Thing 12: Attending Conferences

Not only am I the only archivist on this course, I also seem to be the only sad individual who has never in her life attended a conference in a professional capacity!  One of the reasons I guess stems from being self-employed and not being in a position to ask for somebody else to cover the cost of travel and attendance.  Ironically, for the likes of me networking would be a really good idea so not attending conferences is probably not a very smart move to make.  On the other side of the coin, archival conferences in Ireland aren't exactly ten a penny (no pun intended!) and the ones that are held usually centre on topics such as records management or digital preservation which bear little or no relation to my particular line of work.  Archival conferences can also be on very specific themes such as scientific archives, archives of world faiths, community archives and so on which again would have limited application to me.

And then there is of course the bottom line that just about the worst thing I can imagine is sharing knowledge with a hundred strangers!

I subscribe to an electronic mailing list for archivists, and about a month ago I came across a notice of a three-day interactive conference in the UK which kind of tweaked my interest.  The conference is aimed at community groups, museum curators, academics, local historians, independent researchers and anybody else interested in exploring or showcasing recent research relating to the First World War, particularly everyday life on the home front during the war years.  Contributors can choose what form they want their presentation to take - for example a talk, round table discussion, workshop or poster - and on what topic they want to centre it.

The reason I became interested in this event is that since 2012 my colleagues and I have been working on a web project which follows the lives of a single family throughout the war years through weekly posts of diary extracts, letters and photographs.  A large-scale event of this nature would give a fantastic platform for us to showcase our work and gain new followers.  However, this is not the only - and not even the most important - reason for my interest in attending. Putting together the weekly posts is hard work, particularly to somebody like me who at the start of the project knew nothing about the First World War saving the fact that it took place a hundred years ago.  It would be great to make contact with experts with a strong knowledge of the subject area to save us the pain of wading through multitudinous and often contradictory accounts of events and trying to make sense of it all.

LIkewise, we don't always have suitable photographs, documents or artefacts to use as illustrations and often have to turn to external sources which can be difficult to unearth.  It would be wonderful to create a network of contacts who might be able to point us into new and previously unexplored directions!  It would also be interesting to find out what other groups and organizations are doing to commemorate the centenary of the Great War, what challenges they have encountered and how they have overcome them.  I would hope that the conference would also act as a springboard for other exhibitions or events unrelated to the First World War that we may like to host in the future.

I think my only fear about attending this conference would relate to the presentation - how to pitch it, how to make sure it stays within the 20-minute time limit, how to ensure that technology won't break down half-way through, and of course overcoming the blinding panic of talking to a large audience!  However, as there is no way I could ever afford a three-day jolly in London, and safe in the knowledge that the deadline for submitting proposals has almost passed, I think I can sleep easy!

Thing 11: Reflective Practice

I began this course thinking that one hour per Thing would be more than enough to get me through on time.  What I didn't realize was that we had two Things to tackle each week!  Nor did I allow for the fact that, as a relative newcomer to Social Media, I would need more than an hour for most Things to grasp what they're all about.  Although I am allowed to allocate work time towards the course, it has proved difficult.  Having made up for lost time during the August Bank Holiday, I find myself once again lagging seriously behind.  However, I am not going to waste time worrying about all the Things I should have completed by now, I just take one task at a time and do it to the best of my abilities.

My slowness is not so much because of time management issues, but because of my inherent resistance to Social Media!  I have been self-employed for virtually all of my working life and the one essential skill anyone in that position must possess is the ability to manage time.  For some people, this comes naturally, others (like myself) learn it as they go along.  It is a slow learning process and one that is probably never fully perfected.

When you have a number of projects going on simultaneously and tight deadlines to meet you need to be able to identify short-term goals to keep each project going and then prioritize those goals so that the most important things get done first.  Deadlines can be very stressful but they can also be thought of as an ally: they focus the mind and ensure that stuff actually gets done.  If nobody's breathing down your neck it's easy to put things on the long finger and then leave them there permanently!

Another stressful situation can arise when work is scarce.  Worrying about your mortgage is a natural thing to do but it's also a terrible waste of  time.  Instead, you must regard a hiatus of this nature as an opportunity to further your career.  You might do a course to improve or broaden your skills, or increase your presence in Social Media to create a more prominent professional profile (look who's talking...), or update your CV to better reflect your abilities and experience.

When working under pressure it's important to ensure that the pressure doesn't get to you.  You must make room for downtime, whatever form it may take.  Read a book, go for a walk, watch a movie, paint, write a poem, take a nap, meditate, have a chat with friends over coffee - whatever does it for you.  It sounds like utter frivolity but I have learnt the hard way that it is essential for your overall well-being.

Finally, don't sweat it.  In the words of Creighton Abrams, when eating an elephant take one bite at a time.

Thing 10: Live Streaming

Whoa!  That was a lot to take in.  I had to read it twice and I'm still not sure that I would be able to set up a live streaming session if I was asked to do so.  Having said that, I'm not a complete stranger to live streaming because, with lots of relatives abroad, I am an avid user of Skype.  Skype only used to facilitate one-on-one video calls free of charge but these days conference calls are free also, enabling three or more people to chat together and see each other.

When I was a kid all the futuristic visions thought up by daydreamers included a video phone which would allow you to see the person you were talking to.  It is really odd to find that what sounded like insanity all those years ago is now totally commonplace and taken for granted.  And having researched the subject a bit I discovered to my amazement that our Victorian ancestors were already dreaming of such a gadget at a time when the telephone had barely been invented!

Live streaming in 1879

Skype is great but there are often hiccups.  Either the video is grainy or pixelated or the sound goes queer or disappears altogether.  It can be awfully frustrating when things go wrong.  For this and other reasons I don't think I would have the nerve to use live streaming for my own work.  However, I can certainly see the potential of live streaming mainly because of its ability to attract remote audiences.  For example when a tight budget prevents participation in a conference or other event in a faraway place, it would be fantastic to have the opportunity to view it live from home or from work.

I watched the Hangout OnAir last Sunday and I swear I was more nervous than the participants!  It was great to see live streaming in action and get a feel for what it entails.  Well done to all who took part.

Thing 9: Video

I was awfully nervous getting started on Thing 9.  I was fearful of having to make a personal screen appearance because cameras and I don't really get on all that well.  When it turned out that screen stardom was not a requirement I began to get quite excited.  I think videos are a great way of sharing information.  It's much easier to absorb how to do something when you can see it done in front of you rather than trying to work it out by reading a manual.  Even instructions for something simple like adding page numbers to a Word document can be enough to put you in a coma: "Double-click the header or the footer area which opens the Design tab under Header & Footer tools.  To place your page number in the centre, click Insert Alignment Tab in the Position group of the Design tab, click Center, and then click OK."  Snore!

Information Overload

I think video is also a great option for archives as an easy and effective way of promoting collections, highlighting unique items or sharing information about exhibitions and other events.  OK, easy is perhaps not where it's at, at least not after my experience!  I couldn't come up with any ideas as to what to do for a screencast so in a moment of insanity I decided to do a little taster to promote our online project It's a Long Way to Tipperary - an Irish Story of the Great War.  My plan was to create a short PowerPoint presentation, then let that run on my monitor screen and capture it with one of the the recommended free softwares.  Not strictly speaking a screencast but close enough.

A piece of cake, right?  Wrong!  Putting the PowerPoint presentation together was easy but when I began experimenting with recording options things got sticky.  I started with Jing but this required registration so I gave that a quick miss.  I moved on to Screencast-O-Matic which initially I thought was great as the first time you use it you don't need to sign in or anything, you just click 'record' and you're good to go - well, sort of.  However, the end result was disappointing.  Firstly, Screencast-O-Matic adds a logo to the bottom left hand corner of the recording which may not be suitable or appropriate for some purposes; it can also be a bit irritating as the logo is quite prominent and tends to draw the eye to it.  Secondly, the basic version doesn't seem to give the best possible quality of screen capture, and with sound it's even worse because in my case it changed a stereo recording into mono which effectively ruined it.  Finally, once you've used it once it won't allow you to have a second go unless you create an account, which I was loathe to do.

Having fiddled around with the recording for the best part of two days my brother pointed out that PowerPoint actually allows you to save your presentation as a video file.  Duh!  It turned out to be really easy to use and gives a near-perfect result.  So after three days of muttering under my breath I was finally ready to upload my video to YouTube.  Thankfully that was the easiest bit of the exercise!  As I am no Stephen Spielberg I have left the video unlisted but anyone interested in viewing it can do so at  https://youtu.be/1UayqHDrKHQ.

As a summary, I think video is a brilliant tool for archives albeit potentially a time consuming one. For anybody wanting to showcase collections or to demonstrate something for which using screencast is not sufficient I would  highly recommend experimenting with PowerPoint as a video tool, it's really well worth a go.

Thing 8: Curation Tools

I was looking forward to familiarising myself with Thing 8 but it has turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.  Firstly, I took a while to figure out what exactly Pinterest is because it requires registration to use.  Please.  I have already created four accounts during this course, at least three of which I have no intention of continuing after Thing 23.  This is in addition to 30 or more accounts I hold with usernames and passwords.  I am getting to the age when remembering my name is difficult if it’s not written on a piece of paper, so having to create yet another account gets a big thumbs down from me.

Having done a bit of research I eventually worked out that Pinterest is basically a photo-sharing website.  What worried me a bit was to discover that it has been under scrutiny a number of times regarding copyright issues (a huge problem for archivists) and that it has made claims that anything you pin to its site belongs to it.  I hasten to add that Pinterest has subsequently modified that claim.  Which is a good thing – imagine pinning some unique image to this site and then finding out that by doing so you have lost your employer’s rights to it!  How to lose your job in one easy move.

Did you know that 83% of Pinterest users are female and that its most popular categories are food and drink, DIY and crafts, women’s apparel, home decor and travel?  This suggests to me that the site is used as a place where one can indulge in hobbies, holiday planning and daydreaming, and where companies and businesses can conveniently target specific interest groups.  Nothing wrong with any of that but I can’t quite see how archives would fit into this environment, particularly since most of our stuff isn't all that visual – there is only so much excitement one can generate with a picture of an eighteenth-century deed.  However pictures of eighteenth-century pirates are a different matter altogether!

I then decided to examine Flipboard but again I didn’t even get off the starting blocks.  This site can be logged into using Facebook or Google but if you try to access it from your PC it loses much of its functionality, which makes sense as it was originally designed for mobile apps.  In fact, Flipboard has only been available on the web since February of this year.  So why didn’t I try it out on my mobile device?  Because mine is a clapped out antique version that makes phone calls, sends text messages, takes photos (if I can work out how) and does nothing else.

Just to be diligent, I explored Jan Holmquist’s Flipboard page to get an idea what it was all about.  Well, it’s kind of like an e-zine with lots of articles to explore.  With the web version, you get a magazine-style homepage with links to articles.  Clicking on the article you want to read takes you to its original web page. That’s it.  If you actually want to reach an audience through social media you will need the mobile app.

Finally, Storify.  I wanted to get my head round this as I have oftentimes heard it mentioned at work and was curious to find out what it’s all about.  Well, it seems to be a glorified Twitter account with embedded photos and video clips but do correct me if I’m wrong!  According to Wikipedia, most Storify users are ‘women between 24 and 35 years of age who have no children and browse the site from work’.

Likely Storify Users

Unlikely Storify Users

What has stopped me on my tracks is how incredibly time consuming curation tools seem to be and how completely they depend on an existing social network through which to spread whatever you are interested in displaying or promoting.  I am also somewhat sceptical about having dozens of different sites doing more or less the same thing when one or two more streamlined ones would make more sense.  Or is it old age talking again?

Thing 7: Podcasts

Now we’re talking – literally!  I found Thing 7 really rewarding even though I was unable to produce my own podcast owing to a lack of suitable equipment.  I’m all for listening – I have a long commute to work every day, an hour each way, and I always have an audio book on the go to pass the time. I can easily see podcasts as an alternative listening option in the future.

I spent some time trying to find podcasts created by archives to see if and how they utilise this tool.  Not surprisingly, I initially ran to an age-old problem: if you search for podcasts + archives, what you don’t find is podcasts by or about archives; instead, you get archives of podcasts on every conceivable subject under the sun thrown at you!  However after a bit of digging I did manage to find what I was looking for.  The first thing I discovered is that very few archives use podcasts.  Maybe this stems from the general perception that archives are like children – best seen, not heard!

However those repositories that use podcasts do so in a myriad of ways.  The UK National Archives have a number of podcast series, including Writer of the Month in which high-profile authors talk about using original records in their writing.  They also have podcasts introducing listeners to different collections in the archives, for example how to find and use wills and probate records.  In fact, it is hard to categorize these podcasts into distinct groups, they are so varied.  Here are some weird and wonderful topics they cover: the clothing choices of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn; identity theft in the 1840s (no, it’s not a typo); and roller skating in Edwardian England (I kid you not).

 

Library and Archives Canada have a very fine series of podcasts on aspects of Canadian history, including one on the immigration of Irish settlers to Quebec in the 1800s.  They also have podcasts on particular types of records, ranging from rare books to sheet music, recordings, film, and comic books.  The great thing about these podcasts is that many of them are linked to a Flickr gallery which allows you to view related images as you are listening to the podcast.  A great idea I think!

For me personally, the potentially most interesting website was Keeping Collections which is maintained by the Metropolitan New York Library Council.  The purpose of this website is to ensure the sustainability and accessibility of New York State’s archival collections, and one of its aspects is a range of podcasts in which archivists discuss their trade, or a particular aspect of their trade.  One I am looking forward to listening to is ‘Archival Manoeuvres: Managing Digitization Projects.’

Have we ever used podcasts in our archives?  No.  Would I be willing to try it out?  You bet!

Thing 6: Reflective Practice

I have just spent a very enjoyable Sunday morning reading through other people's blogs.  I have been truly humbled by the skills of some of my fellow bloggers, and their competence and confidence with social media.  I have also been comforted to discover that I am not the only one balking at these skills or struggling to come to grips with them.

Being self-effasive by nature, I don't feel comfortable with a prominent web presence.  I had real trouble with setting up a LinkedIn page even though I could rationalise its potential benefits to myself.  I also seem to have a fundamental difficulty in truly understanding the popularity of social media or its professional applications.  I mean, what's wrong with this:

I guess this attitude was pretty much the reason why I decided to join Rudaí 23.  So, having reached the quarter-way mark, how do I feel about social media now?  To be honest, I still feel uncomfortable, albeit less so.  The one great benefit is that I now understand what Google+, Twitter and other things are and how they work.  I feel much more confident participating in discussions about social media at work because for the first time I actually understand what people are saying!

I think what I'm still waiting to learn is how to use social media to promote my work rather than myself.  I think social media has the potential to work as a powerful tool to promote archival collections but I still haven't quite grasped how this can be done.  I am looking forward to Thing 7 as I think it may be the first step in that direction.

The one thing I must say is that this course is way more time consuming than I had allowed for.  Setting up and writing the first blog took me a day and a half and I think it took me something like three days to work on the LinkedIn page.  The long weekend has given me an opportunity to do a bit of catching up but I am genuinely concerned about my ability to keep up come September.  However, I am determined to see this course through so onwards and upwards!