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Dear All: Thank you so much for all your helpful responses to my question about archives and historical document storage. In response to your requests to post the responses, below are the responses from the ARLIS listserv as well as from my colleagues in horticultural/botanical libraries...thought you might like to see all responses. I left off particulars of who sent each response, but if you want to know who sent a particular response let me know and I will pass that along. Thanks again, Shelly I can't be much help but I did purchase this book for our library and it looks like a good resource. Title: Organizing archival records : a practical method of arrangement and description for small archives / David W. Carmicheal. Edition: 2nd ed. Published: Walnut Creek, CA : AltaMira Press, c2004. Description xi, 85 p. : ill. ; 28 cm. + CD-ROM (4 3/4 in.) It also looks like this link from the National Archives page may be helpful. http://www.archives.gov/preservation/ --------- I also like the publications of the Australian Society of Archivists (see http://www.archivists.org.au/). Some of their brochures (such as 'Establishing an Archives') are available online. For the basics, including setting up policies & procedures, I recommend their text: Keeping Archives, although I realise that it's getting old, thus won't address newer standards for online finding aids. --------- You can also look in the SAA archival series (www.archivists.org) to help with other aspects of setting up an archival system. --------- I suggest that you acquire and study the following basic manual for the operation of a museum archives. In my experience administering the operation of 2 art museum libraries plus archives (St. Louis Art Museum and Cleveland Museum of Art), the specialized nature of archival work requires the input of a trained archivist and I would suggest that you contact a local member of MAC (Midwest Archives Conference?) for advice if this manual doesn't answer all of your needs and questions. ------------ The book to buy is Museum Archives: An Introduction, 2nd ed., edited by Deborah Wythe (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2004). It is absolutely terrific; covers just about everything you would want to know--at least to begin. And when Art Museum Libraries and Librarianship comes out this April, you will find four essays in it specifically on art museum institutional archives. But you should definitely get Wythe's book in any case. ------------ I might refer you to the Society of American Archivists site http://www.archivists.org/index.asp and their publications for some insights. This should help with organizing and finding aids. As for the newspaper clippings, perhaps you can copy them onto acid free paper. We do not allow any archival materials out of the library , and only a select few have access to them (the Director of the museum, the Registrar, the Librarian/Archivist, and a volunteer who helps with the organization of them). Certain materials, because of confidentiality of their contents, are not available to researchers (guidance from the Director & Registrar on that.) ------------ There is a lot of good literature from SAA (Society of American Archivists) and others on retention and preservation. Not knowing what you have already investigated, I might suggest a couple of issues you might consider. If you photograph brittle news clippings using film you can transfer to any new medium that might develop; transferring directly to digital may not give you as many options later. Many of us have scrapbooks of clippings in some form that are great for researchers but, eventually pose storage and preservation issues- ------------ See the following publication from the Society of American Archivists: http://www.archivists.org/catalog/pubDetail.asp?objectID=949 <http://www.archivists.org/catalog/pubDetail.asp?objectID=949> Shelly Kilroy| Librarian 1000 East Beltline Road NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525 PH 616.975.3144| TF 888.957.1580 | FX 616.975.9545 [log in to unmask] | www.meijergardens.org __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/join.html Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]