Year in Review of Digital Archivy Projects
Our year in review of Digital Archivy reveal one unsurprising conclusion. In an era of Big Data, digital archiving and preservation provide the most effective and efficient ways to manage, leverage and use historic materials and information. Last year, Digital Archivy worked closely with some impressive organizations. We helped create archival projects that were tailored to serve their specific needs, goals, requirements, timelines, and budget.
As you can see from the list below, the projects all raise awareness, improve control and add value. We help organizations develop digital preservation strategies, digitize and license raw footage, compare and rate different Digital Asset Management (DAM) options, and build trusted digital library prototypes that provide access to hidden historic materials.
“Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage” (HBO)
Recent Digital Archivy Projects
We met and faced new challenges and learned a lot over the past year. It was intimidating and fun! Fortunately, our clients were willing to hear out and test out different options and find solutions that were the most effective and useful. Our new client projects included everything from film production studios, magazine publisher, and a few non-profit organizations, foundations and charities.
- Assisted a children’s rights organization in updating digital preservation and access strategy, implementation road map, timeline and budget
- Digitized and licensed Super 8 film and digitized and transcribed on-site audio recordings for
- Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 (Raw TV/Netflix),
- Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage (HBO Max), and
- BURN IT DOWN! (Dorothy Street Pictures and Rolling Stone)
- Developed a DAM Scorecard to assist a non-profit foundation compare and select a DAM
- Launched Digital Library Archive of 30+ years of a groundbreaking lesbian magazine.
As a result, we learned that projects may differ in time, budget and complexity, but Digital Archivy is effective by working closely with clients. We work best when we help people who have a vision, an awareness and sense of pride in their history and collections. Our clients want to share with others and support their stakeholders. We help them do that and make their information more valuable and less vulnerable. No job is too small or big!
Potential Digital Archivy Projects
So the question is: what’s next? Are there any projects that you are facing that seem impossible and could use some support?
For example, do you have
- a collection of Family Photo Albums or Scrapbooks gathering dust? – These could be digitized and made accessible everywhere online!
- a list of awards and honors that your institution has received? – These could be analyzed to find insights on trends and patterns!
- different types of media content and formats on related subjects? – These could be preserved and made accessible via online platform!
- an Excel spreadsheet with a lot of data but is incomprehensible? – Data analytics and pivot tables can reveal new and useful insights!
“Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99” (RawTV/NetFlix)
Check out our proof-of-concept Digital Archive Library prototype for Talker of the Town. If you’d like to learn more, please contact us directly.
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Greatest Digital Archiving Challenge of All
The greatest digital archiving challenge of all is documenting change and continuity over time. We refer to it as Cloud Control.
As archiving technologies change, people and processes are modified. An institution continues to create, manage and archive its materials. But whether it’s intellectual property, content, communications, or anything else, digital assets and electronic records help document continuity and change over time.
Many institutions focus attention towards current, near-term or ongoing projects throughout the year. With good reason! They make deliverables or deliver results. Whether assets are stored on a shared drive or on a centralized system, they gain enduring value. Assets serve a function whether they serve one or more users. You must manage information actively to manage it effectively. Greater awareness and better arrangement and description improves search and navigation.
Documenting Change and Continuity Over Time
Documenting change and continuity can be synchronic (point-in-time) or diachronic (over-time). The notion that IP exists at any point in time, and not just as a post-hoc arrangement, posits that the role of the archivist is key. S/he could exist as part of an integrated records continuum and a holistic information ecosystem approach. This model is based on authority and context control of the content. Appraisal provides authority control when focused on function or provenance (creator). Arrangement and description captures relevant metadata. This will improve physical and intellectual control. A comprehensive understanding of ownership, usage, users, and chain-of-custody rules are critical. They lay the foundation for an effective digital archiving system that provides authority, accountability, transparency, and builds trust.
Documenting change and continuity simultaneously is critical. Interpreting materials may change over time, but active and effective content management helps quantify and protect content. Cloud control analysis identifies patterns and helps set priorities related to content that can be optimized.
To learn more or to discuss your situation, contact us!
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“We put the Knowledge in Technology”
One of the most complicated elements in content management derives from the fact that each archive’s collection is different. This is due to the scale, scope, variety, and complexity of the archival collections. It also arises from the fact that there are a variety of contributing factors and specialized requirements. By leveraging our critical thinking and awareness of other successful archival systems, we put our professional knowledge into technology.
Regardless of the size and scope of a project, there are three key elements that require serious review and analysis. In fact, all archival solutions and best practice are influenced by three factors: People, Process and Technology. If you think of it like a Venn diagram, you’ll understand why we believe “Content lies at the intersection of people, process and technology.”
Content lies at the intersection of People, Process and Technology.
Professional archivists know that an awareness and understanding of archival standards helps define the deliverables and set reasonable goals. By focusing on the relevant elements and contingencies, archivists can help build a trusted digital archive that serves a variety of users and their needs. Solutions based on archival standards help connect relevant content to the specialized interests of its users.
Content Management and Archival Standards
The key component, obviously, is the content itself. As a result, it is critically important to observe people and analyze their processes carefully and non-judgmentally. Knowledge of archival standards, technical requirements and workflows make it easy to use the technology in ways that address the goals and objectives. More importantly, familiarity with other systems helps identify a Designated Community of stakeholders and super-users. This knowledge helps ensure that the technology used in the information ecosystem will deliver results that make assets accessible to the right people in the right format at the right time.
An information ecosystem is created by and dependent on its users, the software and the procedures. A clear understanding of goals and objectives allow archivists to leverage Technology, People and Processes in a way that sets up the institutional archive for success. A successful content management system is effective and efficient, and remains flexible enough for future growth and change. This creates a winning User Experience that ensures the archive is both useful and user-friendly.
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2020 Hindsight
Happy new year! With 2020 hindsight Digital Dark Ages is here! With that in mind, it’s time that we focus on learning from and leveraging the past to inform and improve the future.
Fifteen years ago, while I was in Library School, I was writing my thesis/research paper. One day in the library, I discovered an article that brought me to a complete stop. The article is titled “Titanic 2020.”
It was a scholarly article and an early and compelling warning against the “Digital Dark Age.” More importantly, it pointed out that “organizations that use IT — are generally ill prepared to prevent damage or loss of valuable electronic records or data.”
Though it’s been years since I read it, with 2020 hindsight the Digital Dark Ages still affect me profoundly. It was a Call to Action that raised such specific alarms on a variety of icebergs of technological obsolescence and format change, that I lost sleep! These icebergs, the article warned, would threaten the history and legacy of the Information Age.
As a relatively young archivist, this article had a profound effect on me. Ultimately, it force me to face a long and arduous war against obsolescence. Granted, the war has been occurring for years, but as digital archivists and librarians, we can do something constructive. And, more importantly, my colleagues and I have a responsibility to identify problems and challenges. By doing this, we can face them strategically and expeditiously. If we don’t, our historical legacy may be at risk.
Read the 2000 Titanic 2020 report here courtesy of CENSA (The Collaborative Electronic Notebook Systems Association).
Check out some of the clients with whom we’ve worked to avoid the 2020 Titanic!
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Archives Week in New York City
It’s Archives Week in New York City 2019! Many people are aware that the Society of American Archivists (SAA) has deemed the month of October as #ArchivesMonth. Recently, they’ve used the day to do archival advocacy and outreach. For example, on the first Wednesday of the month they promote the #AskAnArchivist Day. On that day, archivists from institutions around the country, schedule time on twitter to answer questions. It’s a good way for archivists (or #archivists) to play around with social media, SEO and hashtags. Plus, it’s always nice for archivists to share knowledge.
Later in the month, on 10/10, the Council of State Archivists promote #ERecsDay aka Electronic Records Day. It’s got a great name for us digital archivists because 1010 is equal to ten in binary.
Archives Week in New York City
Meanwhile, New York City also celebrates archivists for one 9-10 day week in the month of October. We call it #ArchivesWeek. For the past two decades (or so), the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York (ART) has promoted Archives Week in New York City. This usually involves a community of archivists and archival institutions opening their doors to visitors and tours. In some years, the City also hosts Open House New York (OHNY) Weekend. This year, they do it again this weekend. In fact, the Municipal Archives is opening its doors and offering docents.
In addition to all of the other activities, ART, an indispensable organization, host a gala awards show complete with paparazzi and hors d’oeuvres and plaques. You can only imagine what happens when archivists gather with nearly 100 professional archivists!
For me, though, the highlight of #ArchivesWeek is always the academic symposium. I’ve been attending this for years and have on occasion moderated or participated in panel discussions. Though I’m not participating this year, I’m excited that the whole day is devoted to Rebels in the Archives! The description is provocative:
“…it is important for us to be cognizant of the fight against the accepted pieties and to sometimes take an active role in that fight ourselves. This symposium will help us to think about our role in the construction of future histories and when we need to join the rebellion.”
And, I have lots of ideas on it. However, I will be there only to enjoy listening to all of the archivists and historians. I admit that I am eager to hear and see the Columbia University archivists discussing the materials from the 1968 protests. Hope to see you there!
If you have questions about some of the great archives week in New York City, contact our Contacts page.
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DNI Testimony – Impeachment Inquiry (Part 4)
As we continue watching how the Impeachment Inquiry develops and plays out, we turn today to the DNI Testimony. We have ideated and designed a scorecard for informational appraisal. The Digital Archivy Scorecard evaluates information sources and information flows and provides grades in fjve different criteria: Assessment, Identity, Description, Priority, and Security Classification.
In this way, we can assess the value of content based on provenance, function, significance and accuracy. This relates directly to an assessment of the trustworthiness and significance. With that in mind, today we look at three additional pieces of information and evidence:
- in-person testimony of the Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI), James Maguire;
- letter written by Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG), Michael Atkinson; and
- White House Memo of the Conversation.
Each ones of these information sources provides data that can be used to evaluate the entire ecosystem. This holistic perspective takes into consideration the content of the information as well as showing the relationships between the documents themselves, and the people involved in creating the information ecosystem. Of course, at present, we have not yet seen the “verbatim” transcript of the 33 minute phone call.
IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY: DNI TESTIMONY OF ACTING DIRECTOR MAGUIRE
On September 26, Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified before the House Intelligence Committee. He testified for more than three hours to discuss the complaint and the allegation of wrongdoing. The White House released a declassified version (the White House Memo) minutes before the hearing began. In his opening statement, Director Maguire described his experience and military service and also stated his support for the whistleblower and for protections.
Acting Director Maguire is new to the position. The phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President, which led to the whistleblower’s complaint, occurred on July 25, 2019. Three days after the phone call, on July 28, former DNI Director Dan Coats announced that he would resign in August. Coats was one of the longest serving national security members of the Trump Cabinet. Needless to say, with years of professional experience, his analysis often contradicted the President.
Maguire retired with three stars from the Navy. He was appointed Acting Director of the DNI in August. Prior to that, he spent less than eight months as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. His testimony revealed that he may actually have acted legally and properly. However, questions remain as to whether he had the required contextual knowledge of the phone call. Or more importantly, whether his experience in intelligence may have been skewed by his past career in the Navy. He appeared before the House Intelligence Committee on September 26. His short tenure undermined his efficacy and may have affected his perspective. Additionally, his prior experience in the Navy may have led him to execute before fully considering the facts and the evidence.
DNI ACTIONS
The DNI Office received the whistleblower complaint on August 12. Maguire began working on August 16, and at first he refused to share the complaint with Congress because he claimed he was answering to a higher authority. He then sought outside direction. That may sound like a good idea, but his actions raise significant issues about their effects. As Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, pointed out in questioning: Acting Director Maguire sought guidance on what to do about the whistleblower complaint, sequentially from two sources:
- first from the White House and
- then from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.
In other words, the Acting Director conferred with the two offices that were mentioned in the whistleblower’s complaint that was classified as an “urgent concern .” Consequently, Maguire’s judgement is questionable. In fact, his testimony revealed that his deference to Executive Privilege may have implicated himself in assisting in the cover-up!
DNI Testimony Grades
With that in mind, we grade his testimony based on his direct knowledge of the complaint, his role and responsibilities as Acting Director, and on whether or not his answers were forthright and honest.
He receives D grades in Assessment, Identification and Description due toe the fact that he only spent a few days in office prior to making his first significant mistakes (contacting the OLC and the AG’s office). Though he may have acted in good faith, his testimony reveals poor judgement in two key aspects. Maguire was appointed without confirmation. He has been Acting Director for less than two months. As an information source himself, he lacks credibility due to his short tenure Consequently, he is unable to speak persuasively about his office’s responsibilities.
Due to his lack of awareness, the Acting Director Maguire receives failing F grades in Priority and in Security Classification. He must recognize the impropriety of checking with both of the parties implicated in the whistleblower complaint. This directly affects the grades for assessment and identification.
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