Archives Found

The title of this recent New York Times article bugged:

Libraries Shun Deals to Place Books on Web.

Sounds like librarians are being selfish, right? We don’t want to share our books… you must come to our libraries <insert malevolent cackle>.

Actually, the article is about the recent decision of the Boston Library Consortium and a few other big players making a decision not to share their information with for-profit orgs Google and Microsoft (which place restrictions on the materials), and instead working with the Open Content Alliance to digitize materials that are out of copyright. Being a happy library cardholder of several of the institutions mentioned, I would have access to the materials in any case, but as a librarian/information professional, I really like the idea that the information would be accessible to those not ordinarily served by the particular libraries.

While the books involved in the above projects are (to my knowledge) not archival materials, I wanted to note that I’m in favor of digitization projects that work to provide access while preserving the context of the collection.

For instance, the Boston Public Library has the books of John Adams, and they were recently on exhibit at the main branch in Copley Square. While I did stop by several times to look at the materials, I’ve been even more excited about the website, because I can read Adams’ notations at my leisure. One that I particularly enjoyed was his handwritten argument with Mary Wollstonecraft in the preface of An historical and moral view of the origin and progress of the French Revolution : and the effect it has produced in Europe:

“If Nature has no Father, no Creator, no Governor, and men are to perish, Inequality is a Right and it would be folly in him who posesses or can obtain an Advantage, to forego it.”

http://www.johnadamslibrary.org/book/?book=2257683Adams%20221.15&page=11

I love that the digitized collection allows one to search the transcriptions, but also examine Adams’ words on the page in his elegant scrawl. Furthermore, I like that the pages are within the context of the entire book, as well as grouped with his collection of books, thereby providing a basis for researchers to understand Adams’ notations as a whole.

I’ve veered a bit from my original intentions in this post, but here’s the point: I like access, and I like context. The three organizations listed in the title plan to provide some access to materials that in some cases were not previously available to a wider audience. That’s a good thing. However, I think that we need to be conscious of not only access, but also the delivery model that we use to serve up the information. If materials are available through Google Books, but the user still cannot access them, then are we really serving a greater audience?

NARA announced yesterday that they are opening approximately six million veterans records at NPRC. This is exciting news for veterans, genealogists, and historians. The original records can be viewed at the NPRC reading room in St. Louis. Honestly, understanding which military records reside in various NARA (and other) facilities is somewhat confusing, but there’s a handy grid here that helps to clarify which records are available at NPRC. This batch of OMPFs (Official Military Personnel Files) corresponds with individuals who served in the Army, Army Air Corps, Army Air Forces, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard and left the service (discharged, retired, died) prior to 1946. However, additional records are also available at NPRC. Note: the DD 214s (OMPFs) will not be available online, and will require authorization from veterans or kin for third-party release. More information available through NARA.

I’ve started an online study group for the August 2008 CA exam, and I’m looking forward to lively discussion regarding some key issues in the field. Anyone is welcome to join the group– just drop me an email or a comment.

I always love to find out what other people are reading, and I found it especially interesting to see how many Nobel Prize winners attribute their early influences to libraries. I feel like the ALA or a literacy group should try to team up with them for some sort of publicity campaign.

I’ve been poking around in the public beta sandbox of Archivists’ Toolkit in the past month or two, and I’ve found a lot to like there. While I don’t have a local instance installed with our data just yet, I think I/we may take the leap towards further testing on a dedicated server soon. So far, I’m the only one playing with this, but we’ve initiated the hiring process for some actual IT support (fingers crossed). I’ve only glanced at Archon and ICA-AtoM so far, but I haven’t been as impressed. I’m thinking about trying out a trial version of Past Perfect this week, and I’m also trying to look at less-discussed software like Re:discovery’s Proficio. Any insights would be useful! I’d like to find something that integrates accessions, donor letters and files, catalog records, processed/unprocessed collection lists, provenance and condition reports, and other stuff, and especially allows export of finding aids in XML/EAD.

Yesterday a US District Court judge made a ruling regarding the witholding of documents based on President Bush’s 2001 executive order. NYT article here, more information in AP article here.

It’s Banned Book Week again, and I wanted to say something about that. Actually, Jessamyn West said it better, so here it is:

Banning books is bad. Challenging books is an exercise in free speech and a totally appropriate way of giving community feedback on library selection policies. Lumping challenged and banned books together confuses two different issues, to my mind.

Anyway, I think that she’s exactly right. Taking something completely away (banning) not only deprives others of the book, it also takes away the possibility that they might read it and decide for themselves whether or not the material is of interest. Challenging something, on the other hand, is a form of protest that does not take away the rights of other people– it registers the displeasure of the challenger in a constructive way but does not remove the ability for others to look for themselves and come to their own conclusions. While I may not agree with the challenger’s views, I think that a book challenge done in a responsible, respectful fashion is a great way to begin a conversation about library selection policies, intended audience, and community needs.

In another vein, as noted by The Onion: Nation’s Teens Disappointed By Banned Books

C-Span’s new series Presidential Libraries: History Uncovered has been quietly running on Friday nights at 8pm EST this fall in anticipation of the upcoming presidential race. So far I’ve only managed to catch 1.5 hours of one show (Truman), but I really enjoyed watching old footage of Truman’s first press conferences and ads. Even more, I enjoyed seeing a supervisory archivist (Sam Rushay) and Truman Library director Michael Devine discussing the collections and answering questions from live callers. I think that as anyone who has worked for NARA, or has even done research at a NARA-run Presidential Library could tell you, it’s quite unusual that either patrons or visitors would be able to interact with either the processing staff or the library director, so this show covers some ground that would not generally be available otherwise.

While the timing of the show (Friday night?!) leaves something to be desired, this is a great opportunity to showcase these collections and to demonstrate how the past connects with the present. It looks like previously aired episodes (as well as clips from previously unseen materials used on the show) can be downloaded from the C-Span site and watched in RealPlayer. The episodes are going in the order of Presidential term, and this week is John F. Kennedy. Stay tuned– I’ll definitely be watching.