[Oe List ...] Values for the Archives | creating a prototype database

Wed May 20 20:43:48 EDT 2009

I'm a little behind on the technical edge of archival preservation, but I'd like to know...

1. How much is digitization of the 172 file cabinet contents going to cost, and how is Nino going to pay for it?
2. Who is going to do it, with what equipment, and in what location?
3. How and where will the digital records be stored, made available, and preserved from catastrophe (remember the "great flood" in Kemper Building)?
4. Will on-line access and search capabilities be offered, to whom, at what cost, and with what security (anti-hacking) precautions?
5. How will storage media be accessed on future platforms (when today's storage methods are obsolete and hardware/software is no longer available to access data)?

The working assumption is that once the entire corpus is digitized, then the digital database becomes of primary value (even though the original materials are preserved until they disintegrate or are damaged in a catastrophe). Digitization is a process you wouldn't want to have to do more than once.

Though about 99% of the surviving Archives are on paper, a very valuable addition to this treasure is the corpus of original (and duplicate) analog 1/4" audiotape, videotape (in various formats, some of which, like 3/4" U-Matic cassettes, are playable only on 'legacy' equipment that is no longer supported by the manufacturer), and film formats (16mm, 35mm slides) that are highly vulnerable to deterioration in a hostile environment and to chemical changes in the best environment. While there are many surviving archival sources of this material, the primary one in the Kemper Building has been stored in a file cabinet adjacent to the furnace in the basement--which takes the cake for the most hostile storage environment I could imagine (short of a vat of hot vinegar)!

In 2007 I worked on digitizing what I considered the most valuable of the film/video material, and compiled it on 2 DVD's which were released by ICAI. (If you own the DVD's, you have the best state-of-the-art access to it!)

The uncompressed digital files were stored on hard drives (the cheapest method) subject to fragility issues, so I made a second backup set as a hedge against catastrophe. The best practice would be to store both sets securely in two different cities, but I haven't gotten that far, and currently none of the uncompressed digital media from this project is in the Kemper Building (which says a lot about the dysfunctional relationship between ICA-USA and myself). 

Any ideas for tweaking this outcome?

Marshall Jones

Oh yeah, there's a stack of 3/4" analog video in the very back of my closet that I can no longer play. Some of it is stuff like ICA's 25th Anniversary celebration in the Guild Hall with David Wood, etc., a TV news segment on Delta Pace, a very critical piece on HDP's from the CBC (Neil Vance told me to "Get that out of the Kemper Building!"), raw footage from Gibson, and a copy of 'Marshall High Fights Back' which ran on PBS.

Any ideas for dealing with this before somebody finds me dead and takes it to the dumpster?

________________________________
From: Bill Parker <bparker175 at cox.net>
To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe at wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:08:12 AM
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] Values for the Archives | creating aprototype database

David and Marilyn,

You've brought up a good point and 
one which after the 172 file cabinets are digitize should be moved on. In the 
practical dimension I would hpe we would want to initiate an effort to pull in 
everyone's archives, those that fill the gaps AND those archives they have been 
created since 1988. You could, for example, box up your personal archives, ship 
them to "us" (not knowing who us is at this point) where they would be digitized 
and added to the total archive database, tagged so that when finished with the 
integration phase one could do a search and have digital access to their 
personal archive while at the same time those same archives would be added to 
the Global Archives, some of which would fill gaps and some would not, might 
even be a duplication, but it would not matter. After the digitizing of those 
archives the boxes would be shipped back to the owner of the 
archive.

Now, one assumption underlying this 
is that the Global Archives and any personal archive are about the documentation 
of the human journey taken by that group of people who came together, formed 
themselves into a secular/religious order so they could respond to that 
which was transpiring in the 20th Century, and the new additions of 
personal archives would continue the historic legacy of that group of people 
into the 21st Century.

Take care everyone, there is a reason 
you need to,

Bill Parker
----- Original Message ----- 
From: David Dunn 
To: Colleague Dialogue ; Order Ecumenical  Community 
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:15  AM
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue]  Values for the Archives | creating aprototype database

On May 19, 2009, at 6:50 PM, Marilyn R Crocker  wrote:

We are wondering, is there a way we (collectively) might be able to  identify and fill gaps in the official archives with the gifts  of items from our dispersed family archives?  Otherwise we're  thinking the whole lot may get chucked given the "down-sizing" time of life  we are all entering, or "the dumpster strategy" that our kids would likely  choose if they were the ones left "holding the  files."

Hello Marilyn and other colleagues.

Walt Epley and I have been custodians of the Paul  Evans personal archive that Gini Natali passed on to me for temporary care  until the Global Archives is ready to receive it. We've begun by cataloging  Paul's audio recording collection and researching what is involved in  digitizing the audio cassettes. The tool we're using is a Filemaker Pro  database that we expect to have online by the end of this week. (See the  attached 'screenshots.')

Though we began experimenting with this prototype  before Bill Parker's values email arrived, our experiment is in some sense an  attempt to further the discussion about his three values: preservation,  accessibility, and flexibility. 

As it stands, the structure of this prototype  database is more like a "participatory archive processing management" tool  that addresses the question Marilyn raises. We see it as a way to engage a  dispersed network in the exercise of visualizing and growing the Global  Archive.

We began building a prototype with several  principles in mind: 

1) accommodate the data in the present Global  Archive catalog in Marge's care
2) access with a web browser over the Internet  with an evolving structure and functions
3) colleagues can catalog their personal  archives
4) colleagues can identify their  priorities for processing and interpreting particular categories of  materials
5) colleagues can specify particular  materials they are seeking for current use
6) colleagues can indicate the arenas of our  common memory in which they have "subject area" expertise or interest  (dispersed archive "curatorial teams")
7) colleagues can link contemporary institutional  or programmatic examples of their use and impact (ToP, Training Inc, etc.,  etc.) with arenas of our common memory
8) colleagues processing the Global Archive  collection in Chicago can update the online catalog and track their activities  in real time
9) ICA staff can track the amount of volunteer  time invested in work related to the Global Archives
10) URL links to each of the items that are  available in the Repository
11) an online database visible to the public that  can only be added to or changed by users with access credentials (secure login  and specific usage privileges)

When we get the database online, we'll let you know where to find it and  how to try it out so that you can give us feedback.

David

---
David Dunn
dmdunn1 at gmail.com

Attachment

________________________________

________________________________
 On May 19, 2009, at 6:50 PM, Marilyn R Crocker wrote:

> We  are wondering, is there a way we (collectively) might be able to  
> identify and fill gaps in the official archives with the gifts  of  
> items from our dispersed family archives?  Otherwise  we're thinking  
> the whole lot may get chucked given the  "down-sizing" time of life  
> we are all entering, or "the  dumpster strategy" that our kids would  
> likely choose if they  were the ones left "holding the files."

Hello Marilyn and other  colleagues.

Walt Epley and I have been custodians of the Paul Evans  personal  
archive that Gini Natali passed on to me for temporary care  until the  
Global Archives is ready to receive it. We've begun by  cataloging  
Paul's audio recording collection and researching what is  involved in  
digitizing the audio cassettes. The tool we're using is  a Filemaker  
Pro database that we expect to have online by the end of  this week.  
(See the attached 'screenshots.')

Though we began  experimenting with this prototype before Bill Parker's  
values email  arrived, our experiment is in some sense an attempt to  
further the  discussion about his three values: preservation,  
accessibility, and  flexibility.

As it stands, the structure of this prototype database is  more like a  
"participatory archive processing management" tool that  addresses the  
question Marilyn raises. We see it as a way to engage  a dispersed  
network in the exercise of visualizing and growing the  Global Archive.

We began building a prototype with several principles  in mind:

1) accommodate the data in the present Global Archive catalog  in  
Marge's care
2) access with a web browser over the Internet  with an evolving  
structure and functions
3) colleagues can  catalog their personal archives
4) colleagues can identify their priorities  for processing and  
interpreting particular categories of  materials
5) colleagues can specify particular materials they are seeking  for  
current use
6) colleagues can indicate the arenas of our  common memory in which  
they have "subject area" expertise or  interest (dispersed archive  
"curatorial teams")
7) colleagues can  link contemporary institutional or programmatic  
examples of their  use and impact (ToP, Training Inc, etc., etc.) with  
arenas of our  common memory
8) colleagues processing the Global Archive collection in  Chicago can  
update the online catalog and track their activities in  real time
9) ICA staff can track the amount of volunteer time invested in  work  
related to the Global Archives
10) URL links to each of the  items that are available in the Repository
11) an online database visible  to the public that can only be added to  
or changed by users with  access credentials (secure login and specific  
usage  privileges)

When we get the database online, we'll let you know where  to find it  
and how to try it out so that you can give us  feedback.

David

---
David  Dunn
dmdunn1 at gmail.com

Attachment

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