Posted by Bob Kosovsky on August 7, 2007 at 11:40am
In the main group, I recently posted the announcement for the conference Computers in Libraries 2008. One of the themes to be covered is taking advantage of user-generated content. Together, with the whole notion of Web & Library 2.0, it suggests much closer cooperation between archives and their users.Specifically, it suggests that some of the work we do can be done by users. Perhaps an extreme example is interns: In my division where I work, unprocessed collections are not allowed to be handled by the public. A user approached me about using one such collection, and I suggested that if he had the time, he could process it. Being a doctoral student, he took up my gauntlet and now has almost finished processing the collection: a win-win situation for us, and him.On a more local basis, we've had processed collections where users were so "obsessed" with the contents that they created more detailed finding aids than what we had available. After asking permission, we have been able to incorporate their finding aids into ours.I'm wondering if anyone else has thoughts or experiences to share concerning harnessing the potential energy of users.I'd love to hear if anyone has any ideas, stories, or opinions they'd like to share concerning the possibility of using user-generated content.
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