“Enrolled Deeds as Records and Archives in Jamaica“
Andrew Williams

“Enhancing Archives and Records Management in Low-Resourced Organizations through Experiential Learning“
Jinfang Niu

“Student-Designed Archival Pedagogy: A Workshop-As-Research Approach to Pluralizing Community Archives Education“
Magdalena Wiśniewska-Drewniak

“Archival Notations of the Norwegian Charter Material“
Juliane Tiemann

The Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies (JCAS) announces three new articles:

“Community Defining Archives: A comparative view of community archives definitions,” written by Britney Bibeault.

Download the article: elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol12/iss1/11

Abstract: Defining community archives has been described as difficult in academic literature because of the wide range of activities the organizations do and who they represent, leading to a lack of an agreed-upon definition in the field. Until now, a comparison between how community archivists describe themselves and academic definitions of community archiving has not been undertaken. This paper explores the definitions of community archives given by practitioners in their digital community archives and compares them with academic literature. Using both qualitative thematic coding and quantitative word frequency counts, this study found Flinn (2007) and Flinn et al. (2009) definitions are commonly used in academic literature and highlights themes in practitioner definitions, like futurity and access, that provide insight into the values and goals of practitioners. The results indicate areas of improvement for community archives academics who hope to accurately portray community archives work and further highlight the importance of working with and supporting community archivists. Without the inclusion of practitioner definitions, descriptions, and ideas, academic literature about community archives is disconnected from the field, barring the creation of new ideas and methods.

“Associations among Trauma Exposures, Workplace Factors, and Distress Responses in Archivists,” written by Cheryl Regehr, Wendy Duff, and Rachael Lefebvre.

Download the article: elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol12/iss1/12

Abstract: A growing body of research addresses the emotional impact on archivists from working directly with materials that contain depictions of human suffering and from working with researchers and donors whose own lives are depicted in the records. This study sought to determine the impact of exposures to potentially traumatizing events and ongoing work stressors on symptoms of post-traumatic stress and burnout in archivists, as well as whether organizational factors, including trauma-informed practices, are associated with levels of post-traumatic stress and burnout. Seventy-seven archivists participated in a web-based survey. Findings reveal moderate to strong associations between a variety of potentially distressing workplace exposures and symptoms of post-traumatic stress, as well as between ongoing workplace stressors and burnout. Perhaps less expected were the associations found between ongoing workplace stressors and post-traumatic stress symptoms and the strong correlations between traumatic stress symptoms and burnout, suggesting that organizational environments can contribute to traumatic stress responses. However, trauma-informed organizational practices were significantly associated with lower levels of burnout and traumatic stress. This finding supports the implementation of trauma-informed practices not only to improve services to users, donors, and the community but also to improve the well-being of archival staff.

“Beyond Description: Interrogating Narrative Elements in Archival Finding Aids,” written by David J. Williams and Richard Kearney.

Download the article: elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol12/iss1/13

Abstract: As the archival profession evolves, attention is increasingly paid to the usability of its resources and services. User Experience, or UX, is a contemporary design practice gaining prominence among archivists interested in addressing usability. Information design, the process of organizing and presenting information for efficient and effective use, is a component of UX incorporating both the presentation and content of communication instruments, with plain language writing guidelines applied toward achieving this goal. A prominent information artifact produced by archivists is the finding aid, describing and inventorying archival collections. Those components of finding aids providing “access points” into collections-communicating the nature, history, and context of the materials-include several narrative elements, but how are they typically composed and how do they impact UX? Applying a series of readability and comprehension tests following plain language guidelines, we interrogate the usability and potential effectiveness of over 10,000 finding aids collected from 31 different archives. Our analyses suggest that finding aids offer fewer general audience access affordances than the format can support, and our research suggests that plain language writing is a manageable and measurable technique for improving the usability and experience of both finding aids and the archival collections they represent.

The Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies (JCAS) also announces two new book reviews:

“Review of Dissonant Records: Close Listening to Literary Archives,” written by Rachel C. Poppen.

Download the article: elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol12/iss1/9

Abstract: In Dissonant Records: Close Listening to Literary Archives, Tanya E. Clement addresses the 150-year legacy of these audio records and provides a call to action for digital humanists and literary scholars to recognize the research value of archival audio records and to integrate close listening into their research practices. Consisting of case studies on five aspects of close listening (amplification, distortion, interference, compression, and reception), Clement uses these topics to discuss the method of close listening, the use of audio records in research, and access issues to audio recordings in archives.

“Review of Archiving Cultures: Heritage, Community and the Making of Records and Memory,” written by Emily Homolka.

Download the article: elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol12/iss1/10

Abstract: This short, but densely packed, book aims to extend the disciplinary boundaries of archival studies and the ‘archive’ from its focus on tangible history, most commonly the written word, towards a more holistic understanding which allows for the inclusion of intangible, living culture in the ‘cultural archive.’ Archiving Cultures: Heritage, Community, and the Making of Records and Memory by Jeannette A. Bastian takes an interdisciplinary, transhistorical approach to reframe archivists’ understanding of a ‘record’ with the goal of creating archival equity between tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

JCAS is a peer-reviewed, open access journal sponsored by the New England Archivists, Yale University Library, and Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

The Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies (JCAS) announces the publication of three new articles and two new book reviews.

“MPLP: From Practice to Theory,” written by Kyna Herzinger.

 Download the article: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol7/iss1/20.

Abstract: This paper traces the transformation of More Product, Less Process or MPLP from a processing methodology to a principle that has supported a growing toolbox of practices. It highlights the seeds of that principle, which are rooted in Greene and Meissner’s effort to shift professional focus away from processing minutiae and toward access to and use of archival materials. Although MPLP developed out of demonstrable needs, its underlying attention to the nature of archival work and the archivist’s role within that work speaks to deeper concepts addressed within archival theory. This paper argues that MPLP’s pragmatic methods have evolved beyond a toolbox of practices, and that MPLP should be recast as a principle to be both challenged and held in tension with other fundamental archival principles.

“Labor Gone Digital (DigiFacket)! Experiences from Creating a Web Archive for Swedish Trade Unions,” written by Jenny Jansson, Katrin Uba, and Jaanus Karo.

Download the article: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol7/iss1/19.

Abstract: The Internet has become an increasingly important forum for societal activism, as event mobilization, member organization, and some actions have moved online. These new types of activities, often facilitated by diverse social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, form an increasingly important part of contemporary social movements’ and organizations’ communication, work, and expression. This rapid digitalization and the increase of online activities have created a dilemma for social movement archives and researchers: Born-digital material is necessary to understand our contemporary movements, yet the materials generated and available on the Internet are rarely systematically archived. To help find solutions to this problem, the project Labor Gone Digital (DigiFacket)! set out to construct an archiving system for material created on the Internet by the Swedish trade union movement (i.e., websites and social media feeds). This article reviews the creation of the DigiFacket system and explores the challenges of building a web archive that meets both the needs of the research community and the movements occurring online, and that is easy enough to maintain, even for small archives.

“Review of Leading and Managing Archives and Manuscripts Programs,” written by Rory Grennan.

Download the article: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol7/iss1/18.

Abstract: Review of Leading and Managing Archives and Manuscripts Programs, edited by Peter Gottlieb and David W. Carmichael, examining the main topics of leadership and management of people in archival programs, its place in the archival literature, and its potential audience.

Reviews

“Review of Advocacy and Awareness for Archivists,” written by Elizabeth D. James.

 Download the article: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol7/iss1/21/.

Abstract: Advocacy and Awareness for Archivists is at once a practical guide and a call to action to consistently communicate the work and impact of archives at the local, regional, and national levels. As an expansion of the Archival Fundamentals Series, the book places the work of advocacy as being central to the archives profession. However, it neglects to incorporate contemporary archival concerns related to power dynamics and inequity when planning and conducting an advocacy effort.

“Review of Archival Values: Essays in Honor of Mark A. Greene” written by Gregory Wiedeman.

Download the article: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol7/iss1/22/.

Abstract:  Archival Values: Essays in Honor of Mark A. Greene is an archetypal Festschrift with 23 essays on each of the 11 Society of American Archivists Core Values of Archivists. This is primarily a book about archival professionalism, as Scott Cline’s framing essay offers the values as “integral to the archival endeavor” and the SAA Publications Board selected it as the fourth of SAA’s annual “One Book, One Profession” series. The book features some particularly standout works that will help both graduate students and veteran archivists better understand some of the more cutting-edge ideas that are reshaping how archivists think of themselves and their work. However, the traditional format and conservative genre can be a bit problematic and may undermine the effort and limit its potential readership.

JCAS is a peer-reviewed, open access journal sponsored by the Yale University Library, New England Archivists, and Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Volume 5, 2018

Articles
Nineteenth-Century Depictions of Disabilities and Modern Metadata: A Consideration of Material in the P. T. Barnum Digital Collection
Meghan R. Rinn

Exploring the American Archivist: Corpus analysis tools and the professional literature
J. Gordon Daines III, Cory L. Nimer, and Jacob R. Lee

Moving Toward a Reparative Archive: A Roadmap for a Holistic Approach to Disrupting Homogenous Histories in Academic Repositories and Creating Inclusive Spaces for Marginalized Voices
Lae’l Hughes-Watkins

Book Reviews
Review of Queer Library Alliance: Global Reflections and Imaginings
Matthew P. Messbarger

Review of Curators: Behind the Scenes of Natural History Museums
Danielle Castronovo

Case Study
Adapting an Analog Records Management System for the Ingest and Accession of Permanent Electronic Records
Brandy Tunmire, Amy Dinkins, Mary K. Coker, Shelly J. Croteau, and John Korasick

Work in Progress
Researcher Access to Born-Digital Collections: an Exploratory Study
Julia Y. Kim

JCAS, Vol. 5, Issue 1, 2018
(open access)

“Nineteenth-Century Depictions of Disabilities and Modern Metadata: A Consideration of Material in the P. T. Barnum Digital Collection”
Meghan R. Rinn

“Adapting an Analog Records Management System for the Ingest and Accession of Permanent Electronic Records”
Brandy Tunmire, Amy Dinkins, Mary K. Coker, Shelly J. Croteau, and John Korasick