MCN2015

A two-year NEH HCRR Foundations grant facilitated planning, assessment, and pilot digitization activities related to the Walters’ curatorial research materials that span from the early 1900’s to the present day.

The content of these materials provides expanded meaning of the origins of the collection and strengthens our understanding of the people it has engaged over time. The main goals were to gain intellectual control over the contents of curatorial paper files and related archival resources (scrapbooks, accession cards, etc.), identify the value to the humanities, prioritize materials for future digitization, and evaluate the technical requirements needed for digitization and public access. Over two years, archives and digital resources staff counted, considered, and re-imagined the gems and junk that have accumulated in filing cabinets for nearly 100 years. Tough questions were asked about the changing validity of research materials over time, and how to activate this kind of supporting documentation so it can be meaningful and relevant (or at least referenced) in our modern, digital world.

This presentation will focus on the white paper that resulted from the planning grant. It will aim to share the experiences obtained through all the phases of planning, from completing a physical inventory, defining and prioritizing content types for digitization, creating a CIDOC-CRM data model, and finding ways to provide access to the public.