- Overview
- Agenda
- Speakers
- Lodging
- Accessibility
- Slides/Handouts
"Collections as Data": An Archival Perspective
Where: Southbridge Hotel & Conference Center
14 Mechanic Street
Southbridge, MA 01550
Directions and Map
Carpool Information
When: Wednesday, January 22, 2020
9:00am - 3:00pm
Note: Registration starts at 7:30am
Workshop Organizer: Greta Kuriger Suiter of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Registration Fee:
NERCOMP Member:
Early-bird rate prior to December 11 - $123.25 (15% discount)
Rate December 11 and after - $145
Non Member:
Early-bird rate prior to December 11 - $246.50 (15% discount)
Rate December 11 and after - $290
The registration fee includes am and pm break and lunch.
Event Overview
Are you an archivist, librarian, or researcher interested in collecting, preserving and providing access to digital collections as data? Cultural institutions have been digitizing their holdings for decades in efforts to reach broader audiences. More recently, “Collections as data” has emerged as a concept that posits digitized collections, born-digital collections, and metadata about collections be made available for not just access, but also computational use.
Join us to learn how at the MIT Libraries, we are exploring the concept of the library as a laboratory, a site for exploration, discovery, and experimentation with our collections. We foresee the library as an open and interactive site for access to information, as well as a site for knowledge production.
This workshop will explore the following questions:
- What does the concept “collections as data” mean for rare and unique materials?
- How can cultural institution workers collaborate better internally and externally and incorporate a "collections as data" mindset into their work?
- How are the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion manifested in “collections as data” work?
Session Outcomes:
- Articulate what “collections as data” is and what the implications are for archivists, librarians, researchers, and other cultural heritage professionals.
- Provide and identify examples of “collections as data”.
- Develop interdisciplinary and interdepartmental collaborations around “collections as data” projects.
Registration Cancellation Policy:
By clicking on the "Order Now" button, you are indicating a commitment to attend and will be held responsible for the registration fee. Your fee can be refunded if you notify us of a cancellation at least 8 days prior to the event via email to nercomp@nercomp.org.
Event Disclaimer:
NERCOMP reserves the right to use any photographs or other mechanical recordings taken at NERCOMP events in promotional materials. No mechanical recordings of any kind may be used at NERCOMP events without the prior written consent of NERCOMP organizers and presenters. The views and opinions expressed at NERCOMP events do not necessarily reflect those of NERCOMP, nor does NERCOMP make any representation regarding the information presented at NERCOMP events.
Speakers for the Day:
Joe Carrano, Digital Archivist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Alex McGee, Project Archivist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Greta Suiter, Processing Archivist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Chris Tanguay, Processing Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rachel Van Unen, Archival Processing Manager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Agenda
7:30am - 9:00am Coffee & Registration
9:00am - 9:15am Introductions
9:15am - 10:15am What is Collections as Data?
Introduction to the concept
10:15am - 10:45am Project Percolator Activity
Participants will work in small groups and be given examples of rare/unique/archival collections. Participants will evaluate the potential collections as data possibilities of each example.
10:45am - 11:00am Break
11:00am - 12:00pm Case Studies
In a round-robin format, speakers will introduce case studies of collections as data projects.
12:00pm - 1:00pm Lunch
1:00pm - 2:00pm Overview of Collections as Data Tools
Continuing the round-robin format, speakers will introduce tools used in a variety of collections as data projects.
2:00pm - 2:45pm Picking the Right Tool and the Right Collaborators Activity
This activity will lead participants through the considerations of picking tools and collaborators when embarking on a collections as data project. This exercise will focus on the dangers of assumptions when planning projects, picking tools, and working with others.
2:45pm - 3:00pm Wrap up
3:00pm End
Joe Carrano
Joe is a Digital Archivist at the MIT Libraries where he works to process, preserve, and make accessible the Institute’s unique archival records in digital formats. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and graduated from the University of Maryland with both an MLS specializing in archives, records, and information management and a master's degree in history with a focus on the interconnected histories of race relations and the use of public recreational space in the United States. Previously, he was a National Digital Stewardship Resident at Georgetown University.
Alex McGee
Alex is the Women@MIT Project Archivist in the Department of Distinctive Collections at the MIT Libraries, where she is working to acquire, preserve and make accessible the records of female faculty, staff, students and alumnae. Prior, she worked with architectural archives at the Portman Archives in Atlanta as Assistant Archivist and later Archivist. She was previously the graduate research assistant for the Women’s Collections and the Gender and Sexuality Collections at Georgia State University. She holds a MA in History and a certificate in Public History from Georgia State University and a BA in Women’s Studies & History from the University of Georgia.
Greta Kuiger Suiter
Greta is the Processing Archivist in the Department of Distinctive Collections at the MIT Libraries. At MIT, Greta appraises, describes, and makes available to researchers archival collections related to MIT departments, labs, offices, and faculty. She joined the department in September of 2014, the same year she received her Master’s degree in Art History from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Greta also holds a Master’s of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Chris Tanguay
Chris is a Processing Associate in the Department of Distinctive Collections at the MIT Libraries. She has worked with the department in various capacities since 2012. She received her MS in Library and Information Science in 2012 and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Digital Stewardship in 2019 from Simmons University.
Rachel Van Unen
Rachel Van Unen is the Archival Processing Manager in the Department of Distinctive Collections at the MIT Libraries. In this role, Rachel actively participates in, oversees, and advances the work of processing, describing, managing, and facilitating access to archival collections. She previously worked at Princeton University's Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library and NYU's Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
Hotel Information:
Rooms are available at the Southbridge Hotel & Conference Center, the conference location.
To make reservations contact the Southbridge Hotel & Conference Center at 508-765-8000 and request the "NERCOMP Room Block".
The room block for January 21, 2020, will be available until 5:00pm on December 22, 2019.
Standard guest rooms are available for $109 per night, single occupancy.
Accessiblity
The Southbridge Hotel & Conference Center has several accessibility features. Accessible parking is available in the front of the building. All workshops take place on main level of the hotel and there are elevators to all guest rooms.
Presentations, Slides and Handouts:
1. An Introduction to Collections as Data