Apologies for the length of this email, but a little of your time would be
much appreciated!
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Dear all,


We are in the process of preparing a bid for funds to convert to an
electronic database all the handwritten record card indexes that contain
the writing records of correspondents of the contemporary M-O Project since
the project began in 1981.  Having this 'metadata' more easily accessible
will facilitate researchers in using the material, and the information
could eventually be made accessible through the M-O website.


Being able to find out exactly which directives a correspondent has
responded to will, for example, facilitate longitudinal studies of
correspondents' writing over a time period, or studies of responses to
particular directives from correspondents of a particular demographic.


The retroconversion project could be seen as relatively straightforward,
but there is potential for the Archive to take advantage of this
opportunity to fill in gaps in some of the information, and make the
database as helpful for analysing the material as possible.  It is crucial
that we find out what information would be helpful for researching the
directive responses, and it will guide the Archive in terms of what
information should be gathered in the future.  This is really important and
warrants discussion - have you any thoughts on this?  We are particularly
interested in finding out what M-O material users at all levels and in
different disciplines think, given that there are so many different ways in
which the material can be used.  I have typed a few questions below
(Directive-style) off the top of my head just to start the ball rolling -
some questions might not apply to everyone; please respond either to the
list or to me personally.


In what ways have you used/will you be using M-O material?
What kinds of information (on the writers themselves) is most useful to
your own research?


What kinds of demographical information do you think the Archive should
gather on M-O writers?  (e.g. social class/no of children/marital
status/formal educational qualifications/ethnic origin/sexual orientation)


If you were starting a collection of writing records, what information
would you collect, ideally?


In what ways might you want to analyse the information?  (e.g. being able
to find out which writers over the age of 30 living in the North West of
England responded to the Spring 1994 directive part 2)


Have you any recommendations (or criticisms) of particular databases or
qualitative data analysis software?



[An important side note: the Archive will continue to respect the anonymity
of correspondents: names and addresses will not be made public through the
database and we will continue to comply with the provisions of the Data
Protection Act.]

With many thanks for your valued participation,

Sandra

Sandra Koa Wing
Development Officer for the Mass-Observation Project
The Library
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QL, UK.

Email: [log in to unmask]
Telephone: ++44 (0)1273 87 2716
Website: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/library/massobs

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