I have a number of thoughts:
- The database used for the demonstration collection is relational, with "MySQL serv[ing] as the persistent data store for the content management system." This raises the known, frequently-discussed problems in this space of shredding XML to match the tabular and columnar structure of a relational database management system (RDBMS). This approach is taken with current, open source tools such as Archon and Archivists Toolkit.
- I wish the article were clearer on the level of archival experience in the "research group" investigating and testing the described, next generation tools.
- As the database manager for an archival database, I can attest to the fact that the designed tools have great potential in online archival collections. Specific example: the commenting tool. Importantly, this commenting tool does not change the description document created by archivists ("keep[ing] the archival voice intact"). But it does support the ability of users outside the archival community to add valuable content in a space outside of the finding aid. I frequently receive e-mail messages from Northwest Digital Archives users, containing questions or comments regarding online finding aids. These documents are searchable via Google and other search engines and search engine access exceeds access through the project's search/retrieval system.
- While nothing like the bookmarking feature has been developed for the Northwest Digital Archives, the project's current development interface contains all durable URLs, enabling archivists and researchers to save, as one example, search results on a given topic as a local bookmark in a web browser (on the client side). The durable URLs also support pass-through searching from external web pages or systems to the NWDA.
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