“Auto-Cataloging Research Materials from the Endangered Archives Programme”
Quibdó from the air, snapshot by Ann Farnsworth-Alvear
Time:
10:30 – 10:40 Intro
10:40 – 11:10 Demonstration
11:10 – 11:45 Activity
11:45 – 11: 50 Machine cataloguing
11:50 – 12:00 Critical perspectives
2:50 – 3:00 Intro
Thank you to many collaborators:
Daniel Varela Corredor, María Fernanda Parra Ramírez, Sergio Mosquera, Cynthia Heider, Andy Janco, Jesse Jonkman, Wilmar Cano, Claudia Leal, Brie Gettleson, Gonzalo Díaz Cañadas, Kelly López Roldán, Doug and Mary Marshall, Yuri Romaña Rivas, Eliecer Angulo Castro, Angélica Agualimpia Copete, Laura Caicedo, Milagros Gonzalez, Javier Hurtado Ibargüen, Ernestina Lemos Rentería, Yurleyda Perea Cuesta, Jhon Leison Rivas Rodríguez, Nallely Taborda Castañeda, Daniel Tubb, Wali Valencia, Yeison Vente.
Where the Chocó is.
Map credit: Instituto Geográfico
Agustín Codazzi (IGAC)
In front of Colombia's National Archive, 2023.
In front of Colombia's National Archive, 2023.
In collaboration with Fundación Muntú Bantú and local young people
Where the energy for came from!
Starting the project...
Image credit: Daniel Varela Corredor, 2021.
Old court cases in a rented basement in Istmina
Organizing...
Image credits: Daniel Varela Corredor, 2021 and María Fernanda Parra Ramírez, 2022.
Angelica Aqualimpia cleaning and organizing files
Digitizing
Image credits: Yeison Vente, 2023.
Cataloguing
Image credits: Ann Farnsworth-Alvear, 2022. (Javier Hurtado, Angelica Aqualimpia, Yurleyda Perea Cuesta, left to right in lower image. Ernestina Lemos Rentería in upper image).
Interpreting, working with..
Metadata supports creative work
by diverse publics: interpreting, engaging in critique, showcasing visual material.
Goal today is to experiment with:
- "good enough" transcription and a static site tool for researchers
- first steps toward a spreadsheet of metadata
- opening a conversation about expanding collaborations with libraries, archives, museums, and communities
...and to save time for discussing:
- Fichero app Daniel is developing
- Critical perspectives on digitization
Mercury amalgamation bucket-line dredge near Andagoya, Chocó in the 1940s , extracting value from local ecosystem,
photograph from a pamphlet published by Forbes, 1945.
If you can get a good transcription and named entities, what else can you do?
Cataloguing at the Case File Level
- We are working with 435 legal cases from the Istmina archive.
- Each is folder of between 6 images and 277 images.
- We want a catalogue of these cases, to guide our research.
1925 Compañía Chocó Pacífico contra Federico W. Leigton, Sebastian Pino y otros por hundimiento de draga
1925 Compañía Chocó Pacífico contra Federico W. Leigton, Sebastian Pino y otros por hundimiento de draga
Using these materials:
1. Original transcription with page numbers
2. Named Entity Recognition data:
- People, organizations and locations
- Dates, legal references and rivers
- Specialized entities (key events, mines, properties, dredges, animals, plants, weapons, injuries)
3. Event timeline
4. Key people and descriptive tags
Create a concise 150-word summary in clear English, suitable for archival description, while providing a coherent overview of the case. Include essential people, places, dates and events. Do not include your own analysis. Do not invent or include details beyond what is explicitly provided in the materials.
Return as JSON exactly in this format:
{
\"summary\": \"[150-word summary in English]\"
}
Beta-testing a new app: Fichero
...and to save time for discussing:
- Fichero app Daniel is developing
- Critical perspectives on digitization
Mercury amalgamation bucket-line dredge near Andagoya, Chocó in the 1940s , extracting value from local ecosystem,
photograph from a pamphlet published by Forbes, 1945.
Thank you!
Please don't hesitate to be in contact
- apjanco@princeton.edu
- dtubb@unb.ca
- farnswor@sas.upenn.edu
- kjlopezr@sas.upenn.edu
London 2025
By Ann Farnsworth-Alvear,
