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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