Deciding, Communicating, Planting, and Yes, Archiving

Once again, I have fallen behind in my blog duties and core values. I have missed two opportunities for workshops offered on the core values because of my schedule this semester. The first was on decision-making and the second on communication--both topics would likely have helped me. It is too easy to get so caught up in the tasks and meetings of the moment that you fail to take advantage of opportunities like this that might help you more in the future.

My own thoughts on decision-making are not very linear. My first step in grappling with a decision is to leap to the end rather than the beginning. I have to visualize the end result--that end state that I believe would constitute success--before evaluating the pros and cons, examining resources and consequences, and planning any implementation. When I first started working as an archivist "processing" collections, I would agonize over every decision and over very long and balanced lists of pros and cons. I would worry over all the "what if" consequences of every decision. Once I learned to begin with the end result, the vision would guide the process as surely as a rudder on a boat. Sometimes, it even helps me to take advantage of unexpected ideas and solutions.


I spent the last weekend in Kentucky at the Appalachian Studies Association's annual conference. It gave me an opportunity to engage in my favorite part of communicating and that is listening. All the sessions on folk culture, literature, sustainable agriculture, seed saving, and food preservation were refreshing and inspired me to start thinking of our own garden and produce. Soon, we will turn this rye grass under and start planting potatoes and the seeds that we saved from last year's crop. Consider this a first report on this year's garden.

There is one other thing that I need to address. Many archivists would quarrel with the title of this blog, Archiving in Appalachia. Archives is a noun and shouldn't be changed into a verb, they say. Language like culture evolves over time and is not set in stone or captured--frozen like a bug under glass. The usage of words change. So, I use "archiving." It just sounds more pro-active. I believe that to "archive" Appalachian culture, it will take more than "keeping" documents and images. It will require people living it--replanting the seeds kept for generations, sharing beliefs, dancing the dances, singing the songs, and continuing to stretch those tall tales. For me, archive will be both noun and verb, but maybe I should consider changing the title to just "Archiving Appalachia."

Beyond the Reading Room

Are we as archivists and special collections keeping or burying memories? I once heard a joke about archivists that went something like this: Archaeologist dig up pieces of history that have been buried so that people will know about it, but archivists take historical materials that are brought to them and bury them in their stacks so that no one can ever find it again. I didn't think the joke was very funny when I heard it. In fact, I still don't. I do think it points to one of our short-comings as a profession. We are not very good at promoting ourselves. Even in the midst of this grand effort to digitize our collections, in many cases, the collections are still hidden--buried deep within our web pages or behind huge databases of metadata. No one wants to click through page after page on a website to find the information they need. They aren't interested in cumbersome searching in a database either. They prefer to just "Google it."

We are still struggling to take our collections beyond the reading room. Our profession's latest effort to promote ourselves--"I Found It in the Archives"--implies that the materials were lost. These items weren't lost--they were locked behind closed doors because they are rare, unique, or have enduring value. We knew exactly where they were. I know that the campaign was highlighting the excitement of the researcher who finds that piece of information, the treasure, that had been eluding them. I have seen that excitement first-hand. I guess I just want this excitement to be looked at as the norm--a commonplace event that occurs every day in Special Collections.

There always have been a few that stand out in their efforts to promote their collections. The following video from Special Collections at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas highlighting a collection of menus is a fine example of Special Collections Librarians using new media to take materials locked in the stacks beyond the reading room.



Special Collections Librarians and Archivists are bound to tradition. I have worked in Appalachia for many years and understand the importance of tradition and of keeping it. As a native of Appalachia, I also understand that tradition is not set in stone or preserved under glass. Tradition is ever evolving. I also know that you cannot become a prisoner of it. Special Collections Librarians and Archivists have more opportunities now than ever before to share the treasures in their collections with those outside of the reading room, if we can escape our own objections--"But, we have always done it THIS way!" I do want to share one word of caution from Wendell Berry, a great thinker. He said that "if going back makes sense" then going back is going forward. Sometimes, you have to be able to admit that maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.

The Allure of Screens

I often find myself wondering why all these Web 2.0 applications must have names like Jing, Skype, Twitter, or Flickr. What is it about this technology that makes everything seem so incomplete and so intangible? It is all so alluring. You can see and talk to your friends around the world using Skype--for free. Share your photographs with your friends and the rest of the world on Flickr. Stream insignificant comments about almost anything to your friends on Facebook and spend endless hours playing games like Farmville or Frontierville. Turn whatever you create on your computer screen into a video--they call it screencasting--and share it with your colleagues using Jing. It is addictive. It seems so fleeting. Still, the possibilities are intriguing. Can imaginative librarians and archivists learn to use this technology in ways that will matter?

Archivists and special collections librarians spend careers building collections of enduring value and depth that will support research on the subjects that are the focus of their collection. So, how do we adapt to this world of screens? I have used Facebook to publicize a collection with great success. I found that, once created, the Archives Facebook page took on a life of its own. With over 600 "friends" or "people who like it," this community of users began to take ownership of the page. I also found that it took quite a bit of time to "nurture" the page by adding new pictures or videos and to answer questions posted.

Screencasting could be a wonderful instructional tool for podcasts on a web page. They could also be useful for sharing information with colleagues that are not in the office next door. In trying to create a screen cast, I discovered that it is more difficult than it appears. Yes, the different software I tried was easy to use and the directions simple to follow. The problem, I found, was that it captures every wrong move and every time that you stop to think. Those pauses seem small when you are creating it, but they seem to never end when you are watching the finished screencast. How many times do you have to practice it to get it right before you record it? It makes me thankful for editing. Thinking back to all those times that I have spent on the phone trying to talk someone through all the clicks to find the information that they want on a web page, I would have been grateful for a way to show them.

Skype also offers all sorts of possibilities for communicating with researchers or with colleagues without the expense of international phone calls. If you were working on a project together, it could be a wonderful way to exchange files and view each others' computer screen. On a personal level, it is a wonderful way for international students to communicate with friends and family while they are so far apart. I have even seen a musical duo practice together, write songs, and perfect musical arrangements over Skype with one person in Norway and the other in Tennessee. The possibilities are limited only by imagination.

Yet, with all these possibilities, I am still bothered that we are becoming a society lost in screens and separated from the real world. What are we missing around us as we spend hours communicating through screens and other digital devices? Are we losing our connections with the community or place in which we live and the people that surround us in a three dimensional world. Are we losing our sense of place? I hope not.

Catching Up

I have truly fallen behind on my 23 things and the monthly core values. So, I am going to try to catch up in this single blog post. Maybe it will be too much at once, but I am going to try.

I want to start with the monthly core values. In December, we were to talk about improving quality of our user service. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with how much I need to do, but I have found that if you start focusing on one thing at a time that you can begin to chip away at bigger problems. One area that I want to improve as far as service in the University Archives is to alleviate some of the confusion in offices about what to do and who to call for help when transferring materials to the records center. My plan is to approach this in two ways. First, I want to study the web page and see if there is some way to improve the instructions and clarify the difference in the services of the university archives and the records center. Second, I would like to restart the training sessions on the services of the records center and university archives. I believe this would help with the confusion. It would really be great to record one of these sessions and have the podcast or several podcasts with instructions on our web page. It is a dream, I know; but you have to dream in order to know the direction you want to go.

The January core value involves accountability. We were supposed to identify a project that we wanted to accomplish in the coming year. I have so many that it is hard to choose one to focus my attention. I think one that I want to describe is the effort to rewrite all of the records retention schedules for all of the offices and departments in the university. This is not going to be accomplished in a single year--I know. Still, my hope is to plan the process and make a beginning. First, we need to get the schedules in machine readable form. This process is already under way. Second, we need to track the old schedule items to the newly revised North Carolina guidelines. Third, I would like to create templates for new schedules common items that would be in similar offices. Finally, we will need to consult with the individual offices and department and finalize their schedules. I would like to test these ideas in the coming months by completing four or five schedules. This will be a collaborative effort with the records center manager and individuals in the chosen offices.

I have used Web 2.0 technology in my previous position as director of the Archives of Appalachia with great success. I have a love/hate relationship with the web and web 2.0 technology. Many times, I have said that when I retire I would love to withdraw from all of this technical intrusion. Still, I know the value of using many of these tools--especially in times of budget reductions. At the Archives of Appalachia, I created a Facebook page for Special Collections--Thing #5. I was amazed how quickly the number of fans grew. Within a few months, we had over 600 fans. It was a wonderful way to showcase new collections, get assistance in identifying photographs, and announce special events. The "friends" decided it was a wonderful way to get our attention and began posting reference questions, making requests for particular photographs that they wanted us to post to the site, and helping each other with research. In my opinion, it was a great success but did require significant time in responding to questions and encouraging discussions.

My first encounter with Prezi was at a Society of Tennessee Archivists conference. Ronee Francis, a librarian at Vanderbilt University, gave a wonderful presentation on Institutional Repositories. I was so impressed with the way that she had put together the presentation slides and knew that it was something other than PowerPoint. I wondered what it was but never had a chance to ask her about it. When I looked at Thing #4 and explored Prezi, I found her presentation and the mystery was solved. I haven't tried to actually create a presentation of my own yet, but I would like to try it.

I think that I haven't caught up on everything that I missed, but I have tried to cover some of the things.

Screens and RSS: Gathering Information or Another Form of Escape

A couple of weeks ago, I embarked again on another round of 23 Things as part of a program at Appalachian State University. The first "thing" was to create a blog, so I began writing in this blog again. "Thing 2" was to explore RSS feeds. I have been subscribed to a number of blogs relating to archives and also to Appalachian history and culture. The last time that I did this, I chose Google Reader mainly because it worked so well with my Google e-mail account. I have been following ArchivesNext, Confessions of a Curator, Derangement and Description, and Curiosities and Wonders all relating to archivists and special collections in some way. The last one mentioned, Curiosities and Wonders, is an interesting blog that highlights university archives collections at the University Archives.

My biggest problem with all of this is that I fail to check Google Reader to see the latest posts of the blogs that I am "following" which makes me wonder whether I have really been following them at all. This exercise did prompt me to check my Google Reader account and I learned all sorts of interesting things going on in the profession and at other archives. This is a useful tool if you treated it like reading the morning or evening paper. It makes it much easier than searching out the individual blogs each time. I just haven't been that disciplined.

In all of these exercises, I am reminded a something a friend related to me summarizing a quote from Wendell Berry about screens. Basically, he was warning about being so lost in screens (television and computer) as escapes that you lose touch with the local world that surrounds you. This is something that I worry about, and I yearn for the day when I won't have to carry a cell phone and be so connected. More and more my interest is turning local where I believe are the answers to many of our modern day problems--local food, local businesses, local products. I think that I still prefer a local community to a virtual community.

Blogs: If You Write It, Will Anybody Read It?

Here I am starting another round of "23 Things" with the first topic being blogs. I spent some time exploring how blogs are being used by archives and special collections. First, there were the official blogs of special collections and archives that announced events, new acquisitions, collections recently processed, or highlighted collections relating to a particular theme. It is a good alternative to a newsletter but reaches a smaller audience generally than a social networking application such as Facebook. However, it does give you the option of writing more substantial information about the event or collection than the social networking applications. Many organizations are using a combination of both or a combination of several Web 2.0 applications. An excellent example is the Deseronto Archives in Ontario.

Another group of blogs in the profession concentrate on professional practice and issues. Blogs in this second category can cover a variety of issues or concentrate on a single issue such as conservation or an audience category such as NewArchivists, aimed at archivists entering the profession. One that I try to follow is ArchivesNext, a blog that explores the use of the latest technology by archivists. For those less serious moments, I turn to Derangement and Description, a comical perspective to the archives profession. Finally, there are blogs that are written more from the personal perspective of the blogger. These are sometimes useful but some times fall into the category of "Who Cares." I have to admit that the last category describes my own personal blogging so far. I assumed no one would notice.

Blogs can be very useful to archival institutions, but you have to be aware that they have limited audience and require some effort to keep current. Bloggers often get weary of it and drop out for a few months or years or just stop.

The Deal: Appalachia and 23 Things

Sorry to be away for so long. The garden and canning and the new job have just consumed my life. I know--excuses, excuses. You can see the products of our labor in the picture to the right. This is just the "ready room." You should see the root cellar. Enough beans, corn, tomatoes, tomato sauce, pickles, grape juice, peaches, and potatoes to last through the winter. Those heirloom seeds really produced when gardens around us were doing nothing. Now it is time to dry some apples and put back some cider.

So, what brought me back to the blog? Today, after a long day, I learned that the library at Appalachian State University is launching a group effort of "23 things." That is how this blog started last year when I signed up to do 23 things with the Society of American Archivists. I did it because I wanted to learn more about the new technology that is out there. I admit, I learned a lot. I also came to realize that I wasn't so comfortable with accounts with my information stored in the clouds and displayed all over the internet. I also wasn't very good at checking all the different e-mail accounts, twitter accounts--you name it. You think it is anonymous and that there are so many blogs and wikis out there that no one would notice yours--it was about archiving for goodness sakes. But find me, some people did.

Now the question becomes: Should I do it again? It is a different list of 23 things. It might be good for me. This program is giving us two weeks to do the designated "thing" instead of one. I guess I might as well do it, but here is the deal. I am going to talk about the experiments with the new technology tools, but I am also going to be talking about Appalachia. With each passing day, we lose a little more of the "old knowledge" of our ways. Archivists, more than anyone, understand how much is forgotten. Perhaps by making a practice of some of these "old ways"-- using heirloom seeds, canning, sulphuring apples--something will survive beyond me. I like the combination of technology and traditional culture.