Archives Without Tears
Margot NoteDirector of Archives and Information Management, World Monuments Fund
New York Preservation Archives Project Board PresentationSeptember 25, 2013
Background
• Joined WMF in 2006• History/LIS/Archives• Grant money accelerated progress
Challenges
• Text and image• Digital and analog• Onsite, off-site, and virtual• Abundance
Strategy
• Greene, Mark A. and Dennis Meissner. (2005). “More Product, Less Process: Pragmatically Revamping Traditional Processing Approaches to Deal with Late 20th-Century Collections.” American Archivist (68): 208-263.
Onsite and Off-site Archives
• Created box system• Cataloged files at folder level in database• Cataloged publications in database• Finding aids and lookup tools created
Slide and Print Collections
• Organized by country and site• Created finding aids • Digitized important images• Similar strategy with VHS and DVD
collections
Publications and Periodicals
• Created master publication list• Digitized with hi- and low-res• ISBN registered• Abstracts created for website and AATA
Image CD Collection
• Organized alphabetically by country• Created holding ID system (USA001)• Cataloged through database• Lookup tool created
Digital Image Collection
• Arranged in folders by country, site, project
• Consistent file name conventions• Tiffs and jpegs• Metadata (country, site, caption, date,
photographer, provenance, and origin)
Digitization
• Publications and periodicals• Images• Trip participant lists and itineraries• Board minutes• Audits
Staff Access
Results
• Intellectual control • Quick fulfillment of information requests• No backlog• Knowledge creator• Robust web content
Collaboration
“[Archives are] the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.”
[email protected]@margotnote