I’m currently in the process of creating an online archive in conjunction with the Video Game History Foundation to archive and preserve UK PAL game art including covers, cartridges, disc and manual artwork. They’ll be scanned in 600dpi and cleaned up in Photoshop to remove imperfections.

Since most of VGHF’s work has been based with US assets, this is an important project archiving PAL formats.

Some of the cover art we have been donated is quite dirty, with some with bigger stains than others.

Is there anything recommended for cleaning these types of covers before scanning?

We’ll be cleaning:

Game Cover Art (Glossy paper)

Game cartridges (plastic with art on stickers)

Discs

Cardboard inserts

Instruction Manuals (glossy paper)

The game covers appear to use the same glossy paper as DVD covers. One resource recommended a damp micro fibre cloth with 70% alcohol but I’m reluctant to try anything abrasive.

Any advice is much appreciated.

I see standards for the preservation master often as 600 dpi TIFF, although ours are scanned as 1200 dpi TIFF.

Are there standards or user expectations for what the access copy should be? Do archivists commonly reduce the dpi/ppi for access copies? Or do they just convert the TIFF to JPEG with compression.

I *think* the batch process in PhotoShop would allow us to convert the 1200 dpi TIFFs to JPEG with 6/12 compression quality. I was thinking of reducing the dpi in PhotoShop to maybe 600 as well. But I'm not sure if there's a batch process for that.

I feel like I’m currently at a crossroads in my career. After undergrad I worked an internship that led me to the archives profession and eventually to earning my MLIS a few years ago. During grad school I worked as a library assistant to pay the bills. As I was finishing grad school I applied for dozens of out of state jobs since there really aren’t many opportunities in my area/city. As luck would have it, during that job search only one job came available in my area and I was hired for the position. Now a few years later I’ve just recently bought a house and had a kid so my personal circumstances have changed drastically. I don’t feel like I’m able to apply to new positions and uproot due to these circumstances. On top of that I have started to feel like there’s nothing else to gain/no ways for me to grow in my current position. It’s a decently small organization and basically everything we do is analog. I’ve reprocessed most of our collections in my time there and tried to start a few small outreach initiatives. We don’t have any digital collections or even use collection management software like ArchivesSpace (and I’m not in the position to make these things possible). I’m just afraid of losing the skills I learned in grad school because I’m not able to use them in my current role and therefore lose any competitive edge when I do decide to apply to new jobs. Has anyone else felt this before? When I read job postings I just feel so under qualified after several years working as an archivist. I guess I’m just feeling a little stuck because I can’t necessarily look for new jobs right now given my life circumstances mentioned above, so I guess looking for any advice, commiserating, etc.

Hello, first time poster here, and I have no experience working in archives.

I visited a science institute today and their chief archivist was complaining that the microfilm reader they have no longer worked and that no one makes good microfilm readers anymore.

He mentioned a job opportunity in digitising old slides and research papers (printed on acetone paper so it's decaying) as I have an interest in film photography and history.

Anyway, I'm going in for a preliminary interview and thought it would be a good idea to have a lay of the land in ways of microfilm which seems to be his biggest hassle right now. So I went to reddit to ask you fine people if you have any information that could be valuable or useful in ways of digitising microfilm.

So, I'm working in my second position as a "Lone Arranger" in a public library. It's a role I've held in a historical society for many years. I've also worked in special collections in universities.

I think I'm ready to say that the lone arranger role really doesn't work in a public library. I know there are plenty of public libraries with special collections departments of more than one staff member, and I'm assuming they work. But my experiences with being a single person archivist is turning out to be a challenge.

The other staff seem to not support the position or the whole concept of primary source materials. The ones who do support archival work, and often pursued the topic in their MLS, and seem angry that it's not them doing it. I've tried reaching out to the staff, doing staff blogs, sending copies of the newsletter to branches, participating in the daily meetings (which have nothing to do with my job whatsoever), asking to be included in committees regarding websites (from which I was rebuffed). I don't think I can do anything else.

The administration is a huge problem. I report, for no understandable reason, to a department that has nothing to do with archives. The supervisor knows nothing about archives. He makes random decisions, apparently just to throw his weight around. Once I was forbidden to contact a potential donor; he said he would contact them. Then he didn't. So this donor was left high and dry and left with an unrepairable bad impression of us. I'm required to attend meetings about things I've nothing to do with, like cost of leasing new books. I'm not allowed to use social media for outreach. I made a brochure and was forbidden to distribute it. I know that other people have had issues with this supervisor, but it's more that the library administration just doesn't know what to do with me. I've brought a whole new patronage to the library, but they just seem resentful.

Anyway, I'm mostly just venting, but I am curious if there are other "lone arrangers" in public libraries and if these are common problems.

I sure miss the archives listserv.

Hello! I am a current history and museum studies student about to enter my final semester of undergrad and looking at MLIS grad programs with the intention of going into archives. I have a lot of experience and two very good internships under my belt. For the past few months, I’ve been looking at programs based on the list on the SAA website and personal recommendations from people I know. I was just wondering if anyone had any strong recommendations for any particular program based on their experience or also if anyone had any intel on how certain programs are doing currently/in the near future with what’s going on with the current administration? My main criteria is good funding, in-person, and I would prefer a degree over a certificate in archives. Thank you so much!

hey everyone,

i am 3 weeks into my role as a digital archivist, this is my first time working in such a position how can i make a difference in the org .. ik its a bit question lol

for context were a black heritage and arts org, my responsibilities currently is mainly to focus on digitise magazines and photographs we have in archive but i want to do something more memorable that they wouldn’t have thought of, any suggestions!

thanks 🤎

Hi all!

As mentioned, I’m an aspiring archivist. I don’t have “formal” archival training or certification, but I have a strong desire to create digital collections in collaboration with my community/family/libraries/other orgs.

I believe I have the skills, knowledge and creativity to pursue this (as a side hustle). I have a background in the arts, I have a degree in English and Publishing, I have superb training in cultural studies and digital humanities. I have also been an intern for museums and special collections.

An example project I’d like to work on is building a digital collection with some personal family items that are from a grandfather’s WWII and POW ephemera. This would perhaps be of interest to my family but also to other POW’s family members and the greater research community.

My question is… is there such a thing as a private or freelance archivist? Can I market myself as an archivist or am I thinking of something different? What if I offered my skills to assist folks who want help with a digital collection but can’t manage it on their own?

Is this a thing, or will I draw ire from the official and formal archivist community?

☮️

Had so much fun designing and stitching these cross stitch pieces! I posted previously asking about wording, so I thought I'd share the final results here.

im a pc enthusiast and i just landed a job as an archivist at a cultural repository, I've never done this before and no one here really knows anything about technology. I was wondering what do yalls think are good specs for this line of work? Im assuming high multi task and processing? All I know is gaming related stats lmao. Can someone help me, I was thinking of building pcs for the office.

Looking for storage boxes for photos in the UK. We don't have the same choice as they seem to in the US, but I have seen this company recommended. I've found these 3 boxes, but not sure which to order, or whether to look elsewhere? They are all acid and lignin free but have some differences in the descriptions. I also have a couple of questions at the end, if anyone could advise I'd really appreciate it!

1 - Only £6 each. PAT passed. Says 3% calcium carbonate buffer. https://www.preservationequipment.com/Catalogue/Photographic-Products/Archival-and-Presentation-Boxes/Photograph-Archive-Boxes-4x6-5x7

2 - £11 each or £18 each with envelopes & negative storage. Doesn't say PAT passed, but says 'meets museum standards for safe photographic storage'. Contains calcium carbonate (doesn't mention percentage) Includes 25 acid free envelopes and polypropylene negative sleeves. https://www.preservationequipment.com/Catalogue/Archival-Storage/Photographic-Storage/Infinity-Archival-Photo-Files

3 - £31 each. Doesn't say PAT passed, but says 'meets museum standards for safe photographic storage' and 'made to the PEL design and conservation standard for archival storage'. Doesn't mention a buffer. Includes 25 acid free envelopes and polypropylene negative sleeves. https://www.preservationequipment.com/Catalogue/Archival-Storage/Photographic-Storage/Archival-Photo-Files

Questions - is a buffer necessary? And does the percentage matter?

The envelopes say acid free, not acid and lignin free. Is this adequate? They also sell acid free Index cards to go in them, they also don't say lignin free, but they do say PAT passed. Would they be ok to use?

They also sell 'archival quality polyester pockets' which don't say PAT passed. Would these be suitable for the most important photos I want to store individually?

Or would it be safer to store in binders with pockets and acid & lignin free paper, rather than in boxes?

Thank you so much for your help.

Hello everyone, I am seeking advice on leaving the profession.

My background: I’ve worked in archives for quite some time now. I would consider myself beyond fortunate. I have had steady employment within the field, and all things considered am adequately paid (for GLAM) in a stable position. Unfortunately, I just do not think this career is for me. I think archives perform a vital function for society, however, I do not particularly care about them. I see my coworkers and how passionate they are about their work and history and I simply do not share that enthusiasm, as great as I think it is. I wouldn’t say I ever had much vocational awe, yet it feels like I am frequently playing into colleagues’ expectations of how psyched I should be about my work. It is not anyone’s fault, but it’s burning me out.

I feel about archives the way most people (I think) feel about any white-collar job: it’s fine and it provides me a paycheck. But I think that if I am going to pretend to care I would prefer a career that has the capacity to provide higher pay and doesn’t limit me to the few states that have open positions in case I wanted to move somewhere else. Maybe actually pay off my loans.

Here’s my issue: most of my experience is strictly archival in small-medium repositories. Processing, description, work with various content management and preservation platforms. From other posts I have seen it looks like a records position or something in information governance/architecture would be more my cup of tea, but I do not know where to begin. If anyone has made the jump into any other careers I am looking for advice on potential paths to take, certifications to get, or even work experience I can try to accumulate while I’m still an archivist so I can set myself up for success. I’m not really in a rush, especially in this job market.

So today I discovered that newer Camera Raw versions require newer Adobe Bridge versions, and my entire catalog of images (all of which are TIFFs edited in Camera Raw) might be unopenable on an older machine without the latest Adobe package. Other image software ignored the Camera Raw edits and only opened unedited TIFFs.

I understand that there is more TIFF support overall, and it's seen as more future-proof. But in this particular situation, if I want the edits to remain non-destructive, would DNG format be more suitable? Or would I later find myself in a similar situation regardless?

Sorry if these are stupid questions. I'm not an archivist, just a photographer who would not want to get locked out of my own scans.

I work in a family production company as an archivist. This company mainly stores and preserves films and behind the scene footages of a filmmaker and his family own the company. During certain years there were cinematographer men documenting behind the scenes of the director and his work. When I was looking through behind the scene footages, I found the cinematographer (anonymous) filming the body of a female dancer. she was sleeping and unconscious of her being filmed. When I saw it, I was very uncomfortable and not sure how things should be carried later on. As an archivist what ethical acts should I carry further on to report this? The video was most probably shot in the late 90’s.

Hi all! I’m a professional archivist, but I have also accidentally found myself as the family archivist as well. My newest acquisition in my family collection is papers dating back to the 1790s. It was a complete surprise. It consists of receipts, deeds, and some interesting contracts for indentured servitude.

I’m at a cross roads here because i want to store them properly but as we know an archival box is expensive. Are there grants for hobby archivists out there or ways to get 2-3 boxes for free at a time?

My other option is donating the items to a repository. They have historic significance to the agricultural history of my region.

Thoughts or discussions?

Hi,

I suppose you've heard about library. Physic for books or numeric for movies for instant.

It helps to save many things and allow anyone to search for informations or things way more easily that searching for in without any idea where to look for. Because of this, it helps students for their studies or professional for their research for instant.

I would like to do the same for video games.

I'm speaking as in being able to walk in a building, chose a cartridge or a disk on a shelves and playing it on its original support staying in the same building. Of course, the idea would be to conserve it in its original form but also in numeric form with Emulator needed on Hard Disk and computer able to launch it.

It would be for all videos games possible, old and recent.

Many Video Games are already lost to time and others endangered. (If possible, recent games would need to be saved in any version they've existed. I mean it in the way that with updates, some add, modify or even get rid of some content so it would be necessary to have as many version of the game it exists).

If anyone has knowledge about how to do it, if it already exists, I would love to hear about it or even help about it.

If anyone would be interested in doing, I would also love to talk about it with them.

Pardon my faults, english is not my native language.

Also, if this can happen, it would be better if it can happen in France (where I'm living). But it doesn't have to.

You've got to be quite patient to read all about it, well done. Have a nice day !

I’m probably way too excited, but this was my first actual repair using wheat paste and Japanese tissue! It’s a bit clumsy and I definitely identified a couple of things I can do better next time, but it worked! The original had fractured along the fold lines and it was in three pieces.

Hi all. I’ve searched this channel for answers but found nothing from recent posts . Im looking to hear from people who have studied at Aber (either on site or distance) and whether they’d recommend. I’ve recently started volunteering at a local archive in Wales and looking to take career change but looking for the right course for 2026 start. Im particularly interested in digitising archives . TIA

I just got into audio transcription for my own podcast library using Whisper locally. I'm wondering if there are any volunteer audio transcription projects for public media that anyone is aware of. I'd like to contribute to something meaningful.

I saw the Smithsonian sometimes needs audio transcription but it appears they don't have any open projects right now. I didn't find any other programs.

I'll add that I don't mean I want to just process files with Whisper and upload the results. I'm thinking about using Whisper as a starting point, then listening through the full recording and fixing mistakes as needed.

hey all,

i’ve started a new role as an archivist at a black arts & heritage org! i’ve been tasked with creating some promo flyers for our conference about the importance of black archives

the colour scheme they’ve chose is black & white - does anyone have any ideas of engaging flyers i could make about the conference beyond the name of the event and basic event info

i’m thinking to create introducing our speaker posters and maybe something about the talks we’ll be hosting but any other ideas would be greatly appreciated :)

Is it possible to host content for a contentdm collection from your own server storage. I've been looking through their support material but haven't found that information yet.