The Archival Road Trip

The following blog posts will be a five-part series describing the archival process from start to finish. We will examine each step to identify its meaning and applicable portions you can incorporate into your archival practice.

This series is to guide everyone–from those of us who need a refresher to the volunteer who has never worked with a collection before. Consider this your unofficial crash course. Through this series, you will learn not only each step of the process and how to perform it but also tips and tricks to ensure you provide best practices for yourself, your collections, and your researchers.

Wondering what exactly the archival process is? Well, here’s your road trip itinerary:

• “Packing Your Bags” will focus on archival appraisal and accessioning (or deaccessioning) processes.

• “Set the GPS” will cover inventorying and planning your collection processing.

• “Hit the Road” goes into the arrangement and preservation practices of processing a collection.

• “Sightseeing & Snapshots” details description practices to make materials accessible to the public.

• “Post It or Pass It” describes various ways to share and make your collections available through outreach.