Digital Archives And Collections

In the 21st era the devastating majority of newly created information is digital. With the birth and development of information technology, use of computers in offices and institutions, private life and the preservation of digital documents, the possibility of scanning and sending of this material among Internet has produced a new reality for the work of the archives. The digital collections of collecting institutions such as archives, libraries and museums consist of either digitized or 'born digital' content. This reality and this new technology have born digital archives. This means we have to preserve lots of digital information for a long time. Doing this work is, however, fundamentally different that preserving books, papers and other traditional forms of information. Digital content can be hard to capture, difficult to organize and use and prone to going obsolete due to changing technology. Challenges and issues regarding the long-term viability of and access to digital collections are common to all collecting domains, but the Archives Domain has put particular emphasis on finding solutions to digital archiving and digital preservation. In doing so it has become a leader in the field of the long-term preservation of digital objects and is thus in a position to provide advice to the cultural domain at large. This book entitled Digital Archives provides up-to-date studies that guide for creating digital collections, including examples and real-world cases. This book aims to present and analyze concrete examples of collective intelligence at the service of digital archives. This compendium offers a wide-ranging overview of how rapid technological changes and the push for providing wide access to digitized cultural heritage holdings are changing the landscape of archives. The book serves as valuable guide for archivists and information specialists working in cultural heritage institutions, including archives, libraries, and museums, providing detailed analyses of how metadata and standards are used to manage information securely.

Theorizing digital archives : power, access and new order -- Deciding for digital archives improvement through collection management systems -- Community-based digital archives : programming alternatives -- Creating and curating digital archives : horizontal and vertical structures -- Using digital archives : online encounters, stories of impact and postcolonial agendas -- Digital archives' objects : law and tangibility -- Conclusion. Cultural production in the present with reference to the past and directed at the future.

The Digital Archives Handbook provides archivists a roadmap to create and care for digital archives. Written by archival experts and practitioners, Purcell brings together theoretical and practical approaches to creating, managing, and preserving digital archives. The first section is focused on processes and practices, including chapters on acquisitions, appraisal, arrangement, description, delivery, preservation, forensics, curation, and intellectual property. The second section is focused on digital collections and specific environments where archivists are managing digital collections. These chapters review digital collections in categories including performing arts, oral history, architectural and design records, congressional collections, and email. The book discuss the core components of digital archives—the technological infrastructure that provides storage, access, and long-term preservation; the people or organizations that create or donate digital material to archives programs, as well as the researchers use them; and the digital collections themselves, full of significant research content in a variety of formats with a multitude of research possibilities. The chapters emphasize that the people and the collections that make up digital archives are just as important as the technology. Also highlighted are the importance of donors and creators of digital archives. Building digital archives parallels the cycle of donor work—planning, cultivation, and stewardship. During each stage, archivists work with donors to ensure that the digital collections will be arranged, described, preserved, and made accessible for years to come. Archivists must take proactive and informed actions to build valuable digital collections. Knowing where digital materials come from, how those materials were created, what materials are important, what formats or topical areas are included, and how to serve those collections to researchers in the long term is central to archival work. This handbook is designed to generate new discussions about how archivists of the twenty-first century can overcome current challenges and chart paths that anticipate, rather than merely react to, future donations of digital archives.

Technological advances and innovative perspectives constantly evolve the notion of what makes up a digital library. Archives and the Digital Library provides an insightful snapshot of the current state of archiving in the digital realm. Respected experts in library and information science present the latest research results and illuminating case studies to provide a comprehensive glimpse at the theory, technological advances, and unique approaches to digital information management as it now stands. The book focuses on digitally reformatted surrogates of non-digital textual and graphic materials from archival collections, exploring the roles archivists can play in broadening the scope of digitization efforts through creatively developing policies, procedures, and tools to effectively manage digital content. Many of the important advances in digitization of materials have little to do with the efforts of archivists. Archives and the Digital Library concentrates specifically on the developments in the world of archives and the digitization of the unique content of information resources archivists deal with on a constant basis. This resource reviews the current issues and challenges, effective user assessment techniques, various digital resources projects, collaboration strategies, and helpful best practices. The book is extensively referenced and includes helpful illustrative figures. Topics in Archives and the Digital Library include: a case study of LSTA-grant funded California Local History Digital Resources Project expanding the scope of traditional archival digitations projects beyond the limits of a single institution a case study of the California Cultures Project the top ten themes in usability issues case studies of usability studies, focus groups, interviews, ethnographic studies, and web log analysis developing a reciprocal partnership with a digital library the technical challenges in harvesting and managing Web archives metadata strategies to provide descriptive, technical, and preservation related information about archived Web sites long-term preservation of digital materials building a trusted digital repository collaboration in developing and supporting the technical and organizational infrastructure for sustainability in both academic and state government the Archivists’ Toolkit software application Archives and the Digital Library is timely, important reading for archivists, librarians, library administrators, library information educators, archival educators, and students.

Outreach: Innovative Practices for Archives and Special Collections explores how archives of different sizes and types are reaching out to new potential users and increasing awareness of programs and collections. The book features twelve case studies that demonstrate ideas that can be transferred into many other settings. Some of the practices described in the case studies rely primarily on technology and the Web to interact with the public, while others are centered on face-to-face activities. The case studies featured are The Oregon Archives Crawl: Engaging New Users and Advocates Moved by the Spirit: Opportunistic Promotion of the Hamilton Family Séance Collection Working Within the Law: Public Programming and Continuing Education Staying Connected: Engaging Alumni and Students to Digitize the Carl “Pappy” Fehr Choral Music Collection “Pin”pointing Success: Assessing the Value of Pinterest and Historypin for Special Collections Outreach Creating a New Learning Center: Designing a Space to Support Multiple Outreach Goals "Wikipedia is made of people!”: Revelations from Collaborating with the World's Most Popular Encyclopedia 21 Revolutions: New Art from Old Objects Happy Accidents and Unintended Consequences: How We Named Our Tribble Navigating Nightingale: Creating an App Out of Archives DIY History: Redesigning a Platform for a Transcription Crowdsourcing Initiative Taking Preservation to the People: Educating the Public About Personal Digital Archiving All twelve case studies look at outreach as identifying the organization’s intended audience, building new ways of reaching them, and helping the organization achieve its mission. Each also reflects a philosophy of experimentation that is perhaps the most critical ingredient for any organization interested in developing its own “innovative” practices. This volume will be useful to those working in archives and special collections as well as other cultural heritage organizations, and provides ideas ranging from those that require long-term planning and coordination to those that could be immediately implemented. It also provides students and educators in archives, library, and public history graduate programs a resource for understanding the variety of ways people conduct outreach in the field today and the kinds of strategies archivists are using to attract new users to collections.

Part of the "Digital Futures" series, this book presents information managers with strategic and practical issues to consider when making the decision to digitize their collections. It runs through the process step by step, and outlines the techniques available to deal with a range of resources.

Going Digital: Strategies for Access, Preservation, and Conversion of Collections to a Digital Format offers you succinct and analytic views of the problems and benefits of digital resources in the traditional academic library. Library administrators, collection managers, and librarians will learn the advantages and disadvantages of traditional and digital collections and the costs of providing local access or implementing remote access to digital collections. Originally presented at a series of five symposiums sponsored by the Research Libraries Group, the articles inGoing Digital will help you decide upon a cost-effective collection method that will meet the needs of your library, your patrons, and your budget. The chapters in this text are written by the nation’s leading librarians who pose and answer questions about hardware and software needed for digital libraries, the costs involved, establishing and maintaining access to digital collections, copyright concerns, and long-term preservation problems. Going Digital gives you insight into factors that will help you decide what will best meet the goals of your library, such as: the advantages and disadvantages of preserving microfilm and digital conversion choosing the correct hardware and software for your digital preservation program the changes required from librarians when shifting from collection development to digital resources examining the selection process for collections from perspectives of access, public service, technological requirements, and preservation ways to improve access to traditional collections cost comparisons between digital and hard copy resources devising a technical plan for successful digital conversion of projects involving the user’s wants when selecting collections for digital conversion and recognizing the central parts patrons play in the selection process In light of the changing ways we receive and keep our information, Going Digital discusses new collection preservation criteria and suggests that access and informational values, not just deterioration, should be equal factors in selecting materials to be converted to digital form. Proving that digital collections are changing every facet of library operations, Going Digital shows you the most cost-effective way to begin a digital collection and how to choose what materials to digitize in order to provide your patrons with the information they want and need.

Digital preservation is an issue of huge importance to the library and information profession right now. With the widescale adoption of the internet and the rise of the WWW, the world has been overwhelmed by digital information. Digital data is being produced on a massive scale by individuals and institutions: some of it is born, lives and dies only in digital form, and it is the potential death of this data that is the concern of this volume. So how can information professionals try to remedy this situation? Digital preservation is a complex issue, with many different aspects and views, so in this book each chapter is written by an international expert on the topic. Many case studies and examples are used to ground the ideas and theories in real concerns and practice. This volume will arm the information professional with the knowledge they need about this important and pressing issue and give examples of best practice to help find a way to a solution for this problem. Chapters cover: formats of digital data authenticity of digital data preservation strategies international trends in digital preservation web archiving metadata institutional policies the cost of digital preservation and cost of data loss. Written by leading international experts in digital library development, each book in the Digital Futures series examines in detail some of the key strategic and practical issues facing libraries and other cultural institutions in the rapidly expanding world of digital information. Readership: This is an indispensable guide for all information managers, librarians and archivists. Others in the information and culture world, such as museum curators, media professionals and web content providers will also find it essential reading, as will students of digital culture on library and information studies and other courses.