Welcome to the art of archiving.
The UK government has decided to continue printing and storing its laws on vellum. What? Had no idea that this was still in action. Fascinating and I agree it is, at the very least, a tried and tested archival material. BBC news – Why is the UK still printing its …
A good climatic environment (see environment article) to store your archives is easier to maintain if you start with a suitable building or storage room. Whether a whole building, a shared property or just a room there are a few things that should be considered to ensure some building and …
Keeper of the Mountains – If you get the opportunity to see this short film about Elizabeth Hawley and her expedition archives I would highly recommend it. A no nonsense lady living on the rooftop of the world keeping the mountaineers in check about their exploits perceived or achieved – …
It is refreshing to get out of the archive building on occassion and into the community. What I most enjoy is the act of sharing the knowledge we have as Archivists to enable communities to become better stewards (or kaitiaki – guardians) of their collective memories. It also serves to …
Inadequate storage conditions can undo all your hard work quickly through environmental, building and security issues. Given all the effort that you have put in to getting your archival collection in order ensuring that your archives are protected is imperative. Some of the greatest risks to your archives will come …
Once you have given an accession number to a collection that you are taking into the archive it is time to start processing it. It is around this time that it becomes clear as to how an archive and a library differ significantly in the art of arrangement. If we …
Now that you have selected the material in an intake (deposit) to bring into the archive it is now a good time to provide an accession number. In practice, as I often have not had a chance to appraise the material prior the decision to bring it in to the …
Now you have an Archive Policy which outlines the purpose and collecting policies of the archive, you can appraise any potential material to this framework and decide which will be taken into the archive through the acquisition process. As mentioned previously in “The art of saying no – Acquisition”, in …
Acquistion is the process of accepting archive material into your possession (and therefore stewardship of that material). Remembering that when you accept a donation, transfer, purchase or loan to the archive you are now the steward of its ongoing care and all costs attributed to it. This stewardship endures far …
During my time working with archives I have observed that there are many community groups, businesses and individuals that are increasingly understanding the value of the records they hold. However, the value attributed to these records may be relevant to the groups creating them but may not meet the collecting …