October 23-October 25

This week has been one of the most productive ones I have had so far. Despite the difficulties I have previously mentioned I have managed to finish processing the second box along with the two binders I had to remove from the second box in order to make room. Upon the completion of all this I consulted my internship supervisor and we both decided that it would be most efficient to make an excel spreadsheet listing the names of all the folders, that way I can see what I have and better organize the finding aid. On the topic of the finding aid, after some discussion we decided that organizing all the folders in chronological folders would be best. Especially since the titles of the folders are pretty repetitive. Listing all the folder titles I realized for the first time how many new folders I created. While I do not have the exact number, yet it must be over one hundred. The most remarkable thing is that there will be more new folders because I was actually given two un-processed folders that were misplaced by my supervisor. These will be processed shortly and as for the folders created from the two binders there will be a new box for them to be placed in.


Once again, my readings have given me new insights into archiving. The first reading had to do with an online game known as ‘FIX IT’ that is probably the first archiving game I have ever heard of. Hosted by the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, the goal of this game is to have internet users correct grammatical errors in historically significant transcripts of audio records. The more corrections made the more points the user earns. What strikes me is how clever the AAPB were in coming up with this game. By inviting the public to play this game the AAPB has devised a method of having their transcripts corrected without the use of interns or having their own busy staff take time off from their current tasks. Also, the game educates the public about archiving too so in many ways the AAPB are killing two birds with one stone. I feel that many other organizations, not just other archiving ones, can use this method somehow. Perhaps historians can gather historical correspondence by having people play a game where they try to turn in the most copies of old letters. There are many possibilities. The other reading has to do with NPR’s Research, Archives & Data Strategy archiving audio records. What most people forget is that the most important historical events are not battles, elections or the construction of monuments but rather, speeches or interviews. This is especially relevant to our modern times. For instance, when the subject of the 60’s is brought up the most coming things people are reminded of are JFK’s ‘Ask not’ speech or MLK’s ‘I have a dream’ speech given in DC. The challenge of this of course, is how the media devices used to record these audios are ever changing. Audio on tapes have to be converted to discs and as the years go on there will most likely be even newer and more different audio devices.    

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