Library and Information Science Commons^™

Spaceport: A Finding Aid Launchpad, Rebecca B. French

Rebecca B. French

JMU Libraries distributes its Special Collections finding aids to a number of discovery platforms, a process which historically has involved a significant amount of hand-encoding and manual data entry. We recently developed and implemented Spaceport, a Python app that has revolutionized this workflow. This presentation provides an overview of the app's functionality, which includes generating EADs for Virginia Heritage, HTML files for upload to the Libraries website, and MARCXML records for our catalog and OCLC. It also describes the efficiencies and other benefits we have observed from Spaceport's use.

Engaging With Difficult Topics In The Archives: Suicide And Historical Empathy, Kayla Harris

Kayla Harris

The development of historical empathy in students is a desired learning outcome in many history curriculums. Although historical empathy is written about frequently in educational literature, it is not addressed in archival journals. The integration of "historical empathy" into archival pedagogy is rich with opportunities. Three archivists discuss their successful collaborations with educators to develop archival projects that incorporate empathy development in a wide range of academic settings.

Presented as part of a panel.

Navigating Complex Issues In Modern Archival Collections: Privacy And Copyright, Virginia A. Dressler, Cindy Kristof

Virginia A Dressler

Taking Control Of Archdesc: Implementing Spaceport For Special Collections Finding Aids, Tiffany Cole, Rebecca B. French

Rebecca B. French

This poster describes a project to develop Spaceport, a Python app that transforms EAD finding aids from ArchivesSpace into EADs for Virginia Heritage, HTML files for the JMU Libraries website, and MARCXML records for the catalog. It outlines the challenges and needs that led to Spaceport's development and describes benefits experienced from its implementation.

From The Trenches: Cross-Campus Digital History Collaboration, Amy E. Lucadamo, Ian A. Isherwood, R.C. Miessler, Jenna Fleming, Meghan E. O'Donnell

R.C. Miessler

In September 2015, our team launched The First World War Letters of H.J.C. Peirs (www.jackpeirs.org), a digital history initiative built on collaboration between faculty, students, and library staff. The project is founded on amazing primary source material, but with limited financial support and little dedicated staff time. We leveraged the creativity and hard work of our team members to build a website that is maintained by students and enhanced whenever possible with features and commentary from faculty and staff. Members of #TeamPeirs discussed the evolution of the project, the nature of our collaboration, and the intersection of audiences …

Discovering Digital Archives: A Successful Collaboration Between Archivists And Technical Services Librarians, Christina A. Beis, Kayla Harris, Stephanie Shreffler

Kayla Harris

Effective collaboration between archives and technical services increases the discoverability of special collection materials. Archivists at a medium-sized institution had been using Archive-It to collect websites for a few years, but the information was isolated in a separate platform and wasn't effectively marketed to users. Working together, the team of archivists and technical services librarians incorporated the website collections into the discovery layer. Metadata was added at the seed level and indexed on a single, user-friendly platform. Attendees learned about implementing digital archive collections and explored how to increase their visibility through marketing.

Digital Archives In The Discovery Layer: A Collaboration Between Archivists And Technical Services Librarians, Christina A. Beis, Kayla Harris, Stephanie Shreffler

Kayla Harris

Effective collaboration between archives and technical services increases the discoverability of special collection materials. Archivists at a medium-sized institution had been using Archive-It to collect websites for a few years, but the information was isolated in a separate platform and wasn’t effectively marketed to users. Working together, the team of archivists and technical services librarians incorporated the website collections into the discovery layer. Metadata was added at the seed level and indexed on a single, user-friendly platform. Attendees will learn about implementing digital archive collections and explore how they can increase their visibility through marketing.

Marketing And Outreach Program Showcase, Gary Marks, Hilary Westgate, Denise I. O'Shea, Kim Reamer, Tara Maharjan, Allison Piazza, Kate Hossain

Denise O'Shea

As marketing and outreach increasingly become core values for librarians, we are always looking for fresh ideas on how to best reach our users. Come and hear from a varied panel of academic librarians about ways to market your resources, services, and events/programs. Each panelist will be discussing a specific marketing or outreach program that their library has initiated recently. We hope to showcase the great work that NJ academic libraries are doing and inspire you to try something new at your library!

Documenting Student Life: Using Omeka To Connect Students To The University Archives, Kayla Siddell

Kayla Siddell

Many institutional archives struggle to gain and maintain student participation in documenting the student experience. The history, images, and records of students and their various organizations are fundamental to the narrative of the university. Capturing the experiences of students and campus life is a difficult task as students create organizations, plan and attend events, and maintain a social media presence, all of which are rarely documented in university archives. At this institution, the Special Collections department wanted to increase students’ use of services and resources, and increase student donations to the archives to grow student-centered collections.

State-It: Connecting Students To The Archives, Kayla Siddell, Katie Sutrina-Haney

Kayla Siddell

The University Archives Department at Indiana State University (ISU) assists faculty, students, and the public by providing access to and preservation of primary resources and ISU history. Despite the resources and services available, archival holdings are often underused and receive few donations from students and student organizations. These students are often unaware of the function and uses of the archives. To address these concerns, Special Collections staff have created a website utilizing the Omeka platform called STATE-IT to engage students with the University Archives. This site houses digital archival materials, digital exhibits, and oral histories. STATE-IT also provides a quick …

Data Visualization Tools For Archives And Special Collections, Kayla Harris, Andrew Harris

Kayla Harris

As archivists, we often view ourselves as stewards of the collections, preserving materials for other researchers to use. We arrange, describe, and promote the items, but it’s not always within our job descriptions to interpret the materials we work with or to create new knowledge. Yet data visualization, or any effort that helps users see data in a visual way, can be an easy and accessible way to promote collections. This article highlights data visualization tools archivists have begun to use to enhance their digital holdings. Each tool requires a different level of technical expertise, but many are user-friendly and …

Collaboratively Creating A Programmatic Information Literacy Strategy: Challenges And Opportunities, Tom Adam, Colleen A. Burgess Ma Mlis, Kim Mcphee, Leanne Olson, Christy Sich

Christy Sich

In 2017, a team of librarians and archivists at Western University developed local Information Literacy Learning Outcomes (ILLOs). The resulting document outlined the skills and understanding that Western University students should demonstrate at the end of a four-year undergraduate degree—specifically, the skills relating to accessing, assessing, and applying information. This article focuses on the challenges and opportunities encountered during the collaborative process as well as the approach employed by the team in the development of these ILLOs.

Six librarians and archivists in very different roles formed the project team. Despite coming from diverse backgrounds, the team recognized that there could …

Collaboratively Creating A Programmatic Information Literacy Strategy: Challenges And Opportunities, Tom Adam, Colleen A. Burgess Ma Mlis, Kim Mcphee, Leanne Olson, Christy Sich

Tom Adam

In 2017, a team of librarians and archivists at Western University developed local Information Literacy Learning Outcomes (ILLOs). The resulting document outlined the skills and understanding that Western University students should demonstrate at the end of a four-year undergraduate degree—specifically, the skills relating to accessing, assessing, and applying information. This article focuses on the challenges and opportunities encountered during the collaborative process as well as the approach employed by the team in the development of these ILLOs.

Six librarians and archivists in very different roles formed the project team. Despite coming from diverse backgrounds, the team recognized that there could …

A Comprehensive Bibliography Of Nineteenth Century Bicycling Periodicals, Christopher A. Sweet

Christopher A. Sweet