Archives and OCLC What’s in it for them (and for us)

1. Archives and OCLCWhat’s in it for them (and for us) Ricky Erway OCLC Programs and Research Members Council May 21, 2007

2. WHAT LIES AHEAD • What is unique about archives? • Overview of archival standards • What can OCLC do for archives? • What can archives contribute to the OCLC community? • Overview of ArchiveGrid • Related activities • Discussion

3. ARCHIVES the store rooms of humanity History, and who we are, lies in the material remains of the past ... in archives. The architecture of access to the remains of the past. The prefix arche is Greek for beginning, origin, foundation, source, first principle, first place of power, authority, sovereignty. Archives are all about narratives and histories of origin, identity and belonging, and the politics of ownership, organization, access and use. From the Archives Manifesto http://documents.stanford.edu/archives/27

4. WHAT MAKES ARCHIVES UNIQUE? Contents largely donated Unpublished works, usually unique Acquisition of whole collections Collections = boxes, folders, documents… Catalog whole collections; rarely item-level Tighter collecting focus No lending Different motivation for digitization • Researchers come to them to see their collections

5. WHAT MAKES ARCHIVES SIMILAR? Technological challenges and opportunities Collection management Description Digitization Preservation Public access

6. Archival standards • MARC AMC • Sample record • Marc AMC record • Encoded Archival Description (EAD) • Finding aid examples • Muir Family Papers • Taber - Sutro Heights (with images) • Patrick Breen Diary (image/transcription) • Encoded Archival Context (EAC) • EAC implementation • Archives of the State of Florence • Record for Camillo Guidi • Encoded Archival Guide (EAG) • EAG implementation • Guide to Spanish and Iberian American Archives

7. What’s in it for them? • Learning from libraries’ successes • Disclosure • Aggregation • Digital preservation • Piggy-backing on expertise • SGML/XML • Standards processes • Tool kits

8. OCLC Services of interest to archives • ArchiveGrid • WorldCat Identities • WorldCat Registry • CONTENTdm and repository services • Web Archives Workbench • WorldCat.orgscreen

10. What’s in it for us? • Learning from archives successes • Collection-level description • Handling of primary source materials • Use of the content they contribute • Primary sources to supplement • Provides historical context • Many libraries have or are affiliated with archives • Economize by integrating similar functions • Aggregate and disclose

11. ArchiveGrid • A reciprocal example • Archival Resources, first iteration • User testing • Audience identification • ArchiveGrid launched • Demo • Search • MARC examples 1, 2 • Finfing aid examples 1, 2

12. User testing • 2003 focus group • faculty and graduate students • 2003 Advisory group • archivists, public service librarians, user behaviorists • 2004 Focus groups • Undergrads, grad students, genealogists • Usability studies • Genealogists, graduate students, faculty • Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation • Log analysis • Navigation, search terms, selections

13. Before After

14. A SAMPLE JOURNEY ACROSS ARCHIVEGRID Gertrude Stein Hemingway, Man Ray, E.E. Cummings James Joyce Sylvia Beach George Antheil Ezra Pound Olga Rudge Virgil Thomson Gertrude Stein From “Finding Degrees of Connection through RLG Archival Resources” - Kevin Opstedal,RLG Focus

15. Related RLG Programs activities • Survey of library, archive and museum relationships • Extend the WorldCat Registry • Analyze and assess the draft EAC standard for usability and application in existing resources. • Web Archiving • Expediting metadata creation, sharing, interoperability, disclosure; persistent identifiers; shared terminologies • Digitization Matters: Breaking through the barriers -- Scaling up digitization of special collections