ROT and Prioritizing Materials for Digitization
By Digital Archivist Alyssa Voss When planning to digitize a collection, it’s important to suppress the urge to jump right in and scan everything. Not all items are created equal; some may be more fragile or rare, while others may have greater historical or cultural significance. Prioritizing the materials in your collection can help you […]
The Dow Foundation Archives: Cultivating Historical Context
By Digitization Team Lead Andrea Glazer Archivists are often eager to illustrate the one-of-a-kind perspective their collection presents. Artifacts like postcards, candid photos, and personal correspondence offer a way to tell previously untold stories about our origins. However, historical archives not only provide a peek into the past, but they also offer new context around […]
What Is Metadata?
By Digital Archivist Mary Eggleston In our data-driven society, metadata has become a frequently used term, but do you know what it actually is? The process of weeding out the differences between data and metadata can be confusing. Bruce Schneier explains it best in his book Data and Goliath, “Data is content, and metadata is […]
Finding Harmony in the Past
By Junior Digital Archivist Alyssa Voss Imagine discovering boxes of your loved one’s manuscripts and documents you never knew about until after they passed. Going through a late loved one’s belongings can be a daunting and emotional task. It stirs up memories and feelings long forgotten. Finding items you never knew about, like boxes filled […]
Reduce, Reuse, ReFADGI: Updates to FADGI Standards for 2023
By Archives Technician Shana Scott Every industry has its own “language” or commonly understood terminology and shorthand to expedite communication. If you’ve ever overheard a business call in the airport or watched baristas signal to each other to help one another when service gets hectic, then you’ve probably seen this in action. The archival community […]
Crashing Through the Surface
By Junior Digital Archivist Alyssa Voss At Anderson Archival, the term surface has a slightly different meaning than it does in most industries. The word surface is typically defined as “the outer layer of something.” While that remains true, in the archival community, it also refers specifically to the number of surfaces requiring a scan […]
Why Outsource? Digitizing In-House vs. Outsourcing
By Team Lead Andrea Glazer It can be tempting to see the photocopier in the corner of your office and imagine digitizing your collection over time, if only to avoid the costs associated with finding a vendor to handle it. However, in-house digitization is rarely that simple. Digital preservation is no longer the future of […]
Digitization Standards and Practices
By Archives Technician Shana Scott What value does an archive or historical collection provide if it can’t be shared? Access and useability help bring a collection to life, allowing visitors and patrons to discover history that otherwise would be lost to them. But how do you provide that access and sharing while still preserving and […]
Digitization of Museums: Transforming Experience in the Digital Age
By Team Lead Marcia Spicer Museums have always been regarded as the interpreters and caretakers of history, science, art, and culture. Immersing oneself in historical artifacts and knowledge can create impressions that last a lifetime. Witnessing displays of historical artifacts firsthand allows patrons to experience history in ways that static exhibits alone can’t convey. Digitization […]
Securing Your Legacy: Realistic Tips for Digital Preservation and Archiving
By Team Lead Marcia Spicer In a world where technology evolves at lightning speed, preserving your company’s legacy and the documents and artifacts that create your story can be a daunting task. Whether it’s decades-old documents, photographs, or digital files, maintaining an organized and accessible archive is essential. Here are six (6) realistic tips to […]
