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Taking the researchers’ perspective, the purpose of this paper is to examine the types of context information needed to preserve data’s meaning in ways that support data reuse.

This paper is based on a qualitative study of 105 researchers from three disciplinary communities: quantitative social science, archaeology and zoology. The study focused on researchers’ most recent data reuse experience, particularly what they needed when deciding whether to reuse data.

Findings show that researchers mentioned 12 types of context information across three broad categories: data production information (data collection, specimen and artifact, data producer, data analysis, missing data, and research objectives); repository information (provenance, reputation and history, curation and digitization); and data reuse information (prior reuse, advice on reuse and terms of use).

This paper extends digital curation conversations to include the preservation of context as well as content to facilitate data reuse. When compared to prior research, findings show that there is some generalizability with respect to the types of context needed across different disciplines and data sharing and reuse environments. It also introduces several new context types. Relying on the perspective of researchers offers a more nuanced view that shows the importance of the different context types for each discipline and the ways disciplinary members thought about them. Both data producers and curators can benefit from knowing what to capture and manage during data collection and deposit into a repository.

This research investigated the reuse of Video Records of Practice (VRPs) – i.e. a type of qualitative data documenting teaching and learning in educational settings. It studied how reusers' purposes and experience-level with VRP reuse influence the importance of various VRP selection criteria and how these differ depending on whether the main goal for reuse was research or teaching. It also examined whether two different dimensions of qualitative research – reflexivity and context – were factors in VRP reuse.

The study reports on surveys of reusers at four VRP repositories. Questions were based on the literature and interviews with VRP reusers. The response rate was 20.6% (180 of 872 distributed surveys). This paper focused on 126 respondents who affirmatively responded they reused VRPs from a repository.

Researchers using VRPs were primarily interested in examining a broad range of processes in education and studying/improving ways to measure differences and growth in education. Reusers with teaching goals were commonly interested in VRPs to engage learners in showing examples/exemplars of – and reflecting on – teaching and learning. These differences between research and teaching led to varied expectations about VRPs, such as the amount of content needed and necessary contextual information to support reuse.

While repositories focus on exposing content, understanding and communicating certain qualities of that content can help reusers identify VRPs and align goals with selection decisions.

Although qualitative data are increasingly reused, research has rarely focused on identifying how qualitative data reusers employ selection criteria. This study focused on VRPs as one type of qualitative data and identified the attributes of VRPs that reusers perceived to be important during selection. These will help VRP repositories determine which metadata and documentation meet reusers' goals.

This paper aims to provide a bibliometric study of journal articles related to institutional repositories in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) between January 1993 and August 2017. This study will provide researchers with a foundation for further research.

In this study, articles published were analyzed; titles were searched using the term “institutional repositories.” The data were evaluated in response to four research questions on the following topics: publication trends, prolific authors, core journals and times cited.

The results indicate that 124 articles on institutional repositories were authored by 223 individuals. These articles were cited 722 times in 37 journals, and the h-index provided by the Web of Science was 14.

This study only investigated articles titled with institutional repositories in the SSCI. Other items were not included.

This study shows that the implementation of institutional repositories has been limited to library and information science. If they can be used broadly in different disciplines, a better outcome can be expected.

Based on the findings, the growth of institutional repositories as an academic subject is likely to continue. If such discussions can be conducted in other disciplines, institutional repositories may be able to provide a more promising outcome to academia.

This paper is valuable for researchers who wish to examine the trends of institutional repositories in the SSCI and seek possible areas for further research.

Written by a librarian and history professor, the purpose of this paper is to describe a collaborative, primary source literacy project and report its effectiveness in teaching undergraduates to critically analyze information and develop primary source literacy.

The methodology used included a research project with 24 undergraduates and a pre- and post-survey. The research project and student survey incorporated principles from the “Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy”, published in 2017 by the ACRL’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Section and the Society of American Archivists. The paper offers research and practical implications for librarians and instructors interested in strategies to teach information literacy. For instance, the paper includes a review of literature on “archival intelligence” or “primary source literacy” and describes the 2017 Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy.

Socially, the paper includes implications for how to create an inclusive learning experience for students with mechanisms such as a scaffolded assignment, hands-on instruction, imposter syndrome awareness and a no-Google policy.

Given that this is one of the first articles to document how practitioners are incorporating the new 2017 Guidelines, this is sure to be an original and valuable essay.

To discuss the purpose, methodology, and results of the recent Archival Census and Education Needs Survey in the United States (A*CENSUS)

Description of survey conception, purpose, methodology, and the implications of selected results.

The 2004 Archival Census and Education Needs Survey in the United States (A*CENSUS) was the first archival census in the USA since 1982. Funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, it represents unprecedented cooperation and collaboration among over 50 archival organizations and educational institutes throughout the USA. Preliminary findings indicate that the educational preparation of archivists has changed drastically, the profession has feminized, and that archivists are aging, with insufficient numbers of younger archivists to replace them. In spite of these dramatic changes, the archival profession has failed to diversify racially and ethnically.

This early view of the A*CENSUS is intended to stimulate discussion and further analyses of these data. The methodology sets a precedent for inter‐organizational collaboration and will help archivists and allied professionals better understand the profession today as well as the prevailing trends.

This article presents an early report on the A*CENSUS results and discusses potential implications of use of the dataset.

Educating researchers on how to use archival and manuscript materials and repositories is an important component in any records program. This is more important now that increasing amounts of information concerning archives and manuscripts appear daily on the web. Twenty years ago, all use of archives and manuscripts was mediated by reference personnel. This is not true today. However, the archivists' paradigm for educating researchers has not shifted accordingly. Furthermore, archivists do not have the defined basic competencies that might comprise “information literacy for primary sources”.

Archival education has progressed tremendously in the past 30 years. The numbers of archival programs, full‐time tenure track faculty and courses offered have all increased exponentially. Archival science is no longer seen as a sub‐specialization of library science or history and the efforts to legitimize archives as a separate field worthy of in‐depth inquiry at both the Master's and doctoral levels have succeeded. Most recently, however, the convergence of the information disciplines has called the distinctions between related disciplines into question. This poses both challenges and opportunities for archival education. This article places archival education in its historical and professional context, and will then discuss some of the issues relating to convergence and integration in the information professions.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings and implications of the Heritage Health Index.

Description of survey conception, purpose, methodology, and the implications of selected results.

The 2005 Heritage Health Index (HHI) provides a sobering assessment of cultural heritage resources in the United States. A large percentage of the 4.8 billion artifacts in more than 30,000 archives, libraries, museums, historical societies, scientific research institutions and archaeological repositories are in sub‐optimal environmental conditions. At least a quarter are poorly cataloged. The HHI does not propose actions to alter this situation, but the author outlines four suggestions to assist weaker repositories and collections. These are: extend the mentorship model from individuals to organizations; provide greater incentives for collaborations between weaker and stronger institutions; investigate ways to take advantage of cooperative cataloging; and create better benchmarking and self assessment tools.

The article points to the institutions in which collections are most at risk and offers some options for strengthening these organizations which will hopefully result in increased preservation of and access to textual and artifactual collections.

The implications of the Health Heritage Index affect all types of cultural institutions (libraries, archives and museums) and provide a sober assessment of the majority of institutions holding cultural resources in the United States. The report challenges professionals in archives, museums, and libraries to take action to alter this trend.

Over the past decade, a variety of digital imaging projects have been carried out in archives, libraries, and museums. This paper discusses the difficulties in moving from a series of digital projects to a digitization program, and the ensuing transformation in thinking from digital objects to digital assets that needs to occur. It also discusses the problems archives and museums face in managing, preserving, and providing continuing access to these digital assets and potential models for their long‐term management.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Presidential Library System run by the United States National Archives and Records Service and analyze how its history and the legislation surrounding the presidential libraries can create conflicting missions and controversy.

This is a viewpoint focusing on several recent events in the news concerning presidential libraries that highlight their ambiguous position.

The paper finds that presidential libraries and museums are a national resource and sites for learning, teaching and scholarship. However, the full potential of these institutions is often not realized due to insufficient funding and inconsistent legislation both resulting in lack of access to the records. This also leads to misunderstandings and controversies surrounding these institutions.

Access to government records is a hallmark of democracy. Understanding how access to the records of former presidents has been determined provided insight into access to all government records.

The paper provides a context for analyzing current events relating to presidential libraries.