Records Go Visual: Digitizing, Exhibiting, and Contextualizing Archives from the House of Representatives

Published paper: Records go visual: Digitizing, exhibiting, and contextualizing archives from the House of Representatives

In 2015 the Office of Art and Archives focused on adding more art and archival content to the History, Art & Archives website (http://history.house.gov/). The website is a collaborative effort: curators and archivists in the Office of Art and Archives and Office of the Historian staff work on and contribute content. The Office of Art and Archives created a digital mission statement and produced two new major Web resources, one of which focused on archival records, called Records Search. This paper discusses the preparation and integration of Records Search within the House History, Art & Archives website. It presents findings from both the archivist and digital content specialist about their work process, choices made, and lessons learned throughout the project. It showcases specific technological, visual, and content choices the creators made not only to digitize but also exhibit and contextualize House Records.

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