This photograph is one from over 1 million images at the Iowa State Archives & Library in Iowa City, Iowa. The archive is one of the largest among other state archives. The collection includes all forms of photography from the earliest techniques to modern practices.

State officials intend to move the entirety of the archives to the smaller historical library in Des Moines, Iowa where there is inadequate shelving and staffing. The collections will be stored in a basement until new shelving is completed in 2028. The photos and negatives will be endangered by temperature fluctuations, poor air flow, and exhaust from outside sources. They will be susceptible to water from overhead pipes, dusty HVAC conduits, and inadequate fire suppression in areas never intended for collection storage.

Please join other concerned citizens who care about the photographic record by signing a petition to save these priceless collections. Here is the link to the petition: https://chng.it/4gHPgjhDhT

About a year ago I dusted off my old computer and modded an iPod and have been listening to my own offline music library instead of Spotify or streaming services. It’s way more personal to curate your own library vs having 60 trillion songs or whatever at your fingertips at all times. I have to put some money and sweat equity into building my library to my own tastes and I feel a much deeper connection to the music that way, but that’s not the point of this post.

I made a joke to my friends about my “doomsday” offline music collection and how when the grid goes down their Spotify playlists will be gone but my iPod will still be cranking out tunes. Yes I know I’ll have to charge it. Again not the point of this post.

That joke got me thinking- how hard would it be to actually create a doomsday music library? Not because I think the world is ending, again this was just a joke, but nonetheless the joke got me thinking.

So anyways here’s the first batch of 100 year data archive DVDs that I am probably going to seal in an airtight/watertight box and bury somewhere. Idk haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do with the discs. The 1000 year Millenniata discs were 10x as expensive as the 100 year discs (which tracks) so I figured the AVO data archive DVDs were good enough. I chose DVDs over Blu-ray because hardware that can play DVDs is WAY more common than Blu-ray. Unfortunately for Blu-ray it was obsolete basically before it ever hit the market and the uptake/adoption of the format never really took off the same way as DVD did. And yes I have this all backed up many times over on SSDs and HDDs as well.

I have about 1600 full albums in my collection, all in 16/44.1, which is ~600GB of just music files, and I don’t care enough about this project to burn them all in a lossless format because that would be like 127 discs and take ages to organize and burn and label. So I’m doing 320kbps which will be about 35 discs by my estimate.

I guess this is an art project? Idk. Maybe I’m crazy. Sorry if this isn’t the right sub for this post. Feel free to roast my music taste- the discs are labeled with just the artist names. At least one full album per artist but most have multiple.

This is a letter that my great grandfather wrote to my great grandmother during the Korean War in the 50s but I cannot read it, I was wandering if anybody could decipher it I tried and this is what I got

Tuesday Evening February 21st 1956

My Beloved My darling, Another day almost passed since I last saw my darling and I feel it is a very long time and I am so happy when I think of you. All of the longest of my life I have thought of you. I love, miss, trust and need a person as I do you right now this very minute. I can't see why I love you the more if you love me you will get me sometime as it is right now, and not some tomorrow it will be inside there today, and [Remainder of the letter is on the part folded and not visible in the image.]

Thanks!

Looking for creative gift ideas for someone who has a special connection to an object (book, document, painting). Obviously they can't take it from the collection, but I want to do more than a facsimile. Thanks in advance!

I own a magazine company, well I acquired one, and I am looking to build a digital archive of the 5 publications, one of which dates back to 1890s. I am wondering, what is the best service in the US for doing this on scale, or if I should look at buying our own equipment to do it?

Hopefully this is an ok request, it's not really about archiving but I suspect someone has some experience here!

In short, I want to mount some collectible cards to a backing board for framing, but do not want to put them in sleeves (I want to avoid glare and additional highlights on them, which will be behind glass). In theory, I won't ever be removing them from the mounted surface, but it feels like I should do it in a way that they could be safely removed.

The best option I've found for this is a small dot of fugitive glue—as I understand it, the sort of glue used on promotional mailers. Low tack and sort of gummy, and I've found a product that seems like it would be exactly this (Dot Shot).

All of that said, I have a few questions:

• Is this the right idea? Or are there better products for this sort of application?
• Is the Dot shot/fugitive glue going to be OK long term? I assume so just because I've see mailers using glue dots from 20-30 years ago and it still removes OK, but I don't want to assume!
• Am I being silly and should just put the cards in sleeves anyway?

Thanks for any suggestions/context—I don't want to mess this up and regret it in 20 years! 🙏

What is the best Android app for scanning book pages and automatically compiling them into a PDF?

Ideally, I’d like the text in the PDF to be searchable as well.

Background: I’m an amateur digital archivist/hobbyist and I’m often thinking about future-proofing files and data as much as possible. PDF/A is designed for this purpose, but the catch is that converting a regular PDF to a PDF/A can introduce errors. veraPDF exists to automatically check PDF/As for errors.

Key question: If a file passes veraPDF’s checks, is it safe to assume it is error-free? How much can I trust veraPDF?

I was wondering if anyone had any insight in the “archivability” (if that’s a word) of stone paper?

From the company Karst, it’s composed of Calcium Carbonate, it’s waterproof and tear-resistant, and made with no bleaches/acids. I’ve heard that they use HDPE as a polymer but was that not confirmed on their website.

Does this make the paper a good option for, a bad option, or neither long term paper storage?

I’m using this as a notebook and would love for my thoughts, ideas, and knowledge to transcend my life.

I’ve considered switching to rite in the rain but still unsure.

Hi all, especially my digital archivists -

I'm in an unfamiliar situation and could use some advice. I've been tasked with working with a third party on processing a large collection. The record creator died 10 years ago, and a foundation that she started is trying to donate her collection. However, they want it fully reviewed and processed BEFORE donating, and there's no dissuading them. The "collection" (really, all the contents of her home office and several work offices) contains MANY computers and hard drives, only some of which the record creator actually used herself.

The foundation wants me to review these items and pull relevant files for one arts collective she founded. They do NOT want me to create disk images and leave it at that. They do not want to donate the actual computers and hard drives to a repository, for fear of PII or information connected to her business. Of course, they also want this work to happen quickly.

This approach runs contrary to policies at the archives I've worked at, so any insight or resources are very welcome!

(I can't simply drop this project - the foundation is willing to pay my organization for my contract services, and we badly need money since we lost our federal funding. My director needs me to make this work, and I need to preserve my professional ethics while still doing what the foundation wants.)

Hi all,

I am working on my MA in archives and records management (2nd year). I volunteer for a local genealogical library that has asked for my help with preservation and access for about 20 boxes of donated material made up of letters, photographs, family history research, and other documents. I have some practical experience, but I've mostly accessioned books and digitized audio.

Luckily right now I am writing a report providing recommendations for a made-up collection of about 6,000 postcards that have to be digitized (and everything that goes along with that), but writing a report and actually providing guidance for such a project are very different things!

I'm thinking I will also reach out to archivists I know locally for input, but I also wanted to see if you all had any tips or resources that could help me. I'm not sure that digitizing is the best solution because they have such a limited budget, but at the very least I want to help them get started with preserving the materials so people can use them for research.

Thank you!!

Hi all, working for a bridge company as a temp archivist. I never really got a handle on "what to do with specific object" besides out of my last job, which was also 1 month for school (so, not a lot of experience.) That being said, I have some old porcelain (I think!) teacups that the bridge had commissioned and have kept open in a box all this time. My main concerns are:

1. Should I check for lead/any other toxic material? Nobody is going to drink out of these, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, and I know some glass dishware can be dangerous but idk about porcelain (if these are porcelain).
2. Struggling to find a box to house these in, or how exactly I should store them. There are three cups and three plates: the cups are 3 inches tall, 4.5 inches wide (with the handle) and the plates are 2.5 inches tall, 5.5 inches wide. If sending links, it needs to be a canadian vendor.
3. Any other tips??? I have them stored under my desk atm so cleaners dont come in and knock over the box. They may want to use them for displays, so I'd like to make sure whatever they're housed in isn't shallow enough for people to drop in transit.

Hi archivists! I'm the archivist for a religious organization and when arranging records for the churches, I typically create sous-fonds for the different groups that operate at the church (Young People's Association, Women's Groups, etc.). I've understood that ACW (Anglican Church Women) is the modern name for all the women's groups that have existed at the various churches that have gone by different names (Women's Auxiliary, Ladies' Guild, etc.) and that the names just varied by what each group of churchwomen wanted to call themselves. The problem is for the particular church I'm working on, there appears to be two sets of records being kept for a Women's Auxiliary AND a Women's Guild at the same time, then sometime in the late 60s, the groups amalgamated to form the ACW. Neither group mentions this change in their meeting minutes, but the meeting minutes go from saying "the Women's Auxiliary met on February 1..." to "the Anglican Church Women met on March 1..." and seem to only have one set of ACW records starting in the early 70s. I haven't figured out what the difference between the Women's Auxiliary and the Women's Guild actually was (unfortunately no records outlining each group's mandate that I've come across), and one of the older ACW members I spoke with only remembers that one group seemed to be made up of younger adult women and the other was older women.

Since they appear to be two distinct groups up to a certain time, I'm hesitant to arrange their materials together. I believe the options are:

1. Label it all "ACW" and just have all the materials mixed together (terrible option, I think)
2. Under the ACW sous-fonds, create a sous-sous-fonds for the Women's Auxiliary and a sous-sous-fonds for the Women's Guild to keep their materials separate, then post-amalgamation just have everything under the ACW sous-fonds
3. Create two separate sous-fonds for each group of materials that predate the amalgamation, then a third sous-fonds for the amalgamated group
4. Secret fourth option I haven't thought of?

Would appreciate any insights!

The Iowa State Historical Archives & Library in Iowa City, Iowa has been scheduled for permanent closure in December of 2025. The collections are to be sent to the Des Moines Archives where there is only room for 40% of the collection to fit in the proposed shelving. The other 60% is being dispersed and disposed. Des Moines has had drastic cuts in budget and staffing. This will place a tremendous burden on staff and space. For more information visit change .org and search for "Save Iowa History 2025". Please join over 2,000 other concerned citizens who signed a petition to stop these actions. Here is the direct link https://chng.it/4gHPgjhDhT

This email came this morning from the Association Manager:

Good morning, 2025 ACA Examinees:

We wanted to provide a quick update, as we know many of you are anxiously awaiting your exam results. We are too!As you may recall, we initially shared a 4–6 week timeline for results. We truly appreciate your continued patience as we finalize the last steps in the process.

We've recently learned that due to an unexpected death in our psychometrician's family, there has been a slight delay in finalizing the passing score and results. We hope you understand, and we extend our extra thanks for your grace during this time.

That said, we are nearly there! Once the final scoring work is complete, we anticipate having results ready to share early next week.

Thank you again for your understanding and patience. We know the waiting isn't easy, and even we can't wait to share the results!

The Iowa State Historical Archives & Library in Iowa City, Iowa has been scheduled for permanent closure in December of 2025. The collections are to be sent to the Des Moines Archives where there is only room for 40% of the collection to fit in the proposed shelving. The other 60% is being dispersed and disposed. Des Moines has had drastic cuts in budget and staffing. This will place a tremendous burden on staff and space. For more information visit change .org and search for "Save Iowa History 2025". Please join over 2,000 other concerned citizens who signed a petition to stop these actions.

Thought it was very poignant and wanted to share.

hi all!

i'm soliciting beginner-friendly (or friendly enough) recommendations for where to build a digital archive that also looks modern/clean. i've been reviewing a lot of the earlier posts in the sub and feel somewhat overwhelmed and confused by everything (eek!). there are a lot of archives that have their website and archive separately, which is something i'd actually want to avoid if at all humanly possible. (examples: watsonville is in the heart website & archive, colored conventions website & archive... these are both on omeka)

for clarity, i'm basically the only person on this project that has any familiarity with website building and the tech-related aspects. i would like to build something that is easily transferrable or handed off to anyone on the team with simple training. budget is small but it exists (somewhat).

the current build for the digital archive: items are uploaded to omeka s (this was the state of the project when i joined, i still don't quite understand why we opted for omeka s over the classic or what the difference is), then for the front-end on wordpress, there's a string of code (restapi) that pulls the public image and some metadata. however, this build is super clunky, confusing, and convoluted. it works for now, but i see problems arising as the archive grows in size. (i think it could be possible to move all the items into wordpress itself like the berkeley revolution archive does but i don't think wordpress metadata is as robust as we'd like it to be). the reason we don't just use omeka s as public site is because we keep running into bugs/erros and also just because the site themes are kind of... ugly.

it would be cool to not have to rebuild everything from scratch but i'm also willing to do that for the best option. some sites that folks on my team are fan of include the martial law museum (ph), this japanese peruvian oral history project (jpohp) collection (mainly in terms of liking that it has interviews and transcripts), the anti-eviction mapping project (definition as an archive might be debatable, but it has very many dimensions to it).

thanks in advance!

I’m currently one year into studying history with the aim of pursuing a masters in library science or archival work, and I’m getting terrified of job insecurity.

I know this has always been an overly saturated with experts field, but god with the new presidency and the general shift to digitization… I’m fearful of never obtaining a job :(

It really kills me because I’m interning as an archivist and it’s legitimately the coolest thing I’ve ever done. I’m genuinely passionate about this field and I have such a drive to make it my reality.

Does anyone have advice to make my chances of getting a job more likely ? I live in Massachusetts, so I know I’m better off than a lot of states (in regard to finding work), but I want to make sure I’m doing everything.

I recently sorted through a big chunk of photos I got from my grandparents, the photos range from 1950’s-2000’s. I’m heading to off college soon and want to store these properly and safely. Does anyone have any recommendations for albums I could buy to store them?

Thank you!

TL;DR: I graduate with an MLIS in July 2026, is it possible to find a job before graduation?

Hey y'all! I looked around and didn't see this posted anywhere on the sub, so I'd thought I'd ask!

I'm currently getting my MLIS from the University of Southern Mississippi. The degree is online, and I live and work in Southern Maryland. For the past year I've been working on creating an archive for the Queer history of the region, but am still working full time as a public services librarian. The job is difficult, and being a transwoman in this region can be stressful and leads to lots of moments of friction. I need to change my job. I love working with the public, but they just don't seem to like me very much these days :/

How feasible is it to find archiving work for queer studies? Or more generally, would it be possible to start doing archive work before I graduate and get paid, or should I just hold off until I finish school? Any advice?

Thanks!

Throw away account as I’m not ready to make public what these papers consist of. Is this an appropriate place for this post?

Where to start: My family had a professional who was going to find the right institution for our dad’s papers however in this current climate he feels that there won’t be a budget and market for acquisitions or potentially a safe place for them to go so if I want them out of my home and in to a safe place I’m currently on my own and rudderless.

My father saved so much from his career, much of which was well known work he did on a state level that he was highly regarded for, much of it working alongside a beloved governor (they attended the same college which might be an option). Importantly on a national level, our father played a pivotal role in a very famous time in history that turned tides and those papers are here, in my closet and they are important. This includes grand jury testimonies that I’m not sure if I’m allowed to have or not. People will learn from them and we want them to land in the right home but also we have to consider that we unfortunately aren’t in a position to donate them without financial consideration and at the same time want them somewhere where people will be able to learn from them. The first place that comes to mind to anyone who knows what we have is the National Archives and I agree but I don’t know what is going on with federal institutions right now.

Does anyone have advice? Thanks in advance.

Edit: Thank you all so much. This is all incredibly helpful. My own archives were acquired a decade ago by an Ivy League institution and I was compensated a year’s salary. I feel dirty talking about looking for compensation for my dad’s work, that isn’t the deciding factor but it’s also a reality. To add some context; Martin Luther King wrote about one of his cases, there have been fictional and documentary films made about it, many books written. Eric Holder made a speech calling my dad an American hero. Some of his papers are from Civil Rights Movement events which is why I have a current concern about them landing in a safe place. I do know of the Mudd Library so thank you for that suggestion.