*Read this announcement online: *
*https://library.stanford.edu/blogs/stanford-libraries-blog/2021/11/announcing-lighting-way-handbook*
<https://library.stanford.edu/blogs/stanford-libraries-blog/2021/11/announcing-lighting-way-handbook>




The Lighting the Way <https://lightingtheway.stanford.edu/> project team is
pleased to announce the publication of *The Lighting the Way Handbook: Case
Studies, Guidelines, and Emergent Futures for Archival Discovery and
Delivery* <https://doi.org/10.25740/gg453cv6438>. It represents the
synthesis of the work of participants in the Lighting the Way Working
Meeting <https://lightingtheway.stanford.edu/working-meeting-spring-2021>,
a practitioner-focused strategic thinking opportunity intended to explore
topics related to archival discovery and delivery. *The Lighting the Way
Handbook* includes case studies on work at specific institutions, chapters
exploring the impact of standards and best practices on archival discovery
and delivery, and descriptions of emergent opportunities that advocate for
new programmatic work, as well as an introduction that contextualizes the
chapters, draws thematic connections between them, and provides concrete
recommendations about how to advance work on archival discovery and
delivery.



Archival discovery and delivery is the phrase used by Lighting the Way to
describe what people, processes, and systems do to support finding,
accessing, and using material from archives and special collections. It is
intended to underscore the complexity and interdependence of the work, and
to take a more expansive view of this work than one focused solely on
archival functions as currently understood or as technical development and
implementation. The Working Meeting focused on collaborative strategic
planning through sessions facilitated using the Liberating Structures
framework, and strategy knotworking, a method for participatory strategic
planning. The chapters included in *The Lighting the Way Handbook *represent
the application of these methods to understanding new approaches to
collaboration and conceptualizing how to support archival discovery and
delivery. *The Lighting the Way Handbook*’s sections and subsequent
chapters are as follows:



*Case Studies*

   - Renee Pappous, Hannah Sistrunk, and Darren Young, “Connecting on
   Principles: Building and Uncovering Relationships through a New Archival
   Discovery System”
   - Stephanie Becker, Anne Kumer, and Naomi Langer, “Access is People: How
   Investing in Digital Collections Labor Improves Archival Discovery &
   Delivery”
   - Martha Anderson, Max Eckard, Melanie Griffin, Emiko Hastings, Deb
   Kulczak, Chris Powell, Olga Virakhovskaya, Caitlin Wells, and Katrina
   Windon, “Facilitating Seamless Access Through Collaborative Workflows,
   Advocacy, and Communication”

*Assessing and Applying Standards and Best Practices*



   - Jodi Allison-Bunnell, Maureen Cresci Callahan, Gretchen Gueguen, John
   Kunze, Krystyna K. Matusiak, and Gregory Wiedeman, “Lost Without Context:
   Representing Relationships between Archival Materials in the Digital
   Environment”
   - Sarah Dorpinghaus, Cory Lampert, Rebecca Pattillo, and Kyna Herzinger,
   “Maximizing Good: An Inquiry-Based Approach to Minimal Description for
   Online Archives”
   - Stefana Breitwieser, Amanda Demeter, Sophie Glidden-Lyon, Amanda
   Murray, Lori Myers-Steele, and Kate Philipson, “Playing to our Strengths:
   Self-Assessment Criteria for Access and Discovery in Small Archives”

*Emergent Opportunities:*



   - Kelli Babcock, Regine Heberlein, Anna Björnsson McCormick, Elizabeth
   Russey Roke, Greta Kuriger Suiter, and Ruth Kitchin Tillman, “The Power of
   Parallel Description: Wikidata and Archival Discovery”
   - Katherine Crowe, Katrina Fenlon, Hannah Frisch, Diana Marsh, and
   Victoria Van Hyning, “Inviting and Honoring User-contributed Content”
   - Faith Charlton, Christa Cleeton, Alison Clemens, Betts Coup, Zoë Hill,
   and Jessica Tai, “A Call to Action: User Experience & Inclusive Description”
   - Elvia Arroyo-Ramírez, Annalise Berdini, Shelly Black, Greg Cram,
   Kathryn Gronsbell, Nick Krabbenhoeft, Kate Lynch, Genevieve Preston, and
   Heather Smedberg, “Speeding Towards Remote Access: Developing Shared
   Recommendations for Virtual Reading Rooms”



Through this process and the work of the project more broadly, the project
team and Working Meeting participants recognized emerging themes related to
the ecosystem of systems supporting archival discovery and delivery; the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on both operations and planning; the
connections to emerging models of resource-sensitive operations; and the
connections and tensions between this work and professional standards and
best practices. The project team’s recommendations to sustain this work
include establishing an investment in understanding collaborative models,
power relations, and organizational positioning of this work; ensuring time
and space for strategic planning and advocating for care-focused methods;
and identifying ways in which to create and sustain communities of
practice. While this requires a considerable investment from practitioners,
the collective experience of participants and facilitators in the project
demonstrate that this is essential to ensure the continued success of this
work.



*The Lighting the Way Handbook* is available through the Stanford Digital
Repository at its DOI (doi:10.25740/gg453cv6438
<https://doi.org/10.25740/gg453cv6438>), and is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/>. The volume will be
supplemented by the final report of the project, to be published in
November 2021.



More information on Lighting the Way can be found on the project website
<https://lightingtheway.stanford.edu/>. If you have any questions or
feedback about *The Lighting the Way Handbook*, please contact the project
team at [log in to unmask], or Mark Matienzo, Project
Director, at [log in to unmask]



*This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and
Library Services, through grant **LG-35-19-0012-19*
<https://imls.gov/grants/awarded/lg-35-19-0012-19-0>*. The IMLS is the
primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums.
To learn more, visit **www.imls.gov* <http://www.imls.gov>*.*





--

*Mark A. MATIENZO <https://library.stanford.edu/people/matienzo> *(they/them)
| *✉* [log in to unmask] | ☎ +1 (650) 683-5769

Assistant Director for Digital Strategy and Access, Stanford Libraries

*I work from the unceded ancestral lands of the Duwamish people in Seattle,
WA*

Schedule a meeting or appointment with me
<https://appointments.library.stanford.edu/appointments/matienzo>