Building a Demonstration Collection, Part 1: First Steps
Every collection is unique. The Anderson Archival team is comprised of history and digitization enthusiasts who love a good process, thrive on curveballs, and take joy in building something from the ground up. When Anderson Archival launched as a division of Anderson Technologies, one of the first discussions we had in-house was the need for […]
Who Will Use This Collection and How? All About Use Cases
Use cases. It’s simply a term for capturing the functional requirements of a digital library. Each use case is written from the user’s perspective, defining who they are and how they want and expect to use the digital collection. Understanding use cases is essential for determining how a collection will be best delivered, and what […]
How Do You Build Effective Search? (Hint: Metadata and Tagging!)
Does your digitization partner know your collection? Search results, whether too broad or broken, often reveal how well archivists know your material. Proper use of metadata and tagging, from general information to specific facets only relevant to your collection, make all the difference. For a company like Anderson Archival, the digitization process is only the […]
How It All Began: The Start of Anderson Archival
Before Anderson Archival, there was Anderson Technologies. It might seem strange that an IT company would branch into digital archiving, but the story behind this expansion showcases what clients of both firms know about us: integrity, dedication, and client focus are core values at the heart of all we do. Our hallmarks include expertise and […]
More Than Bitcoin: Taking Blockchain Technology to Preservation
What do Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have to do with archiving? The technology cryptocurrencies are built on – the blockchain – is drawing attention from those who seek to innovate within all industries, including archival. This is especially relevant for the future of the archival community, as blockchain holds a potential solution to problems of impermanence […]
Quotables: Digitizing the Stars: Harvard University’s Glass Plate Collection
Check out Anderson Archival’s recent contribution to bloggERS! The Blog of SAA’s Electronic Records Section. Digital Archivist Shana Scott presents a case study from Harvard University’s preservation of night sky photographs. Scott tells the story of astronomer Dr. Henry Draper, his wife Anna, and the women of Harvard’s Observatory who were dedicated to the preservation […]
Treasure or Trash?
Those of us who’ve seen Antiques Roadshow a few times have probably reflected on the once-thought-worthless item that ends up being worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. How can someone not know what they have is priceless? And on the other hand, how can that dusty old artifact be worth anything? Sometimes those antiques (and […]
Search Results: 0 – The Unseen Cost of Inaccurate Data and Sub-Par Solutions
Anderson Archival is pleased to have presented at Digital Preservation 2018 (#digipres18) in Las Vegas in October! The conference, with a theme on the future of digital preservation was hosted by the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) and the Digital Library Foundation (DLF). At the conference we highlighted what archivists should consider when creating or updating a digital collection, when not […]
5 Crucial Reasons to Digitize Your Historical Documents (and 5 Reasons You’ll Never Regret It)
Imagine you are a retired scientist who lives down the street from a library that houses valued historical documents. You’ve always had a fascination with maps of streams, lakes, and tides, and the ecology around them, and since your retirement, you enjoy more time sifting through the historical research and analytics. One day, you see […]
Is Social Media the Best Way to Share Your Digital Library?
Even on the most social, shallow corners of the internet, it is becoming hard to miss the world of museums and archives. For advocates of sharing and learning from history, that’s excellent news. When building or preserving a collection, a common pressing question is “How do I get this important document in front of those […]
