Blog

One of the most direct ways to drive change in a community can be deciding where to spend your money. Shopping at BIPOC-, LGBTQ+-, and women-owned and/or operated businesses are great ways to make a difference by supporting underserved groups. But how do we make this possible on an institutional scale? Today we are highlighting a few resources for choosing inclusive vendors for your institution's supply needs.

This past March, the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) hosted …

Just a few weeks ago in this series, we discussed the importance of conscious editing and reparative description, and some resources to help engage in this work internally. There has been a lot of discussion lately around antiracist descriptive practices, so this week we’re taking a look at some recent webinars and podcasts that provide examples of how some organizations are putting conscious editing and reparative description efforts into practice. 

The Native American Archives Section (NAAS) of the Society of American…

We're excited to announce a new round of DHPSNY's Mentorship Program! The current application is for cohorts that will meet from September 2021 through February 2022. Applications for this round must be received by August 13, 2021.

The DHPSNY Mentorship Program is designed to create a community that supports those who care for the unique library research materials and archival collections in the state of New York. Unlike the traditional one-on-one mentorship model, our program establishes mentorship circles, allowing individuals to serve as both a mentor and a mentee…

In our most recent live webinar presentation, Andrew Marietta, VP, Regional Development, New York Council of Nonprofits, presented an overview on the role of insurance, the various types and considerations for risk management, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. This webinar addressed how organizations can protect themselves against financial loss from exposure to certain risks, how best to manage organizational risks, and how to do so with limited resources.

Click here to view…

The deadline to apply for DHPSNY’s Summer 2021 Planning & Assessment Services Round has been extended! We will now be accepting applications until midnight EST on Friday, July 23. Applicants will be notified of their application status by September 2021. Our next application deadline will be in November 2021.  
 

Start an Application Today

To help you get started, we've outlined each of our services below with links to application materials. Our …

In our most recent live webinar presentation, Chloe Houseman, Paper Conservator at the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts, explored the importance of managing the environment in collections spaces and offers guidance on how to do so. This presentation answered questions such as—What should you think about when establishing an environmental monitoring plan? What is a datalogger and how do you select the right one? What are the basic tools needed to implement an environmental monitoring plan?

Click…

This week, we offer a guest post from our colleague Maggie Downing, Manager of Digital Imaging at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts.

In the past year and a half, as everyone abruptly shifted to experiencing the world through screens, I noticed a sudden uptick in requests for advice on large-scale digitization initiatives. As libraries, archives, and museums had to close their doors to visitors and researchers, there was a desire to put all of their resources online as soon as possible. I urged a slower and thoughtful approach to digitization through a…

In our most recent live webinar presentation, Julia Novakovic, Archivist at the Strong Museum of Play, discussed caring for endangered media formats such as floppy disks, u-matic tapes, and data tapes, which pose difficult preservation questions for collecting institutions. These increasingly obsolete media formats are sometimes pushed to the side when organizing and preserving archival collections, simply because we often don't know what to do with them. In this webinar, Julia shares her experience with identifying and caring for endangered media formats, as well as…

Since the language we use to describe archival materials has such manifold effects on the way those materials are discovered, accessed, and used, inclusive descriptive practices are an important tool in making collections equitable and accessible. Conscious editing initiatives have taken hold in many institutions, and constitute a set of considerations to evaluate previous and future descriptive practices. The University of North Carolina’s University Library is one such institution grappling with ways to include conscious editing in their daily work. Their…

In celebration of Pride, we are pleased to feature projects that focus on recording the history of LGBTQ+ people. This week, we offer a guest post from Dan DiLandro at SUNY Buffalo State on The Dr. Madeline Davis Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBTQ) Archives of Western New York.

While our community and collection initiatives mourn the recent passing of Dr. Madeline Davis, founder of the LGBTQ Archives of Western New York, we are heartened by the collection that she developed and the avenues that her activism led to, regarding further…