On silos, sorry for the lack of clarity. What I meant is that there is a
downside to archives technology being kept on the archives side -- we
may be solving a problem that has already been solved (which you would
discover if you were working with journals that are broader based than
archives), or may be solving a problem that's of broader interest.
Keeping technology on the archives side of the fence has a downside. I
suggested code4lib because it is open and therefore accessible and
affordable for all -- DigLib is another idea, and there is also Ariadne
(UK "and beyond" doesn't come out all that often)
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/

If you want to have a mechanism for getting information out there
quickly, I suggest starting a blog and encouraging many contributors and
commentators. The blog could also do a service to the archival community
by highlighting "invented elsewhere" technologies and solutions. Not
what you suggested, but another thought.

Best,

Merrilee

Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer
OCLC Research



-----Original Message-----
From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Randall Miles
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2012 12:55 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Practical Technical Journal for Archives

Merrilee,

You are right, code4lib does publish the occasion archives article.
However, they tend to assume a fairly high level of competence as far as
computer skills are concerned. I was think more along the lines of
how-to-articles for archivists, especially in small shops, who may not
have the skills and do not have access to others in their organization
who do. Articles that can help them leverage some of the readily
available tools (MS Access, FileMaker Pro, etc.) in order to automate
some of their work flow. 

There are, as you say, big advantages to existing journals: established
reputation, infrastructure in place, ready audience. There are also
disadvantages. The two most prominent in my mind are cost and scope.
While code4lib and D-lib are free most of the others have subscription
costs in the hundreds of dollars for institutions and around a hundred
for individuals. How many small shop can afford that for the few
archives articles that will show up? Which brings us to scope: the types
of articles I'm thinking of are not "scholarly" and are very unlikely to
be accepted in any of the established journals. 

I have to admit that I'm not clear on what you mean in your point on
silos. Are you saying that you think that because of the silo effect it
is difficult or ineffective to publish in existing journals? Or are you
saying that publishing in an archives specific technical journal will
increase the silo effect? I think both are valid points, but I am more
concerned with silos within archives. Between the technological haves
and have-nots, if you will. I sense that smaller shops are getting left
behind the technological curve and hope that more available tools will
help them along.

Randall

-----Original Message-----
From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Proffitt,Merrilee
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 4:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Practical Technical Journal for Archives

Although I only vaguely remember the query, I don't recall if there was
an issue with using the code4lib journal as a platform for archives
technology solutions (http://journal.code4lib.org/). I think there are
big advantages in going with an existing journal (and disadvantages in
archives being too silo'ed from our kindred spirits in other information
sectors).

Best,

Merrilee

Merrilee Proffitt, Senior Program Officer OCLC Research



-----Original Message-----
From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Randall Miles
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 12:50 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Practical Technical Journal for Archives

Karen,

No one said they would not read it, although a few did respond without
saying they would. Pretty much all responses were positive, and with
today's responses it's probably close to thirty readers. 

I think Leah's advice (below) is sound and I have not completely given
up on the idea. I think there are small scale options to explore.

Randall

-----Original Message-----
From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Bleier, Karen
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 2:35 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Practical Technical Journal for Archives

I'm curious, because I remember your original post, and I don't think I
responded before something distracted me.  I imagine others did the
same.

So, my question: 17 people said they would read it; how many said they
wouldn't?  

I and my colleagues almost certainly would read it.  Sorry I didn't
respond initially.

Karen Bleier, MLS
Research Librarian
816-822-3418


-----Original Message-----
From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Leah Prescott
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 1:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Practical Technical Journal for Archives

I think this could very well be one of those instances where people
don't realize how valuable it might be until there is an example. I'm a
big believer in creating a straw man and then adjusting as others react
- rather than needing an idea to be fully fleshed-out and vetted before
taking a step forward. 

Also, if there is interest from only a small number of people I don't
think you should take that as an indication that it is an any less
valuable thing to do. If just a few people start some mechanism, even an
informal one, to share ideas and help one another, then that becomes a
core that can be built upon as others start to see the value. I say go
for it on a small scale - just my opinion.

Leah


Leah Prescott
Digital Projects Coordinator
Washington Research Library Consortium
901 Commerce Drive
Upper Marlboro, MD 20774
301-390-2004
[log in to unmask]
________________________________________
From: Encoded Archival Description List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Randall Miles [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 1:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Practical Technical Journal for Archives

Please excuse cross posts.

About two weeks ago I posted regarding a practical technical journal for
archives. I had three questions:


1.       Does such a journal exist? Based on the responses no, there is
no such journal.

2.       Would you read such a journal? 17 people responded that they
would.

3.       Would you submit articles to such a journal? 5 of the 17 who
said they would read it also said they would likely submit articles.

My conclusion from this is that not only is there no technical journal
specific to archives, but there is also very little interest in one. I
feel this is too bad. It is a definite gap in the literature and would
provide a mechanism for those of us with some technical expertise to not
only help one another, but also help those in the profession who are
less technically skilled or have fewer resources to fall back on. But,
if there's no interest, there's no interest.

Thank you to all who responded.

Randall


Randall Miles
Technical processes archivist
*Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives
*Martin P. Catherwood Library
227 Ives Hall
*ilr* School
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-3901
Phone: 607-255-2705
Fax:  607-255-9641
*WEBSITE*: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/kheel/
*Blog*:
http://programmablearchivist.blogspot.com<http://programmablearchivist.b
logspot.com/>

*/Advancing the world of work/*