Hello. I'm an anthropologist and documentary filmmaker who recently
got drafted to be an archivist. Having no experience with running an
archive, but lots of experience with WordPress, I was very happy to
learn about Scriblio. I've successfully installed Scriblio on my site,
but I'm unable to figure out how to get started using it. Since I
imagine I'm going to need a lot of help along the way, allow me take a
little time to describe the project and how I imagine Scriblio fitting
in with that project.

For the past four years I've been working on a film about India's
Denotified and Nomadic Tribes (DNTs):

http://hoochandhamlet.com

A short film (15min) we made early on is available on Google Video via
a link from this page, which also has a study guide:

http://der.org/films/acting-like-a-thief.html

In working on the film we've been closely affiliated with an Indian
NGO, the Bhasha Research and Publication Center, who works on behalf
of DNTs:

http://www.bhasharesearch.org.in/Site.html

They have an extensive archive of materials relating to the entire
history of the DNT Rights Movement which started back in the 1990s.
This includes correspondences, reports, legal documents, etc. much of
it is already in digital form. I've uploaded some sample documents to
a Box.net archive:

http://www.box.net/shared/l7kz743eby

I've agreed to help Bhasha create, host, and maintain a freely
available digital archive of this material. That's where Scriblio
comes in.

I've created a Scriblio install here:

http://kerim.joyeurs.com/dntarchive/browse

As it is just a test install it is password protected:
Username=dntarchive Password=budhan

But now what? I don't understand how to create records, or facets, or
anything of the sort. None of the documentation seems to explain these
basic steps. I even tried running the walkthrough, but got stuck at
importing MARC records because I didn't know how to create a proper
prefix and I was presented with a series of errors when importing.
I've not continued with the import because I'd rather work with my own
data, if I can only figure out how to do so.

Like I said, I'm not an archivist, so perhaps there are some things
obvious to archivists which are not to a novice like myself. I would
very much appreciate any help I can get.

Thanks!

kerim
____________________________________
P. Kerim Friedman, Ph.D.
Department of Indigenous Cultures
College of Indigenous Studies
National DongHwa University, TAIWAN
Tel: +886-3-863-5795
http://kerim.oxus.net/
____________________________________