Born-Digital Access Hackfest: Collaborative Solution-Building for Current Challenges SAA 2015 Session 110 #s110

RESEARCH TEAM: Rachel Appel Special Collections, Bryn Mawr College Library Alison Clemens Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University Wendy Hagenmaier Georgia Tech Archives Jessica Meyerson Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas

Born-Digital Access in Archival Repositories: Mapping the Current Landscape Preliminary Report August

Context of Study and Literature Review Surveys: – Davis, Susan E. (2008) “Electronic Records Planning in ‘Collecting’ Repositories.” The American Archivist 71 (2009): Accessed August 3, t t7332 – Nelson, Naomi L., Seth Shaw, Nancy Deromedi, Michael Shallcross, Cynthia Gehring, Lisa Schmidt, Michelle Belden, Jackie R. Esposito, Ben Goldman, and Tim Pyatt. Association of Research Libraries. SPEC Kit 329: Managing Born-Digital Special Collections and Archival Materials (2012). Accessed August 3, and-Archival-Materials-SPEC-Kit-329/ and-Archival-Materials-SPEC-Kit-329/ 4 4

Literature Review Continued Guides: – AIMS Born-Digital Collections: An Inter-Institutional Model for Stewardship. University of Hull, Stanford University, University of Virginia, and Yale University (2012). Accessed August 3, – Erway, Ricky, Barrera-Gomez, Julianna. Walk This Way: Detailed Steps for Transferring Born-Digital Content from Media You Can Read In-house. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Research, Accessed August 3, – Redwine, Gabriela, Megan Barnard, Kate Donovan, Erika Farr, Michael Forstrom, Will Hansen, Jeremy Leighton John, Nancy Kuhl, Seth Shaw, and Susan Thomas. Born Digital: Guidance for Donors, Dealers, and Archival Repositories. (2013). CLIR. Accessed August 3,

Literature Review Continued Case studies: – Dean, Jackie and Meg Tuomala. “Business as Usual: Integrating Born-Digital Materials into Regular Workflows.” In Description: Innovative Practices for Archives and Special Collections, edited by Kate Theimer, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, – Light, Michelle. “Managing Risk With a Virtual Reading Room: Two Born Digital Projects.” In Reference and Access Innovative Practices for Archives and Special Collections, edited by Kate Theimer, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, Accessed August 3, – Shein, Cyndi. (2014). “From Accession to Access: A Born-Digital Materials Case Study.” Journal of Western Archives Volume 5 Issue 1 (2014): Accessed August 3,

Methods ▪ Mixed methods approach: ▪ Survey ▪ Semi-structured interview ▪ Codes derived from: ▪ Survey & interview questions ▪ Literature review ▪ Session goals ▪ Data analysis: ▪ R ▪ pandas ▪ Dedoose 7 7

About our Participants ▪ 292 total responses ▪ 129 submitted the survey ▪ Bi-modal response rate ▪ Answered > 50% - “eager participants” ▪ Answered < 50% ▪ Mostly from the United States (163) ▪ 10 - United Kingdom ▪ 5 - Australia ▪ 48% - college & university archives 8 8

Significant Findings: Gaps 1. Gaps in Tools and Systems (68 mentions) 1. Gaps in Business Analysis, Resource Allocation, and Advocacy (49 mentions) 1. Gaps in Skills for Archivists, Sharing Information, and Training Each Other (42 mentions) 1. Gaps in Understanding Users (24 mentions) 1. Gaps in Research and Policy (20 mentions) 9 9

Significant Findings: Plans Plans: areas in which participants planned to implement practices or policies Plans clustered into eighteen overarching themes: 1. Access in Reading Room, Remotely, and Online (42) 2. Creation of Copies and Images (19) 3. Metadata for Access and Processing (25) 4. Privacy and Redaction (14) 5. Tools (8) 6. Donors and Accessioning (8) 7. Priorities (7) 8. Policies (5) 9. Emulation (5) 1. Staffing Resources and Solutions (5) 2. Training Patrons (5) 3. Far Future Plans (5) 4. Storage (4) 5. Consortial Access (4) 6. Intellectual Property / Copyright (3) 7. Outreach (3) 8. Usability (3) 9. Discoverability (3)

Get in Touch us: Rachel Appel: Alison Clemens: Wendy Hagenmaier: Jessica Meyerson: Comment on the Preliminary Report:

Intro to the Hackfest!  Phase I: SAA Session 110, Thursday, 8/20/2015, 11:15am-12:00pm  Phase II: August-December 2015  Google Drive Folder:

Intro to the Hackfest: Topics Hackfest Team Topics:  UNDERSTANDING USERS FOR ACCESS ▪ Develop a plan for a project that would help archivists to understand the access needs of users of born-digital materials  ADVOCACY FOR ACCESS ▪ Develop a plan for a study that would quantify the resources needed to provide access to born-digital materials and could be used by archivists to advocate for a future model of digital archives work  AGILE FOR ACCESS ▪ Develop a plan for training archivists to use agile methodologies (relating to iterative project management) when designing archival practices, workflows, and systems that support access to born-digital materials  ARCHIVIST BOOTCAMP FOR ACCESS ▪ Develop a collaborative project plan for an archivist coding and skills bootcamp that would train archivists in the skills they need in order to provide access to born-digital materials

Intro to the Hackfest: Goal Your Hackfest Team’s Mission Develop a two-page executive summary style proposal (similar to what you would create for a grant proposal) for a collaborative project that would help address current obstacles to born digital access in your assigned topic area. Deliverables the Hackfest Team Will Produce: NOTES (using the notes template in Google Drive) PROPOSAL (using the proposal template in Google Drive) BLOG POST (using the blog post template in Google Drive)

Intro to the Hackfest: Roles  Definitions of Roles  Researcher: A representative of the Mapping the Landscape of Born-Digital Access research project who gets the Hackfest Team started in Phase I and collaborates with the Leader to complete the Proposal in Phase II. The Researcher also keeps time during Phase I.  Leader: A member of the Hackfest Team who volunteers to lead the discussion in Phase I and to complete the Proposal in Phase II. Please note: the Leader will be invited to work with research team to polish their Hackfest Team’s proposal after the session. The Leader should be comfortable dedicating at least 6 hours between now and December to polishing their team’s proposal and writing a short blog post.  Notetakers: One or two members of the Hackfest Team who volunteer to take notes during Phase I

Intro to the Hackfest: Phase 1 Phase I Goal: Sketch Out a Project  11:20-11:30: BRAINSTORM ▪ The LEADER leads the Hackfest Team in a brainstorming discussion about the suggested project proposal ideas related to the Hackfest Team topic. The NOTETAKERS take notes.  11:30-11:50: REFINE ▪ The Hackfest Team decides on one project idea and sketches out a rough plan for the project proposal. The NOTETAKERS take notes. The TIMEKEEPER maintains group awareness of the timeline.  11:50-12:00: WRAP-UP ▪ The RESEARCHER and Hackfest Team discuss next steps for the Phase II Goal. The RESEARCHER collects the Team sign-up sheet

Intro to the Hackfest: Phase II Phase II Goal: Create a Polished Two-Page Project Proposal Using the notes from Phase I and any additional resources desired, the LEADER and RESEARCHER work with the Team to write a polished two-page project proposal using the proposal template in Google Drive. The LEADER writes a 500-word blog post about the project proposal for the SAA Electronic Records Section Blog using the blog post template in Google Drive. SAA Electronic Records Section Blog 9/8-9/30:  LEADER crafts and polishes the proposal using the proposal template in Google Drive and posts updates the to Google Group.  RESEARCHER could start facilitating conversation about unanswered questions in Google Group while leader is writing the draft. 10/1-10/22:  LEADER and RESEARCHER invite all Hackfest Team members to comment on the proposal draft by 10/22. 10/23-10/31:  LEADER and RESEARCHER revise the proposal based on Team feedback, by 10/31. 11/1-11/15:  LEADER and RESEARCHER open each proposal to the whole Hackfest session membership (all teams) for round robin comment. 11/16-11/30:  Incorporating feedback from the round robin comments, LEADER writes a 500-word blog post about the project proposal for the SAA Electronic Records Section Blog using the blog post template in Google Drive, by 11/30. 12/1-12/31:  Hackfest blog posts are published and publicized as a series on the Electronic Records Section Blog.  LEADER and RESEARCHER encourage Hackfest Team members to comment on the series of blog posts

Hackfest Teams Hackfest Team Topics:  UNDERSTANDING USERS FOR ACCESS ▪ Develop a plan for a project that would help archivists to understand the access needs of users of born-digital materials  ADVOCACY FOR ACCESS ▪ Develop a plan for a study that would quantify the resources needed to provide access to born-digital materials and could be used by archivists to advocate for a future model of digital archives work  AGILE FOR ACCESS ▪ Develop a plan for training archivists to use agile methodologies (relating to iterative project management) when designing archival practices, workflows, and systems that support access to born-digital materials  ARCHIVIST BOOTCAMP FOR ACCESS ▪ Develop a collaborative project plan for an archivist coding and skills bootcamp that would train archivists in the skills they need in order to provide access to born-digital materials

Hackfest Timeline Phase I Goal: Sketch Out a Project  11:20-11:30: BRAINSTORM ▪ The LEADER leads the Hackfest Team in a brainstorming discussion about the suggested project proposal ideas related to the Hackfest Team topic. The NOTETAKERS take notes.  11:30-11:50: REFINE ▪ The Hackfest Team decides on one project idea and sketches out a rough plan for the project proposal. The NOTETAKERS take notes. The TIMEKEEPER maintains group awareness of the timeline.  11:50-12:00: WRAP-UP ▪ The RESEARCHER and Hackfest Team discuss next steps for the Phase II Goal. The RESEARCHER collects the Team sign-up sheet