Three Tips for Keeping Zines Pristine

Reading a zine

by Andrea Glazer It’s hard to imagine modern life without our digital communities. Before the days of blogs, Instagram accounts, and podcasts about every subject imaginable, it was harder to find communities for specific topics people loved and wanted to talk about. In the time before the internet’s omnipresence, niche groups had to carve out […]

Five Crucial Mistakes Archives Make with OCR

finding a search result

by Marcia Spicer One thing almost every digitization client has in common is a desire to share their collection. That’s great, and it’s a goal digitization works toward almost naturally. But someone has to think about the how. Yes, we want to share, facilitate research, create opportunities for spontaneous discovery of the collection… but how?  […]

Freedom and Flexibility Through Digitization

Finding Solutions

by Marcia Spicer I recently heard from a curator whose exhibit had been prematurely removed from display. They were understandably upset; detailed work had gone into carefully selecting items from their larger collection, creating displays, and editing placards. They also knew that the history the collection conveyed was important. But a decision-maker who saw the […]

Access Is Essential!, Part 2

Online Access

by Shana Scott As I outlined in my last post, the purpose of preservation is to protect an object, document, or other material and ensure it lasts for future generations to see and use. I talked about accessibility and what it means for all types of people accessing physical collections. Here’s a statement that very […]

Holding History in Our Hands

One of Anderson Archival's team members

Creating Life-Altering Memories “I am honored to work for a company where I get to help our clients preserve historical documents,” says content specialist Marcia Spicer of her work at Anderson Archival.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

How do you choose what to digitize?

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 […]

3 Ways to Make Your Historical Archive Impactful Today

Woman with photo of younger self

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

Witch House 1642

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

The Afro American

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

Client Feature

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 […]