*Shared on behalf of LYRASIS*
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - September 4, 2020 - LYRASIS announces survey results for Collecting Archival Materials During the COVID-19 Pandemic indicating five areas of need for archivists.
The primary goal of the survey was to provide guidelines on how to safely collect archival materials during the pandemic; however, the survey revealed other potential risks to collections as a result of limited physical access to storage areas and a move to remote staffing. Recommendations and information on these topics and more are presented as high-level resource documents in this report. With these resources, institutions undertaking archival collecting will be better equipped to weather the impacts of the pandemic to date and the anticipated intermittent opening and closing of physical sites to come. Read the results of the survey on our website.
The survey was authored and conducted by LYRASIS Subject Field experts Katy L. W. Klettlinger, Leigh A. Grinstead and Thomas F. R. Clareson, LYRASIS consultants in the Research and Innovation Division led by Erin Tripp at LYRASIS. The survey was released on June 1st and closed on June 25th, 2020, and resulted in 268 total responses.
Katy Klettlinger, lead author of the survey, states "although our original intention was to explore the challenges facing institutions collecting archival materials, we later discovered obstacles the pandemic has caused that also affected galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. We hope the resource documents within the report will serve as a starting point for colleagues to start jumping over these hurdles."
After accessing the results, the Subject Matter Experts identified five areas of need that will impact archivists, including: 1) disaster response, 2) space planning, 3) policy revision or new policies, 4) digital preservation, and 5) remote work best practices. LYRASIS can help in all of these areas. Hear more about the Collecting Archival Materials During Covid-19 survey, it's results and how we can assist in our upcoming Trending Topics webinar on September 11 at 2:00PM ET. Register today.
For more information, please contact us and sign up for our listserv reserved for Archivists and preservation topics and services.
About LYRASIS
LYRASIS (www.lyrasis.org), a non-profit membership organization, partners with member libraries, archives, and museums to create, access, preserve and manage information, with an emphasis on digital content, while building and sustaining collaboration, enhancing operations and technology, and increasing buying power.
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