Graduation Day!

This Friday was graduation! It was a great day. We are finally finished and officially hold our master's degree! Now all of us will scatter to our new jobs and new adventures.

Last Week: Internship Wrap-Up

Tomorrow is my last day at the IU Archive and I have to say it is hard to believe how fast the semester has gone. I have spent my time processing collections, reading about archival reference service, creating finding aids, and learning all sorts of new things about IU and archival practices.

My last collection, The Paper of Walter Nugent, will not be finished by tomorrow, but I have created a write up about what I have to done to the collection so the next intern can hit the ground running.

Only a few more weeks of school remain and I will be a graduate and moving to Chicago to start my new job. The skills I have learned at my internship will greatly aid in my success at my new job.

I have had a wonderful and educational time at my internship and I want to thank Professor Phil Bantin, Dina Kellams, Carrie Schwier, Kate Cruikshank, and Brad Cook for all their help and guidance.

Argonne National Laboratory

This week brought fantastic news. After graduation I will be working as an archivist at the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago! There was an initial mix up about the position, but I learned on Friday that the position was mine. I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to build an archive from the ground up. This is not a permanent position, but a project dedicated to the setup of an archive dedicated to the emergency preparedness procedures developed by Argonne. I think it will be a fantastic experience and a real opportunity use the skills I have learned at SLIS and at my internship.

http://www.anl.gov/

New Collection: Walter Nugent

So this past week I wrapped up the folklore archives assignment and helped with IU Board of Trustees collection. I spent some time updating the EAD finding aid and foldering new materials that fill gaps in the collection.

The new collection I have been tasked with is quite large. Professor Bantin asked that I start working on the papers of IU alum, Walter Nugent.

Walter Nugent is an acclaimed historian who taught at IU for twenty years. He was a professor of History, the Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, and headed the Overseas Studies Department during his time at IU. Professor Nugent has written several books focusing on social-demographic history. His collection should be very interesting and though my time at the Archive is almost over, I hope to at least have a processing plan for the next intern.

Chapter 6: Determining Access Policies

The goal of an access policy is to protect the records from harm, prevent some information from being disclosed prematurely, and strive to make as much information as possible available to users. An access policy mediates among the competing demands of privacy, confidentiality, public right to know, and equality of access.

Archival Responsibilities Regarding Access

• Understand laws and regulations relevant to information found in records in the repository, especially federal and state laws governing privacy, confidentiality, freedom of information, and regulations regarding security classifications.
• Advise donors and creators about access issues
• Negotiate clear and responsible agreements with donors and agencies
• Know where sensitive information is likely to be found in the collection
• Identify information that cannot be released immediately for public use
• Develop appropriate restrictions for sensitive materials
• Administer restrictions fairly
• Inform users about restricted materials
• Strive to open as much material as possible
• Define policy about access decisions
• Promote equal access wherever possible

It is important that archivists understand some the laws regulating record use. The Freedom of Information Acts (FIOA) were created to ensure that records of government activities are open to all. The statute states that any person has the right to know anything about the operations of the federal government. Exceptions to FIOA include personal privacy and national security. FIOA allows users to request records from the government and the government must respond within a certain time frame.

Another law archivists should be aware of is The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). This law allows students or parents of minor students the right to examine or challenge educational records and prohibits the release of personal information without the permission of the student or parent. FERPA is something all archivist should be familiar with, but especially those working in college or university campuses.

A good access policy should contain: identify the users to be served by the repository, state the type of records held within the repository, state the restrictions on the collections and identify the laws or donor restrictions associated, describe reference services, disclose fees, describe physical access and conditions of user, explain how to use the information, and specify if materials can be loaned.

Access policies are the cornerstones of sound reference service and users should be made aware of the access policy. Archivists strive to provide equal service to all researchers, but the reality is that some records come with restrictions. A good access policy will help clarify these restrictions and allow users to see that a consistent method of service is being applied to all users.

Notes

My finding aid for the Richard M. Dorson Papers, 1940-1980 is up!

http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/findingaids/view?doc.view=entire_text&docId=InU-Ar-VAB8852

Fun Fact about the Wells Library:

We have the largest library collection for folklore and ethnomusicology anywhere in the world!

For this reason, it was selected to be the first “collection of distinction” to be digitized as part of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) agreement with Google. Under this agreement Google has digitized the entire Folklore Collection, which means that the contents of the entire collection will be searchable online by anyone. Only books in the public domain will be readable online, however.

For more about the folklore collection, visit our web page at http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=329.

Details about the Collection of Distinction may be found here:http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=8104

What We Could Be Losing

Chapter 5: The Reference Process

This chapter focuses on the human dimension of providing reference services in archives.

It may seem like as more finding aids and records become available online that there will be less of a need for reference services, but as information sources become more abundant people will need even more assistance to locate and evaluate these sources.

Intellectual Dimensions of Reference Services

• Initial Interview

· Query abstraction

· Query resolution

· Search strategy

• Continuing Interaction

• Exit Interview

The initial interview is the interchange between the archivist and the user. This is the opportunity for the archivist to elicit information about the research project and to guide the user to the appropriate sources. During the interview it is crucial for the archivist to ask good questions (query abstraction) about the specifics of the user's needs and goals. Good questions will lead to a better understanding of the user's needs, which will help the archivist provide the best possible solution and materials.

Query resolution is the process of the archivist and the user analyzing the problem in terms of the sources available. It is vital that the reference archivist be well versed in the sources available at their repository. Once the problem has been analyzed with an eye towards available sources, it is time to formulate a search strategy.

A search strategy is a plan for resolving the problem using the sources available. The archivist will help the user identify sources that are highly relevant, others as possibly useful, and some that may be of marginal interest. A well formed search strategy can only be developed if the archivist is aware of the current holdings of the repository, the formats available, the location of the records (some may be housed offsite), and the finding aids available.

The second full stage of the archivist/user interaction is the continuing interaction. As a user works through archival materials they frequently discover new aspects of their topic, discover new names, and become aware of additional sources. It is important for the archivist to support the user during this discovery period by providing additional information about holdings or directing them to reference files to aid in the research of a new name or topic. It is important that the user see the archivist as a vital link to the repository and that questions are always welcomed. A user must feel that the records and the expertise of the staff is being made available to them.

The exit interview is the last stage of the archivist/user interaction. Though it is seldom taken advantage of, the exit interview can function as a means of evaluation of the repository's services. The archivist can discover if the services available are helpful and useful, if the user has any suggestions about services, or even preservation is needed on certain items of a record collection. The exit interview can also service as an opportunity for the archivist to gather more information about existing collections. Perhaps the user can shed light on some person not well described in the collection or identify people in a photograph. The exit interview, though often overlooked, can enhance a repository in many ways.

This three stage process is not limited to physical archivist/user interactions. Off-site interaction should also follow this process. Today users are also taking advantage of the repository via phone, mail, email, and interactive features on the repository's website. It is crucial that archivists treat these users with the same care and respect as those physical visitors to the repository.

Overall, despite expanding technologies, the archivist will always be the mediator between the collection and the user. An archivist must always remember that a repository exists for users and that those users depend on archivists to provide them with the necessary materials from that repository.