Managing Congressional Collections

The personal papers of former members of Congress, which constitute at least half of the documentation of the legislative branch of government, are held in over 500 different institutions. An American Political Archives Reader performs the vital task of making these collections more accessible by presenting the best and most recent scholarship on congressional collections. The articles contained in this volume guide archivists through the challenges of dealing with these voluminous, complex collections. For institutions developing their political documentary resources and working toward greater accessibility of political archives, this book provides much needed information and is a welcome handbook on the appraisal and preservation of political collections.

The Digital Archives Handbook provides archivists a roadmap to create and care for digital archives. Written by archival experts and practitioners, Purcell brings together theoretical and practical approaches to creating, managing, and preserving digital archives. The first section is focused on processes and practices, including chapters on acquisitions, appraisal, arrangement, description, delivery, preservation, forensics, curation, and intellectual property. The second section is focused on digital collections and specific environments where archivists are managing digital collections. These chapters review digital collections in categories including performing arts, oral history, architectural and design records, congressional collections, and email. The book discuss the core components of digital archives—the technological infrastructure that provides storage, access, and long-term preservation; the people or organizations that create or donate digital material to archives programs, as well as the researchers use them; and the digital collections themselves, full of significant research content in a variety of formats with a multitude of research possibilities. The chapters emphasize that the people and the collections that make up digital archives are just as important as the technology. Also highlighted are the importance of donors and creators of digital archives. Building digital archives parallels the cycle of donor work—planning, cultivation, and stewardship. During each stage, archivists work with donors to ensure that the digital collections will be arranged, described, preserved, and made accessible for years to come. Archivists must take proactive and informed actions to build valuable digital collections. Knowing where digital materials come from, how those materials were created, what materials are important, what formats or topical areas are included, and how to serve those collections to researchers in the long term is central to archival work. This handbook is designed to generate new discussions about how archivists of the twenty-first century can overcome current challenges and chart paths that anticipate, rather than merely react to, future donations of digital archives.

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Collections management can be a daunting task for volunteers and employees alike. Archives for the Lay Person provides practical, step-by-step guidance for those managing all facets of archival collections at small organizations.

Rezension: Phillips has an impressive record of experience collecting and managing U.S. congressional papers, including those of former Louisiana Senator Russell B. Long. She also contributed to 'The Documentation of Congress', published by the Society of American Archivists (1992). In this work she covers the full range of concerns facing a congressional archivist, offering advice on collecting, surveying, organizing, and writing inventories of congressional materials. A section on electronic records is also included. The introduction describes some unique aspects of congressional papers management as an archival specialization and reviews earlier scholarship on the subject. Every practicing congressional archivist should read and use Phillips's excellent book, as should library administrators whose facilities house congressional papers. [Archivists and government documents librarians also may be interested in the National Archives and Records Administration's three-volume 'Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States'.