Towards a better description of genre archives : a case study of travel archives by Lee Arnold and Thomas van der Walt

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Arnold, Lee, 1959-

Contributor:

van der Walt, Thomas, Prof.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

American Philosophical Society.

University of Pennsylvania. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

University of Pennsylvania.

Presbyterian Historical Society.

Archival materials.

Subject cataloging.

Travel--Archives.

Travel.

Genre:

Archives.

Case studies.

Physical Description:

24 pages : charts ; 28 cm

Contained In:

Cataloging and classification quarterly (2019)

Place of Publication:

[s.l.] : Routledge, 2019.

Summary:

Researchers attempting to access genre archives are often stymied by insufficient metadata. They frequently overlook collections because a processing archivist may not have described those collections in a way which would have benefitted their research. Historic travel writing, often the end-product of a travel archive, generally focused on pilgrimages, exploration, adventure and leisure (Arnold 2000). Yet finding these types, and perhaps other types of, archives is a difficult task due to either too narrow/too broad or insufficient metadata. It is most likely the intent of the creator of the collection which foreshadows its archival description. Archivists can play a more active role in helping these collections expand their audiences by making them more accessible. This study explores, using travel-related archives as a case study, how archivists can better use metadata in describing genre collections. The researchers set out three objectives: to assess the current state of metadata relating to travel archives; to ascertain how researchers use travel collections and to suggest how travel archives can be better described. To this end they answered three crucial questions: How are travel-related archives currently described (as exploration, expedition, travel accounts, cartographic, etc.) and what is the quality (based on standard criteria) of the finding aids to these collections?; How are these collections used by researchers?; and How can travel-related archives be better described? The researchers provide six recommendations as remedies for the problem of inadequate access to travel-related archives.

Notes:

Caption title.

Photocopy. Philadelphia, Pa. : Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 2019. 28 cm.

OCLC:

1119738914