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Creating Life-Altering Memories “I am honored to work for a company where I get to help our clients preserve historical documents,” says content specialist Marcia Spicer of her work at Anderson Archival.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 […]
Having Trouble Digitizing Your Collection? Meet Your Solution!
What does your historical collection look like? Perhaps you have a box of bound manuscripts you’d like preserved for future generations, or maybe you have a library full of historic publications and loose papers that need organizing before you can even think about what the next steps are. The histories humans choose to save and […]
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 […]
WWII Map Comes Home After 73 Years: Conservation and Digitization of a Soldier’s Legacy
[Above: Anderson Archival’s digitized copy of the map displayed on a monitor with the original conserved map laid out on the table below.] Working with historical documents means that Anderson Archival is privy to many valuable stories. The impact of these tales is often deeply personal as well as bearing a cultural impact. We recently […]
Quotables: 6 Steps to Going Paperless in Light of COVID-19 (CEO Blog Nation)
Founding Principal Amy Anderson’s post in CEO Blog Nation covers the basics of moving to a paperless office. This process can feel confusing or downright overwhelming, especially if you don’t know what your goals are or how to start. Click here to read the full article! Do you have a historical document collection that you’d like to […]
Quotables: 9 Ways Going Digital Can Increase Your Business’s Value (Home Business Mag)
Farica Chang’s post in Home Business Mag outlines the benefits of digitizing a business. Through proper digital preservation techniques, your scanned documents can contain metadata tagging, optical character recognition (OCR), and other tools to make your data easily searchable by anyone in your company. Quick search and reliable digital provenance are a boon to all […]
Quotables: 5 Steps for Organizing Your Paperless Office (Young Upstarts)
Principal Farica Chang’s guest blog for Young Upstarts stresses the importance of planning and security when moving to a paperless office—or starting an archival project. Some questions to help direct your planning stage are the following: What exactly do you want to digitize? Which physical copies will be shredded and what will be preserved? What […]
