Guest blogger Elizabeth Lieutenant, a Master’s student in Library and Information Science at The Catholic University of America, is a virtual intern in the Office of Innovation. Here at the National Archives, we’ve been busy watching the Olympics and rooting for Team U.S.A. All the excitement of watching snowboarders fly through the air and figure … Continue reading Ski jumping into our Olympic Archives
It wasn’t so intimidating after all. We ended our last blog, announcing the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program Symposium held on February 17 at the Newseum in Washington, DC. The purpose of the symposium was to reflect on what the NITRD Program has accomplished over the past 20 years. I wasn’t sure what to expect, wandering into the Knight Conference Center, an humble archivist – a fish-out-of-water, feeling lost in a sea of black suits and aging baby-boomers. Every now and then, I’d spot an important face or two, people whom I’d recognized from huge posters of computer pioneers at the Microcenter computer store in Rockville. In fact, it was kind of like a red carpet event for science, academic, and computer geeks, or probably more appropriately, spotting rock stars of the computer world. My first thoughts were, “Oh, no, what if the panels were way over my head?” Should I take a seat by the door for a quick escape just in case?” then suddenly, “Is that who I think it is sitting across from our table? Would I embarrass myself if I asked for an autograph?” Here’s why I’m glad I stayed…
Imagine that you want to find electronic records related to a particular geographic location in a very large collection (40 TB and about 70 million files) of archival electronic records. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could pick up an iPad, have a map pop up on the screen, run your finger over the area … Continue reading Searching 40 TB of Electronic Records with the Swipe of a Finger
Many of us have met long-time computer types who began working with computers long before PCs began appearing in the late 1970s. We recently interviewed a fascinating man who celebrates 50 years of working with computers. He loves explaining how computers moved from being complex, monstrous beasts run by certain “intelligentsia” into practical, analytical tools for everyday people; to how computers today help us communicate and work with each other, within different, newer social frameworks. His career led him to some fascinating developments in computer science, including early contributions to the beginnings of the Internet, where he now sits at the helm of a strategic team that is braving the most challenging tasks of dealing with Government information in the clouds. Dr. George O. Strawn is not just another computer/IT official who rose from the ranks – he is one of the most important thought leaders within Federal Government IT circles today. Plus, he loves the National Archives, because he says, “we bring to the table some of the toughest IT problems for all of the federal government that need to be solved in our time.” Read the first in our series of Applied Research interviews called “At the top of our List: Thought Leaders You Should Know”
This Sunday will mark the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. As we remember the events of that day, the George W. Bush Presidential Library has posted more than 150 photos from their collection on Flickr. The photos from September and October 2001 offer a glimpse into the world of President Bush … Continue reading Remembering 9/11: Photos from the George W. Bush Presidential Library Now Available on Flickr
Today's post comes from Arian Ravanbakhsh, electronic records policy analyst in the Modern Records Programs at the National Archives. Our colleagues over at Records Express have written about the details of a records appraisal project that will result in considerably more records being transferred to us for permanent retention and made available for researchers. You … Continue reading Appraising US District Court Records
Next week the Society of American Archivists (SAA) will gather for its annual meeting in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency (151 East Wacker Drive). There will be a number of presentations by NARA's Applied Research staff and our Research Partners. On Tuesday, August 23rd at the 2011 Research Forum: Dr. Richard Marciano from the University of … Continue reading NARA Out in Front in Chicago: Applied Research at SAA
If you are anything like me, you would love to volunteer more, but you don't feel you have enough time to make a commitment. Luckily, these days, anyone with a computer and internet access can easily participate in online volunteer projects. An upcoming public program at the National Archives will look at three projects where … Continue reading May 18th Citizen Archivist Program
On April 13-14, Fynnette Eaton (NHA) and Kevin Devorsey (NWM) participated in a stakeholders meeting of the Unified Digital Format Registry (UDFR), held at the Library of Congress, along with 22 cultural memory institutions concerned with digital preservation. UDFR aims to pool the expertise of these archival communities to document characteristics that can be used to identify file formats, and then to document the information in an authoritative knowledge base.
In every instance over these years NARA has collaborated with agencies with much larger research budgets in funding research projects. NARA has often contributed “pennies on the dollar” to such projects.
