About the Book
Reference and Access: Innovative Practices for Archives and Special Collections explores how archives of different sizes and types are increasing their effectiveness in serving the public and meeting internal needs. The book features twelve case studies that demonstrate new ways to interact with users to answer their questions, provide access to materials, support patrons in the research room, and manage reference and access processes.
The featured case studies are
Building Bridges: Closing the Divide between Minimally Processed Collections and ResearchersManaging Risk with a Virtual Reading Room: Two Born-Digital Projects Improvements on a Shoestring: Changing Reference Systems and Processes Twenty-First Century Security in a Twentieth-Century Space: Reviewing, Revising and Implementing New Security Practices in the Reading RoomTalking in the Night: Exploring Webchats to Serve New Audiences A Small Shop Meets a Big Challenge: Finding Creative Ways to Assist the Researchers of the Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages The Right Tool at the Right Time: Implementing Responsive Reproduction Policies and ProceduresGoing Mobile: Using iPads to Improve the Reading Room Experience Beyond “Trial by Fire”: Towards A More Active Approach to Training New Reference StaffAccess for All: Making Your Archives Website Accessible for People with DisabilitiesNo Ship of Fools: A Digital Humanities Collaboration to Enhance Access to Special CollectionsWebsites as a Digital Extension of Reference: Creating a Reference and IT Partnership for Web Usability Studies
Each of these case studies deconstructs reference and access services into their essential elements: interacting with people who have questions, providing access to materials that meet researcher needs, assisting researchers as they use materials, and managing the processes needed to support reference and access.
The volume will be useful to those working in archives and special collections as well as other cultural heritage organizations, and provides ideas ranging from the aspirational to the immediately implementable. It also provides students and educators in archives, library, and public history graduate programs a resource for understanding the issues driving change in the field today and the kinds of strategies archivists are using to meet these new challenges.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
1) Building Bridges: Closing the Divide between Minimally Processed Collections and Researchers
Emily Christopherson and Rachael Dreyer, American Heritage Center
2) Managing Risk with a Virtual Reading Room: Two Born-Digital Projects
Michelle Light, University of California, Irvine
3) Improvements on a Shoestring: Changing Reference Systems and Processes
Jackie Couture and Deborah Whalen, Eastern Kentucky University
4) Twenty-First Century Security in a Twentieth-Century Space: Reviewing, Revising and Implementing New Security Practices in the Reading Room
Elizabeth Chase, Gabrielle M. Dudley and Sara Logue, Emory University
5) Talking in the Night: Exploring Webchats to Serve New Audiences
Gary Brannan, West Yorkshire Archive Service
6) A Small Shop Meets a Big Challenge: Finding Creative Ways to Assist the Researchers of the Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages
Leanda Gahegan and Gina Rappaport, National Anthropological Archives,
Smithsonian Institution
7) The Right Tool at the Right Time: Implementing Responsive Reproduction Policies and Procedures
Melanie Griffin and Matthew Knight, University of South Florida
8) Going Mobile: Using iPads to Improve the Reading Room Experience
Cheryl Oestreicher, Julia Stringfellow and Jim Duran, Boise State University
9) Beyond “Trial by Fire”: Towards A More Active Approach to Training New Reference Staff
Marc Brodsky, Virginia Tech
10) Access for All: Making Your Archives Website Accessible for People with Disabilities
Lisa Snider
11) No Ship of Fools: A Digital Humanities Collaboration to Enhance Access to Special Collections
Jennie Levine Knies, University of Maryland
12) Websites as a Digital Extension of Reference: Creating a Reference and IT Partnership for Web Usability Studies
Sara Snyder and Elizabeth Botten, Archives of American Art
About the Editor
Index
About the Author :
Kate Theimer is the author of the popular blog ArchivesNext and a frequent writer, speaker and commentator on issues related to the future of archives. She is the author of Web 2.0 Tools and Strategies for Archives and Local History Collections and the editor of A Different Kind of Web: New Connections between Archives and Our Users, as well having contributed chapters to Many Happy Returns: Advocacy for Archives and Archivists, The Future of Archives and Recordkeeping, and the Encyclopedia of Archival Science. She has published articles in the American Archivist and the Journal of Digital Humanities.
Kate served on the Council of the Society of American Archivists from 2010 to 2013. Before starting her career as an independent writer and editor, she worked in the policy division of the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland. She holds an MSI with a specialization in archives and records management from the University of Michigan and an MA in art history from the University of Maryland.
Kate Theimer is the 2014 recipient of the Society of American Archivists’ Spotlight Award. The Spotlight Award recognizes the contributions of individuals who work for the good of the profession and archives collections—work that does not typically receive public recognition. Since 2011, Theimer has used Facebook, Twitter, and her blog to raise money for Spontaneous Scholarships that help unemployed, underemployed, and underfunded archivists to attend SAA’s Annual Meeting. The first year the scholarships were offered Theimer raised $5,504 to assist 18 students and 8 SAA members at the full registration rate; the program continued in 2012 and 2013 resulting in a total of more than $20,000 in donations and almost one hundred archivists assisted over the first three years. Theimer recently launched a campaign to raise funds for the 2014 scholarships.
Review :
This volume consists of case studies about the reference and access dilemmas that archivists face today. How do we meet rising patron expectations in a time of shrinking repository budgets? How do we provide access to our unique and valuable collections while keeping these materials safe from theft? Most cases in the volume follow a single format composed of six sections—introduction, planning, implementation, results, lessons learned, and conclusion. This consistency helps guide the reader through the varied terrain. The cases come from repositories large and small, primarily but not entirely academic. As Kate Theimer notes in her introduction to the volume, one of the key criteria for inclusion in the book is a case’s relevance to a wide range of archivists. . . .Overall, the cases inspire the reader to be prepared to seize any opportunity to improve service to researchers.
The Reference and Access book in this series provides 12 case studies from 11 U.S. and one U.K. based archives and special collections units of various sizes and budgets. The case studies include topics such as implementing changes to reference services and processes on a limited budget, using iPads in the reading room, new ways of training reference staff, the use of usability studies to improve Web design, and improving Website accessibility for persons with disabilities. The intention of these case studies is to provide examples of what others are doing that can then be modified depending on size and budget of individual institution to implement their own version using the ideas and principles highlighted in a case study. Each case study provides the problem and background issues they faced, planning, implementation, the outcome, lessons learned, and an overall conclusion. The practical nature of this book and case studies about modifying and updating access and reference services makes it a helpful resource for archives, historical societies, special collections, or anyone interested in working in these types of institutions.
The [Innovate Practices for Archives and Special Collections] books are invaluable resources for everyone working in archives, special collections and other cultural heritage organisations. They also have a role in providing students and educators in archives, library and public administration with insights into the vast variety of reference and outreach resources available in the field and the diverse ways in which new users can be attracted to and use archival collections.
[T]hese case studies are a delight to read and browse and will be a valuable addition to the reading lists for students taking our Information Management courses, revealing to them the practicalities through the detail of the challenges they face as they begin their careers as archivists.
This aptly titled collection of case studies has much to offer anyone concerned with or about the state of archival research in today’s world of technological opportunities and fiscal challenges. Readers at every level of archival experience (from student to retiree) will find the articles as timely and interesting as they are practical and helpful. The authors clearly demonstrate what can happen when theory meets reality, and by sharing their “lessons learned” encourage others to take similar steps to benefit the profession.
In the past few decades, vast changes have taken place in archival description, appraisal, and digitization. All of these changes have affected archival reference service. This volume presents pragmatic, real-life models for twenty-first century public services in archives. Workable solutions are presented for reference/processing collaborations in dealing with the implications of MPLP, providing remote access to born digital records in your collections, improving the usability of your archives’ website, and other current reference conundrums. Perhaps the greatest value of these case studies is the encouragement each author gives the reader: try this; push the boundaries as we did. Given the general paucity of writing in this area, I hope this timely reader represents the beginning of a renaissance in writing on all aspects of user services in archives!
