In 1997 the
Syracuse University Archives started digitizing some of their collections as "virtual exhibits" to enable alumni and researchers to see and experience their exhibits online. Beginning in 2003, the Archives have put online approximately 2 to 3 collections a year. In 2006, an archivist named Edward L. Gavin curated an online exhibit of memorabilia, which Syracuse University named the
Archives Grab Bag.
Collection PrinciplesAccording to the site,
the University Archives mounted the exhibit, Archives Grab Bag, as an exploration into knickknacks and bric-a-brac, chatchkas and curios, held in the collections of the Syracuse University Archives. The main site of the University Archives also conveyed that they were picking and choosing collections to put online as virtual exhibits, but didn't give a clear indication of how they actually chose which ones to digitize or for whom (besides alumni and researchers) these exhibits would potentially benefit.
This particular exhibit expresses the problems with memorabilia in a university archive, including that they might not be truly related to the rest of the collection with which they were accessioned, and that they may go beyond the scope of relating directly to the institution's programs, students, faculty, etc. The curator has divided the memorabilia he has found into the Archive's first ever "grab bag," including WWII materials from the Bigelow and Meyer Papers, Lorimer Rich's collection on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, postcards from the P. O. Place Papers, the American presidency, and artifacts from SU's Hall of Languages.
Object Characteristics
Although this exhibit seems to be broken up into meaningful, logical sections, when you start trying to browse through you notice quite a few problems. For one thing, when you click on one of the subheadings to the left, a javascript popup opens in which all you can do is navigate forward or backward through the images in that subheading. It doesn't tell you how many there are or when you have reached the end, so you can keep clicking the arrows until you finally realize you've seen the same photo before. Some of the images have a one-line descriptive caption underneath (the one to the right is simply labeled "Fifth Avenue, Manhattan – New York, NY") but there is no information about a naming convention, how the items were digitized, etc. These objects show no initiative on the part of the institution to demonstrate longevity and future use, nor to be widely accessible or authenticated in any way, which I inherently find strange in a University Archives.
Metadata
As would be expected from my comments on the object characteristics of images in this collection, there is no metadata to be found on this site. With the exception of the fact that I know they are physically held in the Syracuse University Archives (and they do give me directions there!), I can infer absolutely nothing else about the items from this exhibit...what collection they were initially accessioned with, names, dates, descriptive information beyond the obvious (this one is labeled "Geological Specimens"), etc. There is a link to the Syracuse University Archives Policy, but that doesn't really include any information about copyright, use, or ownership issues, and overall the lack of metadata just makes it look like the Archive doesn't care enough about its collections or its users to give us any identifying or descriptive information.
Intended AudienceThis site has some work to do if it truly does intend to be useful to researchers as they state on their main page. However, their first stated audience, alumni, could surely appreciate this site, if they want to see bric-a-brac from their alma mater. As for other users, I have stated before that I like things like old postcards and trading cards, so I might want to look through their collection a little bit just for fun, but I can't imagine that serious students, scholars, or researchers would find this exhibit useful beyond the fact that it is there, and it makes some mention of physical holdings in the archive. Probably the most ideal intended audience would be students or alumni of Syracuse University that are just interested in artifacts pertaining to their college for light research or entertainment purposes.
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