Maximizing Resources: EAD and MARC in the small repository Valerie Gillispie Assistant University Archivist Wesleyan University Middletown, Connecticut

Wesleyan’s Special Collections & Archives: January finding aids online 500+ collections not described online Existing finding aids  created in Microsoft Word and transformed into HTML documents  paper Minimal catalog records in OPAC

Consequences of lack of (encoded) online presence? The curiosity cabinet

Technical services challenges Setting priorities Finding assistance Updating technology

Prioritizing collections What is available digitally or on paper? Heavily used collections Collections central to mission of institution Collections appropriate for your workers’ skills

Types of assistance Library and IT professionals Student workers Graduate school interns

Appropriate student projects Small collections that do not require complex re-arrangement Larger collections that need only an inventory Projects of personal interest can be good choices... but sometimes not

Why move to EAD? Puts tags around each item in finding aid, i.e. metadata Transform XML into MARC or other frequently used metadata schemas Connects us to other institutions and archivists

Online toolkits and references NCEAD Toolkit LoC EAD website EAD Cookbook ok.html ok.html

Take advantage of encoding MarcEdit  /index.php

External Resources EAD listserv SAA listserv Other institutions’ websites Regional/national networking

Wesleyan’s Special Collections & Archives: January 2009 Over 90 finding aids online, nearly all in EAD Enhanced MARC records More students and outside patrons finding collections through Google The lessons of more product, less process

Thank you! Valerie Gillispie