RunCoCo has just had an interesting meeting with a Phd student from UCL (‘We think, not I think’: Harnessing collaborative creativity to archival practice; implications of user participation for archival theory and practice [PDF]). Links to draw between ideas we’ve both been considering about how to measure the success of a community archive initiative – the worth or the value to the organisation that led it, to the community, and – primarily from an academic point of view – how do you know you can trust the information contributed by ‘amateurs’? Lots to think about as we consider a toolkit for evaluating and improving community collections and crowdsourcing initiatives.

In passing I mention again that the costing and other strategies and processes behind The Great War Archive are explained in detail in an article in EDUCAUSE Quarterly If You Build It, They Will Scan: Oxford University’s Exploration of Community Collections, written by the project’s managers Dr Stuart Lee and Kate Lindsay.

All comments welcome, as we ponder these issues.

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