Hi Lawrence,
Jon works for Historypin, and is a very enthusiastic exponent of open data - worth seeing if you get the chance.
We've done quite a bit around open data, particularly through our Linked Open Data work. I've asked Archives Hub contributors about their feelings on a fully open licence for the metadata, and was very pleased that the overwhelming response was positive. I think most archivists see the benefits of ensuring our data is completely open, as the Web is moving more towards data integration and the idea that people should be able to take data and mould it to their own purposes.
I don't think that most archivists really understand what Linked Data means - which is not that surprising as its one of those things that is not necessarily easy to grasp, and once you really get into it, there are quite a few significant challenges to making it work - even if the vision is very enticing!
We've really just worked with the metadata - and I think that most people would agree that it should be fully open. But once you talk about digital archives themselves you get into issues of copyright, and also the revenue that they might bring to institutions.
There have been many many events that have raised open data, but they don't tend to be badged as events for archivists - you need to look more broadly. I'd hope that more archivists will attend events that help the community to understand the implications and benefits of open data, and what Linked Open Data really means. Although of course issues of time and budget are always present!
There is a JISC Discovery Summit at the British Library very soon: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/2013/02/discovery-13.aspx. I really don't know why it only lists 'University Archivists' as the type of archivists who should attend!
Those who are interested in the business case for open data might like to look at the UK Discovery site: http://discovery.ac.uk/businesscase/
cheers,
Jane
On 6 Feb 2013, at 12:33, Lawrence Serewicz <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Dear All,
> As you may recall, I mentioned in a blog post about the future of archives being connected to augmented reality. I saw this post on youtube, and I thought it would be of interest.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2pyJ3e_Q0M
>
> I did not know who John Voss is, but I am intrigued by the topic Radically Open Cultural Heritage Data.
>
> If there is a way to open the archives to open data standards (with proper caveats for personal information or confidential information)? Is this the next stage with the born digital work?
>
> If this is the future, how do we start to train archivists to deal with open data, linked data, and future developments? Are we caught in a cognitive challenge in that the field can be seen as backwards looking because its focus on the past even though much of the past was the future at some point?
>
> Perhaps the issue that needs to be addressed is how archives are preparing to change from paper to electronic and the linked open data potential from electronic data and what that may mean for archives?
>
> I would be interested in your views on the presentation and the topic.
>
> Best,
>
> Lawrence
>
>
>
> Lawrence W. Serewicz
>
> Principal Information Management Officer
> Assistant Chief Executive's Office
> Room 140/4
> Durham County Council
> Durham
> DH1 5UF
>
> Tel 03000 268 038
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Archivists, conservators and records managers. [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Lawrence Serewicz [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 12:12 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: MA Students using archives for the first time: where to begin!
>
> Sian describes a great resource. I would suggest, though, that the initial questions from the first post need to be disentangled.
>
> First, there is the issue of how students research. How are they trained to research. Many students, even at MA and PHD level, are not trained to research or to search. We may assume that students have these skills but many have them at a rudimentary level. I used to work in a library and one of the best courses offered was an introduction to library research services which told people how to use the library and all of its research tools.
>
> I know that Google have done courses on power searching so that people can improve their use of Google. We may assume that putting in a question is sufficient, but it only scratches the surface and would rarely, bring the person to an archive, unless they have focused their search.
>
> Second, there is the user intelligence issue. Many people who come to archives do not know how to use it. By that I mean, what a finding aid is, how the archive is organised, and what holdings are available. These are just the surface questions. I think there was a discussion at one of the continuum events talking about archival user intelligence and how archivist could help users new and experienced.
>
> Third, there is the understanding of the archives as a resource. Many people do not understand he purpose of an archives and often assume that it is just like a library. They may not be aware of different types of libraries and different types of archives, which require different approaches.
>
> On the first point, I would recommend the following book to all students, but particular MA and PhD students who may assume that they already know this stuff. The book may appear basic, but it offers a great introduction, refresher, and resource for conducting research. http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Craft_of_Research_Third_Edition.html?id=Y31pUtkwb2oC&redir_esc=y I would also suggest any of the power searching courses offered by google. I am not sure if they are still available, but they were advertised late last year.
>
> ON the second point, I think that archives can help here by having introductions to the archives. I would also suggest that universities and post-graduate programmes could do more on offering research training modules focused on specific archives and how it may be resource for their field.
>
> ON the third point, I think this is a general awareness issue as many people assume that archives is family history, genealogy or ancient manuscripts. If they, and journalists, only knew the stories hidden away in the archives, we would have to limit access for the amount of attention. Alas, that may be some time in the future, perhaps when virtual archives becomes possible through augmented reality.
>
> Best,
>
> Lawrence
>
>
>
>
> Lawrence W. Serewicz
>
> Principal Information Management Officer
> Assistant Chief Executive's Office
> Room 140/4
> Durham County Council
> Durham
> DH1 5UF
>
> Tel 03000 268 038
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Archivists, conservators and records managers. [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Sian Wynn-Jones [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 11:17 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: MA Students using archives for the first time: where to begin!
>
> Dear Jane/all
>
> BT Archives worked with students on the London College of Communications MA Design Writing Criticism over the last two years. Very few, if any, had worked with archives before.
>
> In the first year the students produced a short film 'Discovering BT Archives' based on their journeys of exploration with, and responses to the archives which may be of help/interest to your students.
>
> Aside from the benefits of collaborating with a different knowledge pool, when working with the students the main learning point on both sides was in working together to help articulate questions in ways that were meaningful and relevant eg - why does this document/subject interest me? how do we know this fact? what other material relates to this subject/fact?
>
> You can see the film at www.youtube.com/connectedearth
>
> I'd be interested to hear any thoughts on it
>
> Best wishes
>
>
> Siân
>
> Siân Wynn-Jones | Heritage Collections Manager | BT Group plc
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jane Stevenson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 10:08 AM
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [ARCHIVES-NRA] MA Students using archives for the first time: where to begin!
>
> Hi all (me again!),
>
> I gave a short talk to MA students yesterday about strategies for searching for archives. I talked about what archives are, tips for using archives, visiting reading rooms, using the various aggregators, etc etc.
>
> However, in the hands-on what struck me is that they were asking me what to actually do with the archives. That is, how do they use them in their research. They seemed a bit overwhelmed with these huge descriptions they were finding and didn't know how to start thinking about ways to bring the archives into their dissertations.
>
> I wondered if anyone knows of any advice out there that I can either point students to, or maybe utilities in order to create a few pages on the Hub about 'first steps in using archives for your dissertation'.
>
> There are some great educational resources on TNA's Education pages, but they are more focussed on exercises using archives, and present exercises that are already worked out, they are not so much aimed at students at an MA level and how they work with the kinds of evidence that archives provide (although I might have missed something here - please let me know).
>
> cheers,
> Jane.
>
>
>
> Jane Stevenson
> The Archives Hub
> Mimas, The University of Manchester
> Devonshire House, Oxford Road
> Manchester M13 9QH
>
> email:[log in to unmask]
> tel: 0161 275 6055
> website: archiveshub.ac.uk
> blog: archiveshub.ac.uk/blog
> twitter: twitter.com/archiveshub
>
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