Marcus Robyns,
I would find it very helpful if you would articulate what you see as the "very, very, lofty claims" made by EAD proponents. Introducing a standard into a professional community is very much like playing a game of "telephone" in that the message that comes from the original source can be transmogrified into something very different by the time it reaches the end of the phone chain. Knowing more about the assumptions that you seek to test might help some to respond usefully to your query.
Best wishes,
Jackie Dooley (an avowed EAD "partisan")
"Robyns, Marcus" wrote:
> Greetings:
>
> Thank you to those on the EAD list that sent me links to information on
> EAD assessment studies. I have not yet had a chance to digest it all
> but will do so in the next few days.
>
> Indeed, I am an EAD critic/skeptic. However, I am also open minded,
> willing to learn, and will be implementing an EAD project through an
> NHPRC grant (hence, my sudden membership on the EAD list). I hope you
> all will accept my queries as a useful challenge to your support of EAD.
> As we all know, uncritical acceptance of orthodoxy is not a good thing
> in any profession.
>
> When one considers the great amount of money spent (at the expense of
> other very pressing needs in our profession) and the very, very, lofty
> claims made by EAD proponents, I believe the skeptics (and the have
> nots) among us are quite justified in demanding a certain level of
> accountability. I am hopeful that the information recently sent to me
> will demonstrate that users, as well as archivists, are experiencing a
> significant improvement in their access to archival collections through
> the use of EAD. Furthermore, I just learned that the NHPRC has approved
> a project at the University of Michigan that will assess the efficacy of
> all archival descriptive methods, including EAD. Perhaps their findings
> will put to rest the controversy over EAD's effectiveness.
>
> Collegially,
> Marcus
>
> Marcus C. Robyns, CA
> Associate Professor / University Archivist
> Northern Michigan University
> 1401 Presque Isle Ave
> Marquette, MI 49855
> (906) 227-1225
> (906) 227-1333
> [log in to unmask]
> Central U.P. and NMU Archives
> Quondo omni flunkus moritati
> Stick together; united we bargain - divided we beg
--
Jackie M. Dooley, Head of Special Collections and Archives
UCI Libraries, P.O. Box 19557, Univ. of California, Irvine, CA 92623-9557
Internet: [log in to unmask] Phone: 949/824-4935 Fax: 949/824-2472
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