MARA Blog
MARA Blog
Students in the MARA program and those interested in archives and preservation, electronic records management, information governance, and related fields are highly encouraged to visit this blog often. Managed by MARA Program Coordinator Darra Hofman and written by a current MARA student, this blog will keep you current with the MARA community and what’s happening in the profession.
JSTOR Helps Expose History
How a New Database is Preserving History by Making Full Interviews Available for Viewing
Published: August 8, 2019 by Kenna Wulker
JSTOR, commonly used by the academic community, is a database storing academic papers and primary sources. They have recently introduced a new prototype database, Interview Archive, which posts full length, uncut interviews from some of the world’s most influential people.
Photo Archive Sold to the Highest Bidder
Where a 4 Million Item Archive Collection Will End Up
Published: July 29, 2019 by Kenna Wulker
Get to Know Your MARA Student Assistant
Published: July 19, 2019 by Kenna Wulker
Hi everyone! My name is McKenna Wulker; I usually go by Kenna, and I’m MARA’s current student assistant. Right now, I’m half way through my MARA program and intend to graduate in December of 2020. It’s coming up quick!
National Treasure at the National Archives?
Published: July 12, 2019 by Kenna Wulker
We’ve all seen it: Nicholas Cage slyly stealing the Declaration of Independence to find hidden treasure map clues while in a twisted Robin Hood-type act, protecting the Declaration from falling into the hands of the rebel treasure hunters. While National Treasure presents a dramatic and over-exaggerated representation of a theft of great proportions, thefts similar can and have occurred, even with some of America’s most precious and prized documents.
Google’s Coldest Storage Service
Published: July 26, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
Among a flurry of storage-related announcements at this year’s Google Cloud Next conference is what Google calls “ice cold storage.”
Australia National Archives is at Risk
Published: July 19, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
Nearly 200,000 hours of recordings containing Australia’s memory are at risk under a looming six-year deadline to save the National Archives’ vulnerable files, its director-general says.
Around the Web: Myspace and the Internet Archive
Published: July 12, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
What happens when Myspace lost millions of audio files for users? Was it right for users to think that Myspace would keeper their files like a digital archive?
Fourth of July in the National Archives
Published: July 3, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
The National Archives celebrates the 242nd anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence with special events in Washington, DC, and at Presidential Libraries nationwide.
Archives Awareness: Charlie Chaplin Archive
Published: June 28, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
If you are a fan of Charlie Chaplin and the silent film era, there is a fascinating online site for both serious researches or regular fans of the film master’s work.
Around the Web: Preservation Standards for the Digital Age
Published: June 21, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
The expansion of standards in a digital era — and the need for interoperability between them — was the topic of a NAB 2019 Birds of a Feather discussion including representatives from five different groups involved with creating and redefining relevant standards: ASC, ETC, MESA, MovieLabs and CineCert.
Around the Web: Cybersecurity and Malware
Published: June 14, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
Researchers in Israel say they have developed a malware to draw attention to serious security weaknesses in critical medical imaging equipment used for diagnosing conditions and the networks that transmit those images — vulnerabilities that could have potentially life-altering consequences if unaddressed.
Disc-Free Gaming is a nightmare
Published: June 7, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
On May 7th, Microsoft is launching the new Xbox One S, which boasts “Disc-free gaming,” a feature that has already raised issues about ownership and access for players.
Archives Awareness: Learning Game Initiative Research Archive
Published: May 31, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
The Learning Games Initiative was designed around the concept of “preservation through use” and makes the constantly expanding collection of computer games, systems, peripherals, memorabilia, scholarship, and a plethora of other game-related materials accessible to researchers all over the world and of all ages.
End of Spring Semester
Published: May 24, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
Now that spring semester is over and summer is right around the corner, I’m here to let you know what you need to do to prepare for the end of the semester.
Around the Web: Where will the Iron Throne end up?
Published: May 17, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
The question for the past 8 season has been who will end up on the Iron Throne? Here’s a non-spoiler (PROMISE THIS IS NON-SPOILER) alert of who will end up on the throne for the series finale! ;-)
Archives in Context Podcast
Published: May 9, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
Podcasts are having a moment. They have been having “a moment” for awhile now but due to a class I recently took, I’ve been looking at podcasts in a different light lately. I enjoy a plethora of podcasts from skincare to crime but now I’ve been interested in the new podcast Archives in Context.
Archives Awareness: Digital Archive of the Shoshone Nation
Published: April 29, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
Digital archives are becoming popular in this instantaneous and constant communication world. Who wouldn’t want access to an archive digitally if you cannot make it to the physical location? The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation has announced that Utah State University will help to convert and catalog the tribe’s historical documents into a public online archive.
In the News: Notre-Dame
Published: April 19, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
It is a tragedy that was seen all around the world, flames leaping from the top of Notre-Dame Cathedral on the evening of Monday April 15. The Paris fire brigade chaplain, Jean-Marc Fournier, had one thing in mind as he tried to fight the fire - rescue the two most sacred relics.
#Spotlight Series: Vida Barone and ARMA Live! Conference
Published: April 12, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
Are you interested in attending an ARMA conference? MARA student Vida Barone had the opportunity to attend and she is sharing her experience with us.
20th Century Fox Oral History
Published: April 5, 2019 by Katie Kuryla
I recently finished my oral history class and while I thought I was just taking this class for the credit, it ended up opening my eyes to the world of Oral History. And just in time too because as March 20, 2019, Walt Disney Co. acquired Twentieth Century Fox, FX, Fox Searchlight, and NatGeo. This marks the final drumbeat for the historic 20th Century Fox, which was one of Hollywood’s six major studios.