Sarah Buchanan

Encoded Archival Description: Data Quality and Analysis

In order to authenticate the meaning of collections and to preserve their evidentiary value, archivists create documents (finding aids) that describe the provenance and original order of the records (MacNeil, 1995). Metadata standards such as Encoded Archival Description (EAD) enable finding aids to be encoded, searched, and displayed online. However, recent research has begun to draw attention to problems with the quality of EAD finding aid data and metadata, and the encoding practices by which finding aids are created. Since the next frontier in archival description involves reusing finding aid data for advanced information visualization techniques that support additional ways of engaging with collections, there is a pressing need for further study of data quality and how it might impact information visualization. This work analyzes a set of 8729 finding aids aggregated by the Texas Archival Repository Online (TARO) using VADA, a visual analytic tool for finding aids. The results show previously unidentified problems that have significant impact on the ability to visualize this data. The paper explains how these problems relate to both EADs design and the actual encoding practices of EAD, and provides recommendations for improving the quality of finding aid data.

Survey research on tasks and competencies to inform records management education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report findings from research conducted to study the everyday work of information professionals, specifically records managers. This paper is a part of the “Research on the Work of 21st Century Information Professionals” study. Design/methodology/approach Researchers used the tailored design approach to create and increase response rate of our survey. Survey research methodology facilitated the development, pilot and launch of a survey instrument with a 20-question module specific to records management work. Findings The authors discovered the frequency of 11 tasks in records managers’ daily work, as well as how important each of 11 competencies are to their success on the job. Professional development topics and format, job satisfaction, strategies for gaining compliance, desired skills for new hires and curricular recommendations are also presented. Research limitations/implications The survey generated 334 responses from records management professionals. This sample was based on graduate alumni, targeted professional groups and snowball strategy. Implications from this study include educating doctoral students to study information work and identifying particular areas for strengthening graduate curricula and professional training. Practical implications The authors obtained direct insight on what records managers do in their daily work that will inform curricular decision-making. Originality/value The study explores an interest in daily work activities through multiple quantifiable data measures to offer nuanced insight on the relationships between different aspects of records management work.

The Photography of Roman Freulich from Poland to Hollywood

Professional contributions and technical innovations of photographer Roman Freulich to the Hollywood film industry are contextualised regarding the heritage of his life experiences in Czenstochowa, Poland, New York and Los Angeles. The remarkable output of Freulichs independent work, consisting of film projects that ventured far beyond the relative professional shelter provided by his popular glamour shots, emerges in the present study. Freulich sought to give voice to the voiceless as evidenced in his self-produced film Broken Earth (1936) – the first film to feature a black actor in a starring role – as well as his collaborations with the actor Paul Robeson. Freulichs immigration to America and the loss of his family members who remained in Poland are two legacies that distinguished Freulich from his fellow cameramen. Freulich both achieved a fruitful Hollywood career as a photographer of contract players – aided by his early use of the 35 mm camera – and authored a narrative of Joseph Trumpeldor, founder of the Jewish Legion. A survivor of the Holocaust, Freulich did more than preserve these dual identities; his lasting achievement lies in the incorporation of a veterans sensitivity toward war in cinematic works that expanded early principles of still and moving image photography. Perspective by Freulichs family members is presented in original form, illuminating chronological events in the life of a pioneering photographer, writer and soldier.

Special Collections and Archives Code (SPAC): Preserving Provenance in a Bibliographic Catalog

The recording of provenance is of particular importance in special collections cataloging, as knowledge of provenance lends authenticity and reliability to the materials held. A method of cataloging collection-level provenance in bibliographic records through a short mnemonic code, a Special Collections and Archives Code (SPAC), is described which enhances visibility of collections and retrieval in a catalog. A collection code not only collocates unique individual items that share a common characteristic, but can also constitute part of a linked data approach to visualizing integrated collections in the form of a “virtual bookplate.”