Digital Vaults:A Lesson in Less is More

Like all institutions, archives have broken into the digital age and are creating programs to reach new audiences through digital platforms. The digitization of thousands of archives and collections, has allowed for researchers to conduct archival research without the cost of extensive travel. With mapping technology, organizations like the Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network, can provide and interactive experience for researchers to understand the evolution of the landscape of Philadelphia. As technology evolves and the expectations of our audiences changes, archives are creating programing with technology in mind. In many instances the use of digital technologies can broaden an institution's audience, and create a new experience for their usual audience. However, too much flashy technology can hinder accessibility for our audiences.

The National Archives created the National Archives Experience:Digital Vaults, in 2008. This tool is intended for the National Archives to better serve its current audience, and to provide an access to a more globalized audience. The Digital Vaults is a collections of over one thousand digitized items from their Washington D.C. collections. These items include documents, correspondence, photographs, and even images of three dimensional items (such as helmets, and furniture). This technology is touted as a great resource for students and teachers working on National History Day projects. [1]

Although the intentions of this digital exhibit are noble, when I explored the site I became overwhelmed by the shear amount of material to access. The intention of the Digital Vault is to allow for a personalized search through the collections by providing a randomized grouping of items that can link the researcher to related items, but instead I felt confusion as I clicked a photo of Albert Einstein and was directed to a new grouping where the items were about New Jersey. Unfortunately, with a lack of instruction and limited time to completely delve into this source, I found it just too flashy and confusing of a collections experience. The Digital Vault is heading in a great direction towards providing a free archival research tool for schools and global audiences, but the use of excess technology distract viewers from the true value of the content in this archive.

[1] http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2008/nr08-108.html

Archivists are Preservationists

This week our class visited the Special Collections Research Center here at Temple University. We were able to get a sense of the span that these collections reach, and it covers a large section of time. Items stored here at these archives dated back from the age of antiquity to the present era. What I found most interesting about our visit were the different paper formats that are maintained in many archives. The rare book collection holds books that are made of various materials, and because of that there are differing ways in which archivists and researcher must handle such materials. For instance, there are books dating to the American colonial era that can be handled fairly easily compared to printed materials from the 19th and 20th centuries which were printed on acidic paper and have become very fragile over time.

With some many different types of items and materials with in each collection, archivists must understand how to maintain and preserve each item. On the surface this seems fairly easy, we all (and by we all I am referring to those who have come into contact with archives or museum collections) grasp that humidity, and light control are major factor in preserving researchable items. However, after walking through the Special Collections Research Center and talking with my fellow class mates the detail in which archivists much work as preservationist is more detailed. Archivists must have a grasp on  how all types of archival media deteriorate or react over time, and the list of archival items grows and changes making the need to understand preservation an unending task.