“Backlog” survey project
October 2nd, 2008 by MerrileeA few days ago, I said we’d write a little about each of our new projects in the archives and special collections program. The first one I’ll talk about is the Assess Archival Backlog Survey Tools Project.
The Greene-Meissner / “More Product, Less Process” report has caused archival institutions to look at backlogs differently. With this new focus, it’s a good time to also revisit how we assess collections and if possible see if there are some best practices that can be identified so that we aren’t all reinventing the wheel one by one by one. I’ve used the term backlogs, but it may not just be backlogs we consider. I’m putting the group together now (and have already had a few volunteers), so if this is something that interests you, please send me an email. If there are projects or efforts you think the group should be aware of, feel free to pass that information along as well.
Also, please note that almost all of these projects have cumbersome names and are officially open to renaming!
Related posts:
July 28th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
[...] while ago, I blogged about a then-new project on archival backlog surveys. Since then, we’ve established a working [...]
April 13th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Interesting efforts and projects in dealing with the massive problem of archival backlogs:
NARA team project
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2008/summer/backlog.html
Efforts in African Archives, see:
Dealing with Backlog Accumulations of Archival Materials in Eastern and Southern Africa by Mnjama, Nathan