The Preservations and Archiving Special Interest Group (PASIG) is holding its annual meeting this week at the El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City. This is the first time this international event has been held in Central America, and it …
Start Your Museum CMS Selection Process with a Needs Assessment
Museums and cultural institutions use a database system better known as a collections management system (CMS) to help care for their collection of archives, historical objects, and artifacts. Galleries, museums and even libraries use a museum CMS to track and …
Found in the Garcia Archives: Inspiration from a Notable Civil Rights Leader
In 2016, History Associates began working with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi to process and digitize a unique archival collection from Dr. Hector P. Garcia — a prominent champion of civil rights for veterans and Mexican-Americans in the late 20th century. …
A Day in the Life of an Archivist: Processing the Garcia Papers
More Product, Less Process – Interview with Erica Williams, Archivist and Records Manager What is your role at History Associates? I’ve been an archivist at History Associates for 11 years now. It was my first job out of grad school. …
Stories from the Archives: The Personal Papers of Dr. Hector P. Garcia
In 1949, a single act of discrimination galvanized the Mexican-American civil rights movement. The widow of an American serviceman killed in action was denied use of a chapel for funeral services because her husband, Felix Z. Longoria, was Hispanic. First-hand …
Unsung Treasures of the National Park Service
August 25, 2016 marks the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service. NPS is best known for its stewardship of America’s natural wonders, but its mission includes the preservation of places with cultural and historical significance as well. What many …
What’s Your Legacy? The Enduring Value of an Archive
Upon winning a championship or leaving office, sports figures and politicians are often asked to speculate about their legacy. Although leaving a legacy is something one may aspire to, it is really only something we see in retrospect. Such reflection …
How One Company Reduced Off-Site Records Storage Costs
Storing inactive records in an off-site facility can save space and costs, but these records, like active ones stored in your office, still need to be managed according to a retention schedule and destroyed appropriately. If such actions are not …
Preventing Data Loss: Steps Toward Long-Term Digital Preservation
Will you be able to access your important digital documents twenty years from now? Data from NASA’s Viking missions to Mars in the 1970s was nearly lost to history. It was stored on magnetic tape that began to dry out …
Recommended Resources for Assessing and Selecting Collections Management Software (CMS)
Evaluating and selecting the right collections management software for your organization is a critical first step in the process and one that should not be taken lightly. As collections management consultants, we frequently collaborate with clients and software developers to …
Assessing Senator Byrd’s Digital Files – Early Results
Arranging and preserving digital materials has been an ongoing challenge for repositories that hold the collections of U.S. senators and representatives. Our digital archives team recently joined forces with the Byrd Center for Legislative Studies (Byrd CLS) to conduct a …
Long-term Digital Storage: Simple Steps to Get Started
Preserving digital files for long-term access is a difficult issue for many organizations; the files can quickly become inaccessible due to media and hardware obsolescence and they are subject to degradation. With the sheer volume of digital information produced on …