Disasters can strike unexpectedly, causing significant damage to archival collections and facilities. Whether it is a flood, fire, or another catastrophic event, the aftermath of a disaster requires a strategic response to assess the damage and initiate recovery efforts.
The inherent fragility of archival materials makes them especially vulnerable to damage during disasters. To ensure the safety and preservation of these collections, archives must develop a comprehensive disaster response and recovery plan tailored to their unique needs. A well-crafted plan mitigates risks, safeguards materials, and guides staff in responding to emergencies.
Building a secure archival environment requires a strategic, layered approach. This post outlines five essential elements every archival institution should implement: access control, secure storage, surveillance systems, staff training, and vulnerability assessments.
Preserving archival collections requires more than short-term interventions or reactive measures. Establishing a long-term archival preservation strategy is essential to ensure that materials remain accessible, stable, and intact for future generations.
Photographs are a wonderful asset for archival repositories because of their broad appeal. The range of users for visual materials—including artists, designers, publishers, and producers—is wider than for textual records. Accommodating all these users can be a challenge, especially if they have unreasonable deadlines and expectations.
Archival appraisal determines whether materials have permanent, research value within the context of the institution’s collecting policy and mission. Appraisal activities include examining records to discover their contents, provenance, order and completeness, authenticity and reliability, condition, related preservation costs, and intrinsic value.
The role of archivists has significantly changed with the rise of digitized and born-digital collections.
In the past, we waited at the end of the records lifecycle, acquiring physical records that had reached the end of their everyday use and had transitioned into having enduring historical value. With the advent of digital files, archivists have had to meet the creators of records much sooner in the lifecycle, offering advice on how to maintain digital records that will be sustainable over time.
Archivists have traditionally played a crucial custodial role in protecting and providing access to long-term, historical collections on paper and film, but as the volume and diversity of digital content increases exponentially over the coming decades, digital preservation has become a community effort.
It’s worth exploring the potential benefits that partnerships can bring to archival institutions, especially in terms of digital archives.
For many archival organizations, pursuing partnerships outside their institutions is a practical way to make collections accessible through digitization and digital preservation initiatives. Traversing institutional walls can be an excellent way to learn from the successes and failures of others who have more experience with digital projects, especially if your organization is just getting started with these activities.
It’s worth exploring the potential benefits that partnerships can bring to archival institutions, especially in terms of digital archives.
Changes in an archival project occur frequently and can affect its objectives. For some archival projects, changes are predictable—which allows you to formulate the next actions. If an unanticipated change is significant, seek the advice of the sponsor before taking any action that might alter the project’s direction.
Archival project managers may need to sign contracts with vendors for some project phases or tasks. Reviewing and negotiating contracts is often new territory for archivists, especially for projects which require undertaking new endeavors, developing new skills, and creating unique deliverables.
The type of contract you’re working with will define your budget management behavior. Contracts comprise a statement of work, terms and conditions, deliverables, deadlines, and costs. The three main contract types are: time and materials contracts, cost plus contracts, and fixed price contracts.
