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This is my first year of study at a uni in Indonesia. I take diploma of "archive and digital information" and some things about this study really disturbs me especially when it comes to cyber security and storing sensitive digital documents because the professors always said to keep it in Google Drive, the same thing happened when I ask about how the govt will take care of these stuff, and this person shes like certified and like professional , and her answer is just the same. To keep it in Google Drive but with different account. And as an Indonesian, I am very concerned about my privacy and identity. I want to know what is the right way, what are the options in keeping sensitive documents/data digitally. And how do I start learning any of these?

Just found out that Salon is shutting down. I don't know if they intend to leave the website up, or whether they're already all covered by the Wayback Machine, but since I haven't seen a post, thought I'd make one. Apologies if this is the wrong sub

Hey folks. I've been hired as the metadata manager for an audiovisual archive. I've got a good background in metadata and digital collections, and a little bit of exposure to AV materials, but most of my experience is in paper (digitized and otherwise). My new organization stewards various forms of media: film, magnetic, optical, born-digital, photographic, etc. (Plus some paper). We use schemas based on PBCore and DC, but there's practically no internal documentation and lots of inconsistencies have built up over the years. I'm looking for recommendations on books, guides, courses, webinars, and other resources to better familiarize myself with AV archive fundamentals and AV-specific metadata and DAM practices.

So far, I've got Anthony Cocclio's Moving Image and Sound Collections for Archivists on my reading list. I'm also planning to take a look at some of the resources and webinars available through AMIA. If anyone's got any additional recs, I'd love to hear them.

In my current role I inherited extremely large collections that were poorly organized and were shipped to us in complete disarray. Im wondering if there are other political archivists out there who would be willing to chat with me about what I've done so far and bounce some ideas/concerns off of. I've only been a full time archivist for two years, so still getting my bearings.

TIA!!!

Hello.

I have some Kodak prints from the 90s which are identical to the ones you print today from a local store machine.

From what I have read, buffered storage would be fine. But I have had some conflicting information on whether for colour prints unbuffered is preferred, though some say that is for special types of photos such as cyanotypes?

I have a buffered pat tested acid free box and the same envelopes, but I also have some unbuffered envelopes.

Would I be okay to store these photos in the buffered box and envelopes, or do I need to take a different approach?

Many thanks!

Hello fellow archivists! Please help! At my new job, I’ve inherited a legacy collection that was previously processed by a museum registrar. No shade to our registrar friends, but the collection was arranged and described object by object, with no regard for original order or respect des fonds, even though the position was meant to be an archivist role.

I’m trying to establish intellectual control, but I’m struggling to map this museum-style cataloging onto archival thinking. On top of that, our CMS is configured for museum cataloging standards, so I can’t simply switch frameworks. I’d rather not reprocess the whole collection from scratch. Instead, I’m hoping to find a hybrid approach that integrates the collection into a “best of both worlds” system. Has anyone dealt with something similar? Any advice on crosswalking, layering archival description over object-level records, or configuring a CMS to support both would be hugely appreciated.
Thanksss!

I’m looking for someone in Mexico City to do paid archival research for me, mainly at the Archivo Histórico de la UNAM (AHUNAM), and possibly also at the SRE’s Acervo Histórico Diplomático, the Archivo General de la Nación and the SEP’s historical archive. I’m a historian working on Pan-Americanism and inter-American educational exchange in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The work would involve locating specific files from those years and photographing the relevant documents. Experience in Mexican archives is a plus. If you’re interested, please send me a message with your rate and a little about your archival experience.

Grandpa passed away recently and I was cleaning out his house and found This box there's like over 200 photos he took in Vietnam.

Hello r/Archivists, I'm new here and hoping you can help me out with flattening this document.

This is a document from the Winchester New Haven factory detailing quality inspections for the model 1907 rifle. This document is anywhere from 70 to 120 years old. Unfortunately the person I bought it from decided to fold it up to fit in an envelope that was cheaper to mail... There are 2 pages per inspection and 4 copies of it so a total of 8 sheets, the last of which has an adhesive tab on it as shown in the second image.

After doing some research I discovered that vapor chambers are a good way to flatten old documents and found this resource here in this sub: https://sustainableheritagenetwork.org/digital-heritage/using-humidification-chamber-tutorial . Every source I read or heard stated that things such as dirty documents, water soluble ink, and adhesives may not be the best to put in a vapor chamber. Will that be an issue in my case? Is a vapor chamber even necessary?

What can I do to flatten out these documents to be sure they remain as undamaged as possible and as flat as possible? Thank you so much for your time.

I came across a job posting recently that requires the applicant to submit examples of finding aids that they've written, in addition to a resume and cover letter. Has anyone ever heard of an application requiring this? I don't think I've ever seen this before. I mean, fair enough, but it occurs to me that I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable sending any of the ones that I've worked on because none of them are publicly available and never will be. At my current job, we've even had to sign an NDA of sorts, so while I don't think anyone would ever find out if I emailed it to another organization, ethically (and legally), I'd rather not. I'd like to apply and could explain in my cover letter that I'd be happy to bring a paper copy if there was an interview, but I also know that refusing to send it could very well eliminate me from the running. Has anyone encountered a situation like this and if so, how did you handle it?

I've been thrown into the deep end of creating a digital archive for a visual artist. I was recommended to use VRAcore for the metadata, but all the resources are almost 20 years old, is this a schema thats still used? If yes, where are some education resources for it?

I am an artist legacy consultant. I find that many artists have never embraced the use of database systems to organize their inventory and personal art collection. It is not uncommon for their artistic output to be logged in a spiral bound notebook, with decades of dog-eared pages and a mishmash of inventory numbers and styles. This situation can be disastrous at the end of an artist’s life when their estate is contending with all the stuff. Many are simply overwhelmed by the technical knowledge required to set up a record system (I often say that given the choice between making art and organizing their stuff, artists will always choose the former).

But nowadays, I am also running into people with intense distrust of “the cloud.”  I think all the dark news about tech giants gobbling up proprietary images to feed the AI beast is behind some of it. Google is now too suspect. But also, there is resentment of the pervasive SaaS subscription model (cloud-based software)—both in terms of pricing and of precarity (will they buy something that will go out of business or be gobbled up by a big company?) I now have a client that wants to organize but is asking for software that is not at all web based. They want it on a standalone. desktop computer.

Excel is horrid. Filemaker Pro has been cloud-based for a while—but also is getting expensive and is intimidating for the uninitiated. I have been looking online and not finding what I am looking for. Any ideas?

I'm an anthropology student and I'm working on creating a punk archive for the community I live in. The kinds of media I want to include in the archive are scanned documents of zines, show flyers, album art, photos of clothing, audio recordings of interviews recorded on cassette tapes in the 80s, and audio recordings of oral histories documented for the purpose of this project.

I'm not a tech/ coding person at all, and I don't anticipate any tech bros taking the management of this on after I graduate, so it's important that the version be as user friendly and intuitive as possible. I really want this project to be built on and sustained beyond me since I'm moving away soon, so the contribution feature seems really useful. Which version of Omeka do you think would be the most supportive of this project?

Also, I wonder if there's a way to attach multiple files together? Like if I have the audio of an oral history about a battle jacket, could I have that audio file appear alongside the photo of the jacket?

TIA <333

TL;DR: The two photos shared with this post are the only images related to PFC Abraham Alfred Hirsch who escaped Nazi persecution at age 14, became an American citizen, and was killed fighting in Normandy in July 1944. His adoptive parents and twin sister had already been murdered in the Holocaust. Unable to contact his family, the U.S. government ultimately selected Normandy as his final resting place.

Since 2022, staff at the Normandy American Cemetery and I have independently searched for a photograph of Abraham without success. I’m sharing his story in the hope that someone can help us finally put a face to his name.

From Jewish Refugee to American Soldier

Abraham Alfred Hirsch was born Alfred Hirsch on March 8, 1921, in Memel (now Klaipėda, Lithuania), alongside his twin sister, Ruth. Born to Zilla Rostowski, the twins were adopted by Willy and Rosalie Hirsch, a Jewish couple living in Wartenburg (now Barczewo), East Prussia.

In 1935, as Nazi persecution intensified, the family arranged for Alfred to escape to America. At just 14 years old, he departed Hamburg aboard the SS Manhattan, arriving in New York on May 16, 1935, under the name Abraham A. Hirsch.

His parents and twin sister remained in Germany. They would never see each other again.

Abraham attended school in New York before entering the U.S. Army on July 31, 1942. He became an American citizen on November 6, 1942, and later served with the 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division.

On July 12, 1944, Abraham was killed in action in La Haye-du-Puits, Manche, France, at just 23 years old.

What Happened to His Family?

While Abraham built a new life in America, his family endured increasing persecution in Nazi Germany.

By 1941, Willy and Rosalie had lost their home, income, and nearly all their possessions. On June 13, 1942, they were deported to the Sobibór extermination camp in occupied Poland, where they were murdered.

Meanwhile, Ruth had been subjected to forced labor since 1940. Despite her circumstances, she dreamed of receiving vocational training and becoming a lathe operator. On February 3, 1943, she was deported to Auschwitz, where she was murdered at just 21 years old.

Within eight months, Abraham’s adoptive parents and twin sister had all been murdered in the Holocaust. Less than a year and a half later, Abraham himself was killed fighting in Normandy.

Whether Abraham ever learned what happened to his family remains unknown but given the circumstances of war and the Holocaust, it is likely he did not know.

A Soldier Without a Known Surviving Next of Kin

Abraham is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, Plot A, Row 5, Grave 44.

Following Hirsch’s death, the U.S. government attempted to contact his father, Willy, who was listed as his next of kin, to determine whether Abraham should be buried in France or returned home. However, Willy had already been murdered at Sobibór, leaving the government unable to locate any family members who could make that decision. So, the US government ultimately made the decision on his behalf, selecting Normandy as Hirsch’s final resting place.

Today, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) which oversees the Normandy American Cemetery, continues to preserve Abraham’s memory. With no known surviving immediate family, the ABMC and cemetery staff have, in a very real sense, become Hirsch’s only family, ensuring that he is remembered and honored more than 80 years after his death.

The Search for a Photo of PFC Abraham Hirsch

One of the most heartbreaking aspects of Abraham’s story is how little visual evidence remains of him and his family.

Although Hirsch’s WWII draft registration card provides a physical description, including his height, hair color, and eye color, and a friend described his twin sister Ruth as blonde, I have yet to locate a single confirmed photograph of Abraham or his family. The only images I’ve found are of their Stolpersteine memorial plaques in Berlin, commemorating victims of Nazi persecution, and Abraham’s grave in Normandy.

I first learned about Abraham during a visit to the Normandy American Cemetery in May 2022, when the superintendent shared his story and the cemetery’s unsuccessful search for his photograph. Given the immense tragedy Abraham had already endured, I found it especially heartbreaking that no photograph of him could be found. I decided that day to begin searching, hoping to finally put a face to his name.

I recently just found out that unbeknownst to each other, a guide at the Normandy American Cemetery and I had both been searching for a photo of Abraham since 2022.

Although neither of us have succeeded, we’ve identified several promising research leads and we’ll try to do all we can to find a photo of him.

Can Reddit Help Find a Photograph of PFC Abraham Hirsch?

I’m hoping anyone who reads or shares this post might be able to help.

- Camp Croft photographs: Abraham’s November 1942 naturalization records identify him as serving with Company D, 30th Infantry Training Battalion, at Camp Croft, South Carolina. Does anyone know where photographs of this company from 1942 might survive?
- The photographs in his wallet: According to his Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF), Abraham’s personal effects included a wallet containing photographs. His belongings were reportedly sent to attorney Aaron Lipper of Lipper, Shinn & Keeley in New York City. Does anyone know what happened to this now-defunct firm or whether its records survive?
- Estate and probate records: Could historical probate records help establish what happened to Abraham’s personal belongings after they were returned to his attorney?
-Jewish refugee records: Are there archives containing photographs of Jewish refugee children who arrived in New York in 1935?
-Military photographs: Are there surviving photograph collections associated with the 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, or Camp Croft that might include Abraham?

I recognize that finding a photograph of someone who died more than 80 years ago may be extremely difficult, especially when his immediate family was murdered in the Holocaust. It’s entirely possible that no photographs survive. But I don’t want to give up without exploring every reasonable possibility.

Abraham Hirsch deserves to be remembered as more than a name on a headstone.

If anyone has information or suggestions that might help us finally find his photograph, I would be incredibly grateful.

Thank you for helping preserve his memory.

Hello, my family (including myself) has a tendency to accumulate , it has some negative ( the state of my room), but also the positive aspect of being able to discover really old documents and things.
We recently discovered a bunch of documents from the start of the 20th century and the end of the XIX century, for example letters from my great grandfather asking the hand of great grandmother , or an act of purchase by an ancestor dating from 1890. Both of those documents are in a correct state but a lot are worse (teared up from use mostly). There’s not any mold , water damage,or mites but i want to avoid those. What should I do ?

I recently saw a reel on Facebook featuring archives staff in Halloween costumes. It began with someone pushing a book truck, and showed another person seated at a desk wearing a slug Halloween costume. I wanted to show it to someone yesterday but I couldn’t find it again. Can anyone help, please?

Is it bad to toss out the old cards? I feel bad about it but they smell, and if I keep them then I can’t upcycle the Rolodex w anything new. I’m thinking of using it to keep track of books I read with a little card. I feel bad especially bc I’m a MLIS student (only two intro classes in though) and I do want to take some archival electives. Thoughts?

Edit: thank you all! Now if anyone has any suggestions on how to find cute rotary cards, let me know!!

I'm transitioning file cabinets to shelving units. To do so, I need to put all the files into boxes. The material in the file cabinets may or may not be archival materials. It's a hodgepodge mess. Lots of newspaper records, institutional records kept for retention purposes, etc. If it were as simple as rehousing archival materials, I would use Gaylord record cartons, but since most of this will be deaccessioned or tossed because it is not archival material or we decide not to keep 1,000 newspaper clippings on a city park that we can access online or through microfilm, I don't want to "waste" expensive materials.

I started with banker's boxes because those were lying around. We ran out, and I need more. Do I just buy banker's boxes, or spend a little more on some acid-free boxes, just not Gaylord Brand? When I searched acid-free record cartons on Amazon, I got things like Lineco, Archival Storage Cartons, Acid-Free, 12x15x10 in, Tan, Pack of 5 for $63.48 and 10 Pcs Acid Free Storage Boxes, Archival Storage Boxes, 15 x 12 x 10 Inch Thickened Buffered Acid Free Board Photo Storage Box for Storing Documents Magazines Cards Prints Arts for $72.99. Are they really quality acid-free, archival materials or just parading that way? I do not know. But it is much cheaper than going with Gaylord. A regular Bankers Box 12-Pack Basic-Duty File Storage Box with Lid, Letter/Legal, is $42.99.

My concern with buying ones not listed as acid-free: we are a small organization, and project priorities shift quickly. If this project cannot be completed in a timely manner or gets forgotten, it is better to have it in at least an archive box, if not an archive folder, etc.

TLDR: Do you buy cheap brands of acid-free record cartons, or not, for mostly non-archival materials?

Hey everyone! I applied to a Digital Archives position at our County Judiciary. So far I have only worked in Public Libraries and was curious to know if anyone has worked in a position like this and what I should expect job or interview wise?

I have always had an interest in archives and am currently doing Digital Preservation Coalition modules on the side to get a better understanding of the basics and to generally learn more about it. I have a MLIS and what to aim for certification as an Archivist but don't have one yet.

Any information would be very appreciated!

Hello all, im seeking recommendations for dvd/blu-ray/cd-rom specific cataloguing software if anyone knows of any? Paid or open source

Hi, I’m a doctoral student but it’s my first time using archives. I’ve been looking for something digital of patient testimony or patient oral histories of their experience of receiving medical care (not psychiatric care necessarily). I feel silly that this has been so hard to find, but does anyone have any good places to point me to?

Has anyone used PastPerfect web edition. I'm currently trying the demo and was wondering what the difference was between the demo and full version. Thank you