UPDATE: Announcement: Call for Papers Deadline Extended

Back in May, I posted an announcement concerning a Call for Papers for the 8th European Conference on Digital Archiving, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland between April 28-30, 2010. The conference is being organized by the Swiss Federal Archives in collaboration with the International Council on Archives' (ICA) European Regional Branch (EURBICA) and the Section on Professional Associations (SPA).

Fast forward to September--just a few days ago--I received an email from the Swiss Federal Archives notifying me that the paper submission deadline has been extended to September 13, 2009.

You can find more information on the extension of deadline on the Swiss Federal Archives website.

Spread the word among your colleagues.

Announcement: Call for Papers, 8th European Conference on Digital Archiving

A few days ago, I received the following email. It is an announcement and a call for papers for the 8th European Conference on Digtial Archiving that will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from April 28 - 30, 2010.

Dear Sir,

The Swiss Federal Archives organise together with the International Council on Archives' (ICA) European Regional Branch (EURBICA) and the Section on Professional Associations (SPA) the 8th European Conference on Digital Archiving that takes place in Geneva, 28 - 30 April 2010.

As of now it is possible to submit abstracts online at Abstract Submission. I am writing to ask if you can publish this short announcement in your blog. You find more information on the conference and details on the Call for Papers on our website www.bar.admin.ch/eca2010

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thank you very much for your help to promote the ECA 2010!

Best regards,

Mercedes Matas

Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin

My pleasure, Ms. Matas. I wish I could attend. The conference sounds interesting. (Wink wink Mercedes!)

Constant--and, I might add, very patient--readers, by all means, please feel free to spread the word about this announcement and call for papers to your colleagues.

What's All This About?

This morning, I took a look at The DIGITAL Archive blog, specifically the 'about this blog' blurb to the right, and I wondered if the words I had written several months ago describing the blog accurately reflected the nature of the blog and its readership.

After some thought (and editing), I believe I nailed down a more simplified description:

The DIGITAL Archive focuses on the Web and its impact on information professionals in libraries and archives..and anyone anywhere fascinated by the Web...

I eliminated the long list of web-related technologies, such as new media and social web technologies, and special topics, such as digitization and digital preservation, in favor of something more brief, succinct. However, I removed these words only for the sake of brevity.

For me, the Web (Web 2.0) covers all these areas - from digitization to social networking - and all the areas yet to be developed.

I still want to focus on the impact of these technologies on information professionals in libraries and archives, so that remains intact.

However, when I write, whether on the topic of technology or personal matters such as opinions on the archival profession, I have a type of reader in mind: It is someone who is not necessarily a librarian or archivist but simply someone who is enthusiastic about the Web, fascinated by technology, and whose vocabulary does not include the words "It can't be done" or "That's impossible" in regards to thinking or doing things differently.

Finally, I often fool around with The DIGITAL Archive's tag line. This week it is:

It's my digital archive, in Technicolor

Well, it is my digital archive, in color. When I blog, I do not write on behalf of any institution or archival association. I avoid archival public policy issues because, quite frankly, I do not know enough on the subject. As writers in other fields suggest, write what you know about, and that's what I try to do, with color.

Too often, people imagine the archives as nothing but boxes, darkness, dampness, dust, more boxes, and black & white photographs. While there is some truth to this, the buried truth, which needs to be unearthed (Archives 2.0 hint hint), is that there is so much color, so many colorful characters and events, so much rich content!

I guess I am a content agnostic. I do not have a preference. I will work with all kinds of content as long as there is a benefit to the audience. But being a history grad and a lover of stories, I guess I have a bias for archival content.

(Geez...so much for my sabbatical.)

Vincent Cerf Gets It!

From the Special Library Association (SLA) conference, being held in Seattle from June 15-18, SearchEngineWatch.com reports that Vincent Cerf, Google's Vice-President, expressed concern over the state of digital preservation.

In an interview with Charlie Rose held at the SLA Conference, Cerf said "he’s deeply concerned about digital preservation and the 'born digital' challenge; he hopes to avoid a 'bit pile' of inaccessible, extinct content and urged companies to open up development for digital preservation applications."

Vincent Cerf gets it!

Will companies, organizations, institutions and hard-headed, stubborn senior admin types also get it?

ReadWriteWeb: The Alpha Geeks Start Talking Digital Preservation

ReadWriteWeb, a popular weblog that discusses web technology, has an article called "Digital Information 250 Years From Now," which delves into the complex issue of (yes, you guessed it) digital preservation.

It is interesting to see how long it took the "mainstream" technology media--by mainstream media, I mean those high traffic uber tech sites--to finally cover this thorny issue, whose eventual solution will involve not only archivists but technologists as well.

Now, let's get busy!

Fourth of July, My Work, My Webcam, NDIIPP Report

Fourth of July
The institution where I work let us out of the office early today because of the Fourth of July holiday tomorrow. But before I left, I managed to submit a few work-related documents and an important memo that will set in motion one big project. A good way to start a holiday, I say. Something accomplished. I feel good about that.

My Work
Interestingly, I find myself, once again, not really doing the "archives-thing," if you know what I mean. Rather than processing or reference work, I am putting my research and writing skills to more use, this time around focusing on project planning and strategies and business documents. For long-time readers of The DIGITAL Archive, this is not so much of a surprise, because my work in the Archives has really been of the non-traditional kind. Web, software, hardware, research, writing.

It's experiences like this that lead me to believe that, while I can appreciate libraries and archives, I really do not know if I should call myself a red-blooded archivist. To be honest--and to paraphrase historian and digital preservation pioneer Dr. David Kirsch--I am neither a librarian or archivist, but someone who cares about these cultural centers and will use his skills (web, writing) to make others aware and care for these places.

My Webcam
Over the weekend, I bought a Creative Live! Cam Notebook Pro webcam. The webcam is fine, not outstanding, but offers sufficient clarity to broadcast live video. It cost me $19.99 ($20.99 with tax, unbelievable). Worth it.

I opened a ustream.tv account to test the broadcast quality of the video stream. Actually, as I write this post, I am broadcasting live on ustream.tv! Okay, let's see, number of viewers. Zero. Oh. I see. Well, Internet stardom is not at hand, I guess.

NDIIPP Report
I apologize for not writing a report on last week's NDIIPP event on digital preservation. I will get to it. Soon.

NDIIPP Seminar on Digital Preservation, June 25, 2007

NDIIPP Seminar on Digital Preservation, June 2007
Originally uploaded by siansleep

I will write about the NDIIPP seminar on digital preservation tomorrow or sometime before mid-week. Must get my notes together first.

For now, enjoy the handful of pictures I took.

Event: Digital Preservation, Library of Congress, June 25, 2007

I was meaning to post this event earlier this week, but something called work interfered. Anyway...

On Monday, June 25, 2007, starting at 10:00 am, the National Digital Information infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) will hold "several informative and thought-provoking events" at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. (Full event info.)

On tap:

• Archiving the Web
• Copyright Laws in the era of widespread use of digital technologies
• Preservation of vital digital content

All three sound interesting; the first and the last are particularly of interest. The event is timed to coincide with the American Library Association's Annual Meeting in Washington (maybe I'll scoot over there if I have some time).

Fellow archivist 2.0 bloggers, such as the folks behind ArchivesNext and thesecretmirror.com, should take note.

SharePoint 2007 Coming Soon?

Today I attended a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 seminar hosted by the institution where I work. The institution is planning to deploy SharePoint 2007 sooner (or later).

While the seminar at times drifted towards the developers among the audience, I managed to pick out the 2 main objectives behind the deployment of SharePoint 2007:

1. Introduce a robust Content Management system
2. Introduce a culture of Collaboration through personal spaces, shared spaces, blogs, wikis, etc

Like I said, the seminar tended to focus on ASP.NET, .NET, DLLs, but I learned enough to realize the potential of, for example, Web Parts, small programmable widgets that pulled or pushed content via RSS that one could easily add to a SharePoint "My Site."

The web guy in me loved that part; meanwhile, the archivist, the other guy, wondered about how the system would capture metadata, and preserve, content of long-term and historical value stored in SharePoint. Records managers and archivists and information professionals were in the audience, posing a few questions about that. But today was the day to celebrate the immediate SharePoint 2007 pay-off. The other issues, I suppose, will be tackled when that proverbial you know what hits the fan.

arch.i.vi.us Updated

I spent the last couple of hours revisiting my experimental website called arch.i.vi.us. My so-called Social Bookmarking Blog for Research Archivists has been dormant for some time, too long, in my opinion.

I believe the reason is I really have no time to 1) scan the headlines on or about digitization and digital preservation and 2) post them to the blog.

That said, I decided to not only revamp the page layout and design but to update the Blogger template from the old static version to the new dynamic layout, where one can click and drag page elements across the template. Each page element has some pretty powerful features such as being able to grab RSS feeds. It is so easy, it is dummy proof.

With the redesign I hope the blog becomes more useful because now, without any further intervention on behalf, the blog is pulling in content from across the web: news items, delicious tags, videos, etc. I love it, and I hope you will too!

Milblogs

Military blogs--or Milblogs, for shorts--are blogs that are written by members of the military who chronicle their experiences in conflicts, typically the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Blogs and milblogs are re-entering my radar because I still wonder if and how archivist intend on preserving these first-hand accounts of war that historians would love to read in the future.

Should we preserve blogs or milblogs? What would you consider historical value: the content of a blog or the blog page itself? How can we preserve blogs? What is going on out there in your part of the world?

Weaving the Archivist Web

By now I think it is quite clear to readers of this blog that posts concerning work will not appear here in any shape or form. The projects that I am working are confidential for the moment - and perhaps for a few more months to come.

Besides confidentiality, there are legal issues. And considering that I am living and working in the United States, the last thing I would want to do is stir a sleeping lawyer. Let sleeping lions lay, as they say.

But there are some things worth mentioning: the importance of digital archives management and preservation is growing. As more collections are digitized, the more there is a real need to take on the challenge of managing digital assets and preserving their long-term or permanent value in their born-digital or converted-to-digital state.

There is also a growing need to allow for improved and increased access to collections, both paper-based and digital. The future of archivists--those individuals recording, managing and preserving the activities and memory of an institution for posterity--lies not only in controlling the material they work with on a daily basis but in giving the collections a chance to see the light of day. Not every piece of a collection is a gem (trust me, I know); but there are sufficient materials to showcase that will indeed stir interest - and hopefully stir further interest in archives, demystify the profession, and shatter of few stereotypes.

• Digitizing collections (for access and/or preservation purposes)
• Improved and increased access to digital collections (user-friendly web access)
• Digital management and preservation procedures and protocols (research and practical approach to managing and preserving digital assets).

Together they form a storyline of the future of archives, I believe.

Truth is, dear readers, The DIGITAL Archive is not a promo for archives; rather, it is call to archives and archivists, as other information-centric professionals have done, to acknowledge the potential and power that the web and web technologies can have on the field.

Lord of the Rings Online, Reality TV, Archive This

Lord of the Rings Online

The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar computer game is creating a real buzz. The immersive 3-D world, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkein's admired and acclaimed series of stories, puts players in a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) where hundreds of thousands of players can become their favourite elf, dwarf, or beloved hobbit.

These "world games," such as Lord of the Rings Online and the popular Second Life, are evidence of the future direction of computer games. They demonstrate the ability for players to create alternate realities that evolve and expand just as things do in real life.

I am waiting in anticipation for Star Trek Online. I always thought that such an online game would be a smash hit.

Reality TV

My first encounter with reality television was Survivor, the very first season, where the cut-throat cabals promoted each week fueled the show to its pop culture status. Nowadays, ever since I got cable TV here in DC, I am exposed to so many more reality television shows, it's insane. Everything from American Idol and Pussycat Dolls to Run's House and some other weird music / talent oriented television shows on MTV and VH1.

As bad as some these shows get (some are real stinkers), they sort of invoke the Web 2.0 principal of user-generated content. Content is being created by those American Idol singers; content is created by teenager girls in black lingerie and red boas competing to become the next Pussycat Dolls girl. It's no longer big name actors, it seems, but rather ordinary "users" (or viewers) who are dominating the television landscape.

Archive This

Blogs. Archive this blog or any other blog for that matter. I think about millitary bloggers in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are primary source material, rich with information and insight for any future researcher or historian. But who's archiving these blogs?

Welcome to Gmail

Welcome to Gmail: "Introducing Gmail Paper "

In my latest incarnation as digital archives archivist, I have been tasked to develop procedures and protocols for the preservation of electronic assets, including emails, enterprise data, websites, etc.

Now I read that Google's Gmail is giving its users the option to request PRINT COPIES of their emails, a free service (paid for by ads) provided by Google.

Is this a digital preservation white flag...?

I cannot forget what my former supervisor once told me: "You know, we may just end up printing everything and storing the paper. Far easier and cheaper than digital preservation."