
More fun with Archivist on the Roof

November 26, 2013

Another song! Last week’s is here if you missed it.

Electronic (music from Anatevka [lyrics,video])

What do we leave
to archives?
Only electronic

Before we had electronic
Boot it up, back it up, electronic
Those paper days were pretty sweet

Electronic, electronic
Flip a bit, guess that’s it, electronic
So quickly becomes obsolete

Soon digital archives will be commonplace
And we’ll worry about server space
For electronic

We acquire electronic,
Mi-igrate, duplicate electronic
Let’s save e-records while we still have time!

Let’s make an archives musical; or, An Archivist on the Roof

November 19, 2013

In my copious free time I have been plotting an archives musical based on the Broadway classic Fiddler on the Roof. Maybe it won’t go anywhere, but I think we should all enjoy whatever I end up with. I’ve heard that the creators of Fiddler don’t take kindly to parody, so good luck getting permission to actually perform this thing, but I aim to misbehave.

The Archives (music from Tradition [lyrics, video])

The archives, the archives! The archives!
The archives, the archives! The archives!

Who, day and night, must generate the records
Papers, correspondence, even photographs
And who has the right as owner of them all
To designate their final home?
The donor! The donor! The archives!

Who must know how to use history sources
Primary and secondary
Who must know her way around the reading room
And fill out call slips for ev’ry request?
The user! The user! The archives!

I have my MLS degree and passed the ACA
I hear we’re going digital, but I–keep printing
The staff! The staff! The archives!

And who has been obsessed
Since Roots came on TV
With finding every branch
On my whole damn fam’ly tree?
The genealogist! The genealogist! The archives!

Let’s resurrect Raiders of the Lost Archives

September 16, 2013

Before there was Derangement and Description–in fact, before there was me–there was Raiders of the Lost Archives. Intrepid archivists got together at SAA and MAC to put on live shows, with singing, sketches, and oh-so-many archives jokes. A few scripts are preserved as part of the Midwest Archives Conference records, and UWM Archives was kind enough to scan one of them for me. You can read the whole thing here (PDF link). Many thanks to Marion Matters and the other original authors for their fantastic script, and to UWM Archives for preserving it for future generations to enjoy. (I’m hoping none of you authors are the litigious type, but if you really want to sue someone for copyright infringement, leave MAC and UWM alone–I’m the one you’re after.)

A page from the 1983 script for Raiders of the Lost Archives

A page from the 1983 script for Raiders of the Lost Archives

Derangers, I think it’s time we resurrect Raiders of the Lost Archives. And there are a few ways to do this. We could take one of the original scripts and update it; archives have changed just a little bit since the ‘80s. We could write an entirely new script, in the style of the old ones. Or we could do something completely different, taking RotLA as our inspiration.

SAA is open to the idea, but we need to submit it as part of the education session proposal process, which ends on September 30th. That gives us just about 2 weeks to get this going. And I need your help!

Can you write? We need to write a proposal, to get this thing off the ground, and then write scenes and songs.

Can you act, sing, direct, or play music? We need people to perform this thing.

Can you tell us about the good old days? We need people who participated in the original Raiders of the Lost Archives, as performers, writers, or audience members, to help us remain true to the spirit of the original.

Can you herd cats? We need a few people to help organize this thing, and to put their names on the proposal.

If you’re interested in helping out with this project–even if you’re not sure about going to SAA14–please join this Google group. If you have ideas, you can also comment here.

Let’s make this happen!

The OAIS song

September 9, 2013

Am I being presumptuous, thinking there isn’t already a song about OAIS?

Music is from Oh Shenandoah, public domain. Lyrics are CC-licensed. If you want to record or improve this song, yes, please do!

OAIS
for long-term storage
Gaze upon its reference model
OAIS
for long-term storage
Files sa…fely tucked away
Within a digital repository.

The archive has
Three key stakeholders
Described in this reference model
Producer, consumer, and management
(All want) files sa…fely tucked away
Within a digital repository

OAIS
Has mechanisms
Making a functional model
From ingest on to storage on to access
Files sa…fely tucked away
Within a digital repository

The archive has
Information objects
In an information model
Where SIPs turn into AIPs turn into DIPs
Files sa…fely tucked away
Within a digital repository

OAIS
Is not so scary
Once you understand the model
Now you can build a preservation system
Files sa…fely tucked away
Within a digital repository

Archives Swears

May 21, 2013

For the next time you cut yourself on a rusty staple, or have to re-enter three hours worth of folder labels after Archivists’ Toolkit crashes on you…

Panel 1: "Every single box in this accession is labeled 'Miscellaneous.'" "Wow, that's pretty foxed up." Panel 2: A silverfish. "Look at the size of that motherfunder!" Panel 3: Compact shelving. "Greene and Meiss, you almost crushed me in here!"

Panel 1: “Every single box in this accession is labeled ‘Miscellaneous.'” “Wow, that’s pretty foxed up.” Panel 2: A silverfish. “Look at the size of that motherfunder!” Panel 3: Compact shelving. “Greene and Meiss, you almost crushed me in here!”

Panel 1: Archive boxes by diylibrarian

Panel 2: Peixinho-de-prata // Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) by Valter Jacinto

Panel 3: Electronic Compact Shelving, Library, City Campus West, Northumbria University by JISC infoNET

Archives: The Venn Diagram

March 8, 2013

I made this for a presentation and I kind of like it, so I thought I’d share.

Appraisal without acquisition is just wishful thinking. Acquisitions without preservation is just hoarding. Preservation without access is just stockpiling. If you’re doing all these things AND providing access, you’ve got an archives.

Appraisal without acquisition is just wishful thinking. Acquisitions without preservation is just hoarding. Preservation without access is just stockpiling. If you’re doing all these things AND providing access, you’ve got an archives.

Yeah, the design isn’t the best. Hooray for CC-licenses so you can improve it and share alike!

Valentines for archivists

February 13, 2013

Give these to your friends, your coworkers, your secret archives crushes…

valentine_the_way_you_roll

(“I like the way you roll” over a photo of book trucks. Photo credit: 1273148018052_proc2 by yurilong)

valentine_stuck

(“I’m stuck on you” over a photo of a scrapbook. Photo credit: World War One Scrapbook by San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)

valentine_silverfish

(“I love you like a silverfish loves paper” over a photo of a silverfish. Photo credit: Peixinho-de-prata // Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) by Valter Jacinto)

valentine_be_mine

(“Be mine” over a photo of a donation form. Photo credit: Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum Archives donation form)

valentine_extent

(“I love you this much” over a photo of a penguin with arms outstretched.)

valentine_world

(“You mean the world to me” over a historical map of the world. Photo credit: Wytfliet’s Map of the World 1598 from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection)

valentine_bone

(“Let’s bone” over a photo of a bone folder.)


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