Question: What is your favorite history-, library-, or archives-related blog?

What is your favorite history-, library-, or archives-related blog? With the vast array of personal, professional, academic and commercial blogs available to readers today, it can be difficult trying to find just the right one to suit your needs. While it might be fun, who has the time to skim through 308,026 blogs? (That's the … Continue reading Question: What is your favorite history-, library-, or archives-related blog?

Question: What groups of photographs should we post on Flickr next, and why?

What groups of photographs should we post on Flickr next, and why? The NARA photostream on Flickr launched in July. So far, the pilot project includes photographs and their corresponding descriptions from the Women’s Bureau, the Environmental Protection Agency’s DOCUMERICA project, and a variety of “NARA Favorites,” plus links to each image’s ARC record. It’s … Continue reading Question: What groups of photographs should we post on Flickr next, and why?

Question: If you could personalize your experience of NARA’s research Web pages and online catalog with a customized user account, what features would it include and how would they help you?

If you could personalize your experience of NARA’s research Web pages and online catalog with a customized user account, what features would it include and how would they help you? Our latest ARC update included a new feature called “My List,” which allows users to temporarily collect, print and email descriptions. These lists can be … Continue reading Question: If you could personalize your experience of NARA’s research Web pages and online catalog with a customized user account, what features would it include and how would they help you?

Question: Should we allow the public to tag descriptions in our online catalog? Why or why not?

NARA is in the very early phases of designing its next generation online catalog.  Should we allow the public to tag catalog descriptions?  Why or why not? Our current online catalog, the Archival Research Catalog (ARC), does not allow for tagging.  Staff archivists can add subject terms from our authority list of approved subject headings (based on … Continue reading Question: Should we allow the public to tag descriptions in our online catalog? Why or why not?