Comments for An Evening with Frank Boles: A Panel Discussion and Webcast http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:43:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 Comment on Discuss and reflect on the event by Admin http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=3#comment-458 Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:06:59 +0000 http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=3#comment-458 I'm closing comments, as site is getting spammed and I don't want to take time to install captcha and this isn't likely to get legit comments at this point. I’m closing comments, as site is getting spammed and I don’t want to take time to install captcha and this isn’t likely to get legit comments at this point.

]]> Comment on Discuss and reflect on the event by Nicole Laflamme http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=3#comment-18 Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:56:00 +0000 http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=3#comment-18 Great job and wonderful effort, your SAA chapter should be commended for putting together this event. I really appreciated this insightful discussion. Great job and wonderful effort, your SAA chapter should be commended for putting together this event. I really appreciated this insightful discussion.

]]> Comment on Discuss and reflect on the event by Erin Matas http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=3#comment-14 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 21:07:15 +0000 http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=3#comment-14 Many thanks to those who submitted questions last night during our Webcast! All of us who organized it are relieved that the technology held up (for the most part)! My name is Erin Matas and for the last seven months I have served as the President of the UM SAA Student Chapter. The UM chapter is extremely lucky to have a wealth of professional archivists in the area who are willing to collaborate with us on events; last night's Webcast is proof of this. We also know that other SAA student chapters and even other student archivists out there might not have the same kind of resources. Last night's Webcast with Dr. Boles is our attempt at making some of our programming available to more archives students and professionals. To bring everyone up to speed, and to provide a little introduction to the event, I will re-introduce our 7 exciting panelists: Frank Boles, Director of Central Michigan's Clarke Historical Library, and author of Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts (more info. about the book here: http://www.archivists.org/catalog/pubDetail.asp?objectID=139 A little more about Frank: Dr. Frank Boles has been the director of Central Michigan University's Clarke Historical Library since 1991. Previously, he has worked at the University of Michigan, the Chicago Historical Society, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, an agency of the United States government. Boles received a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Michigan. He has spoken and published frequently on archival subjects. In recognition of his contributions to the profession, he was elected a fellow by Society of American Archivists in 1997, and is currently a member of the governing council of the Society of American Archivists. Fran Blouin, Director of the Bentley Historical Library Mike Smith, Director of the Walter Reuther Library at Wayne State University Elizabeth Adkins, Director of Global Information Management (GIM) at Ford Motor Company and incoming President of SAA Margaret Hedstrom, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information Beth Yakel, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and Faculty Advisor to the UM SAA Student Chapter Bill Wallach, Associate Director of the Bentley Historical Library ------------------------------------------ The archived version of the Webcast should be available around March 13th, so please check back, view it, and submit your comments or questions here - in the Reflections area of the blog. We look forward to continued discussions about archival appraisal! Many thanks to those who submitted questions last night during our Webcast! All of us who organized it are relieved that the technology held up (for the most part)!

My name is Erin Matas and for the last seven months I have served as the President of the UM SAA Student Chapter. The UM chapter is extremely lucky to have a wealth of professional archivists in the area who are willing to collaborate with us on events; last night’s Webcast is proof of this. We also know that other SAA student chapters and even other student archivists out there might not have the same kind of resources. Last night’s Webcast with Dr. Boles is our attempt at making some of our programming available to more archives students and professionals.

To bring everyone up to speed, and to provide a little introduction to the event, I will re-introduce our 7 exciting panelists:

Frank Boles, Director of Central Michigan’s Clarke Historical Library, and author of Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts (more info. about the book here: http://www.archivists.org/catalog/pubDetail.asp?objectID=139
A little more about Frank:
Dr. Frank Boles has been the director of Central Michigan University’s Clarke Historical Library since 1991. Previously, he has worked at the University of Michigan, the Chicago Historical Society, and the
National Endowment for the Humanities, an agency of the United States government. Boles received a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Michigan. He has spoken and published frequently on
archival subjects. In recognition of his contributions to the profession, he was elected a fellow by Society of American Archivists in 1997, and is currently a member of the governing council of the
Society of American Archivists.

Fran Blouin, Director of the Bentley Historical Library

Mike Smith, Director of the Walter Reuther Library at Wayne State University

Elizabeth Adkins, Director of Global Information Management (GIM) at Ford Motor Company and incoming President of SAA

Margaret Hedstrom, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information

Beth Yakel, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and Faculty Advisor to the UM SAA Student Chapter

Bill Wallach, Associate Director of the Bentley Historical Library

——————————————

The archived version of the Webcast should be available around March 13th, so please check back, view it, and submit your comments or questions here - in the Reflections area of the blog.

We look forward to continued discussions about archival appraisal!

]]> Comment on Review questions submitted to the panel by Mark Greene http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-13 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 01:20:50 +0000 http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-13 Bill, you want a way to measure whether we've appraised the most "important" stuff. I don't think that's a reasonable goal--important to whom? I argue we should measure whether we've appraised the most "useful" stuff. Again, I think we're arguing about first principles. Margeret, yes, you can't properly evaluate use w/out considering levels of intellectual access. Frank, yes of course use is relative to one's repository and its mission. Hey, how did I get to be at the center of this? Can't we go back to criticizing Frank? --Mark Bill, you want a way to measure whether we’ve appraised the most “important” stuff. I don’t think that’s a reasonable goal–important to whom? I argue we should measure whether we’ve appraised the most “useful” stuff. Again, I think we’re arguing about first principles. Margeret, yes, you can’t properly evaluate use w/out considering levels of intellectual access. Frank, yes of course use is relative to one’s repository and its mission. Hey, how did I get to be at the center of this? Can’t we go back to criticizing Frank? –Mark

]]> Comment on Review questions submitted to the panel by Mark Greene http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-12 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 01:06:38 +0000 http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-12 Erin (if you're monitoring the blog--if not, whoever is), feel free to skip my immediately preceding message--the discussion on site has moved far from that topic. This was a great event. I hope you do more of them. --Mark Erin (if you’re monitoring the blog–if not, whoever is), feel free to skip my immediately preceding message–the discussion on site has moved far from that topic. This was a great event. I hope you do more of them. –Mark

]]> Comment on Review questions submitted to the panel by Mark Greene http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-11 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:56:43 +0000 http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-11 Bill, it's proof of sound appraisal if you accept that sound appraisal is appraisal that supports important use (important as defined by your mission statement). Can you prove that other appraisal decisions wouldn't have supported more use?--no. And I agree that a controlled experiment to that effect would be terrific, it just isn't practical (who has room to keep all the stuff you've decided not to keep?). And can I prove that sound appraisal is in fact appraisal that supports important use?--no, but I say explicitly in the article (I think, it was a long time ago) that this is a first principle not susceptible to proof. And Elizabeth, thank you; I think your point is equally applicable to collecting repositories--certainly to mine; my university administrators want to see increasing use, specifically by undergraduates. --Mark Bill, it’s proof of sound appraisal if you accept that sound appraisal is appraisal that supports important use (important as defined by your mission statement). Can you prove that other appraisal decisions wouldn’t have supported more use?–no. And I agree that a controlled experiment to that effect would be terrific, it just isn’t practical (who has room to keep all the stuff you’ve decided not to keep?). And can I prove that sound appraisal is in fact appraisal that supports important use?–no, but I say explicitly in the article (I think, it was a long time ago) that this is a first principle not susceptible to proof. And Elizabeth, thank you; I think your point is equally applicable to collecting repositories–certainly to mine; my university administrators want to see increasing use, specifically by undergraduates. –Mark

]]> Comment on Review questions submitted to the panel by adp http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-10 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:39:05 +0000 http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-10 any thoughts on when, if ever, the archivist might influence an existing mission statement/collections policy? it seems like a healthy stance for archives to remain open to fine-tuning their missions, albeit within certain parameters. this notion might provide an entry for theory into practice...any thoughts by Mr. Boles or other panel members are appreciated. thank you. any thoughts on when, if ever, the archivist might influence an existing mission statement/collections policy? it seems like a healthy stance for archives to remain open to fine-tuning their missions, albeit within certain parameters. this notion might provide an entry for theory into practice…any thoughts by Mr. Boles or other panel members are appreciated. thank you.

]]> Comment on Review questions submitted to the panel by Mark Greene http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-9 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:36:25 +0000 http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-9 Frank, Mark Greene is listening and I'm willing to forgive your waffling on use, if only because you've got enough people, much closer, beating you up pretty well. --Mark Frank, Mark Greene is listening and I’m willing to forgive your waffling on use, if only because you’ve got enough people, much closer, beating you up pretty well. –Mark

]]> Comment on Review questions submitted to the panel by Nancy Deromedi http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-8 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:29:33 +0000 http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-8 Hi Frank, It is great that you are taking the time to talk about appraisal tonigt at the university of michigan. My question stems from work that myself and other staff in the university archives program has done this past year--and that is thinking about archiving blog content for the new mblog system at the um. I know that you don't talk about blogs in your book but, I wonder iif you would say that you can appraise this type of content that may include anonymous posting, occasional removed postings and may be stripped of the original functionality provided by the system. Should archivists look at newer technologies such as ping back tracking and readership to measure the impact the blog has and therefore it's significance? Hi Frank,
It is great that you are taking the time to talk about appraisal tonigt at the university of michigan. My question stems from work that myself and other staff in the university archives program has done this past year–and that is thinking about archiving blog content for the new mblog system at the um. I know that you don’t talk about blogs in your book but, I wonder iif you would say that you can appraise this type of content that may include anonymous posting, occasional removed postings and may be stripped of the original functionality provided by the system. Should archivists look at newer technologies such as ping back tracking and readership to measure the impact the blog has and therefore it’s significance?

]]> Comment on Review questions submitted to the panel by nancy bartlett http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-7 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:26:45 +0000 http://si.umich.edu/saa-boles/?p=5#comment-7 If "the purpose of archives is whatever a particular society of institution wishes", then can there be such a thing as bad appraisal if that appraisal matches what the society or institution wishes? And, you quote Bruce Bruemmer as stating that "one can overanalyze anything and end with little actual documentation." You wrote a whole book on appraisal--too much? If “the purpose of archives is whatever a particular society of institution wishes”, then can there be such a thing as bad appraisal if that appraisal matches what the society or institution wishes? And, you quote Bruce Bruemmer as stating that “one can overanalyze anything and end with little actual documentation.” You wrote a whole book on appraisal–too much?

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