The Power of Appraisal: Selecting Archives

Before donations arrive in your archives, the first step is appraising the item - does it fit your organization's mission? Can the item(s) be stored appropriately and cared for?  What if this did not happen before you accepted the collection, and it’s on the shelves—it happens to everyone.  Appraisal often refers to the time spent assessing existing records for their potential to be retained as part of the historical record in your archives. Sometimes, this is done as part of surveying one’s holdings or even when processing a collection.  

This 2-hour webinar will discuss the different values assigned to archives to help you better understand the appraisal principles and introduce techniques to identify records necessary for adequate documentation. A case study will be presented on a recent appraisal project, followed by a discussion and questions.

Our panel will discuss the following topics:

• Overview of appraisal, including appraisal considerations (basic concepts)
• What can you get rid of, and how
• Case study on an appraisal project with discussion
• Share tools, resources, documentation

This will be recorded and added to our CARLI Archives and Special Collections Resource Page..

Speakers:

Ruth E. Bryan, CA, is a University Archivist in the Special Collections Research Center of the University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington, Kentucky, USA (2011-present). Before UK, Ruth was the Archives Program Manager for the Ruth Mott Foundation/Applewood, Flint, Michigan (2006-2001), and Head of Collections Processing and Encoding for Duke University’s Rare Book, Manuscripts, and Special Collections Library, Durham, North Carolina (2000-2006). A Certified Archivist, Ruth holds master’s degrees in public history from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina (2000), and cultural anthropology from the New School for Social Research, New York, New York (1996). 

Nicole Menchise received a B.A. in geography from the University of Memphis, where she concentrated on her studies in cartography and history. She completed her M.L.I.S. at Long Island University with the Advanced Archives and Records Management Certificate. She is currently the Digitization and Archives Coordinator for the Long Island Library Resources Council, where she offers educational workshops, provides advice for the processing, housing, and display of special collections, oversees participation in the New York Heritage Digital Collections website for cultural institutions on Long Island, and executes the annual Long Island Archives Conference. Previously, she managed the collections of the Oyster Bay Historical Society, Raynham Hall Museum, the Townsend Society of America, Seawanhaka Yacht Club, and the North Shore Historical Museum as a Trustee. 

Moderator: Matt Gorzalski, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Register to attend.

Sponsored by the CARLI Archives Task Force.