From: 	mvajcner@student.ecu.edu.au

Greetings! I'm forwarding this message from the H-Net Civil War Discussion list--less so for the Civil War/History content than for the idea of the research project. I figured that someone "out there" is probably interested in this sort of work. Joan !~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~! Joan I. Biddle Ph.D. Sociologist LTC, USAR (ret) Jbiddle2@verizon.net +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+ -----Original Message----- From: H-Net US Civil War History discussion list [mailto:H-CIVWAR@H-NET.MSU.EDU] On Behalf Of Kittrell Rushing Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 9:52 PM To: H-CIVWAR@H-NET.MSU.EDU Subject: H-CivWar: Archives and Digitization ------------------ From: mvajcner@student.ecu.edu.au You are invited to participate in the following research project. Please excuse cross-postings. Context and Digitization: Towards a New Model for Archives Nearly a decade ago, in his inaugural address as president of the Society of American Archivists, Nicholas Burckel painted a vision of the future in which significant scholarship would be conducted exclusively via the internet, using digitized resources. That future has already been realized in some disciplines. Scholars in these disciplines are now discussing the impact of digital resources on their fields. The concern for authenticity and accurate digital representation are common concerns. All researchers, both academic and amateur, have become increasingly reliant on digital information sources. Reference sources such as Wikipedia register millions of hits daily as the internet becomes the primary destination for those seeking information. Archives are making more of their resources available in digital format, leading to investment in a vast array of archival digitization projects. Archival materials are fundamentally different from those found on Wikipedia and in most libraries. Archival materials are original records created in the course of events to document a transaction. They encompass a wide range of formats and genres that are today being digitized and made available by archives via the internet. Are these resources being fully optimized? You are invited to participate in a series of surveys to elicit your thoughts on the effectiveness of digitized materials currently available on the internet and to evaluate a theoretical model of digitization, which will be developed over the next year. There will be two stages of survey, during late 2008 and again during 2009. During each stage you will be asked to thoroughly and considerately complete a short questionnaire. The results of these will be compiled and circulated to each participant. At this time you will have to opportunity to amend your responses, if you wish, in light of the general group response. It is estimated you will be able to complete each questionnaire within 1 to 2 hours. Some participants may be contacted for interviews. Archival users and historical researchers are sought for this study. The ideal archival researcher conducts research both in the traditional manner and digitally. This research project is being undertaken as part of the requirements of the PhD (Information Studies) degree at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia. Should you wish to participate, please respond directly to the address below by 20 November 2008. Mark Vajcner Email: mvajcner@student.ecu.edu.au --- This e-mail is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose or use the information contained within. If you have received it in error please return it to the sender via reply e-mail and delete any record of it from your system. The information contained within is not the opinion of Edith Cowan University in general and the University accepts no liability for the accuracy of the information provided. CRICOS IPC 00279B