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Strengthen your organization's preservation capacity with DHPSNY Planning & Assessment Services. DHPSNY services connect your organization with our expert team to discuss your current practices, offer valuable recommendations, and establish personalized goals aligned with your unique needs. Whether you are a library, archive, museum, or historical society, DHPSNY can provide the guidance and resources you need to ensure the long-term preservation of your collections.

Why Apply for DHPSNY Services?

We concluded our Summer 2023 Planning & Assessment Services application review period this past July, and we're pleased to announce our independent field reviewers have selected seven collecting institutions to receive DHPSNY services.

Read the full press release.

We commend these organizations for their dedication to enhancing their preservation programs and practices, and it is with great honor that we embark on this journey alongside them.…

It’s once again that time of year when the DHPSNY team is asking you to share your thoughts, concerns, and emerging needs through our short annual survey. DHPSNY staff use this data to plan programming and services, and to determine what resources are most needed by New York’s cultural heritage community. Your input is essential to ensure that our work is continually useful!  

In 2022, a total of 150 respondents answered the…

Providing environmental controls is one of the greatest single steps an institution can take in preserving its collections. From mitigating environmentally-driven deterioration to understanding mechanical systems, DHPSNY's webinar, Back to the Basics: An Introduction to Environmental Monitoring, explored the importance of managing the collections environment and covered the steps needed to implement an environmental monitoring program.

Click here to view the recording…

Applications are open for DHPSNY Planning & Assessment Services, and the next submission deadline is Friday, November 3, 2023. Planning & Assessment services pair accepted organizations with DHPSNY staff to discuss current practices and set recommendations and goals specific to your capacity and needs. Final reports can be utilized to obtain additional funding, increase the accessibility and use of your collections, and more.

Applications for the following services will be reviewed in November 2023:

• Archival Needs Assessments: An…

Back in July, DHPSNY and antiracism program partner Aria Strategies co-presented a facilitated dialogue to talk and learn about effective strategies for describing our organization’s collections. So many of our object descriptions, exhibit labels, and metadata center the experiences and perspectives of white museum, library and archive volunteers and professionals. How, then, can we navigate a shift to centering the perspectives, knowledge, and understanding of directly impacted groups of people? 

In this dialogue participants were encouraged to think broadly about the ways…

Are you someone who is passionate about preserving and managing archival collections? Do you find yourself in a role that involves working with archives, but lack formal training in the field? Or perhaps you're simply looking to refresh your knowledge of archival management basics? If any of these descriptions resonate with you, we have an exciting opportunity you won't want to miss!

For the third year in a row, we will be presenting our Archives 101 online course. Archives 101 is a 3-week, asynchronous course intended for individuals who manage cultural collections, with a focus on…

We're excited to introduce the DHPS Tips How To video series, a companion to our educational DHPS Tips blog series. In short (under two-minute), hands-on instructional videos, we'll delve into essential strategies, best practices, and innovative techniques that both institutions and individuals can embrace.

The inaugural video in this series, Use an Archival Spacer, sheds light on a fundamental technique of  safely storing items in an archival document box. Even if they are in folders, papers in a document box can…

We're excited to announce a new round of the DHPSNY Mentorship Program. The current application is for cohorts that will meet from September – November 2023. Applications for this round must be submitted by Friday, August 25, 2023.

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, including volunteers, interns, students, and both emerging and seasoned professionals. Unlike the traditional one-on-one mentorship…

August traditionally means back-to-school shopping, and even in our digital world, pencils are a common school supply for kids. In archives, libraries, and other collecting institutions, having a stash of pencils is not limited to a particular time of year! They are in use constantly as one of the most important tools for working with collections.  

There are several reasons pencils are preferable to pens in any setting where you are working on, with, or near collections. As it states in the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) …