archives without tears
DESCRIPTION
In my presentation to the New York Preservation Archives Project Board, I discuss how using More Product, Less Process (MPLP) made World Monuments Fund's archives more accessible to my colleagues. An additional benefit was my ability to use our archives for collaborations with ARTstor, Google, American Express, and Instagram.TRANSCRIPT
Archives Without Tears
Margot NoteDirector of Archives and Information Management, World Monuments Fund
New York Preservation Archives Project Board PresentationSeptember 25, 2013
Background
• Joined WMF in 2006• History/LIS/Archives• Grant money accelerated progress
Challenges
• Text and image• Digital and analog• Onsite, off-site, and virtual• Abundance
Strategy
• Greene, Mark A. and Dennis Meissner. (2005). “More Product, Less Process: Pragmatically Revamping Traditional Processing Approaches to Deal with Late 20th-Century Collections.” American Archivist (68): 208-263.
Onsite and Off-site Archives
• Created box system• Cataloged files at folder level in database• Cataloged publications in database• Finding aids and lookup tools created
Slide and Print Collections
• Organized by country and site• Created finding aids • Digitized important images• Similar strategy with VHS and DVD
collections
Publications and Periodicals
• Created master publication list• Digitized with hi- and low-res• ISBN registered• Abstracts created for website and AATA
Image CD Collection
• Organized alphabetically by country• Created holding ID system (USA001)• Cataloged through database• Lookup tool created
Digital Image Collection
• Arranged in folders by country, site, project
• Consistent file name conventions• Tiffs and jpegs• Metadata (country, site, caption, date,
photographer, provenance, and origin)
Digitization
• Publications and periodicals• Images• Trip participant lists and itineraries• Board minutes• Audits
Staff Access
Results
• Intellectual control • Quick fulfillment of information requests• No backlog• Knowledge creator• Robust web content
Collaboration
“[Archives are] the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.”
[email protected]@margotnote