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.
Follow the Principle of “Good Enough”
“Good enough” means adapting professional standards to context. For example, instead of striving for full compliance with ISO preservation standards, staff may focus on simple environmental monitoring and stable storage conditions.
Rather than investing in a full-scale digital preservation system, an archive might rely on routine file backups to multiple drives and cloud storage. While less sophisticated, this approach still protects digital assets and fulfills the core intent of preservation standards within available means. Meeting the spirit of best practices matters more than reproducing every technical detail.
When processing backlogs, scalability is essential. Describing collections at the series or box level rather than the item level creates faster access. Researchers can still request and use the material, while staff refine descriptions over time as resources allow. Documenting what has been processed and what remains unfinished manages expectations. Scaling down processing makes more material usable in a shorter time.
Take Simplified Measures
Preservation can often involve affordable interventions. Measures such as stable shelving, acid-free boxes, pest monitoring, and keeping materials off the floor go a long way in ensuring the preservation of materials. For audiovisual or digital content, prioritizing formats most at risk and creating a basic migration plan provides a manageable approach. The goal is to achieve reasonable risk reduction, given the available resources.
Digital preservation poses unique challenges for underfunded institutions. However, scaled-down approaches exist. Open-source repository platforms, external hard drives with regular backups, or partnerships with larger institutions provide practical solutions. Even small steps, such as organizing files with consistent naming conventions or documenting metadata in spreadsheets, improve digital stewardship. Incremental progress is preferable to inaction.
Scaling down must be approached ethically. Archivists should avoid creating false impressions of comprehensiveness or permanence when resources are insufficient to support them. Communication with donors and users about what the archives can guarantee builds trust. Honesty ensures that scaled practices remain aligned with professional integrity.
Seek and Offer Community Support
Archivists in resource-constrained settings can depend on professional associations, listservs, and webinars to provide free or low-cost guidance. Many larger institutions share templates, toolkits, or training materials with one another. By engaging with the professional community, small archives benefit from collective knowledge that helps translate best practices into achievable goals.
Collaboration becomes a powerful strategy for archives with limited resources. Partnering with local libraries, museums, or historical societies can provide shared storage, digitization equipment, or expertise that no single institution could afford on its own. Even informal agreements, such as exchanging pest-management advice or loaning supplies, create networks of mutual support that strengthen regional preservation efforts.
Amplify Capacity, Ensure Sustainability, Demonstrate Accountability
Training volunteers or community members also amplifies capacity. While volunteers cannot replace professional archivists, they can handle routine tasks under supervision, such as rehousing materials, scanning documents, or transcribing text. This approach increases productivity and engages the community in stewardship, fostering a sense of ownership and advocacy for the archives.
Documentation further ensures sustainability. By recording procedures and workflows, archives create institutional memory that outlasts staff turnover. Simple manuals or checklists help reduce the risk of knowledge loss and enable new workers to maintain continuity. These records also demonstrate accountability to funders or stakeholders, showing that even modest programs operate with intention and care.
Focus on Principles, not Perfection
Scaling down best practices enables archives with limited resources to act without paralysis. By focusing on principles rather than perfection and prioritizing the most urgent needs, archivists safeguard collections and ensure continued access. Adaptation ensures that even when resources are scarce, professional standards remain relevant and achievable.
The blog was originally published on Lucidea's blog.
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