Saa11: Session 301

Archives on the Go: Using Mobile Technologies for Your Collections
This session was chock-full of the suggestions for implementing mobile technologies.

The first presenter Laura Botts shared her experiences with QR codes. Botts explained that QR codes can be useful to archivists who launch exhibits, to share further information with viewers. QR codes can be added to business cards that link to a website or articles written by the card holder. Archivists can link to surveys, to on-line tutorials or videos about their archival institution. Botts also suggested that when using QR codes you want to add context for the use next to the symbol using language like: “By scanning this QR code you’re be linked to a 5 minute video about the history behind this 19th century collection.”

In Lynn Eaton’s presentation “Digital Collections on the Go” she discussed the challenges she faced when trying to implement a mobile app for the Duke Digital Collections. Targeting the college community, Eaton hoped to take advantage of the established Duke University app development and campus presence. The use of this app was limited to iPhones, which Eaton says she plans to move beyond in the future and would like to create an app that has platform universality.

Trish Edumson- Morton’s presentation explored the implementation of mobile technology in a historic walking tour of Oregon State University. By using this technology, the user is led to historic sites on campus, once there the user learns about the history of the building or site. Morton scanned images from the photograph collections documenting the university’s history and then uploaded those images to Flickr along with accompanying metadata. The mobile technology pulled those images down from Flickr to be used on the walking tour of campus. However, by failing to find an audience, Morton admits the project was not as successful as it might have been.

The fourth presentation: “Foursquare and 1 year ago…” documented Mattie Taormina’s implementation of Foursquare as an outreach tool at Stanford University. By following the Harvard model, Taormina set out to target undergraduates and share one archival item at a time with those who took advantage of the “special offer” ubiquitous in Foursquare. These one-on-one conversations between archivist and student provided both parties with the chance of sharing and discovering a story using archival materials. Taormine focused on items associated with university history, unique items and those of high interest. This project required little time and perhaps helped to demystify the archive.