AC22 | Session 20

"Into the Wild: Leveraging Your Archival Collection to Promote Records Management"

 

OVERVIEW: Archives and Records Management are two disciplines that support, inform, and rely on each other to ensure the preservation of government records. Records Management policies give government agencies instruction on active and non-active records, providing a roadmap for the disposition of past, present, and future records created. Archival collections of government records rely on government agencies being aware of and adhering to records management procedures to ensure the retention, transfer, and preservation of records of historic value. But what do you do if your city does not have a Records Management program in place?

This session will focus on ways that archival institutions can leverage their position, collections, and expertise to guide government agencies lacking a formal records management program. We will focus on our own experience positioning the New Orleans City Archives as both a repository and resource for New Orleans city agencies, providing guidance and instruction to develop responsible practices regarding government records before they are transferred to our care. This includes marketing our own collections and expertise as means of securing administrative support, developing relationships with city agencies on the individual level, providing outreach, training, and instruction to agencies regarding their own records, and positioning ourselves as an example of responsible records practices for other city agencies.
GARA CERTIFICATE COMPETENCIES: "Advocacy and Outreach" OR "Archives and Long-term Preservation"
PRESENTERS: Christina Bryant, Director, City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library, and Brittanny Silva, Librarian/ Archivist, City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library