1. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 1 EMu and Archives Experiences from the Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation

2. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 2 Goals  Share our experiences in managing archival collections with EMu  Identify items of potential common interest  Discuss and learn from others in the EMu community

3. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 3 Overview  Archival Collections at CSTMC  What is an archive?  Using EMu to manage archives  Challenges and lessons learned

4. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 4 About the Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation

5. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 5 Archival collections at CSTMC

6. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 6 Archival collections

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11. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 11 Archival access projects  Several photographic collections digitized for public access  Popular Web site features  Earlier initiatives stored in MS Access databases  Current initiative using data in KE EMu

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15. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 15 What is an archive?  Archival records are the products of everyday activity  Archives are the non-current records of individuals, groups, institutions, and governments  Formats may include photographs, films, video, sound recordings, computer tapes, unpublished letters, diaries, and other manuscripts  Each archival object exists as part of a group

16. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 16 Why are archives important?  Researchers use them both for their administrative value and for purposes other than those for which they were created  Used for many different reasons  Open to the ingenuity of the researcher

17. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 17 How does an archive differ from other collections?  Library collections consist mainly of distinct published works  Museum artifact collections are generally distinct, “3-D” objects  Archival collections are unique groupings of material in the context in which they were produced  With an archival collection, the sum is greater than the parts

18. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 18 Structure of an archival collection

19. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 19 CSTMC’s Archives in EMu Catalogue disciplines: Artifact Inventory Archive Engineering Drawing Photograph Trade Literature

20. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 20 Archives discipline  Hierarchical  Arranged respecting the original structure of the fonds or collection  Modeled on Rules for Archival Description (RAD)  Allows us to catalogue as deep as resources allow  Can account for a wide range of materials

21. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 21 Archival fields and tabs

22. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 22 Other disciplines that manage archival collections  Photographs, Engineering Drawings, Trade Literature  Structure is flat (no hierarchy)  While many are photos, may accommodate other types of media

23. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 23 Flat in structure… P000001 P000002 P000003 P000004 P000005 P000006. P049998 P049999 P050000 P050001 P050002 P050003 P050004 P050005

24. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 24 Customized fields and tabs

25. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 25 Three archival initiatives at CSTMC 1.Digitizing and presenting historic image collections (mainly photographs) for public access 2.Documenting and cataloguing archival collections as a whole 3.Capturing institutional memory

26. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 26 1. Historic image collections for public access  Current initiative is using our "photograph" discipline in the Catalogue  This is one of our “flat” archival disciplines  Objective is to make collections available to a wide audience, not to fully document the archival collections in question

27. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 27 2. Documenting and cataloguing archival collections as a whole  Hierarchical (based on RAD)  May go in-depth, or stay at the top level for now  Intended to allow us to go to the level of detail we can manage, given resources  Make existing finding aids (documents) available and searchable as multimedia attachments

28. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 28 Archival finding aids

29. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 29 Archives in EMu

30. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 30 3. Capturing institutional memory

31. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 31 Institutional memory: where to catalogue? (a) photograph discipline (flat) (b) in archives discipline (hierarchical) (c) multimedia attachments in events module (d) somewhere else?

32. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 32 Institutional memory in EMu

33. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 33 Challenges and lessons learned

34. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 34 Access control  Often have volunteers and short-term staff involved in cataloguing projects  Such staff are not EMu experts – we need to carefully manage what they are able to edit  Record level access should help

35. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 35 Limitations in our implementation  Search limitations of our Archival hierarchy  For example, may be difficult to search for all objects in a Fonds, given our structure  May need to adjust implementation

36. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 36 Subject terminology  Multiple sets of terminology – no universal controlled vocabulary  New archival cataloguing is loosely based on Library of Congress  Cataloguing by volunteers is a challenge (they know the material, but are not cataloguers)

37. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 37 Digital Asset Management  Many reasons to digitize  Born digital vs. digitized  Digital preservation  Capturing and managing metadata  Managing licensing and commercial use  Is EMu the best repository?  Noted that other EMu Users are also working in this area

38. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 38 References  Rules for Archival Description (RAD) http://www.cdncouncilarchives.ca/archdesrules.html  “Basic RAD” http://scaa.usask.ca/rad/  Society of American Archivists http://www.archivists.org

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40. EMu and Archives NA EMu Users Conference – Oct. 2006 Slide 40 Contact Brian Dawson Director, Informatics Services Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation Ottawa, Ontario Phone: (613) 991-1340 E-mail:bdawson@technomuses.ca Web: http://technomuses.ca