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American Archivist (Vol. 62, No.2 / Fall 1999)
Abstracts and Author Bios
1999 Pease Award Paper—Retrieval of Archival Finding Aids Using World-Wide-Web
Search Engines
Kathleen Feeney
Abstract
This article describes a study of the retrieval of on-line archival finding
aids by two Internet search engines. The study was conducted to assess the
value of electronic full-text finding aids as tools for locating archival collections.
Topical subject headings and personal name headings were chosen from on-line
inventories produced by the Southern Historical Collection (SHC) at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Keyword, phrase, and Boolean searches were
developed using the topical subject headings; keyword and phrase searches were
conducted for each personal name. The first one hundred documents retrieved
by each search were examined to determine the number of SHC finding aids retrieved.
The study found that searches often retrieved unmanageably large result sets
and that the majority of SHC finding aids containing the search terms were
not among the first one hundred documents retrieved. These results suggest
that on-line archival descriptions are often not accessible through common
methods of Internet searching and that archivists must continue to develop
means to help researchers locate their collections.
Literacy, Documents, and Archives in the Ancient Athenian Democracy
James Sickinger
Abstract
This article examines some trends in studies of ancient literacy, especially
as they relate to the archives and inscriptions of classical Athens. While
granting the symbolic significance of many ancient documents, it argues that
the recent studies of ancient literacy have been overly pessimistic in their
assessment of the practical uses of written texts. A focus on the documents
that lay behind Athenian inscriptions on stone shows that writing was used
far more widely for both administrative purposes and for the preservation of
official texts than the new model of ancient literacy allows.
The Impact of Grantsmaking: An Evaluation of Archival and Records Management
Programs at the Local Level
David M. Weinberg
Abstract
This study examines the effectiveness of local government programs created
or revitalized with funding provided by the National Historical Publications
and Records Commission. With the multitude of local government archival and
records management programs throughout the United States, this assessment is
undertaken to help evaluate why some programs survive and thrive, while others
wither and cease functioning. By examining evidence of program activity, this
study reports on the number of local government programs that make a contribution
to their governments (warranting ongoing general fund appropriations) and those
that do not and whose programs end when grant monies expire. This study concludes
by suggesting how local government archives and records administrators can
leverage support from their governments and alternatives for federal funding
agencies to appropriate funds that will deliver the greatest impact to local
governments nationwide.
Preserving Anthropology's Heritage: CoPAR, Anthropological Records, and
the Archival Community
Nancy J. Parezo
Abstract
Unpublished anthropological records contain a vast array of information about
historic and contemporary human diversity as well as information on the history
of anthropology and related humanistic and scientific disciplines. The rapidity
of worldwide socio-cultural change renders such information irreplaceable.
This article describes the efforts of the Council for the Preservation of Anthropological
Records-a group of anthropologists, historians, archivists, and librarians-to
ensure that this singular body of information is preserved and made accessible
to present and future researchers. It ends with suggestions on how the archival
community can help anthropology preserve primary cultural knowledge of the
world's peoples.
Archives in Controversy: The Press, The Documentaries and the Byrd Archives
Raimund E. Goerler
Abstract
One of the major news stories of 1996 was the discovery and analysis of Richard
Byrd's diary and notebook for his North Pole flight of 1926. Byrd's claim to
be the first to fly to the North Pole was challenged by his contemporaries
and by later historians. The diary provided new evidence, and the news of its
existence and meaning fueled stories that reached every part of the globe.
Interest in Byrd also inspired producers of three documentaries. The archivist
who dealt with reporters and producers discusses the media coverage, the challenges
of working with reporters and producers of documentaries, and the impact of
the publicity upon an archival program.
Abstractions of Justice: The Library of Congress's Great Manuscripts Robbery,
1896-1897
Aaron D. Purcell
Abstract
In the fall of 1897, the Library of Congress opened the Thomas Jefferson Building
and left behind an unfortunate chapter in its history. During the spring of
that year two employees were brought to trial and lightly punished for stealing
rare materials from the Library, then still located in the United States Capitol.
Fred Shelley's 1948 American Archivist article discusses this incident, but
is incomplete in both content and sources. This essay fully describes the events
surrounding the Library of Congress's first major recorded theft of materials
and reviews the present status of security at the Library. In the process,
this article also discusses general security concerns for modern libraries
and archives.
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