1. Thoughts on 4 Years of “Thinking Digital” Brian Wilson, The Henry Ford Michigan Archival Association 2014 Annual Meeting

2. 2 011100101… Henry Ford Statue. Image by Michelle Andonian. ID THF54681

3. 3 Scale, Access, Tools, Workflows Henry Ford Statue. Image by Michelle Andonian. ID THF54681

4. 4 Explore by looking at: Institution-wide Collections Digitization Project New Collection Management System Online Finding Aid Project Projects

5. Collections Digitization Background Project started 2010 Goal to digitize entirety of holdings –Museum, Village and Archives Multiple departments –Archives, Conservation, Registrars, ITS, Digital Media –10-15 staff on full-time basis Delivers online object records and images 5 01010 11…

6. Collections Digitization Scale Tools Workflow Description Access Preservation Metrics 6 - 500 records in 2010; now +27,000 - 7000 archival items per year 21,000 CMS records 42,000 image files - Max 2 week turnaround - Number of staff and departments involved 01010 11…

7. Collections Digitization Scale Tools Workflow Description Access Preservation Metrics 7 - Cameras, not flatbeds - Faster computers; dual monitors - New software - Employing Project Manager 01010 11…

8. Collections Digitization Scale Tools Workflow Description Access Preservation Metrics 8 - Parallel processes - Imaging before cataloging - Selecting entire folders or boxes, not just individual items 01010 11…

9. Collections Digitization Scale Tools Workflow Description Access Preservation Metrics 9 - Aggregate and individual description - Reduced depth of description - Description tasks occurring outside of Registrars 01010 11…

10. Collections Digitization Scale Tools Workflow Description Access Preservation Metrics 10 -Imaging for access not preservation -Discovery affected by aggregate description -User interface plays a big role 01010 11…

11. Collections Digitization Scale Tools Workflow Description Access Preservation Metrics 11 - Digital images are an investment - Investment needs protection - DVDs aren’t sufficient - Storage needs grow quickly - Storage does not decrease - ITS is your friend - Material does not manage itself 01010 11…

12. Collections Digitization Scale Tools Workflow Description Access Preservation Metrics 12 - Metrics based solely on objects miss underlying processes - 1 object = 3 records + 6 image files 01010 11…

13. New Collection Management System Background Replaced Argus with KE Software EMu New system put in production in 2011 Serves multiple departments –Archives, Conservation, Registrars, ITS System capable of managing archival collections –Not unlike Archivist Toolkit Currently contains +350,000 catalog records 13 01010 11…

14. New Collection Management System Description Workflow Tools 14 - Primary description to be held in CMS - MARC derived from CMS - Common fields with Registrars - Incomplete or in-process records are ok 01010 11…

15. New Collection Management System Description Workflow Tools 15 - MARC comes second - Tasks split between departments 01010 11…

16. New Collection Management System Description Workflow Tools 16 - Everyone must learn new software - Complex, enterprise type application - Not Excel or Access 01010 11…

17. Finding Aid Project Background DALNET grant 2011-2012 –Scanned +4400 pages = 946 inventories –PT assistant to create finding aids PDFs in web-accessible folder –Folder indexed by Google and ArchiveGrid +260 finding aids publically available +1100 finding aids and inventories available to staff 17 01010 11…

18. Finding Aid Project Access Workflow Tools 18 - EAD not the only way - Cross-document search - Google indexing - Linking to other holdings, forms - Effective for other textual docs like photo logs, transcriptions 01010 11…

19. Finding Aid Project Access Workflow Tools 19 -Publishing and publically distributing -Create well-defined authoring, review and change process -No more hand changes to paper copies 01010 11…

20. Finding Aid Project Access Workflow Tools 20 - Digital does not have to mean complicated - Simple tools can be effective - MS Word and PDF - Web folder and static html page 01010 11…

21. 21 011100101… Henry Ford Statue. Image by Michelle Andonian. ID THF54681

22. Brian Wilson Benson Ford Research Center The Henry Ford Dearborn, Michigan brianw@thehenryford.org @brilwil Thank You!