Hanging Out for American Archives Month

October is American Archives month, a time to raise awareness about the value of archives and archivists and to celebrate that work.  One of the ways we are participating this year will be to discuss the work of the Archivist of the United States. As a kickoff to American Archives Month, I invite you to … Continue reading Hanging Out for American Archives Month

You Are What You Search

In early December 2009, Google announced on their blog titled "Personalized Search for Everyone" that they would be using 57 "signals" derived from your previous searching behavior in order to predict the sites you were most likely to choose in your search. Netflix, Yahoo, Facebook, and YouTube, to mention just a few, use similar predictive … Continue reading You Are What You Search

How to be a “Smooth Criminal”

You may think that the National Archives is an unlikely place to learn the secrets of Michael Jackson's dance moves -- but you're wrong! Within Record Group 241, Records of the Patent and Trademark Office, patent 5,255,452 gives us the secrets behind one move in particular -- Michael's "lean" as done in the music video, … Continue reading How to be a “Smooth Criminal”