1. Processing and Delivering Email Archives
in Special Collections Using MUSE
Personal Digital Archiving 2012
Peter Chan, Digital Archivist

4. RESHAPING THE REPOSITORY: THE
CHALLENGE OF EMAIL ARCHIVING

6. Challenge
• Copyrights / Privacy
– No web delivery? Reading room only?
• Sensitive information
– SS#, student records, etc.
• Description
– No. of emails, recipients, folders, contents?
• Delivering
– Same as original or more?

10. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~enron/

11. Emails in Our Collections
• Robert Creeley – 50,000+
• Richard Fikes – 100,000
• Stephen H. Schneider
• John McCarthy
• Mandelbrot
• Arlene Blum
• Harrison
• ………………………………….

14. Access for Emails converted to
XML
• Build search index
• Build access control
• Merge with existing search and discovery
portal
• Big development effort.

19. Sentiment Analysis

20. Muse Lexicon

21. Revised Lexicon

22. Groups Over Time

24. Attachments

25. Communication Charts

26. Topic of the Month

27. Actual Email

28. Browsing Lens

34. Processing Emails - MUSE
• Edit the pre-built lexicon
– Screen for sensitive information (SS#, student
records, etc.) and mark for restriction.
– Group by known projects, conference, etc.
• Standard MUSE functions
– Group, topics, attachment wall,
communication chart, browsing lens.

37. Delivering Emails - MUSE
• Web
– Summary information
– Sentiment, group, topics, communication links
– Browsing lens (preview only)
• Reading room
– Individual emails
– Attachments
– Browsing lens (link to emails)

38. Use MUSE - Gap
• More sophisticated search
– Pattern search (SS#, credit card#, etc.)
– Full text, thesaurus, misspell, etc.
• Original views (folders)
• Delivery mode for metadata (package for
download or server at Stanford).
• Multiple lexicons
• Foreign languages (long term)

39. Future
• More people to collaborate in the
development.
• More people to use the software.
• Funding 
• Contact me (pchan3@stanford.edu) if you
are interested in any of the above.