In the course of my professional life, I've read many books about archives, libraries, and information management issues to keep abreast of the field. I thought I'd share some of my favorite books and reviews with you. Just click on the book title that interests you, and you'll be able to download my review.

Interested in reading more? Check out my books:

Managing Image Collections: A Practical Guide (Chandos Information Professional Series)

By Margot Note

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Project Management for Information Professionals

By Margot Note

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Creating Family Archives: How to Preserve Your Papers and Photographs

By Margot Note

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Review of Academic Archives: Managing the Next Generation of College and University Archives, Records, and Special Collections by Aaron D. Purcell. (Chicago: Neal-Schuman Publishers, an imprint of ALA Publishing, 2012).

Review of Adding Value to Libraries, Archives, and Museums: Harnessing the Force that Drives Your Organization’s Future by Joseph R. Matthews. (Denver: Libraries Unlimited, 2016).

Review of Archival Internships: A Guide for Faculty, Supervisors, and Students by Jeannette A. Bastian and Donna Webber (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2008).

Review of Archives and Archivists in 20th Century England by Elizabeth Shepherd. (London: Ashgate, 2009).

Review of Archives Power: Memory, Accountability, and Social Justice by Randall C. Jimerson. (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2009).

Review of Archives: Principles and Practices by Laura A. Millar (New York: Neal-Schuman, 2010).

Review of Celebrating Research: Rare and Special Collections from the Membership of the Association of Research Libraries. Edited by Philip N. Cronenwett, Kevin Osborn, and Samuel A. Streit. (Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries, 2007).

Review of Collection Development in the Digital Age. Edited by Maggie Fieldhouse and Audrey Marshall. (London: Facet Publishing, 2012).

Review of Community Archives: The Shaping of Memory. Edited by Jeannette A. Bastian and Ben Alexander. (London: Facet, 2009).

Review of Controlling the Past: Documenting Society and Institutions: Essays in Honor of Helen Willa Samuels. Edited by Terry Cook. (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2011).

Review of Creating Leaders: An Examination of Academic and Research Library Leadership Institutes. Edited by Irene M. H. Herold. (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2015).

Review of Cultural Heritage Information: Access and Management. Edited by Ian Ruthven and G. G. Chowdhury. (England: Facet Publishing, 2015).

Review of Digital Consumers: Reshaping the Information Professions. Edited by David Nicholas and Ian Rowlands (London: Facet, 2008).

Review of Digital Curation in the Digital Humanities: Preserving and Promoting Archival and Special Collections by Arjun Sabharwal. (Oxford, UK: Chandos, 2015).

Review of Digital Dialogues and Community 2.0: After Avatars, Trolls and Puppets. Edited by Tara Brabazon. Chandos Publishing Social Media Series. (Oxford, UK: Chandos, 2012).

Review of Digital Images for the Information Professional by Melissa M. Terras (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2008).

Review of Digital Rights Management: The Librarian’s Guide. Edited by Catherine A. Lemmer and Carla P. Wale. (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).

Review of Disaster Management in Archives, Libraries and Museums by Graham Matthews, Yvonne Smith and Gemma Knowles. (London: Ashgate, 2009).

Review of Encoding Space: Shaping Learning Environments that Unlock Human Potential by Brian Mathews and Leigh Ann Soistmann. (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2016).

Review of Engaging Students with Archival and Digital Resources by Justine Cotton and David Sharron. (Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 2011).

Review of The Ethical Archivist by Elena S. Danielson. (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2010).

Review of Film Preservation: Competing Definitions of Value, Use, and Practice by Karen F. Gracy. (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2007).

Review of The Future of Archives and Recordkeeping: A Reader. Edited by Jennie Hill. (London: Facet Publishing, 2011).

Review of Heritage in the Digital Era by Marinos Ioannides, et al. (Essex: Multi-Science Publishing, 2010).

Review of Inequity in the Technopolis: Race, Class, Gender, and the Digital Divide in Austin. Edited by Joseph Straubhaar, et al. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012).

Review of Information 2.0: New Models of Information Production, Distribution and Consumption by Martin de Saulles. (London: Facet, 2012).

Review of Information History—An Introduction: Exploring an Emergent Field by Toni Weller. (Oxford: Chandos, 2008).

Review of Information Literacy Programs in the Digital Age: Educating College and University Students Online. Compiled by Alice Daugherty and Michael F. Russo (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2007).

Review of Information Management: Best Practices – Volume 1. Edited by Bob Boiko and Erik M. Hartman. (Netherlands: Erik Hartman Communicatie, 2010).

Review of Information Technology in Librarianship: New Critical Approaches by Gloria J. Leckie and John Buschman (Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2009).

Review of Leading and Managing Archives and Records Programs: Strategies for Success. Edited by Bruce W. Dearstyne. (London: Facet, 2008).

Review of Library Management 101: A Practical Guide. Edited by Diane L. Velasquez. (Chicago: ALA Editions, 2013).

Review of The Lone Arranger: Succeeding in a Small Repository by Christina Zamon. (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2012).

Review of Managing Congressional Collections by Cynthia Pease Miller. (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2008).

Review of Many Happy Returns: Advocacy and the Development of Archives edited by Larry J. Hackman. (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2011).

Review of M-libraries: Libraries on the Move to Provide Virtual Access. Edited by Gill Needham and Mohamed Ally. (London: Facet, 2008).

Review of Museum Communication and Social Media: The Connected Museum. Edited by Kirsten Drotner and Kim Christian Schrøder (New York: Routledge, 2013).

Review of Museums, Ethics and Cultural Heritage. Edited by Bernice L. Murphy. (New York: Routledge, 2016).

Review of Museums in a Global Context: National Identity, International Understanding. Edited by Jennifer W. Dickey, Samir El Azhar, and Catherine M. Lewis. (Washington, DC: The AAM Press, 2013).

Review of Navigating Legal Issues in Archives by Menzi L. Behrnd-Klodt (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2008).

Review of New Directions for Special Collections: An Anthology of Practice. Edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Beth M. Whittaker. (Denver, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 2017).

Review of Patriotic Information Systems. Edited by Todd Loendorf and G. David Garson. (Hershey, PA: ICI Publishing, 2008).

Review of Performing Digital: Multiple Perspectives on a Living Archive. Edited by David Carlin and Laurene Vaughan. (Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2015).

Review of Preserving Archives & Manuscripts by Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler.(Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2010).

Review of Project Management in Libraries, Archives and Museums: Working with Government and Other External Partners by Julie Carpenter. (Oxford: Chandos, 2011).

Review of Rethinking Information Work: A Career Guide for Librarians and Other Information Professions (second edition) by G. Kim Dority. (Denver: Libraries Unlimited, 2016).

Review of Revisualizing Visual Culture. Edited by Chris Bailey and Hazel Gardiner. Digital Research in the Arts and Humanities. (Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2010).

Review of Social Implications of Data Mining and Information Privacy: Interdisciplinary Frameworks and Solutions. Edited by Ephrem Eyob. (Hershey, PA: ICI Global, 2009).

Review of Special Collections 2.0: New Technologies for Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archival Collections by Beth M.Whittaker & Lynne M. Thomas. (Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2009).

Review of The Special Collections Handbook. Second Edition. By Alison Cullingford. (London: Facet Publishing, 2016).

Review of Strategic Planning for Social Media in Libraries by Sarah K. Steiner. THE TECH SET #15. (London: Facet Publishing, 2012).

Review of Structures of Image Collections: From Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc to Flickr by Howard F. Greisdorf and Brian C. O’Connor (Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008).

Review of Subject Access to a Multilingual Museum Database: A Step-by-Step Approach to the Digitization Process by Allison Siffre Guedalia Kupietzky (Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2007).

Review of Take Your Library Workshops Online! by Anne Grant and Diana Finkle. (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).

Review of Texture: Human Expression in the Age of Communications Overload by Richard H. R. Harper (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010).

Review of The Thread that Binds: Interviews with Private Practice Bookbinders by Pamela Train Leutz (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2009).

Review of Visual Interface Design for Digital Cultural Heritage: A Guide to Rich-Prospect Browsing. Stan Ruecker, Milena Radzikowska, and Stéfan Sinclair. (Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2011).

What's a recent book on archives or libraries that is an essential read? I'd love to hear your suggestions!

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Archives safeguard treasures, including objects like the founding documents of a nation and photographs of defining cultural moments. These holdings inspire a sense of connection to the past, and at the heart of that work are archivists whose expertise brings these collections to life.

The Power of Shared Archival Infrastructure and Consortia Models

No archives is an island. Especially in resource-constrained environments, collaboration through shared infrastructure provides a lifeline. Consortia models turn scarcity into opportunity by spreading costs and expertise across multiple archives. By pooling resources, institutions achieve more than they could alone.

5 Scalable Best Practices for Small or Resource-Constrained Archives

Well-resourced institutions have developed archival best practices, including comprehensive finding aids, climate-controlled storage, and digital preservation systems. For small or resource-constrained archives, these standards can feel out of reach. The danger is that the profession’s ideals may discourage institutions from taking action, leaving records vulnerable. The solution lies in paring down practices and procedures without abandoning principles.

How to Strengthen Your Archives with Limited Resources

Many archives exist within environments of chronic underfunding. Community archives, small historical societies, or lone arrangers may work with little more than donated materials, a handful of volunteers, and minimal budgets.

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Reclaiming the Value of Archivists in the Digital Age

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Slow Archiving: 6 Ways for Archivists to Engage Mindfully

In recent years, the concept of “slow librarianship” has emerged as a thoughtful response to the accelerating pace and pressures placed upon library professionals. Drawing inspiration from the broader slow movement, it emphasizes care, reflection, ethics, and people-centered work over speed and efficiency.

The Rise of Gig and Contract Work in Archives

The archival profession is characterized by dedication to public memory, cultural preservation, and service. However, beneath this noble mission lies a troubling reality: the increasing reliance on gig and contract labor.

The Power of Oral Histories and Embodied Memory in Archives

Written documents have long occupied a privileged position in archives as the most authoritative memory source. However, this excludes vast repositories of knowledge that reside outside the written word, especially within Indigenous communities, where memory is often preserved and transmitted through oral traditions, performance, storytelling, ceremony, and embodied practices.

Rethinking Archival Description Through Decolonial Lenses

Archival description is often treated as a neutral or technical task: summarizing contents, assigning subject headings, and organizing metadata for retrieval. However, description is actually far from neutral. It shapes how users interpret records, which narratives are centered, and whose voices are made visible or erased.

Honoring Cultural Protocols in Archival Practice

As the archival profession reckons with the legacies of colonialism, more institutions and practitioners are turning toward Indigenous and decolonial approaches that reframe traditional archival practice. Central to this shift is recognizing cultural protocols and community-defined rules governing how knowledge is created, shared, accessed, and preserved. Cultural protocols are foundational to ethical, respectful, and reciprocal relationships between archives and Indigenous communities.

Decolonial Approaches to Indigenous Knowledge

In recent decades, Indigenous communities and archivists have challenged the dominant frameworks that have long shaped archival practice. Traditionally, Western archival models have prioritized state authority, institutional control, and the presumption of neutrality. These models often fail to reflect Indigenous worldviews, community needs, or the rights of Indigenous peoples over their records and heritage.

The Ethical Use of Born-Digital Materials in Archives

As archival practice shifts to meet the challenges of the digital age, the ethical use of born-digital materials has become one of the most pressing concerns for archivists. These materials—emails, websites, text messages, digital photographs, spreadsheets, social media posts, and more—are created and stored digitally from their inception.

Agents of Deterioration and Preservation Strategies

The fundamental principles of archival preservation focus on the agents of deterioration, preventive conservation, and essential preservation strategies applied in archival settings.

Tax-Deductible Treasures: The “Difficult Art” of Monetary Appraisal for Archives

The monetary appraisal of archives and manuscripts is a critical yet underexplored intersection of library science and financial valuation. This article addresses the persistent knowledge gap between archival assessment and fiscal valuation and provides an overview of the monetary appraisal process in the United States. It focuses on concluding the fair market value (FMV) of noncash charitable contributions, a process governed by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations and the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). By documenting practices and terminology, the article serves as a resource for archivists navigating the complexities of donor relations and institutional stewardship. It advocates for increased fiscal literacy within the archival profession, suggesting that an integrated understanding of market dynamics and stewardship costs is essential for the care and financial substantiation of collections.

Best Practices for Archival Storage: Materials and Planning Essentials

Proper archival storage is one of the most critical aspects of archival preservation. In addition to housing collections in a dedicated archival storage room, using suitable storage materials and enclosures helps protect archival collections from environmental damage, physical wear, and chemical deterioration.

Balancing Collection- and Item-Level Information in Archival Description

One of the core challenges archivists face is determining the appropriate description level for materials in their collections. From broad collection-level overviews to granular item-level details, descriptive hierarchies play a crucial role in conveying the context and structure of archival materials.

Best Practices in Archival Description

Description is a cornerstone of archival practice, providing the means for users and archivists to understand, access, and interpret materials.

Practical Strategies for Arranging Mixed-Media Archives

Mixed-media archives, which contain physical and digital records, present unique challenges for archival arrangement. These collections require archivists to develop strategies that address the different needs of physical and digital materials while maintaining the collection’s coherence and accessibility.

Arranging Digital Archives: 4 Unique Challenges for Modern Archivists

Digital records have introduced new challenges to traditional archival arrangement practices. While the principles of original order and provenance remain relevant, the nature of digital materials requires archivists to adapt these principles to new formats and technologies.

Original Order and Provenance in Archival Arrangement

Archival arrangement organizes and structures archival materials to ensure efficient management, access, and preservation.

Redaction in Archives

Redaction in archival work—obscuring or removing sensitive information from records—has become a central concern in contemporary archival ethics. As archives increasingly acquire born-digital records and digitize historical collections for online access, archivists must grapple with data privacy, access, transparency, and potential harm.

Data Privacy in Archives

Archives have traditionally focused on preserving historical records, ensuring access, and maintaining the integrity of collections. However, in the digital age, the moral responsibilities of archivists have grown more complex.

Ethical Approaches to Surveillance in Archives

Archives have long been viewed as bastions of memory, preservation, and historical accountability. However, archivists must confront ethical questions in an era of digital surveillance, data harvesting, and global information flows.

Designing for Emotional Engagement in Archives

As archival institutions evolve from custodians of information to facilitators of memory and meaning-making, emotional engagement has become a vital, though often overlooked, dimension of archival design.

Designing Accessible Archives: Rethinking the Reading Room Experience

Archival reading rooms have long been the centerpiece of public access to collections. They are where researchers engage with historical documents, where discovery becomes tangible, and where the institutional identity of an archives is most visibly embodied.

How to Develop User-Centered Archival Discovery Tools with Design Thinking

Archival discovery tools, such as catalogs, finding aids, search interfaces, and digital repositories, are often the first point of contact between users and collections. These tools serve as maps and compasses, guiding users through vast and often complex holdings.

Design Thinking in Archives

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As the archival profession embraces a broader commitment to accessibility and equity, it must consider how design choices affect neurodivergent archives users.

The Role of Transcription in Archival Accessibility

Transcription is a powerful tool in the effort to make archives more accessible. It transforms handwritten, printed, and audiovisual materials into searchable, readable, and usable text, extending the reach of archival collections to users who might otherwise face barriers to access.

Prioritizing Screen Reader Access

As archives increasingly move into the digital realm, ensuring online accessibility has become a fundamental responsibility. For users who are blind, have low vision, or experience cognitive or motor disabilities, screen readers serve as a vital gateway to digital content. These tools translate onscreen text and interface elements into synthesized speech or Braille, allowing users to navigate websites, databases, and catalogs without relying on visual cues. However, for screen readers to function effectively, digital environments must be designed with intentionality and care. In archival settings, this may be overlooked.

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