Recently, I returned to the
office after missing two days of work. I opened my e-mail and received
a nice little message from my network administrator informing me that I
had exceeded the preset number of messages allowed by our system. As I
sat there looking at the subject lines of 374 new messages, I had flashes
of being dragged before our systems department in chains to plead my case
for leniency, while signing away my first born as a promise that I would
not let it happen again. Since only about 12 of the messages actually were
about official duties, I set about sacrificing all of the other messages
to appease the electronic gods. Two hours and a worn-out delete key later,
I had cleaned out my in-box and saved the pertinent messages in my "filing
system". Ironically, I feared that some of the deleted messages concerned
a newly proposed e-mail policy for my institution. What is this strange
creature named "E-mail"? Why are we slaves to it, and how does it affect
what we as archivists do?
In 1971, Ray Tomlinson sent the first e-mail message across the ARPANET, and e-mail, as we know it, had its birth. E-mail usage remained relatively low until 1989 when the first commercial e-mail carriers appeared on the Internet (MCI Mail and Compuserve). By 1994, BIS Strategic Decisions forecasted over 25 billion e-mail messages for the coming year, more than twice the number that had been sent in 1992 and, by one estimate, over a trillion e-mail messages were sent during 1996. In May 1997, the Electronic Messaging Association projected that the number of e-mail users would surpass 108 million by the year 2000, and that those users would receive more than 7 trillion messages per year.
With the popularity of e-mail in today's society, we in the archival profession will see similar changes in the formats, sizes, and types of collections that we acquire in the coming years. Our job will be to decide how to accession, process, store, and provide access to the electronic messages in years to come.
A case in point: When I took over the vice-presidency from Jan Blodgett in 1997, she provided me with two boxes of records which documented the activities of the previous Program Committees. Included in the roughly .4 linear feet of materials were the records of the last twelve program committees, along with a procedures manual. Noticeably lacking was the inclusion of any e-mail. When I turned over the files from the 1997/98 Program Committee to Tim Pyatt earlier this month, the records included 1 typed letter and nearly 40 e-mail messages, almost as much, size-wise, as the last two program committees combined. The relative ease of communication through electronic mail nearly doubled the amount of records produced by the committee.
My recent posting to the SNCA listserv on processing e-mail in collections received two responses. Replies ranged from printing off the e-mail and filing just as traditional correspondence, to retaining the e-mail on diskette. State agencies receive guidance from the Department of Cultural Resources on retention and disposition of
e-mail as a "public record," but what will we be required to do, ethically or legally, with electronic mail that is accessioned with a private manuscript collection? I personally have three different e-mail systems, none of which can import the others' messages. Does this mean that we establish criteria to ensure that messages we accession are readable by programs we have available to us? If we do this, how much of the intrinsic value of the message is lost? Do we only accept printed messages, or print out the files once we receive the diskette? How much of the metadata is lost to the researcher? Is there a way that SNCA can provide guidance to our constituency that will help them to understand the long-term requirements for electronic mail?
ARMA's Standard and Advisory Committee recently drafted a new guideline on electronic mail for public and private organizations. This guideline includes sections on e-mail creation and use, management, disposition, retention scheduling, destruction, and litigation issues. While SNCA does not need anything this elaborate, it is our responsibility as the Archival society in North Carolina to provide such guidance to our constituency. I propose the establishment of a SNCA Taskforce to examine the issues surrounding electronic mail and create a document similar to that created by ARMA.
In 1993, Michael J. Patrick said (from the website http://www.orst.edu/Dept/archives/misc/wvemer.html)
"E-mail," says Dr. Susan
Cisco, CRM, "is not going to go away." In 1991, she cites, there were an
estimated 8 million e-mail users in North America. In 1997 that number
totaled 50 million and is expected to grow by at least 20% annually through
the year 2000.
How should organizations be managing their e-mail? Like any other record that has to be stored, retrieved and managed, says Dr. Cisco. Her observations were part of a general session presented at the ARMA ISG mid-year seminar, March 8-10 in New Orleans. Dr. Cisco's session keynoted the seminar co-sponsored by the ARMA Petroleum, Utilities and Records Storage and Destruction ISG's. The basis for her talk, titled "Managing E-Mail: Beyond Policy" is a study she supervised at the University of Texas at Austin and conducted by nine graduate students. A full report of the study will be published in the July, 1998 edition of ARMA's Records Management Quarterly.
Dr. Cisco's remarks focused on the key issues of managing e-mail. One of the primary problems, she notes, is the perception of e-mail as a private, informal communication. Not so, she points out--e-mail is as public a piece of mail as a postcard, and the message should reflect the public nature of the medium. If you can't apply the "postcard rule", she cautions, you may need to alter the content or use another medium. Court cases attest to the fact that e-mail is subject to discovery rules, such as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures, as well as various state laws, and may also be open to the public under the Freedom of Information Act.
The public nature of e-mail, combined with the private storage of e-mail by an organization's employees, raise some serious technical issues for records managers. Some of these include:
Retention, says Dr. Cisco, adds another layer of complexity in managing e-mail. In most organizations, e-mail retention is based not on the content of the message but on the age.
What are public and private organizations doing to address these issues? Dr. Cisco's study uncovered some surprising information on state-of-the-art e-mail management. Industry analysts consulted as a part of the study reported that most work on the development of standards and policies was being conducted outside U.S. corporate business environments. Few organizations, they reported, viewed or treated e-mail as a record or had any policies regarding e-mail management. State-of-the-art for most U.S. based private sector organizations is a recognition of the need to develop these policies. The most significant developments are occurring in public sector organizations.
Internationally, policies for managing e-mail have been developed by the Australian Archives and the government of New South Wales. Domestically, significant work in standards development has been done by the United States Department of Defense which has described 127 mandatory requirements and 50 non-mandatory standards for record keeping software systems. This documentation clearly defines the elements which must be captured in an e-mail message.
Software and systems development are beginning to keep pace with the need for managing e-mail, reports Dr. Cisco. The study she supervised reveals a trend toward the merging of records management and document management software to manage e-mail records as part of an integrated document management solution.
Currently, says Dr. Cisco, many organizations, including ARMA, are developing professional standards and polices for e-mail management, yet these resources are still in the formulation stages. Until they are widely distributed and implemented, she suggests, most organizations will be focused on training and educating their work forces to treat e-mail as a public, organizational record. And while the current state of the art may raise more questions than answers, Dr. Cisco sees a leadership opportunity for records managers to help shape their organizations' e-mail policies and standards.
Editor's note: An ARMA International task force is finalizing the draft for an E-mail guideline. The Standards Advisory and Development Committee is currently reviewing the draft prior to releasing it for public review and comment within the next several weeks. Please watch for an announcement of the draft's availability for review in an upcoming NNQ or RMQ and on the ARMA International web site (http://www.arma.org/hq).
Reprinted with permission from:
NNQ: News, Notes, and Quotes (ARMA International) 22 (March 1998): 20.
Debbi Blake, the current Membership Chairperson, says that the office entails more than just generating mailing labels and serving on the Executive Board. She spends most of her time maintaining the database with the membership list. From that database she generates membership renewal notices yearly. She also works with the Publications Chairperson in the production of membership and institutional directories. When members are slow in returning their yearly renewal notices, it delays the production of the membership directory. Debbi sends out renewals in February because the membership year ends March 15. Renewals usually dribble in over the summer, but this year renewals are very slow in arriving. Perhaps El Niño slowed down renewals this year, but whatever the cause, Debbi is short at least 50 renewals right now. That means over 1/3 of the SNCA membership has not yet renewed for the year. Although the membership deadline passed, Debbi still is accepting renewals for this year. Please send your renewal notice and $15 to SNCA at: Society of North Carolina Archivists, P.O. Box 20448, Raleigh, NC 27619.
The new membership directory will be distributed this summer, but Debbi needs your assistance before the directory can be completed. North Carolina received several new telephone area codes this year. Many members also change e-mail addresses frequently. If your phone number, e-mail address, or mailing address has changed since you sent your renewal notice, please let Debbi know. You may send her an e-mail (dblake@ncsl.dcr.state.nc.us) or leave her a phone message at (919)733-3952.
Many SNCA office holders rely heavily on the accuracy of the membership database. Your timely renewals and updates of addresses and phone numbers go a long way toward ensuring that accuracy.
After graduating in 1988, Suellyn accepted an internship in the archives at the Jefferson National Expansion Historical Association in St. Louis, Missouri, commonly known as the Gateway Arch National Park. Holdings there consist mainly of records of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Association, which originated the idea of the Gateway Arch in the 1920's. The collection also contain holdings regarding steam boats and other areas of local interest. While there Suellyn worked with a group of forty volunteers on various aspects of collections processing.
At the end of the internship, she took a position on a two year NHPRC grant at the Missouri Botanical Garden across town in St. Louis. In January, 1990, she became the assistant archivist there. This archives mainly serves as a repository of the MBG's business records. It also contains the private papers of several well-known botanists. Suellyn primarily processed business records, but she also recruited and trained about twenty volunteers to help with processing.
In December of 1991, Suellyn left St. Louis for Topeka, Kansas and a job as a reference archivist at the Kansas State Historical Society. Like the Department of Cultural Resources in North Carolina, the Kansas State Historical Society touches many aspects of public history through its state archives, historical museum, records center, historic preservation office, and archeology department. Once the body of the historical society's collections relocated to a new building adjacent to the history museum, Suellyn accepted duties as volunteer coordinator for the library and archives division and webmaster for the society's homepage. She also worked with the education division in preparing traveling "history trunks" for schools.
In July of 1997, almost ten years after starting in the archival field, Suellyn moved to North Carolina to become the University Archivist for East Carolina University. Since she is relatively new to SNCA, the newsletter committee thought the membership might be interested in a personal profile of Suellyn and a recent project of hers.
When I first arrived at ECU
in August (1997), I met Marcon. Marcon is an archives database program
designed to catalog archival collections. At ECU it was used to catalog
archival collections, photographs, architectural drawings, and newspaper
indexes. It also served some records management functions. A flat, outdated
database without support, Marcon regularly ate records. I made it my top
priority to convert the Marcon databases to Access.
Pam Burton of the library's Systems Department performed the actual conversion of Marcon records to Access. Due to Marcon's age a straight import proved impossible, so Pam wrote a conversion program. She successfully moved the records out of Marcon and into Access without losing any data.
First, I acquainted myself with Access and the structures of the Marcon databases. Unlike Marcon, Access is a relational database consisting of tables of information which can be linked to one another in differing relationships, including one to many, one to one, or many to many. Query, data entry, reporting, and statistical features all help with the retrieval of information in a number of formats. Access also allows for the use of macros and graphics. Unlike Marcon, Access is very user friendly, and it can be networked for multiple users. In Marcon each piece of duplicate information was reentered into each record.
In looking at the Marcon database structure, I was able to identify fields with repeated information. I isolated these and moved them into a table in Access I called the "records table." It contained basic information about individual accessions, including accession number, record group, office of origin, series title, series dates, number of boxes, date accessioned, and records disposition schedule.
Next, I created a larger table to hold information related to the individual boxes in an accession. Fields in this database include accession number, box number, box dates, and locator information. Currently the locator system is only in the experimental stages. Until we move into our new records center space in 1999, the format of that data need not be finalized.
I linked the two tables with the accession number field. The relationship is one to many as the records table allows only one unique accession number, while the locator table allows for duplicate accession numbers. To ease data entry tasks and cut down on errors, I created a data entry form with fields from the records table at the top and a subform for the box information. The accession number is only entered in the top portion, and Access automatically enters that data into the locator table.
From these two databases I can generate box lists, destruction lists, review lists, and box labels with or without the university logo, and statistical reports. The searching capabilities are much greater than Marcon, and I can find information very quickly with multiple field queries. Frequently used queries can be saved and given parameters with prompt users to insert search criteria, such as a range of accession numbers. This saves time and makes the queries friendly to staff who still are learning Access.
I currently am working on another table which will have the series item number taken from our records schedules and the corresponding information on the office of origin, series title, disposition, and number of years until disposition. When this is in place, I should be able to enter the item number and the other fields mentioned will be filled with the correct information. This improves the data entry process by speeding it up and reducing errors. Another eventual improvement will be to create a macro that can calculate the disposition date by evaluating the information in the ending series date field and the time element of the disposition.
The Marcon database was used to record charge outs. The charge out fields were moved into a third table. I linked it to the records table through accession number. Entering the accession number in the charge out table automatically brings up information about the office of origin and series. From this table, I have been able to generate a list of overdue materials for each department, which has in turn led to a restructuring of our charge out period.
By setting up parameter queries on several databases, I easily generate monthly or quarterly reports on the number of accessions or charge outs in a matter of minutes. These reports can include color graphs or pie charts.
Currently I am beginning work on combining the photograph, architectural drawing, newspaper index, and archives collection databases into a similar system that will enhance subject searches for patrons and staff. I anticipate that this project will be lengthy. Marcon damaged the photograph database. The archives collection database contains entries for series, box, folder, and item descriptions. I started the process of breaking it apart, but linking them together will be tricky. I also face some standardization issues.
Access databases can be exported into other types of databases fairly
easily. It also can be used to generate documents in html format for use
on the Internet. The end goals of this project will be:
1. a search engine mounted on the Web with can search all four tables
at once and include thumbnail prints of our photo collection
2. collection and series descriptions added to Horizons, the libraries'
on-line catalog, and
3. new and improved finding aids for the research room
If you have worked on a similar project, please contact me at
(919)328-0272 or lathrops@mail.ecu.edu
Gene I. Rochlin. Trapped
in The Net : The Unanticipated Consequences of Computerization. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1997. Pp 293. $29.95
As information professionals, we are faced every day with questions about new and developing technologies and technological trends, such as EAD, scanning, and finding aids on the World Wide Web. Do we digitize whole collections or just the most used parts? How are we going to finance both the initial cost as well as the inevitable up-grades and information migrations? Just how dependent do we want to become on technology? What is the cost of this dependence, not only in terms of dollars and time spent, but also to our patrons? In his book Trapped in the Net, Gene I. Rochlin challenges us to examine our technological choices and ask ourselves what effect they have on our society.
In the beginning of Trapped in the Net Rochlin poses his overriding question, "Are the computers taking over?" From this basic query Rochlin delves into how technology and society fit together, or more accurately how technology is changing society and human interactions. In trying to answer this question Rochlin leads the reader through the history of the development of the computer and network technology. He points out that, at times, technological development has been driven more by the developers than the end-users, and thus little time has been spent asking what effect these developments will have on future users. Following this history lesson Rochlin uses case studies from both the economic and the military communities to show the drastic effects of rapid technological development without forethought.
I highly recommend this book. Trapped in the Net evokes many thought-provoking questions about computers, technology and how they have changed and are changing the way people across the world conduct business and live their lives. Rochlin has combined his training in the physical sciences and social science to create a great book, which will cause many lively discussions across many disciplines.
While taking an Introduction
to Public History course during my graduate student days, I became familiar
with Paul N. Banks' article, "Environmental Standards for Storage of Books
and Manuscripts" (Library Journal, Feb. 1, 1974). Banks' article provided
librarians and archivists with a thorough, yet concise overview of recommended
environmental conditions for stack areas. Among the standard areas Banks
focused on are temperature, relative humidity, light, air purity, fire
prevention, and transportation of materials. For a beginning archivist,
Banks proved an excellent source for quick reference on these and other
environmental factors. Before leaving my apartment every day, I made sure
I had my wallet, keys, and my Banks article.
Though still a valuable source, Banks' 1974 article is, of course, a bit dated. Fortunately, continuing efforts to establish environmental standards has led to much discussion and research on the topic. Some of these studies can be found on the World Wide Web.
Conservation OnLine http://palimpsest.stanford.edu
Developed by the Preservation Department of Stanford University Libraries.
A general site concerned with many areas of conservation and a good place
to initiate a search on environmental standards - where I began this one.
This site contains full-text articles and links on a variety of topics
including, molds, pest management, and mass deacidification.
Commission on Preservation and Access http://www.clir.org/cpa/
Organization concerned with the preservation of paper records and books.
Two main areas of interest are environmental conditions and microfilming.
Site provides links to a newsletter (1988 - present) and the Preservation
Science Research Initiative, which focuses on improved preservation techniques
through scientific research.
Our Environment Ruined? Environmental Control Reconsidered as a Strategy
Conservation. http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/jcms/issue1/peters.html
An article from the May 1996 Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies
focusing on the effects of relative humidity on paper deterioration. Written
by Dale Peters, at the time a doctoral candidate, the site demonstrates
how humidity effects the chemical composition of paper. Peters emphasizes
the importance of a consistent relative humidity rather than a specific
value (for example, 50%). Traces recent discussions on the topic and includes
a bibliography.
Work of Smithsonian Scientists Revises Guidelines for Climate Control
in Museums and Archives. Press release, Smithsonian Institution, August
21, 1994.
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/environment/
and scroll to "Temperature and Relative Humidity Guidelines" for press
release and subsequent discussion.
In 1994, researchers from the Smithsonian's Conservation Analytical
Laboratory argued that museum objects did not have to be stored at the
"ideal" 21C (70F) temperature and 50% relative humidity, but instead could
handle a wider range of environmental conditions. Focusing primarily on
environmental control within museums, this release sparked a discussion
on the pros and cons of the findings.
Please feel free to contact me if you have other subjects or recent websites you would like explored. I can be reached at (919)684-5637 (w) or todd.crumley@duke.edu
Christina Favretto accepted the Women's Studies Archivist and Resource Specialist position in the Rare Books, Manuscripts and Special Collections Library at Duke University. Her appointment is effective June 1.
Brooke Fox is serving as the summer intern for the Department of History, Presbyterian Church (USA). She will be processing a manuscript collection and helping to catalog the Department's pamphlet collection on a database.
The Davidson College Archives intern for 1998-2000 will be Jason Hamrick.
Valerie Howell began working at the Johnston County Heritage Center in Smithfield, NC on April 20. She serves as a part-time curatorial assistant for the center, which is scheduled to open in 1999.
Donna Kelly will attend the NHPRC Editing Institute in Madison, WI from June 15-20, 1998.
John David Smith has been appointed Fulbright Professor of American Studies, University of Munich, Germany, for 1998-1999.
Jill Snider was hired by the Southern Historical Collection to process the papers of Charles Kuralt. While she was a graduate student at UNC-CH, Jill spent six years a manuscripts processor for the Southern Historical Collection. She returns to Chapel Hill from Washington, where she helped plan a special exhibit on African-Americans in aviation and volunteered as a reference archivist at the National Air and Space Museum.
Jason Tomberlin accepted a position with NCSU Special Collections. He begins the Public History program at NCSU this fall.
Collection Development and Preservation:
The UNC-CH Manuscripts Department recently made available the
following materials: records, 1979-1992, of the Lynhurst Foundation, an
organization supporting the education and health initiatives of institutions,
local groups, and individuals of eastern Tennessee and throughout the South.
The Department of History, Presbyterian Church (USA) recently acquired the John K. Trittenbach Postcard Collection, a collection of 16,000 Presbyterian-related postcards.
The North Carolina Baptist Historical Collection, Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University has microfilmed records of several North Carolina churches and religious associations, including: First Baptist Church (1894-1995), Moore County; Wood Baptist Church (1916-1995), Franklin County; Caroleen Baptist Church (1925-1996), Rutherford County; Laurel Fork Baptist Church (1978-1997), Watauga County; Ephesus Baptist Church (1988-1997), Lee County; Mount Sinai Baptist Church (1885-1996), Cleveland County; Ephesus Baptist Church (1885-1997), Wake County; New Hope Baptist Church (1996-1997), Columbus County; Cedar Springs Baptist Church (1847-1944), Columbus County; First Baptist Church (1895-1997), Cleveland County; Ashley's Grove Baptist Church (1981-1997), Northampton County; Pole Creek Baptist Church (1979-1995), Buncombe County.
Publications:
Robert Anthony (North Carolina Collection) co-edited with Timothy
Riggs a 44 page catalogue entitled Look Homeward: Douglas Gorsline Illustrated
Thomas Wolfe. It accompanies an exhibition of the same title at the Ackland
Art Museum of UNC-CH. He published "Illustrating the ANGEL: Douglas W.
Gorsline," Thomas Wolfe Review 22 (Spring 1998): 68-73. He also published
"Bringing Boston Books to the Carolina Mountains: Charles Hallet Wing and
the Good-Will Free Library at Leger," North Carolina Libraries (Spring
1998): 16-18. Wing, a professor of chemistry at MIT, moved to Leger, NC
in 1885 and established a free library there.
Eileen McGrath of the North Carolina Collection published, " 'In My Mind I'm Going to Carolina...': Bruce Cotton's Passion for North Caroliniana," North Carolina Libraries, 56 (Spring 1998): 19-22.
Julie Doyle (Department of History, Presbyterian Church), John David Smith (NCSU Dept. of History), and Richard McMurry co-edited, " This Wilderness of War": The Civil War Letters of George W. Squier, Hoosier Volunteer, published this spring by the University of Tennessee Press.
Elizabeth Dunn (Duke) published "Women in Their Own Words: New Resources for Women's Studies Research," Duke University Libraries 11:2(Winter 1998): 14-15.
Donna Kelly (Historical Publications Section) reviewed The Papers of John C. Calhoun. Volume XXIII: 1846 by Clyde N. Wilson and Shirley B. Cook (eds.). for the April issue of the North Carolina Historical Review. For the July issue she will review briefly Louisa S. McCord: Selected Writings by Richard C. Lounsbury (ed.). She also prepared "Web Guidelines" for in-house use within the North Carolina Division of Archives and History.
Ansley Wegner (NC State Archives) wrote "Phantom Pain: A History of Civil War Amputation and North Carolina's Maimed Veterans." It will appear in the July issue of the North Carolina Historical Review.
Exhibits, Projects, and Workshops of Note:
The Davidson College Archives has added its Records Management
Manual to its web site. Since computer upgrades will be causing URL changes
this summer, the best way to get to the manual is either through the link
on the SNCA web page, or through the Davidson College home page (http://www.davidson.edu).
Records Management is available through the Visitors Center button, under
the Archives link, through the Library button, under the Special Collections
link, or through the Administration button, under the Human Resources link.
The Gaston County Museum of Art & History is a proud grant recipient of the State Grants Program from the NC Department of Cultural Resources. The award will allow the museum to hire a professional archivist for a one year project to develop, organize, and implement an efficient and usable archival cataloging system for the museum's archives.
Miscellaneous:
The Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church
wants to hire a part-time archivist for three days a month in Charlotte.
The position involves cataloging records and assisting patrons in research.
Send inquiries to James Pyatt, P.O. Box 661, Denver, NC 28037.
Lodging in Montreat may be difficult to obtain in October due to Elderhostl
and church retreats. The campground is not open in October. You can try
the following:
Assembly Inn: 669-2911
William Black Lodge: 699-6314
Black Mountain options:
Comfort Inn: 669-9950
Super 8 Motel: 669-8076
Asheville options (near Exit 55 off 40):
Days Inn East: 298-5140
Best Inns of America: 298-4000
Holiday Inn-East: 298-5611
Super 8 East Motel: 298-7952
Motel 6: 299-3040
Michelle also suggested that the Asheville area is full of hotels and bed & breakfasts. If you are having trouble finding lodging, or if you need some information on campgrounds, you can reach Michelle at:
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Dept. of History/ Box 849
Montreat, NC 28757
828/669-7061
