Recent Posts

I’m pleased to announce the release of the Fluxx Exporter, an open-source tool that integrates with the grants management system Fluxx for the purposes of automating exports of select elements of grant records. Developed collaboratively by the Rockefeller Archive Center and Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library, with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ford Foundation, the tool is built in Python on the Django web framework and uses the Fluxx API to export data from a configured instance. It can export both structured data that is entered into fields and stored in the database as well as files that are uploaded and attached to the grant record. This tool allows grants administrators, information managers, and archivists to select and export grant information for internal or external uses including for long-term preservation, researcher access, and organizational learning and evaluation.

The Rockefeller Archive Center’s Processing Team is building knowledge for the future of archival processing, specifically related to organizing, describing, and preserving incoming digital records. In 2023, we created the Digital Processing Collaborative (DPC) to help us think about what digital processing will look like at the RAC. The DPC is a working group led by the Processing Team with a mission to prioritize collaborative learning about born-digital records and digital processing activities. The group is responsible for working together to identify learning opportunities, future projects, and institutional goals related to digital processing.

Every Wednesday for the last few months, I took the Metro North from 125th street in Harlem to Tarrytown. It was always the best day of my week. From the train I was able to see the bunches of gold and red leaves as they progressively got brighter and bolder through the changing seasons. When I think of my time at the Rockefeller Archive Center, the first image that pops into my head is that of the morning autumn light streaming through the yellow leaves of an oak tree. The second image is that of the intern’s office, an oasis of quiet and calm—a deep contrast to the bustling city only 45 minutes away.

The International Conference on Digital Preservation (iPRES) held its 20th annual gathering in Ghent, Belgium between September 16 – 20, 2024. This conference gathers digital preservation practitioners from around the world to present and discuss theory and practical applications in our work to ensure the longevity, authenticity, integrity, and accessibility of digital materials.

The National Association for Media Literacy Education held their annual conference remotely this summer. The conference offered a range of useful sessions for K-16 educators, community educators, librarians, and archivists. Our lab school partner, Marina Lombardo-Pisto, and I had the opportunity to present our unit focused on misinformation titled The War of the Worlds, Fake News, and Media Literacy that was developed in 2019.