archiveshub.ac.uk zetoc.mimas.ac.uk The Archives Hub & Zetoc Lisa Jeskins 1 st July 2008 Research Methods Festival

archiveshub.ac.uk Today’s session What are archives? Finding and using archival sources Using the Archives Hub and other websites to locate archives

archiveshub.ac.uk Unique Primary sources Unpublished Typically –Letters –Diaries –Typescripts –Research papers –(electronic, physical) Unidentified manuscript

archiveshub.ac.uk Appraisal Not all archive collections are kept in their entirety: –priorities of archive –costs of maintaining –resources available –all the above dictate what an archivist will keep Appraisal or weeding A spot of weeding required?

archiveshub.ac.uk Definition of Terms (1) These definitions are not definitive; definitions are always open to debate Archive: 1.A collection of materials created or received by a person, family, or organisation in the conduct of their affairs and preserved because of the enduring value of the information they contain or as evidence of the functions and responsibilities of their creator 2.A building that holds archive materials 3.An organisation that collects and stores such materials Archiving: The discipline of administering archive collections Collection: 1.Materials assembled by a person, family or organisation (i.e. an originator) in the course of their life or work 2.An artificial collection of materials from various sources (i.e. from more than one originator), often with some unifying characteristics Evidential Value: The value of records as evidence for the policy and decision-making activities of an organisation or the activities of an individual Fonds: A term used by archivists to mean a collection of materials assembled by one person, family or organisation (as opposed to an artificial collection)

archiveshub.ac.uk Definition of Terms (2) Informational Value: The value of records for the information that they contain, often used for research purposes (i.e. often for different purposes from that for which the documents were created). This is sometimes called secondary value, as opposed to primary value. Originator: The individual, group, or organisation that is responsible for assembling a collection; may not be the author of all documents, e.g. letters written to the originator, an album of press cuttings compiled but not written by the originator Provenance: The origin or source from which the material comes, and the history of subsequent owners. Knowledge of provenance is considered to be very important for the integrity of the archives Special collections: Rare and unique materials. Often used to refer to holdings of written archives, drawings, photographs and rare books Primary sources: Original works, produced at the time of the event or at the time of the idea under study

archiveshub.ac.uk Access Be aware of opening hours – they vary! Closure periods – sensitive information Digital surrogates, not original – fragile Pencil! Policies on taking copies – photocopies / digital camera, depend on copyright and preservation issues The National Archives, London

archiveshub.ac.uk National Archive Network

archiveshub.ac.uk Archive sites A2A: SCAN: ANW: Archives Hub: AIM25: National Register of Archives: Subject specialist: National Archives: (England) (Scotland) ArchiveGrid:

archiveshub.ac.uk What is the Archives Hub? Online gateway to descriptions of archives in UK universities and colleges and research institutes Descriptions of over 20,000 archive collections Descriptions from 160 institutions Freely available

archiveshub.ac.uk Context Mimas Service JISC funded Overseen by CURL Universities of Manchester and Liverpool Core contributors –HE/FE institutions –Research institutes –Museums Spokes –7 = Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Durham, Liverpool, Open University, John Rylands University Library, Copyright © National Co-operative Archive. All enquiries about photographic collections and copyright to

archiveshub.ac.uk What’s in the Archives Hub? Archives… –research papers of university staff –records of university clubs and organisations –papers of former students –records of universities themselves –family and estate collections –business archives –trade union archives Copyright © National Co-operative Archive. All enquiries about photographic collections and copyright to

archiveshub.ac.uk Searching the Archives Hub You can search the Archives Hub to find stuff on: –Art and design, great britons, social history, even science and industry…

archiveshub.ac.uk zetoc.mimas.ac.uk Zetoc Electronic Table of Contents from the British Library

zetoc.mimas.ac.uk What is Zetoc? The British Library’s Electronic Table of Contents (ETOC) Citations for articles and papers Covers over 20,000 journals Around 20 million articles Over 5 million conference proceedings

zetoc.mimas.ac.uk Coverage Wide-ranging –Science and Technology, Medicine, Law, Engineering, Business, Finance, Arts, Humanities Journals selected are most requested research journals 1993-present Updated daily

zetoc.mimas.ac.uk Access Free to JISC-sponsored UK further and higher education institutions and research councils NHS Scotland and Northern Ireland subscribe to Zetoc. –English NHS regions no longer have a general subscription to Zetoc, but can subscribe on an individual basis. Zetoc search: –on campus: no login –off campus: login required Zetoc alert: –on campus: login required –off campus: login required Login is Athens or local institutional login (Athens DA)

zetoc.mimas.ac.uk Searching Reduction of nitrogen emissions keywords –e.g. nitrogen emissions “phrase search” –e.g. “nitrogen emissions” “phrase search” and a keyword –e.g. “nitrogen emissions” reduction “phrase search” and truncation –e.g. “nitrogen emissions” reduc* –(Searches for reduced, reducing, reduction etc.)

zetoc.mimas.ac.uk

Zetoc Alert alerting service s tables of contents of selected journals s results of pre-defined search criteria on author(s) and keywords alerts sent: –the day information is loaded into Zetoc

zetoc.mimas.ac.uk Creating an Alert Specify an address and can include a list name Can include hypertext links to full records Add journals Add searches Alert lists expire after 12 months but can be renewed at any time

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Modify / Delete an Alert Change options Renew list Transfer list to new Athens username Add/remove journals and searches Delete

zetoc.mimas.ac.uk RSS Rich Site Summary/Really Simple Syndication Provides syndication or summaries of web content Links to the full versions of the content, and other metadata Supply link to feed ‘reader’ which checks for updated feeds

zetoc.mimas.ac.uk Additional Zetoc Facilities Download Zetoc records and save as text file View search history results of search Links to: –Full Text electronic resources –Inter-library loan page –British Library Direct document ordering

zetoc.mimas.ac.uk Z39.50 Protocol that allows searches across a range of databases Search and import records from Zetoc using bibliographic databases, such as EndNote Import a text file of saved Zetoc records Need correct filter for importing and to configure correctly More detailed information can be found at:

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