Digi Days: Using the Rey Papers to Teach Digitization to Library Science and Archival Students

Last summer, the University of Southern Mississippi’s Digital Collections, with support from the school’s Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA), embarked on a new initiative. Called “Digi Day”, the workshop offered current LIS graduate students the opportunity to receive hands-on training and experience in digitization using The Rey Papers, one the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection’s most prized collections. The first “Digi Day” workshop, which took place in June, is just the beginning of what will become a series of similar workshops tentatively planned for Spring and Summer 2015. Digi Day workshops last one full day and involve basic training in digitization techniques, from handling items and running scanners to introductory description and metadata skills. Guest speakers from the local archival community also participate by discussing current projects and emphasizing the importance of gaining digitization experience as early as possible. Choosing an appropriate collection for Digi Day workshops is no small feat. Organizers must take into account the experience level of volunteers as well as the subject matter and physical condition of the collections. An ideal choice for Digi Day use is a collection that is engaging to digitize and describe, as well as one that is physically appropriate for handling by volunteers with little or no archival experience. This article will report the success of the first “Digi Day” and will cover the selection of materials as well as workshop structure, recruitment, basic training topics and techniques, and volunteer recognition. The Primary Source, Vol. 33, Issue 2 6 Introduction Last summer, the University of Southern Mississippi’s Digital Collections, with support from the school’s Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA), embarked on a new initiative. Called Digi Day, the workshop offered current LIS graduate students the opportunity to receive hands-on training and experience in digitization using The Rey Papers, one of the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection’s most prized collections. The workshop was held at the McCain Library and Archives’ Digital Lab. Elizabeth La Beaud, the library’s Digital Lab Manager and MLIS Candidate, and Emilie Aplin, a circulation supervisor at Cook Library, MLIS Candidate, and 2013-2014 LISSA President, were the workshop’s two coordinators. Workshop participants received basic training in digitization techniques and metadata creation and gained handson experience scanning documents and creating image production records. During a Lunch and Learn session, guest speakers from Mississippi Digital Library and the Aquila Digital Community addressed volunteers and stressed the importance of digitization work and the skills necessary to work in the field. Due to the success of the pilot workshop, Digi Day is projected to become an ongoing opportunity for LIS students at the University of Southern Mississippi. This article will report the success of the first Digi Day workshop and will cover selection of materials, workshop structure, recruitment, training topics and techniques, volunteer recognition, and plans for similar, future workshops. Background Archives, primary source materials, and education have had a long relationship. Some archives routinely integrate archival instruction and the use of primary sources into undergraduate curricula, particularly in the humanities fields. Common to all archival education programs is a solid 1 Magia G. Krause, “Undergraduates in the Archives: Using an Assessment Rubric to Measure Learning,” American Archivist 73, no. 2 (2010): 507-534. Student participants learn to complete an image production record during Digi Day orientation at McCain Library and Archives on June 21 2014. The Primary Source, Vol. 33, Issue 2 7 grounding in theoretical principles, and many programs also include servicebased learning, usually as a practicum or internship, as a requirement for graduation. The Society of American Archivists (SAA) advocates the linking of theory and practice aspects of archival education, especially when learning the core principles of arrangement and description. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), with its own standards for special collections professionals at academic libraries, advises that professionals understand not just the relationship between theory and practice but also “the significance of original artifacts and the nature and value of primary materials for learning” as well as “the use of digital asset management systems and metadata for providing access to digitized primary source materials”. Therefore, the union of theory and practice during archival training is essential. A recent study by Donghee Sinn explored the benefits and drawbacks of hands-on training opportunities in archival education programs. Sinn, who polled both students and archivists experienced in such training opportunities, found that students valued not only the chance to link theory to practice but also to network and “test the waters” before actually entering the archival profession. The study also found that professional archivists value their involvement in such programs since they benefited from similar opportunities when they were beginning in the field. They also view these hands-on training opportunities as effective recruitment strategies for future employment. Both students and archivists agreed, however, that the biggest challenge of such programs is the increased time demand and workload for both groups. 7 2 Society of American Archivists, “Arrangement and Description,” Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archives, accessed September 29, 2014, http://www2.archivists.org/gpas/curriculum/arrangement-description. 3 Association of College and Research Libraries, “Competencies for Special Collections Professionals,” Guidelines and Standards, accessed September 29, 2014, http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/comp4specollect. 4 Donghee Sinn, “Collaborative Education Between Classroom and Workplace for Archival Arrangement and Description: Aiming for Sustainable Professional Education,” American Archivist 76, no. 1 (2013): 237-262.