More Product, Less Process

1. More Product, Less Process Why it Matters to Archivists, Librarians, and Researchers Dennis Meissner Minnesota Historical Society dennis.meissner@mnhs.org "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

2. The Problem • Archival processing does not keep pace with the growth of collections • Unprocessed backlogs continue to grow • Researchers denied access to collections • Our image with donors and resource allocators suffers "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

3. Hypotheses • Increasing breadth and scale of contemporary collections • Failure to revise processing benchmarks to deal with problem "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

4. Methodology • Literature review • Repository survey (100 repositories) • Grant project survey (40 NHPRC grants) • User survey (48 researchers) • Review related surveys "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

5. Findings • Processing benchmarks and practices are inappropriate to deal with problems posed by large contemporary collections • Ideal vs. necessary • Fixation on item level tasks • Preservation anxieties trump user needs "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

6. Recommendations • General Principles for Change • Establish acceptable minimum level of work, and make it the benchmark • Don’t assume all collections, or all collection components, will be processed to same level "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

7. Recommendations • Arrangement • In normal or typical situations, the physical arrangement of materials in archival groups and manuscript collections should not take place below the series level • Not all series andall files in a collection need to be arranged to the same level "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

8. Recommendations • Description • Since description represents arrangement: describe materials at a level of detail appropriate to that level of arrangement • Keep description brief and simple • Level of description should vary across collections, and across components within a collection "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

9. Recommendations • Conservation • Rely on storage area environmental controls to carry the conservation burden • Don’t perform conservation tasks at a lower hierarchical level than you perform arrangement and description "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

10. Recommendations • Productivity • A processing archivist ought to be able to arrange and describe large twentieth century archival materials at an average rate of 4 hours per cubic foot "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

11. Lessons learned • What do our users really need and expect? Access • Online discovery tools • Effective finding aids "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

12. Lessons learned • What are the essentials of effective arrangement work? • Respect des fonds + Original order → • Series-level arrangement "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

13. Lessons learned • What preservation activities are truly necessary? • Protection from light • Protection from atmospheric pollutants • Protection from excessive heat • Protection from moisture "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

14. A better model • Make user access paramount: Get most material available as quickly as possible in some usable form "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

15. A better model • Establish acceptable minimum level of work, and make it the processing benchmark "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

16. A better model • Expend the greatest effort on the most deserving or needful materials "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

17. A better model • Embrace flexibility: Don’t assume all collections, or all collection components, will be processed to same level "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

18. A better model • Embrace ambiguity: Stop pretending that you know what will be important in the future • User needs and interests • Access and description needs • See every collection as a potential work in progress. Let future events drive further work "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

19. A better model • Don’t allow preservation anxieties to trump user access and higher managerial values "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

20. A better model Establish good risk management models • Risk is unavoidable • Risk is amenable to being managed • assess • mitigate • budget • respond "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

21. What MPLP is not A manual for arrangement, description, and conservation specifics A set of fixed upper limits Inflexible, absolutist, or simplistic "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

22. What MPLP really is • Stern advice about resource management • Prioritizing goals • Achieving high-level program objectives • Maximizing ROI • Practical approaches, not millenial ones • A profound change in approach and perspective "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

23. What MPLP really is Stern advice about resource management Making use the preeminent objective "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

24. And what do users want? • Access to collections trumps precise arrangement, granular description, and interpretation of content • Access to what? • Online finding aids • For all types of collections, via common discovery & access tools • Digitized collection materials "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

25. What MPLP really is • Stern advice about resource management • Making use the preeminent objective • Opening the blinds, and throwing away the cookie cutters • Transparency about collection holdings • Openness to archival innovation • Institutional practice limited only by resources (no straitjackets) "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

26. What can MPLP mean for Special Collections? • Broad approach to leveraging our collective ability to provide access to research collections • Extensible to deal with novel problem spaces • Brevity in resource description is positive benefit in networked environments • Economic approaches are driving innovations in practice: Description; archival approaches; digitization "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

27. Early Implementers • University of Montana—Missoula • Donna McCrea donna.mccrea@umontana.edu • No physical work within file folders • Uniform collection-level descriptive access • No weeding below series level for backlog • No notable user acceptance problems • 2 hours per linear foot on average "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

28. Early Implementers • American Heritage Center, Univ. of Wyoming • NHPRC grant funded 1 processing archivist for 2 years • 700 collection-level MARC records added to OPAC • 175% performance to budget • 265 EAD finding aids for larger collections • 132% performance to budget • Significant increase in discovery and use • Public service impact: • Positive outcomes overall • Requires more reference involvement from other staff • Follow-on Innovation: Process on Demand "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

29. Early Implementers • University of Alaska—Fairbanks • Anne Foster ffalf@uaf.edu • Series level processing of extensive photographs • Lets use drive more intensive processing • Involves donor in processing continuum • Solicits $$ donations from donors for more processing "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

30. Early Implementers • University of Wisconsin—Oshkosh • Joshua Ranger ranger@uwosh.edu • Series level processing of digitized collections • High-speed bi-tonal scanning of photocopied collection materials • The perfect is the enemy of the good • Move metadata level from item to folder level "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

31. Minnesota Historical Society • Walter Mondale Papers • NEH “We the People” Project • High productivity + high-value products • http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00697.xml "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

32. Mondale Papers finding aid "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

33. Mondale Papers finding aid "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

34. Minnesota Historical Society • Walter Mondale Papers • NEH “We the People” Project • High productivity + high-value products • Rethinking items as collections • Photographs (albums and loose images, as well) • Sheet music • Bound publications • Maps • Oral histories • Audio and moving image materials ??? "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

35. Photograph collections http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/sv000057.xml "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

36. Minnesota Historical Society • Walter Mondale Papers • NEH “We the People” Project • High productivity + high-value products • Rethinking items as collections • Photographs (albums and loose images, as well) • Sheet music • Bound publications • Maps • Oral histories • Audio and moving image materials ??? • Use PDFs to inexpensively bundle and present complex objects "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

37. PDFs: low-cost digital carriers http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00744.xml "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

38. PDFs: low-cost digital carriers http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00744.xml "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

39. Indictments of MPLP approaches • Loss of item-level control • Specious argument; item-level control has never dominated archival processing • Exposure of “sensitive” and third-party materials • Vulnerability to litigation and public/donor displeasure greatly overstated • Unfair burden imposed on researchers • MPLP seeks a fair distribution of costs between all transaction parties • Invitation to document thieves • Rely on reading room security, not on collection inventories • Professional status of archivists is weakened • Please! Professional status should not be based on finding aids "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

40. “Insanity is when you do things the way you’ve always done them, but expect a different result.” • -- adage ascribed to both Albert Einstein and Ralph Waldo Emerson "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010

41. “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is now.” --African proverb quoted by economist DambisaMoyo "Moving the Past into the Future," Oxford, UK, October 13, 2010