[Archivesspace_Users_Group] Managing media instances in collection

[Maureen Cresci Callahan]

Hi all,

I think that it's an under-theorized struggle in archival management to
figure out how to describe and distinguish a container, a carrier, and an
archival record, particularly when they all may have traits in common. In
my career, I've had the experience of managing a number of systems
migrations in and out of EAD, Archivists' Toolkit, and ArchivesSpace and
integrating data across preservation, access, and circulation systems, and
I've found that the biggest migration problems came from conflating or not
appropriately distinguishing these different concepts! For whatever it's
worth, here's my best thinking.

When I talk about a container, I mean the object that circulates -- the
thing that someone pages and brings to the reading room or from the stacks
or the warehouse. This is often a box, a volume, an oversize flat file, a
microfilm reel, etc. Something to remember is that carriers can be moved to
different containers! When I was working on the AT -> ASpace migration at
Yale, I was working with a customized version of AT where folks had stored
container type with the box number. So we had box types of "DVD case" for
instance, but often found that archivists would (quite reasonably) put
materials that best fit the box into that box even if the materials weren't
DVDs -- a conflation of carrier and container that meant that we couldn't
reliably use that data to do media surveys.

I tend to think that instead of associating carrier type with the
container, it's actually an attribute of archival description -- something
that tells you something important about the object which affects its
characteristics as an archival record. There are affordances of a film that
are different from a book, even if the creator and title and topic are the
same. I think for description purposes (and for future migrations!) I would
want to associate this kind of information with the archival object,
instead of the container.

For your use case, Jodi, how about using form/genre subject terms,
leveraging PBCore and additional vocabularies for computer media? When an
archivist is doing description, she can associate the appropriate subject
term with the item. For reporting purposes, you can search for and pull up
archival objects that are associated with each subject term.

I hope that you'll share what you end up doing!!!

Maureen

On Mon, Dec 13, 2021 at 12:22 PM Noah Huffman <noah.huffman at duke.edu> wrote:

> Hi Jodi,
>
>
>
> We also use a more-or-less locally-developed vocabulary / code list to
> identify format types. We have a short list of controlled container type
> values for broad categories of formats (boxes, videocassettes, film-reel,
> etc.), but more granular format information is communicated using format
> codes that we store as part of the item’s identifier in the container
> identifier field. So, in both cases we are storing the format information
> at the instance/container level and not necessarily at the archival object
> level. This has been helpful for reporting and for maintaining consistency
> across systems (many of these physical items are also represented as item
> records in our ILS).
>
>
>
> Here’s a link to a Google sheet where we define the formats and
> corresponding format codes:
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NfbeugxEOuGI1YQcudWcQoMUU6UyhijZtirFPL0NcuE/edit?usp=sharing
>
>
>
> Here’s an example finding aid where many of the item identifiers include
> format codes for various video formats (e.g. : RL11360-UMATIC-003):
> https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/jwtdetroitav_aspace_536753340d54f53d8b3db51d8598c5d9
>
>
>
> Again, this is locally-developed and not based on any external standard or
> vocabulary, but perhaps useful for reference.
>
>
>
> -Noah
>
>
>
> ================
>
> Noah Huffman
>
> Archivist for Metadata, Systems, and Digital Records
>
> David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
>
> Duke University | 919-660-5982
>
> http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/
>
> Pronouns: he / him / his
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* archivesspace_users_group-bounces at lyralists.lyrasis.org <
> archivesspace_users_group-bounces at lyralists.lyrasis.org> *On Behalf Of *Allison-Bunnell,
> Jodi
> *Sent:* Monday, December 13, 2021 11:50 AM
> *To:* Archivesspace Users Group <
> archivesspace_users_group at lyralists.lyrasis.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [Archivesspace_Users_Group] Managing media instances in
> collection
>
>
>
> Hello John:
>
> Thank you, this is exactly the approach that I had in mind! I appreciate
> your reply very much.
>
>
>
> So far you and one other institution have shared their internally
> developed CV lists…I’m hoping to find something more standardized, or drawn
> from a particular standard. Can you tell me anything more about what
> source(s) you used for this list?
>
>
>
> Best, Jodi
>
>
>
> Jodi Allison-Bunnell
> (pronouns: She, her)
> Head of Archives and Special Collections, University Archivist
> Montana State University Library
> jodi.allisonbunnell at montana.edu ​
> 406-994-5297
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Dec 13, 2021, at 6:39 AM, Rees, John (NIH/NLM) [E] <
> reesj at mail.nlm.nih.gov> wrote:
>
>
>
> Hi Jodi,
>
>
>
> We haven’t leveraged any national/international standards, but
> historically we use internally developed standardized language within
> folder title text to identify/highlight instances of non-paper formats
> within folders. I use these occasionally for kludgie searching exercises.
> We’ve started to better label these with ASpace container instance
> controlled values terms. We do similar for free-standing lose items on the
> shelf like film cans, artifacts. We’ve noticed a roughly similar pattern in
> use at Duke Rubenstein.
>
>
>
>    - 3.5 computer disk
>             - 5.25 computer disk
>             - 8 computer disk
>             - 35mm slides
>             - audio microcassette
>             - audio tape reel
>             - audiocassette
>             - Beta videocassette
>             - CD-ROM
>             - CD-RW
>             - computer tape
>             - DVD
>             - glass slides
>             - microscope slides
>             - negatives
>             - photographs
>             - U-Matic videocassette
>             - VHS videocassette
>             - video tape reel
>
>
> Example folder title: "Arteriosclerosis and coronary disease"
> [audiocassette], *Family Practice* v.23, no.4, Nov. 24, 1975
>
> In Aspace:
>
> <image001.png>
>
>
>
> <image002.png>
>
>
>
> John
>
>
>
> John P. Rees
>
> Archivist and Digital Resources Manager
>
> History of Medicine Division
>
> National Library of Medicine
>
> 301-827-4510
>
> Teleworking M-F 8:00AM – 4:30PM Eastern Time each day until further notice
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Allison-Bunnell, Jodi <jodi.allisonbunnell at montana.edu>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 7, 2021 8:09 PM
> *To:* archivesspace_users_group at lyralists.lyrasis.org
> *Subject:* [Archivesspace_Users_Group] Managing media instances in
> collection
>
>
>
> A question of practice for your collected wisdom.
>
>
>
> We would like to be able to pull a report for all media in our
> collections—audio, video, film, and digital (computer) media. I do not have
> access to custom reporting and would need to generate this from a standard
> report. We need to be able to audit by format (e.g. how many reel to reel
> tapes do we have? How many obsolete floppy discs do we have?) in order to
> identify vulnerable media and plan migrations.
>
>
>
> Since the media is an instantiation of a described object, I’d like to be
> able to do this from a standard vocabulary in the instance/container type.
> It looks like PBcore would be a possible choice for the audio, video, and
> film, but I need a concise list of computer media. Neither DCMI formats nor
> MIME types fit the bill.
>
>
>
> We do not have the resources to take an elaborate approach to this, and I
> (always!) want to use standardized practices rather than creating local
> ones whenever possible.
>
>
>
> Does anyone have a practice that would fit the bill?
>
>
>
> Best, Jodi
>
>
>
> Jodi Allison-Bunnell
> (pronouns: She, her)
> Head of Archives and Special Collections, University Archivist
> Montana State University Library
> jodi.allisonbunnell at montana.edu ​
> 406-994-5297
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
*Maureen Cresci Callahan*
Sophia Smith Collection Archivist
Smith College Special Collections
Northampton, Massachusetts 01063
voicemail: 413 585 2981
email: mcallahan at smith.edu
videoconference: https://smith.zoom.us/my/maureen.callahan

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