Archiverdict:About

What is this wiki about? What sort of articles are included?
This wiki aims to become a standard, up-to-the-minute reference guide to research archives and their holdings. Typically, such information is exchanged via word-of-mouth, or through fixed and less flexible media, such as printed works or mailing lists. Ideally, the wiki will help to democratize exclusive networks, to sidestep restrictive measures of those who control certain archives, and to help researchers avoid duplicating discoveries.

A typical article contains a variety of practical information about conducting research at a particular archive.

Who edits this wiki?
The community that will edit this wiki is already in existence. Many thousands of historians and other researchers exchange information of this sort on a regular basis. Some contribute to Archives Made Easy,a website that offers details about particular archives in a fixed, non-collaborative format. A staffer of the American Historical Association recently vetted a two-part proposal ( 1 and 2 ) for an archives wiki on the Association's blog:

In the initial stages of construction, editors will be recruited by invitation, targeted advertising, and arm twisting. The rich community of historians' mailing lists hosted by H-Net is a key resource. Recruiting emphasis should be on current graduate students--those currently using archives and most at ease with technology--rather than senior scholars. While the site is in its early stages, a mailing list will link those at the centre of the project. As certain popular pages develop, their own discussion pages will carry more traffic and go their own way.

Ideally, anonymous editing would not be permitted, in order to preserve the integrity of the information posted. Contributors should be encouraged to use their real names, but those who cannot do so--those, for instance, who risk losing access to archives by sharing information about them--may be allowed to use pseudonyms. Perhaps certain archives or countries could be designated anonymous-contribution-enabled zones.

What counts as an archive?
Documentary archives, research libraries, special collections departments, and any other places researchers visit to access unique or rare material.

Naming structure
Because many archives have identical names (there are hundreds of "national archives" thousands of "municipal archives"), the proposed page naming structure is geographical. Pages should be named according to country, city, and name of archive. This structure offers a unique designation for each page, and offers a practical means for researchers to learn which archives are available in a given city.

Use
Most archival researchers have limited experience with or time to learn markup language. For this reason, most basic functions must be made as automatic as possible. Page naming might be particularly problematic, and can best be addressed through the use of templates. Country pages will contain an "add a city" button, and city pages will contain an "add an archive" button.Anecdote is to be avoided. Once they reach a certain size (15 lines?) certain headings can be given their own page. The template for each archive will be simple, consisting of only a few (5?) categories. See this sample. Users will be referred to a more elaborate list (and larger entries) in order to find ideas and conform to format. See this sample complete entry.

Languages
The ultimate aim is to be multilingual (à la Wikipedia), in order to establish momentum the wiki should start with English entries. Eventually, it may make most sense for the page of reference for each archive be in the working language of that archive.

Research tools and ancillary pages
The wiki might host discussions of research-related issues, such as database design, document photography, research networks, projects in progress at certain archives, projects published drawing on certain archives, and so on.