About
Overview & Purpose
Digital Archiving Resources is an educational tool dedicated to making archive resources easily and conveniently accessible to the users of the Internet.
The purpose of Digital Archiving Resources is to gather items relating to digital archives in the humanities as part of an effort to provide access to the materials and awareness of the emerging field. By researching and ordering the items chosen to be included, we aim to guide the study of digital archives, as well as offer some possibilities for how it can be represented. In this way, our aim is to create social knowledge about digital archives; our mission is to provide access to categorized items important to the study of digital archives; and our vision is to continue adding to our collection over the years as the field grows and changes.
History of the Project
The project was initiated in 2012 by Dr. Mark Kamrath, who envisioned a digital archive created by doctoral students in his class at the University of Central Florida. The course would use a “digital humanities approach to the study of archives, and employs a range of learning methodologies and analytical activities to understand how digital archives are constantly changing relative to user needs and advancements in technology.” The focus of the class would be the creation, management, and preservation of data as it relates an archive.
The course project in Spring 2012 resulted in the creation of the Digital Archiving Information System (DAIS), which was later renamed Digital Archiving Resources - an initiative for building, using, and preserving digital archives.
Editorial Policy
The Archive is guided by pragmatic principles in its attempt to achieve two goals 1) to collect and provide effective and informative resources in the vast array of material on archives, and 2) to provide access to a wide range of related materials that shed light on the field of archiving. The guiding principle of the selection process was to make the digital archive an extensive and dynamic resource where users can learn about the topic and its current trends and issues. The Archive contains foundational sources on the topic as well as updated and recent sources on how digital archiving is evolving. We recognize that the Archive cannot serve all purposes nor can all editorial goals be pursued. We explain our practices to assist scholars in making informed judgments about their own use of the Archive.
The Archive was managed by Patricia Carlton, PhD student in Texts and Technology, and an editorial board of T&T PhD students comprising of Amy Giroux, Carolyn Glasshoff, and Valerie Kasper from 2012-2013. Amy Giroux also served as technical director.
Dr. Mark Kamrath currently manages the project, with the help of both graduate and undergraduate students.
User and Style Guide: DAR User and Style Guide 2024
Project Participants
Spring 2024
Fabi Aguado
Alexis Beadle
Amanda Dabao
Bianca Dagotino
Evan Dalton
Dari Merced-Calderon
Katie Steed
Kat Weiss
Peyton Worsham
Spring 2020
Hannah Baker
Tyler Burton
Quinn Cosio
Jacquelyn Curtin
Rose Dees
Truc Duong
Steven Eley
Nella Federici
Natasha Furness
Sean Gonzalez
Janet Jaimes
Marisa Lafontaine
Jo Lunsford
Caden Norris
Clara Pulido
Sabiha Rahman
Madison Ramos
Meaghan Roge
Stephen Taggart
Sabrina Taveras
Summer 2016
Anshare Antoine
Spring 2016 ENG 3817
Amber Allen
Marisa Donahue
Brionna Eaddy
Thomas Faucette
Richard Johnson
Samuel E. Ortiz
Megan Van Dresar
Lisa M. Vieira
Calyn Waddington
Casey Wolf
Fall 2015 ENG 6939
Robert Clarke
Christopher Foley
Laura Moeller
Sara Raffel
John Raible
Elena Rogalle
Summer 2015
Victoria Cabrera
Fall 2014
Yvonne Clark
Angela Dejesus
Patricia Korosec
Sarah McLean
Paige Mulligan
Brandon Rodriguez
Ryan Rosa
Charlotte Tripson
Kimberly Webb
Spring 2012 ENG 6939
Patricia Carlton
Nick Gardiakos
Amy L. Giroux
Carolyn Glasshoff
Valerie Kasper
Cynthia Mitchell
Technical Summary
Initially, each member submitted ten items they felt contributed to the understanding of digital archiving. The group discussed and approved selections based on quality and relevance to the Archive. The archive now contains 181 items.
Collection of items was initially conducted using the web tool Zotero which served as a collective repository for sources before they are selected to the archive. The collection management system chosen was Omeka because it is easy to use and allows for a web presentation to be created showcasing the holdings in the Archive without needing extensive technical experience. It is open source, flexible, and free.
We have used Dublin Core for our metadata. In order to make the Archive user-friendly and easy to navigate and search, we used a controlled vocabulary and thesaurus to label the items within the archive. Using a controlled vocabulary allowed us to maintain a standard for organizing and identifying items and ensured that searches for similar items are as efficient and effective as possible.
Our Archive adheres to the recommended code of ethics and professional practices published by the International Council on Archives and the Society of American Archivists. The core principles and code of ethics encompass, moreover, comprise each section and are represented by each item in the archive. We will protect the integrity of our items and approach the creation and maintenance of our archive with objectivity and diligence towards ensuring both rights to access and privacy.
Preservation of the digital archive as a whole will happen through periodic backups of the archive in multiple locations so that multiple copies of the archive will exist at all times. Ideally, multiple copies of the archive will exist on different servers in different parts of the country, but there can also be more local copies on the servers of the Text and Technology department at UCF.
Sustainability of the archive depends on embedding its maintenance and expansion as part of the Text and Technology program so that future groups of students and professors can keep the archive going as a useful resource. Making this archive a component of coursework is essential to securing the necessary resources such as time for all involved to work on the archive and funding for the technical support by UCF to keep the archive functioning. Also, when choosing software and hardware to be used for the archive, we will research the sustainability of such technologies so that the archive will function on technology that will evolve and be compatible rather than fade away.
Terms of Use
We commit ourselves to developing and maintaining rigorous standards. Non-copyrighted texts are available everywhere on the internet, and we will dedicate ourselves to using only the texts with which we can obtain permission. However, due to this restriction, some relevant texts may not be obtainable or accessible. In this case, we will provide the necessary bibliographic information for the reader to seek out the text himself.
Parts of the Archive may include third-party content that is made available on different terms. In such cases, and where that use does not fall under the terms of fair use, we indicate the different terms or acknowledge that the content is used with permission. If you wish to reproduce these materials, the project will be available on the World Wide Web as a free site.