Adopting Digital Preservation for a Legacy of Caring
Technology is so engrained in our everyday lives that it can be hard to imagine a time when the only evidence of one’s ancestry was a single handwritten line in an archive across the country. But before the age of virtual records and digital paper trails, this was the only option for some people hunting […]
Love Letters Over Zoom: Connection in the Time of COVID
The power of human connection is stronger than ever after such a disruptive year. It’s hard to feel close to loved ones when, over the course of a life, people spread out and go in their own directions. Historical collections can show us that those connections are still powerful and tangible even from afar. We […]
Holding History in Our Hands
Creating Life-Altering Memories “I am honored to work for a company where I get to help our clients preserve historical documents,” says content specialist Marcia Spicer of her work at Anderson Archival. “Whether they are the private memories from someone who never imagined their words would survive through the generations or a public collection that […]
What Should I Digitize? 3 Ways to Decide
If you’ve uncovered a box of records or your organization just inherited a building full of community archives, how do you determine what should be digitized first? What can be deprioritized and why? Prioritizing the materials in your collection is no small challenge, especially for non-profits and institutions that value their history and mission. Trying […]
A Cat’s Mark on History from The Hill
What do you do when tragedy befalls a one-of-a-kind document? Accidents are bound to happen, but it’s devastating when they happen to rare materials. Birth certificates and diplomas can be reissued, but unique, antique, or otherwise precious pieces of history don’t always have a simple—or successful—solution when the worst happens. Kelienne “Kelli” M. Miriani-Ripple was […]
3 Ways to Make Your Historical Archive Impactful Today
In leisure time alone, the average human processes at least 34 gigabytes of information daily. On the internet, this looks like their newsfeed, the endless scroll of what friends and acquaintances are doing at any given moment, and the 24-hour news cycle. Even if a user is searching for something specific, they’re bound to be […]
Hunting for History – And the Perfect Digital Archive
For years, the city of Salem, Massachusetts has been collecting, preserving, and slowly digitizing historical records dating back 400 years. Salem, most notable to laypeople as the location of the infamous witch trials, is home to a rich variety of historical organizations. Many of these organizations have digitally shared their own collections, but in October […]
Digitizing the Oldest Black Newspaper in America—One Photograph at a Time
When John H. Murphy founded The Afro-American newspaper in 1892, his goal was to combine three separate church publications into a single-page newsletter. Murphy was both a former slave and a Civil War veteran, and in the Reconstruction era, The Afro-American served to inform and unite his Maryland community. Little did he know, it would […]
“More to Be Told”: Finding the Right Fit for Your Private Collection
It’s finally time! You’ve decided to preserve that collection of historical family artifacts you have boxed up and collecting dust. Maybe they’re a little water-stained or faded from sitting in your basement for a decade, or possibly you’re considering offering your collection to a larger audience once digitized. No matter the size or condition, your […]
Is the Internet Forever? (Not Always!)
There’s a popular argument to think twice before you share on social media, because what is shared cannot be taken back. Once online, it is online forever. While that is more of a precaution than a hard and fast rule, it is often something we believe. But if you’ve ever read something and then tried […]
