Engaging Students with Archival and Digital Resources
By Justine Cotton and David Sharron
()
About this ebook
- Provides practical guidelines and detailed lesson plans
- Based on the collaboration between an experienced archivist and liaison librarian
- Offers innovative ideas for connecting with faculty members
Justine Cotton
Justine Cotton is a Liaison Librarian at Brock University, with responsibilities for Communication, Popular Culture, Film, and English Literature. In addition, she is responsible for promoting library services and collections on campus. She has published and presented on library instruction and collection development.
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Book preview
Engaging Students with Archival and Digital Resources - Justine Cotton
Chandos Information Professional Series
Engaging Students with Archival and Digital Resources
Justine Cotton
David Sharron
Table of Contents
Cover image
Title page
Copyright
List of figures
About the authors
Introduction: what is an archive?
Defining archival records and processing
Growing challenges with digital resources
Chapter 1: Building the foundation: connections between archivists and library staff
Abstract:
Staff engagement and training
Chapter 2: Faculty outreach
Abstract:
Challenges to connecting with faculty
An opportunity for promotion and relationship building
Strategies for success in launching the workshop series to faculty
Building for the future
Chapter 3: Introducing students to library and archival resources
Abstract:
Understanding today’s students
Challenging student assumptions
Chapter 4: Resources
Abstract:
Ad*Access and AdViews
Adam Matthew Digital (subscription)
Archives Canada (free)
ARTstor Digital Library (subscription)
The British Library: Turning the Pages™ (free)
Canadiana.ca/Early Canadiana Online (ECO) (hybrid – free/subscription)
Centre for Research Libraries (CRL) (subscription)
Chronicling America – Historic American Newspapers (free)
Documenting the American South (free)
Early English Books Online (EEBO) (subscription)
Google Books (free)
Internet Archive (free)
Mountain West Digital Library (free)
New York Public Library Digital Gallery (free)
Niels Bohr Library and Archives – Center for History of Physics (free)
OAIster® (free)
Project Muse (subscription)
The Times Digital Archive (subscription)
Chapter 5: Delivering the workshops
Abstract:
Lesson planning
Team teaching
Sharing enthusiasm
Discovery learning
Chapter 6: Developing relevant assignments
Abstract:
Chapter 7: Assessment and ongoing learning
Abstract:
Assessing instruction
Ongoing learning
Epilogue: making connections, building relationships
Appendix A: sample letters
Appendix B: lesson plans
Appendix C: excerpt from Library News
Appendix D: roster of potential survey questions
Bibliography
Index
Copyright
Chandos Publishing
Hexagon House
Avenue 4
Station Lane
Witney
Oxford OX28 4BN
UK
Tel: + 44 (0) 1993 848726
E-mail: info@chandospublishing.com
www.chandospublishing.com
Chandos Publishing is an imprint of Woodhead Publishing Limited
Woodhead Publishing Limited
80 High Street
Sawston
Cambridge CB22 3HJ
UK
Tel: + 44 (0) 1223 499140
www.woodheadpublishing.com
First published 2011
ISBN:
978 1 84334 568 8
© J. Cotton and D. Sharron 2011
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the Publisher. This publication may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without the prior consent of the Publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The Publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions.
The material contained in this publication constitutes general guidelines only and does not represent to be advice on any particular matter. No reader or purchaser should act on the basis of material contained in this publication without first taking professional advice appropriate to their particular circumstances. Any screenshots in this publication are the copyright of the website owner(s), unless indicated otherwise.
Typeset by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in the UK and USA.
List of figures
I.1. An individual working at a secluded desk among a pile of books and records 2
2.1. Students in a classroom setting using laptops during a workshop, Fall 2009 27
3.1. A box of archival records 34
3.2. The diverse materials you can find in archival fonds – letters, cards, photos, scraps of paper, certificates, programs and official documents 36
3.3. Title page for the New Testament of the 1599 edition of the Geneva Bible 38
4.1. Photograph of Alice Liddell as ‘The Beggar Maid’ by Lewis Carroll (1832–1898), English, circa 1859 from the ARTstor Images for Academic Publishing (IAP) initiative 50
4.2. The Vigilance Committee in the East End of London 59
5.1. Students looking at the letters of poetess Ethelwyn Wetherald 70
6.1. Title page from Suzanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush, New York: Putnam, 1852 83
6.2. Diary entry of Winnie Beam regarding the British victory at Pretoria in 1900. Winnie Beam Fonds, RG 95 86
7.1. Screen capture of blog designed for a class on Canadian Literature to 1920 93
E.1. Photo of Jody Barnett in Special Collections. Jody processed the Women’s Literary Club of St. Catharine’s Fonds and completed a Master’s thesis on the literary/social group afterwards 103
E.2. Exhibit for the Terry O’Malley archival fonds, March 2009 104
E.3. Image of the Banyan Tree from John Girard’s The Herball or Generali Historie of Plantes, 1597, p. 1331. This image was used by John Milton when writing Paradise Lost 106
About the authors
Justine Cotton is Communications and Liaison Librarian at Brock University, Canada. She holds a Master’s degree in both English Literature and Library and Information Science. Her research interests include innovative approaches to library instruction and marketing. Justine’s recent publications include a qualitative study on popular reading collections in academic libraries in The Journal of Academic Librarianship and an article exploring new techniques for library instruction in College and Undergraduate Libraries.
David Sharron is the Head of Special Collections and Archives at Brock University. He holds a Master’s degree in History with an Archives Specialization and is a certified archivist. David has been working in the archival administration and library fields for over 12 years. He has had diverse experiences working with archival records commencing with a federal institution at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, before progressing to a municipal/community archives at the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre in Southampton, Ontario, and is now based at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. An increasing awareness for, and providing access to, archival materials are fundamental topics for David.
The authors may be contacted as follows:
Justine Cotton, James A. Gibson Library, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2S 3A1, Canada. E-mail address: justine.cotton@brocku.ca
David Sharron, James A. Gibson Library, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2S 3A1, Canada. E-mail address: dsharron@brocku.ca
Introduction: what is an archive?
Blok – an ageless creature, stooped and dusty, with a bunch of keys on his belt – led him into the depths of the building, then out into a dark, wet courtyard and across it and into what looked like a small fortress. Up the stairs to the second floor: a small room, a desk, a chair, a wood-block floor, barred windows….
He had been expecting one file, maybe two. Instead, Blok threw open the door and wheeled in a steel trolley stacked with folders – twenty or thirty of them – some so old that when he lost control of the heavy contraption and collided with the wall, they sent up protesting clouds of dust….
He couldn’t read them all. It would have taken him a month. He confined himself to untying the ribbon from each bundle, riffling through the torn and brittle pages to see if they contained anything of interest, then tying them up again. It was filthy work. His hands turned black. The spores invaded the membrane of his nose and made his head ache.¹
Ask a person who is unfamiliar with archives or special collections to describe what they imagine one to be like and a typical answer would sound similar to the excerpt above – a room tucked away, almost as an afterthought, packed with aging papers layered in dust and guarded by an individual with no desire to connect with the outside world and seemingly as old as the records he or she protects (Figure I.1). The archives profession can thank decades of novels and movies for this image along with the thread of truth that archivists do deal with dust, have been placed in locations far off the beaten path from time to time and they do age like any other person. With such uninviting perceptions in mind, it is understandable that many university students may never venture into archives during the course of their studies. Often, it is only when a professor requires their students to utilize primary records in a project that they take their initial strides into an archival facility. The reactions of most of these neophytes to their first experience in an archive are, ‘I never knew this place existed’ or ‘I always pass by this room but never thought that I could go in.’ Curiously, while most librarians will know where the archives and special collections for their organizations are, few really know what goes on inside those walls and how these unique materials can enhance the resources that they make available to people every day. Like a student, unless there is a distinct reason, or a natural interest, for a librarian to visit archives, the likelihood of one working with records in such a repository is