LIS Student Reflection: Madison Cissell, Indiana University

By Madison Cissell | June 27, 2024
Tags: student reflection

MLS Student Madison Cissell answers a series of questions on the collection she built for the LIS Student program and the program overall. Madison was one of the participants in the 2024 LIS Student Program.

LIS Student Program Spotlight: Madison Cissell

My team got our bearings with CollectionBuilder by first creating a family archive collection. We collaborated on a shared spreadsheet/CSV, where we each submitted five or more items that highlighted our respective family histories. The archive was mainly comprised of family photographs, but some of us also shared important family documents like telegrams, artifacts from memorial services, and a page from a ledger book. We decided to use the site as a demo, and therefore chose to keep these simple, but we did practice customizations that we later developed in our individual projects.

Once we had uploaded our objects and the CSV, our site was essentially complete. At first glance, it was interesting to navigate a space where our family photos, videos, and documents were stored in a shared space. At first this could maybe come across as chaotic or confusing, as the thumbnail images found on the Browse page are not organized to be separated by each contributor, but I felt that this gave a cool effect that highlighted the true incorporation and mixture of our family histories into one space.

In the future, maybe we could incorporate additional context into the site, so we can explain the LIS cohort to students. I imagine that we would provide this background in addition to our thoughts behind the original intention to use this project as a playground. It could provide further information and emotional connection to include a short entry from each team member about why we chose our respective objects, what we found interesting/compelling when we browsed the collection and saw our family archives in such close proximity to near strangers’, in this case the family archives of fellow LIS students originating from different parts of the U.S.

As the LIS Student Program came to a close, I was also beginning an independent CollectionBuilder project to supplement a semester-long class assignment. I was enrolled in a Library/Information Science class titled “Comic Books and Their Readers” and for our final assignment we had to produce a research paper that analyzed some aspects of comic books or fandom. I elected to write a blog-style essay based on my exploration of the underground comic series _Tits & Clits. _I also incorporated a qualitative coding analysis of the Instagram page horses_and_memories. Once I thought about the organization of the essay, and how it would be beneficial for readers to reference the collections I referenced throughout the essay, I realized that CollectionBuilder was a fitting platform for the project. With the help of Evan and Olivia, I created a site that hosted my essay and digital copies of my materials. If I hadn’t had the exposure to the program throughout the semester, I’m not sure I would have ever considered adapting my essay into a CollectionBuilder site.

2. What were some of the benefits and/or successes of using CollectionBuilder for your project(s)? What were some of the limitations or drawbacks?

CollectionBuilder’s biggest strength, in my opinion, is its ability to combine multiple features and visualizations into a singular location. This has allowed me to create a space where I can host my content, but also a space where I can analyze it and present visual aides to the users. Although they may seem insignificant at first glance, the built-in features, like the timeline, map, and subject visualizations provide additional data to the site’s users. It was particularly neat to look at the map featured on my group’s family archive site and see all the different locations, on a global and national level, and how each pin-drop had a direct influence on my team’s physical existence!

I appreciate that the timeline feature categorizes the materials into a chronological order that can provide information on the time range that the collection is focused on. This feature can also show the distribution of materials throughout the years, and users can get a sense for the makeup of the collection without having to search through individual records or the whole metadata record. As a librarian and researcher, the subject page visualization may be my favorite. I am used to including subject headings in my metadata entries, but this feature allows users to select a specific subject, let’s say “wedding”, and all objects tagged with the subject “wedding” will appear. This is extremely helpful as users narrow down the collection to their specific interests.

3. What were some of the challenges you faced while using CollectionBuilder? How did you navigate these challenges?

Creating small images and thumbnail images to be displayed for objects in the “Browse” page was new for me, but I’m so glad we learned about it! In my experience with CollectionBuilder before the course, I was always disappointed by how the jpg images in my collection would populate as thumbnail images for the objects, but the pdfs would not. I have repeatedly made errors in the commands to create thumbnail images for all objects, and have needed instruction several times, but feel like I am at least working towards comfortability with this feature.

I wouldn’t say it was a challenge, but the LIS student program provided me with my first experience of working as a team on the same project. The transition from an independent to group project proved to be seamless, but it was a slight adjustment from how I had oriented my independent project. The biggest takeaway I noticed from this adjustment is the importance of communication. Thankfully Git allows for multiple authors to work simultaneously, but I realized that as I made changes to the site, it was still common courtesy to communicate these changes to the group.

I was excited to start the long essay CollectionBuilder site that I am currently working on in a large part because I knew it would be challenging. Although I still make silly errors all the time when creating and editing CollectionBuilder sites based on the GitHub Pages and CSV template, I felt like I had gained comfort with the general process. Creating an essay format site became a whole new playing field. In my previous experience, I had only copied templates, so even the process of copying existing code and implementing it into my new repository provided me with new learning opportunities.

I would not identify as someone who is tech savvy, so I have encountered quite a fair deal of challenges in all my CollectionBuilder escapades. However, I have found the problem-solving environment to be a refreshing change of pace from the type of problem solving I usually encounter as a student in the humanities. I feel curiosity and excitement when I go into the code to manipulate (and typically break) things. If things don’t go how I expected, I usually spend a good deal of time trying to figure out the solution on my own. Once I feel like I’ve exhausted all the possible solutions I could think of (or find on the internet), I reach out to someone who knows. Thankfully, I have felt comfortable enough as a student to ask questions whenever I needed assistance, and I think this is due to the CollectionBuilder team being so approachable and eager to teach.

4. What advice do you have for others wanting to use CollectionBuilder?

Don’t be scared to try something new! I think that a lot of times, going into a new technical environment can seem daunting. This has been my experience as a library science and humanities student; I almost felt like pursuing digital projects wasn’t for me because I didn’t have a technical background to begin with. However, another strength of CollectionBuilder is its use as a pedagogical tool. I feel confident that if I can learn how to maneuver around and manipulate the templates, almost anyone can. Part of the process is messing up and breaking things, but this is the best way to truly learn the framework. In my experience, someone has always been able to find where I messed up and point me in the right direction. But a good deal of the time, I was able to find my own mistakes and correct them with my newfound knowledge. This process of learning, discovery, and hands-on building with a tangible product at the end is exciting to me, and I would hope that anyone who begins using CollectionBuilder will feel the same rush of creative energy.

5. Do you have any future CollectionBuilder projects that you are planning to do? If so, please describe them.

I am currently still developing the comic books site I previously mentioned. Evan Williamson graciously provided me with a template for the CollectionBuilder long essay format, and I am still tinkering around with modifying the site.

Additionally, as part of my capstone project as a student in the Digital Humanities specialization at IU, I plan on creating a CollectionBuilder site. The project itself is still in the early stages of development, but I know that the site will be related to birth work, birth stories, and their archiving. One of the things I most admire about CollectionBuilder is its ability to make archival materials accessible to the public (or anyone who has the link) to the site. This, matched with its usability as someone with minimal technical experience, makes it ideal for a project focused on the preservation and elevation of stories that are typically erased, forgotten, or neglected. My hope is that my capstone project will cultivate a conversation about community archiving and the ethical considerations digital archivists undertake when offering their services to materials and people that have been intentionally abused by historical institutional archiving practices.

6. Do you see yourself using CollectionBuilder in your future career? If so, how would you implement it in your work?

I would love to use CollectionBuilder in my future career. I currently plan on pursuing some form of academic librarianship or archiving once I have completed my degrees, and CollectionBuilder fits into these fields perfectly. If I can continue working with community archives, I think CollectionBuilder would prove to be a helpful tool that could bridge the gap between community members and their preservation wishes. This way, the community could continue to own the physical and digital copies of their materials while still implementing an archiving methodology. Similarly, many academic librarians are incorporated into pedagogical settings through the university they work for. I could easily see myself and other librarians introducing classrooms to CollectionBuilder as a pedagogical tool for digital project creation, metadata instruction, and digital preservation.

I was especially grateful to meet so many intelligent, passionate, and promising fellow LIS students as part of the student program. It was especially gratifying to watch my peers present their final work, as their ingenuity and creativity highlighted even more features that I want to bring into my future repositories! I also feel lucky to have been in an environment where I learned the whole CollectionBuilder process directly from the creators of the framework. The CollectionBuilder team was palpably excited to host the program, introduce us to new concepts, and guide us as we created our own projects. It was an extremely encouraging and positive environment, and I think this was unanimously appreciated amongst the students, and I cherish this unique experience to learn more about digital collections from professionals in the field.