maximizing resources: ead and marc in the small repository valerie gillispie assistant university...
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Maximizing Resources: EAD and MARC in the small repository
Valerie GillispieAssistant University ArchivistWesleyan UniversityMiddletown, Connecticut
Wesleyan’s Special Collections & Archives: January 2006
14 finding aids online 500+ collections not described
online Existing finding aids
created in Microsoft Word and transformed into HTML documents
paper Minimal catalog records in OPAC
Consequences of lack of (encoded) online presence?
The curiosity cabinet
Technical services challenges
Setting priorities Finding assistance Updating technology
Prioritizing collections
What is available digitally or on paper?
Heavily used collections Collections central to mission of
institution Collections appropriate for your
workers’ skills
Types of assistance
Library and IT professionals
Student workers
Graduate school interns
Appropriate student projects
Small collections that do not require complex re-arrangement
Larger collections that need only an inventory
Projects of personal interest can be good choices . . . but sometimes not
Why move to EAD?
Puts tags around each item in finding aid, i.e. metadata
Transform XML into MARC or other frequently used metadata schemas
Connects us to other institutions and archivists
Online toolkits and references
NCEAD Toolkit http://www.ncecho.org/dig/ncead.shtml
LoC EAD website http://www.loc.gov/ead/index.html
EAD Cookbook http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/ead/ead2002cookbook.html
Take advantage of encoding
MarcEdit http://oregonstate.edu/~reeset/
marcedit/html/index.php
External Resources
EAD listserv SAA listserv Other institutions’ websites Regional/national networking
Wesleyan’s Special Collections & Archives: January 2009
Over 90 finding aids online, nearly all in EAD
Enhanced MARC records More students and outside
patrons finding collections through Google
The lessons of more product, less process
