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Re: HELP! Adventures in Starting a New Archive!



Matt,

I admire your willingness to tackle such a difficult job.  If the community
college thinks they can establish an archives with one fourth of a person,
they obviously have no idea what archivists do or what archival requirements
are.  Apparently, the head librarian is interested and her idea is yours to
promote.

My suggestion is for you to take the authority or consultant role letting
them know the benefits and what it will take - sell the benefits first.  You
need to define a collection policy (records that document the history of the
college, community involvement, etc.) and a procedure for identifying those
records.  The archivist should determine what records have historical
significance.  Don't let it start on the basis that you accept whatever is
given to you (hard to get out of that) but set up a method of determining
what records the archives wants and make the departments responsible for
giving them to you.  If you have a records management program in place, look
at the record series that exist.  If there is no records program, propose a
records inventory.  Does your state have a public records law that requires
retention schedules?  Retention schedules should include the final
disposition - destroy or send to the archives.  If you have any idea of the
quantity of records the college creates, take 1% of that quantity and base a
projected budget on that number, including shelving, acid free boxes and
file folders, office supplies and personnel.

How old is your college?  They want to celebrate anniversaries, attract
students, attract staff, and obtain community support (including money).
The historical record, through the archives, supports these efforts because
you (the archives) have the records that show where they started and what
they have accomplished.  Maybe create a display showing the first building,
the first yearbook, the first athletic trophy and winning team, the first
budget and board minutes with a comparison to the current budget and
projections of the new campus, with some of your memorabilia thrown in.  My
college puts an old photo from the archives in almost every issues of the
alumni bulletin to rekindle the spirits of us old alums and encourage us to
continue donating to the annual fund.

Anyway, that's my recommendation for your workplan at 10 hours a week for
the coming year.  Good luck.

Claire A. Cardina, CRM, CA
ccardina@worldnet.att.net

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