocking each other. For
example at our funerals the Waha
come and help but try to make us
laugh by joking about what has
happened, which is their way of
being there for you. At weddings you
have to pay them their due,
acknowledging their presence in
your life for good fortune.
Tanzanian woman’s response to
a photograph in RGS collection.
What are the most appropriate and productive strategies
for effectively generating user generated content?
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Face-to-face:
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with which groups;
with which records?
On-line:
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what technical environment;
how reach contributors;
what interface;
how sustain?
What are the most effective strategies for
capturing new data?
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Face to face:
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forms completed individually;
by partner/interviewer;
audio or video recording?
On-line:
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technical environment;
how reach contributors;
what interface;
how sustain?
What level of editing will the new data
require?
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Accept uncritically
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Mediate
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Authenticate?
How and where should the new data be incorporated in
descriptions and finding aids?
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What is the relationship between new data and descriptive
standards;
What is the relationship between the new data and offices’
views n the status of their descriptions;
Should the location of data influenced by information
retrieval strategy of groups;
Do we know enough about information retrieval strategies of
users and potential users;
How do description page layout, headings etc. influence
catalogues’ effectiveness?
What anxieties is this likely to generate in the
profession and how are they best assuaged?
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Challenges the single, neutral professional voice;
Challenges principle of only describing and indexing
where the material is rich in information;
Impact on precision and recall;
Accommodating data, subjects or terminology that
may age (in terms of language or research interest)?
(How) can this approach be made persistent and
sustainable?
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Can UGC be used universally or must it be targeted
 to which collections
 using which focus groups
 to which potential user group;
Is the focus group approach applicable to all
materials/groups/descriptions that would benefit;
How do we sustain the link between new data that lives
outside ISAD(G) boundaries;
How do we sustain in the face of the changing research
interests of future generations?
What are the most effective strategies for publishing and
disseminating new descriptions and finding aids?
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How publish and distribute new descriptions;
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What is the best link between authoritative description and UGC
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how does this work in paper and electronic contexts;
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How do ISAD(G) and EAD support UGC;
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How to market and promote new descriptions;
How evaluate the impact of user generated
content?
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Against the wider goals
How do users treat the new data
Could professional staff (or more of them
with more time) produce equally effective
results?