Excavating archival description: from collection to data level
| Pages | 195-202 |
| Date | 14 August 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-11-2016-0043 |
| Published date | 14 August 2017 |
| Author | Lesley L. Parilla,Rebecca Morgan,Christina Fidler |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Records management & preservation,Information repositories |
Excavating archival description:
from collection to data level
Lesley L. Parilla
Smithsonian Libraries, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Rebecca Morgan
Special Collections Library, American Museum of Natural History,
New York, New York, USA, and
Christina Fidler
The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley, University of California,
Berkeley, California, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to discuss three projects from three institutions that are dealing
with challenges with natural sciences field documentation. Each is working to create the collection, item
and data-level description required so that researchers can fully use the data to study how biodiversity
has changed over time and space. Libraries, archives and museums recognize the need to make content
searchable across material type. To create online catalogs that would make this possible, ideally, all
records would describe one item. Museums and libraries describe their materials at the item level;
however, archives must balance the need to describe the collection as a whole alongside needs of
collection materials that may require more description to reconnect with library and museum items.
There is a growing determination inside of archives to increase this flow of data, particularly for the
natural sciences, by creating workflows that provide additional description to make these data
discoverable. This process is a bit like drilling into the earth: each level must be describedbefore the
next can be dealt with.
Design/methodology/approach –The piece describes challenges,approaches and workflows of three
institutionsdeveloping deeper levels of descriptionfor archival materials that will be madeavailable online to
a specialized audience. It also describesthe methods developed so that the material’s data can eventually be
accessedat a more granular level and linked to related resources.
Findings –Current systems, schema and standards are adapted as necessary, and the natural sciences
archival communityis still working to develop best practices. However, they are getting muchcloser through
the collaborationmade possible through grants in the recent years.
Originality/value –The work described in this paper is ongoing,and best practices resulting from the
work are still underdevelopment.
Keywords Digital libraries, Museums, GLAM, Metadata, Digitization, Archival description
Paper type Case study
Introduction
Libraries, archives and museums recognize the need to make content discoverable across
material types. To create searchable online catalogs, all records would ideally describe
individual items. Museums and libraries often describe their materials at the item level;
however, archives most frequently describe materials at the collection level.Archives must
balance the need to describe the collection as a whole alongside individual collection
materials that may require further description to reconnect with library and museum items.
This is particularly true of materials such as natural sciences field notes, which often exist
Excavating
archival
description
195
Received 14 November 2016
Revised 16 December 2016
Accepted 16 December 2016
DigitalLibrary Perspectives
Vol.33 No. 3, 2017
pp. 195-202
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5816
DOI 10.1108/DLP-11-2016-0043
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