Digital archiving as information production : Using experts and learners in the design of subject access

Purpose – This article aims to develop a framework that considers digital archiving as a form of networked information production, in which the different stages of producing a digital archive are modularized and distributed across different actors. The framework is applied and developed within the context of designing a digital archive for the electronic artwork Rider Spoke . More specifically the framework is applied and developed within the context of designing a subject scheme that provides its users with consistent yet relevant access to the content of the archive. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 74 postgraduate students from the Information School at the University of Sheffield were invited to tag four videos from the Riders Have Spoken archive as a voluntary exercise. Students were evenly distributed across the four videos and each participant was invited to generate up to ten tags; with each tag or annotation representing a point of interest in the content of the video for viewer. The time was also noted. In total, 46 students completed the exercise and this generated 356 user tags. As a collection these tags and annotations represent the terms and vocabulary on which a subsequent content analysis was conducted and a subject language developed. Findings – The development of a subject scheme for a particular single electronic artwork with seven facets, sub-facets, and illustrative examples is presented. The design of the scheme and its relations to prior work in classification is discussed. Research limitations/implications – Implications of the research for the design of a digital archive and the methods used to construct them are discussed Originality/value – The originality of the article lies in its characterization of digital archiving as a form of networked information production; and the application of the framework to the design of a faceted scheme enabling subject access to the digital archive of an electronic artwork called Rider Spoke .