Progress Report No.1

Anna Sexton

18 December 2001

 

Office Set-up

Two new computers and a printer have been installed in the office shared by GY and AS. The computers have been configured to allow GY and AS to share files, and the XML editor XmetaL has been installed on both machines.

Development of a project bibliography

The compilation of a background reading list for the project is well underway. So far, the list contains 97 items and concentrates on sources relating to user needs and search and retrieval behaviour. The sources have been gathered from Archives, Humanities Computing, Information Science and Library literature.

The bibliography is currently in the form of a list compiled in WORD. However, after a period of evaluation, Reference Manager has been chosen as the most suitable bibliographic management tool, and the data transfer will be carried out in January 2002.

Sources relating to the more technical aspects of the project (XML, EAD, TEI etc) are also beginning to be located and listed.

All the sources on the list have been read by at least one member of the project team.

User needs survey

Consultation with users is a vital component of the project. Before the toolset can be built and tested, the staff will carry out a user needs analysis which will directly inform the decision making process.

So far, work towards the user needs survey has focused on the development of a paper which seeks to:

1. categorise the users and their needs;
2. provide a basis for identifying representative users who can be consulted about their actual or potential requirements when using on-line finding-aids and representations of original paper records;
3. investigate modes of user behaviour and methodologies;
4. identify preliminary questions relating to user needs for discussion among the project team and by members of the Management Committee, and ultimately with potential users; and thus
5. provide a basis for matching the design of an interface based on the TEI and the EAD to the needs of potential users

Choosing the test-bed material

GY has had an initial meeting with Gill Furlong (Archivist and Head of Section, Manuscripts and Rare Books, Library Services, University College London) regarding the use of the George Orwell Archive as one of the test bed collections for the project. The meeting provided GY with an understanding of the various types of records held within the collection and the broad issues that need to be considered when choosing sample material for the project.

Staff training

AS attended a day-school entitled "A Tangled Web?" organised by the Society of Archivists' EAD/Data Exchange Group.

AS and GY attended a workshop entitled "designing Flexible Digital Representations of Historical Source Materials" organised by the History Data Service at the University of Essex.

Philip Ward (a contracted trainer) came to UCL to give two days training on XML. The course was attended by SH, GY and AS.

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