What is the Parallel Archive?
Parallel Archive (PA, www.parallelarchive.org) is a space where scholars can upload, store, study, and share their digitized archival sources. It is designed to facilitate individual scholarly research and publication; cross-border and cross-disciplinary collaboration; and a critical approach to documents.
Why Parallel?
Millions of digitized archival documents collected by scholars in the course of their research currently sit on private desktops. PA is envisioned as an alternative space where scholars can store online and make public their digitized copies of material from archives. In this sense, PA exists in parallel to traditional archives. Moreover, PA provides parallel access to material, cutting across traditional archival description with item-level access to documents, library style search criteria, full-text search, and networking and communication tools.
Who uses PA?
PA is designed primarily for scholars and students in the humanities and social sciences who use archival material in their study, research, and teaching.
What types of documents can be uploaded to PA?
PA is designed to hold digitized archival material from around the world.
Examples include:
• official reports and legal and organizational records
• manuscripts, typescripts, letters, and diaries
• ephemera and gray literature
• photos, prints, sketches and drawings, maps, and plans
• newspaper clippings and annotated publications
The system currently accepts digitized text and image documents but will eventually include moving image and audio works as well. Importantly, PA supports texts and description in multiple languages and alphabets.
PA as a workspace...
Users can:
• upload and store archival documents for easy access
• create virtual collections
• add descriptions and tags
• view and edit text versions, generated using OCR
• annotate pages while reading
• download documents or email citations
• link to original documents in published works
• keep documents private or make them public
PA as a collaborative space...
Users can:
• participate in forum discussions on specific documents or general research issues
• network around documents by adding tags and comments
• find colleagues working on similar research topics
• share documents with fellow researchers
PA as a trusted repository...
PA guarantees the integrity and permanence of uploaded material by attaching a secure digital signature and permanent handle to every public document. PA further ensures the quality of the material and descriptive information provided with a strong curation policy reinforced by the informal peer review of its users. Information provided on the source of each document enables researchers to locate and verify original copies and discover other relevant collections. PA also offers guidance on international archival copyright and data protection practices to educate scholars in the appropriate use of archival materials.
Parallel Archive (PA, www.parallelarchive.org) is a free and open solution developed by the Open Society Archives at Central European University.
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