Two years ago my colleagues and I launched an archives reference blog at Dickinson College as a way to manage and share our offsite reference transactions. (It may be worth mentioning that this is not a traditional blog to which one would expect to subscribe; it is not our aim to tell an interesting story, but instead merely to provide the essential details of the request.)
Built using an open source software called Drupal, the primary intent of the blog is to provide additional access points by which potential users may discover our resources. Archives staff members write brief posts about what was requested and what was provided, and these posts may include links to related resources as well as relevant tags. It is this basic information that patrons may find when doing web searches; I can cite many examples of researchers requesting materials because a search engine brought them to a blog post of ours that mentioned those same materials being provided to a previous user. One added feature is that visitors to the blog can also use comments to point out additional resources or to post their own questions.
Besides drawing in new users, the other major purpose of the blog is to manage reference requests more effectively. Hidden from public view is an area in which staff members record contact information for the requester, details about the locations of sources that were used to aid the requester, and notes for statistical purposes to help us understand our researchers better. As a result, we can now retrieve information about past reference transactions in seconds, recreate searches when new patrons ask similar questions, and generate usage reports with ease.
My colleagues and I consider this blog to be a great success. We are currently seeking funding to develop an interactive online repository where we can post digital surrogates of the documents that our users request, allowing future users to retrieve the documents themselves as well as allowing them to describe, tag, transcribe, comment, and otherwise add value to the documents.
For a lengthier explanation about how our archives reference blog works, please visit this post on Mark Matienzo’s blog, The Secret Mirror. There is also a presentation on the Slideshare website that shows what the private side of the blog looks like. If you have any questions or comments about the archives reference blog, please feel free to contact me at archives[at]dickinson.edu.
Jim Gerencser is the College Archivist at Dickinson College.
If you have news from your repository you would like to share via the RAO News blog, contact one of the blog contributors on the left side of your screen.
I should note that I first became enamored with Dickinson's reference blog after hearing about it in a session at MARAC and readers may want to check out the liveblog recap from that session. Dickinson College's Archives and Special Collections has also recently begun a blog documenting women's experiences at Dickinson College to mark the 125th anniversary of coeducation at the institution. Also, while Jim gave me the idea to use REO Speedwagon song and album titles in blog post titles, the poor execution of that fine idea is purely my own fault.
acs
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Building the Bridge: RAO Annual Meeting
The schedule for Austin 2009 was released in April and the RAO Section meeting is scheduled for Friday, August 14th, 1-3pm. A brief description of the section meeting is that after the annual business meeting (news, reports, updates, etc.) and election, attendees will engage in a strategic planning session. Meeting attendees will divide into working groups to discuss and propose strategic directions for RAO from the core values of the section to the role RAO can play in various trends, activities, and developments in archival work (e.g., MPLP, 23 things/Web 2.0, National History Day, etc). If you have suggestions for a stragetic planning topic, want to voice your particular interest in one of the topics mentioned here, or have a question, leave a comment here or contact a member of the Steering Committee.
More information will be available as Austin approaches and you will find that information here, the RAO listserv, the RAO website, the SAA meeting wiki (when it is open), and RAO's Facebook group, so however you prefer to receive information from amongst those options, watch for news from RAO. See you in Austin!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Wheels are Turnin': RAO Seeking Nominations
Spring has sprung again, and so has the opportunity to become involved with RAO! The RAO Nominating Committee is asking for nominations (of others or yourself) for the position of Vice-President/President Elect and the Section's Steering Committee.
The Vice-President/President Elect will serve as the support to the Chair for the immediate following year after election, and then serve as Chair the next year. The Chair presides at the Section and Steering Committee meetings, and represents the Section in its relations with SAA in general and with SAA Council, among many other things. More information about this, and the Steering Committee may be found in the Section's By-Laws: http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/rao/bylaws.asp
Currently, there are two positions open for the 2009 - 2011 term on the Section Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is a good way to become better acquainted with the workings not only of the RAO itself, but also SAA as a whole. Committee members serve in an advisory capacity to the chair, and often review reports, etc. from SAA Council or other organizations within SAA. The Chair may assign specific responsibilities to Committee members, as the need arises. Another area of service is to aid the Chair in the planning of the annual meeting.
The election will be held during the section's annual meeting, during SAA in Austin. There will also be an opportunity to vote electronically prior to the meeting.
Please submit names by July 1st to either or both:
Lynn Eaton, RAO Nominating Chair: lynn.eaton@notes.duke.edu
Arlene Schmuland, RAO Chair: afabs@uaa.alaska.edu
The Vice-President/President Elect will serve as the support to the Chair for the immediate following year after election, and then serve as Chair the next year. The Chair presides at the Section and Steering Committee meetings, and represents the Section in its relations with SAA in general and with SAA Council, among many other things. More information about this, and the Steering Committee may be found in the Section's By-Laws: http://www.archivists.org/
Currently, there are two positions open for the 2009 - 2011 term on the Section Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is a good way to become better acquainted with the workings not only of the RAO itself, but also SAA as a whole. Committee members serve in an advisory capacity to the chair, and often review reports, etc. from SAA Council or other organizations within SAA. The Chair may assign specific responsibilities to Committee members, as the need arises. Another area of service is to aid the Chair in the planning of the annual meeting.
The election will be held during the section's annual meeting, during SAA in Austin. There will also be an opportunity to vote electronically prior to the meeting.
Please submit names by July 1st to either or both:
Lynn Eaton, RAO Nominating Chair: lynn.eaton@notes.duke.edu
Arlene Schmuland, RAO Chair: afabs@uaa.alaska.edu
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Ideas for the Next Women's History Month
Are you like me and always so impressed by the outreach efforts of other repositories that inspire and motivate you to try something new at your institution? It may be that the "thing" won't happen at your repository for a while, but you know it provides a bit of excitement for a new project. This is how I felt in March during Women's History Month, so here are a few links to projects that I hope will provide a bit of inspiration for a future project for someone else as well.
The blog Women's Experiences at Dickinson College is documenting the experiences of the institution's female students in recognition of the 125th anniversary of women being permitted to enroll at the college for the first time. The about page summarizes the project's work so far and is a wonderful example of fruit interns and volunteers offer repositories.
The Ada Lovelace Day pledge to publish a blog post on March 24th about a woman in technology was an interesting and apparently successful endeavour to get 1,000 people to blog about women in technology. While not specific to archives or special collections, it is certainly example of the sort of opportunity we should join whenever practical.
The Bigger Picture: Photography and the Smithsonian blog did a series of posts highlighting women in science photographs from the institution's collections to mark Women's History Month and International Women's Day. And why not take a turn through Julia Child's Kitchen courtesy of the Smithsonia National Museum of American History.
The Nurse Romance Cover of the Week from the Special Collections Department at the UW-Milwaukee Library was begun in 2006 and has been presenting images and text from the over 400 novels in their collection that have nurses as central characters. The books were written for young and adult audiences from the 1950s to the 1970s and appeal to my appreciation of pop culture and pulp novels.
The Klondike Gold Rush-Seattle Unit of the National Park Service hosted a series of events from March through May as well as an interpretive exhibit about Catharine Paine Blaine, an early proponent of women's rights in Washington.
The Drexel University College of Medicine Archives and Special Collections' blog A Movable Archives provided the perspective of a repository which spends nearly every day sharing and talking women's history in Every Day is Ladies' Day for Me. You may also want to check out their IMLS-funded digital collection Women Physicians: 1850s-1970s.
The Vietnam Center & Archive at Texas Tech University released Not Just Pretty Faces: The Women of the Vietnam War an online exhibit that includes photographs, video, oral history interview audio and transcriptions, documents, and artifacts about the experiences of American women nurses, Red Cross personnel, and others who served during the Vietnam War.
So what did we do to mark Women's History Month at my repository this year? Well, we did a little coasting and I tried something new. First, the coasting: the 2008-2009 academic year is the 90th anniversary of the College of William and Mary going coed. Last year we began the blog Mary Comes to the College with William to "follow the first year women were admitted to the College of William and Mary 90 years later beginning with the endorsement of the proposed legislation by the College's Board of Visitors on February 12, 1918, through the end of the spring term in 1919." March was actually a slow month in 1919, so we wrote what we called "A Step out of 1918-1919" posts to write about the first group of African American women to attend the university and a lesson plan companion to the blog. A related exhibit "There's Something About the Marys" exploring the first three years of co-education at the College of William and Mary in two exhibit cases in the high-traffic read and relax area of the library. The something new we tried was sharing something related to women's history from our collections at least once each day via Twitter Mondays-Fridays starting March 3rd .
I mean no slight by not mentioning the amazing things you're doing at your repository and hope folks will share information and links to your projects or one you have an archives crush on in the comments (that is why they are there and hope we can use them).
The blog Women's Experiences at Dickinson College is documenting the experiences of the institution's female students in recognition of the 125th anniversary of women being permitted to enroll at the college for the first time. The about page summarizes the project's work so far and is a wonderful example of fruit interns and volunteers offer repositories.
The Ada Lovelace Day pledge to publish a blog post on March 24th about a woman in technology was an interesting and apparently successful endeavour to get 1,000 people to blog about women in technology. While not specific to archives or special collections, it is certainly example of the sort of opportunity we should join whenever practical.
The Bigger Picture: Photography and the Smithsonian blog did a series of posts highlighting women in science photographs from the institution's collections to mark Women's History Month and International Women's Day. And why not take a turn through Julia Child's Kitchen courtesy of the Smithsonia National Museum of American History.
The Nurse Romance Cover of the Week from the Special Collections Department at the UW-Milwaukee Library was begun in 2006 and has been presenting images and text from the over 400 novels in their collection that have nurses as central characters. The books were written for young and adult audiences from the 1950s to the 1970s and appeal to my appreciation of pop culture and pulp novels.
The Klondike Gold Rush-Seattle Unit of the National Park Service hosted a series of events from March through May as well as an interpretive exhibit about Catharine Paine Blaine, an early proponent of women's rights in Washington.
The Drexel University College of Medicine Archives and Special Collections' blog A Movable Archives provided the perspective of a repository which spends nearly every day sharing and talking women's history in Every Day is Ladies' Day for Me. You may also want to check out their IMLS-funded digital collection Women Physicians: 1850s-1970s.
The Jewish Women Archive not surprisingly marked Women's History Month with a number of announcements including releasing the release of Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia and continuing regular this day in history tweets.
The Vietnam Center & Archive at Texas Tech University released Not Just Pretty Faces: The Women of the Vietnam War an online exhibit that includes photographs, video, oral history interview audio and transcriptions, documents, and artifacts about the experiences of American women nurses, Red Cross personnel, and others who served during the Vietnam War.
So what did we do to mark Women's History Month at my repository this year? Well, we did a little coasting and I tried something new. First, the coasting: the 2008-2009 academic year is the 90th anniversary of the College of William and Mary going coed. Last year we began the blog Mary Comes to the College with William to "follow the first year women were admitted to the College of William and Mary 90 years later beginning with the endorsement of the proposed legislation by the College's Board of Visitors on February 12, 1918, through the end of the spring term in 1919." March was actually a slow month in 1919, so we wrote what we called "A Step out of 1918-1919" posts to write about the first group of African American women to attend the university and a lesson plan companion to the blog. A related exhibit "There's Something About the Marys" exploring the first three years of co-education at the College of William and Mary in two exhibit cases in the high-traffic read and relax area of the library. The something new we tried was sharing something related to women's history from our collections at least once each day via Twitter Mondays-Fridays starting March 3rd .
I mean no slight by not mentioning the amazing things you're doing at your repository and hope folks will share information and links to your projects or one you have an archives crush on in the comments (that is why they are there and hope we can use them).
Monday, March 9, 2009
New England Archivists spring meeting: "Blurring the Lines: the Archivist-Researcher Relationship in the 21st Century"
The registration deadline for the NEA Spring Meeting is this Friday, March 13. Avoid the late fee: get your registration in the mail by Friday!
******Come and join us for the NEA Spring 2009 Meeting,"Blurring the Lines: the Archivist-Researcher Relationship in the 21st Century"
Where: Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
When: March 27-28, 2009
This thought-provoking program will examine all aspects of the researcher-archivist-archives dynamic. Understanding the researcher's experience is important to all archivists as it touches all aspects of our work. Please join us for panels and discussions from the researcher, student, historian, and archivist perspective and discuss how these interactions have an impact on all facets of archival work. The program is at: http://www.newenglandarchivists.org/activities/meetings/2009_NEA_spring_program.pdf
Sessions include:
Where Processing, Reference and Outreach Meet: Providing Access to Collections Using Web 2.0 Technologies
When the Archivist Becomes the Patron
The Perfect Researcher: An Archivist-Designed Role Model for Users
Hosted by the Radcliffe Institute's Schlesinger Library, a renowned center for the study of women in America, conference attendees will meet in the beautifully renovated historical buildings of the Radcliffe Yard, adjacent to Harvard Square.See the full program and registration information at: http://www.newenglandarchivists.org/activities/meetings
We hope to see you there!
Virginia Hunt & Ellen Doon, Program Chairs
******Come and join us for the NEA Spring 2009 Meeting,"Blurring the Lines: the Archivist-Researcher Relationship in the 21st Century"
Where: Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
When: March 27-28, 2009
This thought-provoking program will examine all aspects of the researcher-archivist-archives dynamic. Understanding the researcher's experience is important to all archivists as it touches all aspects of our work. Please join us for panels and discussions from the researcher, student, historian, and archivist perspective and discuss how these interactions have an impact on all facets of archival work. The program is at: http://www.newenglandarchivists.org/activities/meetings/2009_NEA_spring_program.pdf
Sessions include:
Where Processing, Reference and Outreach Meet: Providing Access to Collections Using Web 2.0 Technologies
When the Archivist Becomes the Patron
The Perfect Researcher: An Archivist-Designed Role Model for Users
Hosted by the Radcliffe Institute's Schlesinger Library, a renowned center for the study of women in America, conference attendees will meet in the beautifully renovated historical buildings of the Radcliffe Yard, adjacent to Harvard Square.See the full program and registration information at: http://www.newenglandarchivists.org/activities/meetings
We hope to see you there!
Virginia Hunt & Ellen Doon, Program Chairs
Thursday, February 26, 2009
MAC in St. Louis
The Midwest Archives Conference 2009 program will be held in St. Louis, Missouri at the beautiful Hyatt Regency - St. Louis Riverfront, April 29 - May 2. Open to all, this year's sessions range from ethics to video preservation, donor policies, and more. Several pre-conference workshops and tours are also offered.
Of particular note is the session, "Flight Check: Archival Metrics Toolkits as User-Based Evaluations in Archives and Special Collections." This session presents these concepts to a general archival audience, giving an overview of the types of user-based evaluation the different methodologies employed, and explaining how various methods can be used in tandem to help repositories argue for greater support, create strategic plans targeted at specific audiences, and better serve their users.
The Midwest Archives Conference is open to anyone in the records management and archival fields, and at only $75.00 for advance registration ($65 for MAC members) this three day conference is an exceptional value. To take advantage of this special rate your registration must be postmarked by April 10, 2009. Full program descriptions are available at http://www.midwestarchives.org/2009Spring
Of particular note is the session, "Flight Check: Archival Metrics Toolkits as User-Based Evaluations in Archives and Special Collections." This session presents these concepts to a general archival audience, giving an overview of the types of user-based evaluation the different methodologies employed, and explaining how various methods can be used in tandem to help repositories argue for greater support, create strategic plans targeted at specific audiences, and better serve their users.
The Midwest Archives Conference is open to anyone in the records management and archival fields, and at only $75.00 for advance registration ($65 for MAC members) this three day conference is an exceptional value. To take advantage of this special rate your registration must be postmarked by April 10, 2009. Full program descriptions are available at http://www.midwestarchives.org/2009Spring
2.0 Degrees of Separation
Living where I do, it is easy to feel isolated personally and professionally. Not just geographically, but time-wise. As busy as we all are, it’s difficult to find time to connect via phone, letters, or email with friends, family, and colleagues. One of the ways I keep connected is Facebook. For those of you who haven’t used Facebook (or MySpace or other social networking sites), you sign in, add pictures if you want, go find people and add them as “friends,” post updates about what you’re doing, join groups, or become a fan of tartar sauce or all things orange. Not too long ago I was reacquainted with a high school friend, Cheryl McKinnon, via Facebook’s classmate search mechanism. One of Facebook’s functions is that once you are linked with somebody else you can view their online profile and status updates.
I don’t think Cheryl and I have seen or talked to each other since high school graduation night, which was, ouch, more than 20 years ago now. We did the basics of “you’re living where and WHY?”—she in Kitchener, I in Anchorage—and that was about it. Because Facebook associates us as friends and she is a prolific poster, her “what I’m doing now” updates usually show up when I log into my account. Not too long ago she posted a link to a white paper she’d written on 2.0. I had all sorts of reasons to follow the link and read the paper, but the most compelling one was that I didn’t have any excuses left if somebody my age (one day younger, actually) knew 2.0 well enough to write a white paper on it.
Turns out, Cheryl’s paper is about 2.0 applications and ramifications for records management. Miles MacDonnell Collegiate, our high school, had a graduating class of about 170 that year. That’s over one percent of the graduating class ending up in two low-populated and closely related fields. I’ll admit I don’t know the statistical odds, but it seems unlikely to me. When I pointed this out to Cheryl, she said “you couldn’t take the geek out of the girl.” I refuse to claim geekhood now, but will admit we had a fairly high count of geeks at the time of graduation and though I don’t know what happened to the rest, I’m thinking the math and computing genius whose Facebook profile claims a residence in the Cayman Islands probably chose something other than RM or Archives as a career. Since the vast majority of my friends group on Facebook consists of professional colleagues who have become good friends, it was fun to discover one who represented the reverse chronology.
At any rate, Cheryl had some interesting and pithy things to say about administering information developed in a 2.0 environment. The paper made me think about retention issues in a new way. She also provided a few good ideas for how to make 2.0 technologies enable access to records. I never would have found this document on my own, or if I had, I wonder if I would have ever recognized my high school friend in the author’s name?
This past year or so, 2.0 has really come onto the RAO radar (you knew I’d get around to the RAO connect eventually, didn’t you?) and I expect we all will be investigating it for some time. I’ll confess, prior to the ’08 section meeting presentation, I cringed every time I heard “2.0.” I didn’t know what it encompassed, I couldn’t figure out how any of it related to me or to my work. The presentation provided connects and building blocks, including making me realize that I’m already using some of these technologies both in my personal and professional life. From keeping in touch with friends, family and colleagues via Facebook, I’ve discovered that some aspects of 2.0 aren’t all that scary. This fall I created a Facebook page for my department—it’s pretty simplistic because I don’t know how to make the most of it yet—but it’s there. I can see the beginnings of how to use it for outreach, less so for reference and access, but at least we’ll save a few minutes in setup when we figure out what comes next. Soon you will be seeing some RAO working groups looking at various 2.0 tools to come up with suggestions and pointers to share. If you would like to participate, please contact me and I’ll be happy to hook you up.
For those of you who haven’t yet investigated the networking sites like MySpace or Facebook, consider taking a little time out of your schedule to play with them. You might not end up a fan. However, understanding how these sites function will help you make better decisions about using them.
I don’t recall quite when or why I joined Facebook, but I didn’t make use of it until last February during a Kodiak blizzard with all my airport novels read and nothing to keep me entertained but free wireless. Now? I check it near daily, sometimes several times a day. I see what is happening in many friends’ and family members’ lives and feel like I am more in touch with them than ever before. It’s a bit voyeuristic at times, but I hear about the great exhibits and programs and projects they are working on and occasionally I read something by a friend that makes me rethink my work. A social tool that serves to educate: now that’s an effective reference, access, and outreach mechanism we should all be studying closely.
By the way, if you want to read Cheryl’s short, informative, and entertaining piece, it’s at: http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/White-Paper/Article/Are-You-Ready-for-Enterprise-2.0What-Records-Managers-Need-to-Know-51343.aspx. The site requires a free login. As do most of the social networking sites. Join one. You’ll find you’re among friends.
I don’t think Cheryl and I have seen or talked to each other since high school graduation night, which was, ouch, more than 20 years ago now. We did the basics of “you’re living where and WHY?”—she in Kitchener, I in Anchorage—and that was about it. Because Facebook associates us as friends and she is a prolific poster, her “what I’m doing now” updates usually show up when I log into my account. Not too long ago she posted a link to a white paper she’d written on 2.0. I had all sorts of reasons to follow the link and read the paper, but the most compelling one was that I didn’t have any excuses left if somebody my age (one day younger, actually) knew 2.0 well enough to write a white paper on it.
Turns out, Cheryl’s paper is about 2.0 applications and ramifications for records management. Miles MacDonnell Collegiate, our high school, had a graduating class of about 170 that year. That’s over one percent of the graduating class ending up in two low-populated and closely related fields. I’ll admit I don’t know the statistical odds, but it seems unlikely to me. When I pointed this out to Cheryl, she said “you couldn’t take the geek out of the girl.” I refuse to claim geekhood now, but will admit we had a fairly high count of geeks at the time of graduation and though I don’t know what happened to the rest, I’m thinking the math and computing genius whose Facebook profile claims a residence in the Cayman Islands probably chose something other than RM or Archives as a career. Since the vast majority of my friends group on Facebook consists of professional colleagues who have become good friends, it was fun to discover one who represented the reverse chronology.
At any rate, Cheryl had some interesting and pithy things to say about administering information developed in a 2.0 environment. The paper made me think about retention issues in a new way. She also provided a few good ideas for how to make 2.0 technologies enable access to records. I never would have found this document on my own, or if I had, I wonder if I would have ever recognized my high school friend in the author’s name?
This past year or so, 2.0 has really come onto the RAO radar (you knew I’d get around to the RAO connect eventually, didn’t you?) and I expect we all will be investigating it for some time. I’ll confess, prior to the ’08 section meeting presentation, I cringed every time I heard “2.0.” I didn’t know what it encompassed, I couldn’t figure out how any of it related to me or to my work. The presentation provided connects and building blocks, including making me realize that I’m already using some of these technologies both in my personal and professional life. From keeping in touch with friends, family and colleagues via Facebook, I’ve discovered that some aspects of 2.0 aren’t all that scary. This fall I created a Facebook page for my department—it’s pretty simplistic because I don’t know how to make the most of it yet—but it’s there. I can see the beginnings of how to use it for outreach, less so for reference and access, but at least we’ll save a few minutes in setup when we figure out what comes next. Soon you will be seeing some RAO working groups looking at various 2.0 tools to come up with suggestions and pointers to share. If you would like to participate, please contact me and I’ll be happy to hook you up.
For those of you who haven’t yet investigated the networking sites like MySpace or Facebook, consider taking a little time out of your schedule to play with them. You might not end up a fan. However, understanding how these sites function will help you make better decisions about using them.
I don’t recall quite when or why I joined Facebook, but I didn’t make use of it until last February during a Kodiak blizzard with all my airport novels read and nothing to keep me entertained but free wireless. Now? I check it near daily, sometimes several times a day. I see what is happening in many friends’ and family members’ lives and feel like I am more in touch with them than ever before. It’s a bit voyeuristic at times, but I hear about the great exhibits and programs and projects they are working on and occasionally I read something by a friend that makes me rethink my work. A social tool that serves to educate: now that’s an effective reference, access, and outreach mechanism we should all be studying closely.
By the way, if you want to read Cheryl’s short, informative, and entertaining piece, it’s at: http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/White-Paper/Article/Are-You-Ready-for-Enterprise-2.0What-Records-Managers-Need-to-Know-51343.aspx. The site requires a free login. As do most of the social networking sites. Join one. You’ll find you’re among friends.
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