[ih] [xbbn] Re: Museum archiving (was: Re: IENs)

[vinton cerf]

that is not the case here. Univ MN Library retains the originals.
v


On Sat, May 8, 2021 at 11:36 AM John Day via Internet-history <
internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> The thing that scares me are the administrators who think that that
> because the material has been scanned the original artifacts are no longer
> needed and can be discarded. It is far more important than that. At best,
> it means the artifacts don’t need to be handled as often, which as the
> centuries go on becomes more and more critical.
>
> John
>
> > On May 8, 2021, at 11:12, David Walden <dave.walden.family at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > i have been an amateur but serious historian for a couple of decades and
> accessing archives and observing professional historians over that time.  I
> think commitment to scanning/digitizing documents is important. Archives
> with tight budgets employing people not used to engineering level salaries
> and other compensation tend to see scanning/digitizing as *very*, perhaps
> prohibitively, expensively.  Document contributors on this list might be
> able to help them think about digitizing costs and methods.
> >
> > Back maybe to the sense of Dave's question, archives may not be
> interested in everything one has to give.  It may take more than one
> archive to find homes for one's materials.
> >
> > Finding aids are important, as Craig noted.  An archive depending on
> google-like searches is less desirable in my view.
> >
> >
> > On May 8, 2021, at 10:11 AM, John Day via Internet-history <
> internet-history at elists.isoc.org <mailto:internet-history at elists.isoc.org>>
> wrote:
> >
> > >A slight correction, Craig.
> > >I am a recognized historian in the History of Science and Cartography,
> primarily 17thC-18thC China and published widely. I have spent considerable
> time in archives across Asia and Europe and with private collectors. My
> experience goes well beyond computer museums, as I told Dave off-list,
> including junk rooms in the Vatican. (Sometimes one finds things in the
> oddest places.) ;-)
> > >You are right about access. Electronic copies can be nice, but there
> are important things about provenance, etc. that one can only learn by
> seeing the artifact itself.
> > >John
> > >> On May 8, 2021, at 08:50, Craig Partridge <craig at tereschau.net
> <mailto:craig at tereschau.net>> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Hi Dave:
> > >>
> > >> You asked about museums and their commitment to archiving.  As
> someone who was trained as a historian and still does occasional archival
> work for fun, I'll hazard a somewhat structural answer and then John D. can
> comment on computing museums.
> > >>
> > >> One can assess archives on at least three dimensions:
> > >>
> > >> * Commitment to ensuring their collections are preserved for
> centuries to come.  This requires money (for fire suppression and
> temperature monitoring and the like) and also requires careful evaluation
> and planning (preserving paper for instance, is different from preserving
> paintings, which is different from preserving fabrics).
> > >>
> > >> * Commitment to creating finding aids (catalogs, indexes, collection
> descriptions) that enable researchers to find items in the collections.
> > >>
> > >> * Commitment to making their collections available for research (or
> public display).
> > >>
> > >> The last may surprise folks but there are a number of institutions
> that have strong views about who should and should not be able to use their
> collections, usually to the detriment of scholarship and the public
> interest.
> > >>
> > >> (And, if you want an example of exactly how not to do all three,
> consider the team of scholars who were originally given control of the Dead
> Sea Scrolls).
> > >>
> > >> Craig
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> *****
> > >> Craig Partridge's email account for professional society activities
> and mailing lists.
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