Post on 05-Jan-2016
Rebecca GoldmanRebecca Goldman
Drexel University ArchivesDrexel University Archives
August 14, 2010August 14, 2010
Our HIST285 project
Research a technology at Drexel Develop a thesis, and find supporting
material in the Archives Create a digital exhibition of findings on
the Archives website
A HIST285 exhibit
Why collaborate with an undergraduate class? opportunity for outreach learn new things about our collections support Library's mission students are future alumni stress test for our procedures
HIST285 by the numbers, Fall 2009 90+ student
researchers 9 group projects 10-week quarter
And…2 full-time Archives staff
Challenges in Fall 2009
tracking team research progress scheduling researchers, interns and
student workers tracking offsite storage requests tracking scan requests
Managing the hordes:Solutions for Spring 2010
JIRA Bug-tracking software customized for
tracking reference questions
You can assign and schedule reference questions…
…add attachments and comments…
…track progress on a question…
…and search the whole database.
Google Calendar
Track researcher appointments, student and intern schedules, and archives closures on the same calendar
Google Spreadsheets
Track requests from off-site storage (on a small scale)
Paper files
Folder for each groupSign-in sheet to track when groups come,
which members come, and what Archives staff need to do before the next visit
Scan request form Paper materials generated during research
(research notes, photocopies of materials, printouts of search results)
Looking to the future
Future plans for HIST285
More instruction on exhibition design Have students blog about their
experiences Find ways to involve interns in the
process
Thinking about working with an undergraduate class? Recommend good research topics Maintain contact with students Set multiple deadlines Group projects suck Manage expectations of the Archives Manage your own expectations of students Participate in creating assignments and
grading Be a partner in the research process
What do students think? Some survey responses All said archives research was at least
“sort of fun.” All said research took as much time or
less time than they expected Most common favorite part: seeing old
documents and photographs Used to keyword searching, and would
have preferred to have more content available online
“I'm a nerd and felt like Batman when I was doing it.”
Contact info
Rebecca Goldman
Digital Archives Technician,
Drexel University Archives
RebeccaGoldman@drexel.edu
http://www.library.drexel.edu/archives
Thanks
Photo credit: Drexel University Archives Drexel University Libraries Dr. Erik Rau Laurie Rizzo Rob Sieczkiewicz