Developing a Meaningful Digital Self-Archiving Model: Archival Theory vs. Natural Behavior in the Minds of Carolina Project

Megan A. Winget, University of Texas at Austin
Marisa L. Ramirez, Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records

Article comments

12 pages. Published by American Society of Information, Science and Technology. Publisher website: http://www.asis.org/index.html

NOTE: At the time of publication, the author Marisa L. Ramirez was affiliated with Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records. Currently, January 2008, she is at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo.

Abstract

This paper will review the findings from a research project concluded in 2004, which had the primary goal of learning more about the natural behaviors of people choosing materials for inclusion in a digital archive. Project participants, retiring faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had a number of tasks to perform. They had to 1) survey and choose the materials to include in the archive; 2) develop a “collection development plan” defining the nature of their materials, their intended audience, and the organizational scheme of their collection; 3) provide materials for digitization; 4) supply metadata for the digitized materials; and 5) write a “finding aid” for their collection. The research team digitized the materials and developed a demonstration repository website for the participants. This paper will focus on the disconnect between traditional archival theory and the users’ natural behavior; and the challenges of developing an archival collection given current digital repository software.