1. Archival Appraisal of Records of Electronic Community Networks in Local History Repositories Susan K. Soy School of Information March 26, 2004

2. Susan K. Soy2 Archival Appraisal The process of determining the value and thus the disposition of records based upon their current administrative, legal, and fiscal use; their evidential and informational value; their arrangement and condition, their enduring value,and their relationship to other records

3. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy3 Certainly Not Understudied -- but still perplexing Historical focus: competing views of appraisal process most of them based on dealing with paper-based records

4. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy4 Thoughtful Viewpoints Schellenberg, Jenkinson Postmodern Cook, Eastwood Hugh Taylor, Peter Botticelli

5. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy5 Potential Review Areas Collection development (Phillips) Documentation strategies (Samuels) Reflective practice (Schön) Networks (Wellman, Bottecelli)

6. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy6 Research Questions –What formal and informal strategies do archivists use in appraisal of the records about and generated by electronically enabled community networks? –How do community values, personal values, and cultural factors shape the appraisal strategies and processes used by the archivist? –How do actual appraisal practices in use differ or correspond directly to existing policy and written procedure?

7. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy7 Goals Work in the field Create an understanding Inform the profession

8. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy8 Plan Research Plan –Interviews - in-depth –Field Notes, Observations, –Document examination Purposeful Sampling –Target respondent group: archivists and others in local history repositories –Opportunity exists to acquire electronic community records and written strategies exist –Creators of records in the electronic community network

9. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy9 Data Collection Selection of two case study sites for interviews, document collection, field note collection & observation -- perhaps more are called for In-depth interviews –Audiotaped –Using a semi-structured interview guide

10. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy10 Data Collection –Describe existing appraisal practice for records of electronic nature and paper –Creators describe features of long-term value in networks

11. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy11 Data Management and Analysis Case Study analysis and coding of data (Stake, Miles & Huberman) Analysis and coding of collected documents Data reduction through coding, clustering, locating themes, composing matrices with text, composing stories, checking with study participants

12. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy12 Credibility and Trustworthiness Reproducibility –Process logs, field notes Validity –Triangulation –Member checking –Audit

13. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy13 Significance of this study Will provide understanding about how archivists’ values, backgrounds, and experiences shape appraisal practice Will provide information about how archivists perform the critical task of appraisal Will inform us about the deliberate choices archivists are making that affect the long-term preservation of the communicative symbols that influence and shape future interpretations of society

14. March 26, 2004 Susan K. Soy14 Discussion