Upgrades to Archives Catalogue and Online Collections

December 13, 2016 Creighton Barrett Leave a Comment

The University Archives is pleased to announce some major upgrades to the Archives Catalogue and Online Collections. The catalogue has several new features to help researchers find and request access to archival material, including:

Clipboard module to “pin” search/browse results for printing or export
Inventory list to sort and view file- and item-level descriptions by title, date, or reference code
“Full-width” view of the hierarchical structure of each finding aid
Improvements to basic and advanced search options

The catalogue also features new content, including:

6,717 archival descriptions
5,554 digital objects
75 geographic headings and all 1,073 geographic headings now organized by continent

New digital content includes 317 photographs taken by Barbara Hinds and Rosemary Gilliat in Iqaluit and other northern communities in the early 1960s (MS-2-130), and over 1,300 photographs from the Dalhousie University Photograph Collection (PC1). The catalogue also includes 2,739 digitized full-text issues of the Dalhousie Gazette that have been available in DalSpace since 2013. Dalhousie faculty, students, and staff can request free digital scans of archival material using the Libraries’ archives document delivery service.

The Archives Catalogue and Online Collections is built using an open-source archival description tool known as Access to Memory (AtoM). The catalogue was launched in January 2015 and has become the primary tool for providing access to unique archival material held by the Dalhousie Libraries.

University Archives Launches Free “Pilot” Archives Document Delivery Service

October 19, 2015 Creighton Barrett 2 Comments

The University Archives is very pleased to announce a new free digitization service to increase digital access to archival material held by the Dal Libraries: the Archives Document Delivery Service.

For the next six months, the Libraries will test a new service where Dalhousie students, faculty, and staff can request free digital copies of archival material found in the Archives Catalogue and Online Collections. Consortia members and external researchers should continue to refer to the reproduction services and fee schedule document on the Archives website.

How Does the Service Work?

Dalhousie students, faculty, and staff can request digital copies of analog archival materials found in the Archives Catalogue and Online Collections. Digitization requests can be submitted online using a new “Archives Request” form available when you log into the Document Delivery Request Form:

Users should consult the Archives Catalogue and Online Collections to find files and items of interest.

When a request is received, Archives staff will work with Document Delivery staff to:

Determine if the request can be fulfilled
Prepare the file(s) for digitization
Digitize the file according to the University Archives digitization standards
Create a high-quality, fully-searchable (with some exceptions for illegible and/or handwritten text) PDF or high-resolution JPEG image
Send users a link to download the file(s)

The service is very similar to the electronic delivery of journal articles requested through Document Delivery. But it is limited to archival material held by the Dalhousie Libraries. Please note that the actual archival materials will not circulate. The service will provide digital copies.

Where Can I Find Help Using the Archives Document Delivery Service?

Staff in the University Archives can provide assistance searching the Archives Catalogue and completing the Archives Request form.

You can visit the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room on the 5th Floor of the Killam Memorial Library between 11:00 and 5:00, Monday-Friday.

You can also call the Reading Room at 902-494-3615 or email us at duasc@dal.ca.

We have detailed instructions on searching and browsing the Archives Catalogue. The Guide to Archival Research has more information.

What Kind of Archival Material Can I Request?

Eligible materials:

All private manuscript collections, including photographs
Publicly available university records
Certain university records may be made available to administrative staff

Ineligible materials:

Materials that exceed the definition of “short excerpt” in the Dalhousie Fair Dealing Guidelines
Materials with access and/or use restrictions imposed by the donor of the material
Unprocessed private manuscript collections that have not been appraised
Audiovisual materials
Fragile material that cannot be digitized using existing equipment in the Libraries
Bound manuscripts or other formats that cannot be digitized using existing equipment in the Libraries
Files with more than 100 pages

My Request was Cancelled. What Happened?

There are a number of reasons why Libraries staff might have to cancel your digitization request:

The file has access and/or use restrictions.
The request exceeds the definition of “short excerpt” in the Dalhousie Fair Dealing Guidelines.
The materials are too fragile to be scanned with existing equipment in the Libraries
The file contains a mix of material (e.g., textual records and photographs) that cannot easily be compiled into a PDF
The file contains audiovisual material and/or electronic records that cannot be scanned with existing equipment in the Libraries.
Some or all textual materials are bound in a way that prevents suitable preservation scans from being created with existing equipment in the Libraries.

In some cases, Libraries staff may contact you to discuss the possibility of scanning a portion of the material or to clarify the nature of your request.

How Long Does it Take to Receive a Request?

The Archives Document Delivery Service will use the existing document delivery time guidelines to measure the Libraries’ ability to fulfill free archives digitization requests in a timely manner. Members of the Dalhousie community may be accustomed to receiving scanned journal articles within a day or two even though delivery can take 2-3 weeks. The digitization process we will be testing is more complicated and time consuming and we anticipate an average request fulfillment time of 1-2 weeks.

If you have a deadline for your material please either use the “Not Useful After” calendar available on the web request form or add a note in the Notes field. You can also email the staff at docdel@dal.ca and they can check where the item is coming from and give you an estimated time of arrival.

Urgent surcharge and same day service are not available.

Can I Provide Feedback on this Service?

Yes, please! This is a pilot initiative to assess the Libraries’ capacity to digitize archival material as a free service for Dalhousie students, faculty, and staff. Digitizing archival material can be time-consuming and complex, so we anticipate a few bumps as we launch this pilot initative. Please provide feedback by emailing duasc@dal.ca.

University Archives puts historical maps online

February 9, 2015 Creighton Barrett Leave a Comment

The Libraries’ University Archives is pleased to announce the release of three new historical map online resources:

Pullen Map Collection (MS-2-756) – This collections contains fourteen historical maps and charts of Eastern Canada and one illustration, produced by cartographers such as Thomas Jeffreys and Jacques-Nicolas Bellin. Nine of the fifteen items have been digitized.

Edward J. Mullaly Map Collection (MS-2-46) – This collection contains twelve historical maps of Eastern Canada, produced by cartographers such as Giovanni Battista Ramusio and Girolamo Ruscelli. Mullaly’s donation also included copies of Kershaw’s “Early Printed Maps of Canada” and “A Monograph of the Evolution of the Boundaries of the Province of New Brunswick” by William F. Ganong. Both volumes were transferred to the Killam Library Special Collections. All twelve maps in this collection have been digitized.

David and Marilyn Janigan Map Collection (2011-006) – This collection contains eighteen historical maps of the Eastern Seaboard and Nova Scotia municipalities, produced by cartographers such as Jacques-Nicolas Bellin and Giacomo Gastaldi. The donation was highlighted in the Dalhousie Magazine (Volume 28, Number 1, Spring 2011). Eight maps have been digitized.

Nova Francia et Regiones Adjacentes by Johanne de Laet. From the David and Marilyn Janigan Map Collection (2011-006, OS Box 3, Folder 1)

You can read more about our historical maps on the Archives’ website.

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage: University Archives Releases Footage of “University of the Air” TV show

October 27, 2014 Creighton Barrett Leave a Comment

The University Archives is celebrating the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage! The United Nations created this day “as a mechanism to raise general awareness of the need for urgent measures to be taken and to acknowledge the importance of audiovisual documents as an integral part of national identity.”

This year’s theme is “Archives at Risk: Much more to do.” It’s a fitting theme for the University Archives, which has been working with Preservation Technologies to digitize select obsolete audiovisual media such as 1/4 inch and 2-inch audio reels, Betacam, U-Matic, and other formats (check out this post about a Dutch Mason master recording). We’re also hosting Young Canada Works Intern Dave MacLachlan on an audiovisual archives internship. Dave has been assessing our audiovisual collections for preservation and access, and helping us develop procedures for working with obsolete media.

To celebrate World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, the Archives is releasing 20 archived episodes of a television program called “University of the Air.” University of the Air was a distance learning initiative started by CTV’s regional television affiliates. Production of University of the Air started in 1966, and continued until 1983. Episodes were produced by university faculty members across the country.

The University of the Air courses were structured into series of five episodes based on a central theme. This collection of videos from Dalhousie comprises four such series: “The Oceans,” “The Structure of Sound,” “20th Century Latin America: Why Revolution,” and “Textiles: Their Development and Effects.”

Dave MacLachlan worked with Joan Chiasson and Archives Student Assistants Laurie Chase and Andrea Kampen to make the videos available online. You can view all the episodes in one playlist on our YouTube channel. The videos are also embedded into the “University of the Air” finding aid in our archives catalogue.

Wondering where to start? Andrea Kampen produced a short trailer for the playlist. Enjoy!

University Archives digitizes Dutch Mason master recording

December 20, 2013 Creighton Barrett 2 Comments

Have you ever seen an Ampex 456 tape? No? Neither had staff in the Dalhousie University Archives until it acquired almost 1,000 master recordings created in an old Halifax recording studio above Long and McQuaid on Cunard Street.

In 2012, the Archives acquired a large collection of master recordings from Thom Fitzgerald. The Halifax-based film producer stumbled upon the collection when he purchased a recording studio above Long and McQuaid on Cunard Street. Thom didn’t realize the space held over 1,000 master recordings, mostly recorded between the 1970s and 1990s by Solar Audio and Recording.

The recordings are held on fragile magnetic tape and it is very likely that some have already been lost to what archivists call sticky-shed syndrome, a condition when the magnetic tape splits apart.

Archives Assistant Kevin Hartford has been working on organizing the tapes and identifying material of greatest long-term interest. As part of this process, the Archives shipped a sample of various audiovisual media to be digitized, including a 24-track Ampex 456 tape attributed to Dutch Mason, a well-known Blues musician from Nova Scotia. The tape contains a recording of Trying to Find my Baby, an original Blues song released on the album Gimme a Break but apparently recorded with other songs released on the album Janitor of the Blues.

We were thrilled to see that all of the tracks recorded on the tape were recovered! Each track contains recordings of individual musicians in Dutch Mason’s band. Studio engineers would have edited and mixed the tracks together to create a stereo recording for commercial release.

Screenshot of the 24 track studio master loaded in Audacity

Screenshot of the 24 track master recording

To provide a sample of this exciting collection, Digital Archivist Creighton Barrett created a basic mix of the audible tracks and uploaded the song to the Archives’ YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k84HtWhxF0g

We’ve also posted a few photos to our Facebook page. The Archives is just getting started on this project, but the Solar Audio and Recording Studio Collection will eventually show how music was recorded before digital technologies took over; it also happens to hold the key to understanding three decades of Nova Scotia music history. The collection includes recordings of prominent Nova Scotian musicians such as Rita MacNeil and Dutch Mason, lesser known artists and bands from Halifax and beyond, and numerous local radio jingles.

Archives for digitization