Summary of placement activities and planned outcomes
Original:
During this placement I am looking to do a critical investigation in the past, present, and possible future culture of the archive at NCBS. I will have meetings with current members of staff and others who have previously been part of the archives’ eco system. The main aim of this placement is to look at how an archival habitus is established and how it might be enhanced and supported through the systems and processes of the archive. I will also engage with the day-to-day activities of the archive, which will include experiencing the day-to-day collection of archival materials and public engagement projects.
Levels of Access
If Archives at NCBS is thinking of scaling up and moving material online there are several issues to consider, especially when expanding public access such as, data protection, copyright, the format of the material, to name but a few. And because there are so many factors, different archival material will require different levels of access. I am interested in, how decisions are made about levels of access are and how access is assigned [GS1] to archival materials. Access to oral histories can be especially tricky. I believe tackling this issue will involve identifying the different spaces where people can access material, what the terms and conditions are for each of these spaces, and a matrix which helps categorise where individual archival material can be put.
Institutional memory and the grant cycle
More than 60 students and professionals coming from a variety of career backgrounds and age groups have worked within the walls of Archives at NCBS. This richness of diversity has made the Archives into the innovative and open space it is today. However, this situation does have its drawbacks especially in combination with the grant cycle. A grant often requires things to be achieved within a set time limit, meaning you want to waste as little time as possible. You do not want the new intern spending a lot of time learning all the unexpected quirks of the Archive, exploring ideas that have already been tested, or establishing relationships already established by their predecessors. So how do you avoid losing time? How do you transfer institutional memory from one intern to the next? This is something I would like to explore and attempt to find solutions which help people pick where others left off allowing the Archive to work more efficiently within the grant cycle.
The Archives at NCBS and NUOHUC collaboration project[GS2]
This is probably something to be explored further down the line when certain meetings have been had. From what I have deduced from the few conversations I have had about this project; some thought needs to go into what exactly will be collected. This includes archival material, as there has been mention of getting oral history participants to draw, and legal material as there might be cases where participants are unable to read certain forms. I am happy to contribute my thoughts to this project as I am interested in the relationship between the producers of archival material and the archive.
[GS1]Unsure if this is what you mean…
[GS2]Excellent points