Archival collections face all kinds of threats, from mold and bugs to acidic ink and overzealous researchers. Learning how to recognize damage before it spreads is one of the most important skills you can develop when caring for a collection. While not every issue calls for professional conservation, understanding what you’re looking at can help you make better decisions about triage, treatment, and preservation. This blog breaks down common types of damage you’ll encounter and what to do when you spot them.

At some point in your metadata journey, especially if you’ve wrangled with Dublin Core or EAD, you may have stumbled across MODS and thought, “That looks nice, but where does it fit?” If you’ve ever tried to make sense of this XML-based schema that promises to be more detailed than Dublin Core but less complicated than MARC, you are not alone

Archival supplies are essential to preserving the collections we care for, but navigating the market can be confusing. The word "archival" is often used as a marketing term and does not indicate adherence to any specific standard or certification. That means archivists, librarians, and caretakers of collections must be equipped with the knowledge to evaluate what materials are safe, stable, and appropriate for long-term preservation.

Digitization is never just scanning. It is a multifaceted project that requires thoughtful planning, purposeful execution, and a long-term strategy for preservation and access. In this session, we’re focusing on five core areas that underpin a successful digitization project: foundational planning questions, practical considerations, technical requirements, metadata and description, and ongoing preservation.

Language can be a weapon. Throughout history, societies have created and used vocabulary specifically designed to dehumanize, disenfranchise, and alienate marginalized groups. Archivists, librarians, and museum professionals who work with historical materials have a unique responsibility. We can describe materials in ways that preserve access to painful histories without reinforcing the violence of their original context. This blog explores potential biases in archival description and suggests ways to approach the work with more empathy, care, and justice.

A controlled vocabulary is a foundational tool in metadata creation and information organization. According to the Society of American Archivists, a controlled vocabulary is an enumerated list of terms preselected from natural language and chiefly used to aid discovery in information retrieval systems. These vocabularies may be locally managed or widely shared, depending on the needs and authority of the institution.

Libraries, Archives, and Museums—often abbreviated as LAMs or GLAMs when Galleries are included—are spaces that preserve, share, and make meaning of the world's knowledge, culture, and history. These institutions support study, contemplation, education, and accountability, each approaching their missions through slightly different lenses. The materials they hold, how they describe those materials, and how the public interacts with their collections can vary widely, but they are united in their stewardship of our collective record.

Student workers bring fresh energy, diverse perspectives, and invaluable assistance to archives and museums. But managing student work arrangements requires flexibility, communication, and a thoughtful approach to project design and supervision. Here’s how to make the most of student contributions while setting them up for success.

Encoded Archival Description, or EAD, is one of the key tools that archivists use to represent the contents and structure of a finding aid in a digital environment. While a traditional finding aid might be a PDF or printed document, EAD allows this same information to be machine-readable, structured, and ready for integration into databases and discovery tools.

If you work in a museum or archives, you've likely come across a mystery object tucked into a cabinet or folder with no documentation. It may have been there for years—or decades—with no provenance, accession record, or paperwork of any kind. In the field, we call this kind of material "Found in Collection" (FIC). Here's what that means, why it matters, and what you can do about it.

When archivists use the term "finding aid," they are referring to a detailed guide that provides both structural and contextual information about archival materials. According to the Society of American Archivists, a finding aid serves as a surrogate for the materials themselves, offering a way to navigate what can often be complex, expansive collections.

Dublin Core is a flexible, widely used standard for creating metadata—data about an information resource. It is designed to be easy to implement while also being powerful enough to describe a broad range of resource types. Whether you are cataloging a book, a photograph, an object, a film, or something else entirely, Dublin Core provides a structured approach to metadata that promotes consistency and discoverability.