Leah,

I personally think this is a great idea!  Although I favor
integrating EAD into the normal processing and descriptive
workflow, sometimes it just can't be done; the resources may
not exist and it may be too technical for existing staff (or
the training period too lengthy).   Almost everyone starting
out has to first convert their legacy finding aids, which
are usually their most difficult and inconsistent ones.
Some outside assistance beyond the workshops would have been
most welcome!  Although many of our own stumbling blocks
focused on the creation of appropriate style sheets and
presentation.

We used APEX for larger scale conversions for "legacy"
finding aids.  We sent out 2 batches; the first was
associated with an RLG grant.  We found that the first batch
came back looking pretty good, but the second batch had
numerous inconsistencies.  We realized that some of the
problems were with the finding aids themselves and their own
inconsistencies.  Although APEX was good; it was apparent
that they didn't always have the archivist's perspective to
be able to correctly identify and code sections that were
not properly titled in the finding aids.  After Apex
returned the encoded texts, we had to spend (and are still
working on it) a lot of time "cleaning them up".  I would
think that a consultant would be helpful in this area as
well, especially for an institution that wants to get the
finding aids up, but doesn't have the permanent staff to
deal with it.

Also, a contract encoder would be perfect for some grant
projects.

Good Luck!

>>> [log in to unmask] 08/19/02 10:26AM >>>
Related to this, does anyone know if there are any outfits
out there that
hire people to create EAD finding aids from paper records?
I often thought
that is might be a perfect telecommuter job.  Anyone heard
of such a thing?
Would that be a useful service that institutions might
use?

Leah Prescott
Manuscripts and Archives Librarian
Collections Information Technology Coordinator

MYSTIC SEAPORT
The Museum of America and the Sea
G.W. Blunt White Library
75 Greenmanville Avenue
PO Box 6000
Mystic CT  06355-0990  USA

tel: 860.572.0711 x5263
fax: 860.572.5394
[log in to unmask]
http://www.mysticseaport.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Encoded Archival Description List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Charles Perrier
Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2002 10:11 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Experienced encoder neede


The New  York Public Library's Dance Division is looking
for an outside
source of experienced encoders.  We have a large number of
paper finding
aids that we wish to have converted to EAD to mount on our
website.  Is
there a network, formal or informal, which I can contact?
Any reply, on or
off the list, would be most appreciated.

Charles Perrier, Manuscripts Librarian
Dance Division
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York,  NY  10023
Tel: 212-870-1864
Fax: 212-870-1869