Is your organization’s history in a basement, under water pipes, or next to the furnace and unorganized? Performing Arts Organizations often keep a variety of legacy materials, including business records, programs from performances, posters, props, and other artifacts. Using a series of case studies, this class will examine how to collect and organize both physical and digital arts-related materials so you can access these materials for future use. The class will give practical guidance that can be applied in any setting.
By the end of the class, participants will be able to:
- Know the difference between records, collections, and series
- Decide when documents/collections are important, and when they are not
- Determine if and when collections should be treated as archival material
- Identify best practices for providing access to archival collections
- Understand archival language / vocabulary
- Identify model workflows for providing access to archival collections in non-archival settings
Instructor: Tom Clareson
Tom Clareson is Project Director of the Performing Arts Readiness (PAR) project, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to help performing arts organizations nationwide learn how to protect their assets, sustain operations, and be prepared for emergencies. He serves as Senior Consultant for Digital & Preservation Services at LYRASIS, consulting and teaching nationally and internationally on preservation, disaster preparedness, digitization, digital preservation, special collections/archives, remote storage, funding, strategic planning, and advocacy for libraries, archives, and museums. Clareson serves as Vice President on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation.
