This study explores the international collaboration efforts of archivists and records managers starting with the hypothesis that Internet technologies have had a significant impact on both national and international communication for this previously conservative group. The use and importance of mailing lists for this purpose is studied in detail. A quantitative analysis looks globally at the numbers of lists in these fields and the numbers of subscribers. A qualitative analysis of list content is also described. The study finds that archivists and records managers have now created more than 140 mailing lists related to their profession and have been contributing to these lists actively. It also ‘estimates’ that about half of the profession follows a list relating to their work and that archivists seem to like lists more than records managers do. The study concludes that mailing lists can be seen as a virtual college binding these groups together to develop the field.
[2] J. C. R. Licklider and R. W. Taylor, The computer as a communication device , Science and Technology (April, 1968). Reprinted in: In Memoriam: J. C. R. Licklider 1915–1990 (Digital Systems Research Center, Palo Alto, 1990). Available at: http://memex.org/licklider.html (accessed 26 October 2003).
3.
[3] EAD is developed mainly by the Library of Congress and more information about it can be found at http://www.loc.gov/ead/. For a study relating to its use in other countries see M. Sweet, The internationalisation of EAD (Encoded Archival Description) , Journal of the Society of Archivists22(1) (2001) 33–38 .
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[4] S. Kinsey, Putting images on the World Wide Web: a guide for business archivists , Business Archives; Principles and Practice75 (May 1998) 1 .
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[5] P. Horsman, Archives crossing the borders . In: P. Cadell and F. Dalemans (eds), Archives et Bibliothèques de Belgique = Archief en Bibliotheekvezen in Belgie, Special-Edition on International Council on Archives – European Summit on Archives, Bern, Switzerland, 14–16 May 1998 69 (1–4) (1998), 75–83 .
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[6] T. H. Peterson, The Internet and the archives , Atlanti8 (1998), 17 and 20 .
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[7] A. Balough, Electronic media: state of the disk , Records and Information Retrieval Report14(2) (1998), 3 .
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[8] B. Haspel, Computer revolution and its impact on the archival world ; Atlanti8 (1998), 34–36 .
9.
G. Slater, Networking for cooperation: the experience of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland , Journal of the Society of Archivists22(1) (2001) 5–16 .
[12] R. Hauben and M. Hauben, Netizens: An Anthology. ( IEEE Computer Science Press, Los Alamitos , 1997). Available at: www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/ (accessed 26 October 2003).
[15] R. Cox, Do we understand information in the information age? Records and Information Report14(3) (1998), 8 .
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[16] T. Anderson and H. Kanuka, On-line forums: new platforms for professional development and group collaboration , Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication3(3) (1997). Available at: www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol3/issue3/anderson.html (accessed 26 October 2003).
[18] R. Savolainen, ‘Living encyclopedia’ or idle talk? Seeking and providing consumer information in an Internet newsgroup , Library and Information Science Research (23) (2001), 67–90 .
[20] The total number of lists on the web site is more than 200. The figure quoted here (141) represents the part which relates to archives and records management and thus excludes the lists that relate only to museums or to Turkish history.
21.
[21] On ArchiMac: (www.archimac.org/ArchiMac/index.spml) separate mail accounts are opened for each list. These accounts are subscribed to the lists in question individually. Thus a copy of each message sent to the lists is obtained. Subsequently, these messages are transferred to the echo conference areas of the BBS using some special software designed for this purpose and then they are transferred to the web interface of the BBS by another utility. However, due to legislation passed in Turkey in 2002, which holds the web administrator responsible for anything that is broadcast on the web, this part of the system is now closed to the public and is accessible only by the systems operator.
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[22] The chain of events that gave way to this discussion started with some research, carried out in the laboratories of a tobacco company, that found that smoking was harmful to human health. The company had hidden this finding from the public. A law firm, of whom the tobacco company was a customer, was aware of this finding. An employee of the law firm, who was fired for some reason, anonymously sent copies of certain documents related to this finding to some newspapers and to a university professor who was carrying out research on this topic. The whole thing was widely discussed in the papers and in public for quite a long time during that period. However the real chain of events that caused the big discussion on the mailing list started after the death of the university professor, to whom copies of the same documents had been sent. The professor’s family donated all of his papers to the university library. And the library, realizing the popularity of the subject, published these documents on the Internet. Some of the archivists joining the discussion asserted that this action was normal and that archivists were expected to protect the public’s right to be informed, while another group challenged that position on the grounds that the documents in question were obtained by illegal means and archivists are in no position to support illegitimate actions. Yet another group maintained that the documents were already published in the press in detail and that there was no problem in publishing them over the Internet again. Hence the discussion went on for months.
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[23] K. Anderson, Distance Education: Facilitating Student Communication , Workshop presentation given at the European Conference for Archival Educators and Trainers: Reading the Vital Signs: Archival Training and Education in the 21st Century, Marburg, September 24 and 25, 2001, International Council on Archives, Section for Archival Education and Training. Available at: www.ica-sae.org/mrconfpaper2.ppt (accessed 26 October 2003).
