Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives: A How-To-Do-It Manual

Since its original publication Hunter's manual has been "not only a rich and ready reference tool but also a practical resource for solving problems" (Catholic Library World), and no text has served as a better overview of the field of archives. Newly revised and updated to more thoroughly address our increasingly digital world, including integration of digital records and audiovisual records into each chapter, it remains the clearest and most comprehensive guide to the discipline. Editor of American Archivist, the journal of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), Hunter covers such keystone topics as

• a history of archives, including the roles of historical societies and local history collections in libraries;
• new sections on community archives, diversity, and inclusion;
• conducting a survey and starting an archival program;
• selection, appraisal, acquisition, accessioning, and deaccessioning;
• important points of copyright, privacy, and ethics;
• arrangement of archival collections, with a discussion of new theories;
• description, including DACS, EAD, and tools such as ArchivesSpace;
• access, reference, and outreach, with a look at how recent innovations in finding aids can help researchers;
• preservation, including guidance on how to handle rare books, maps, architectural records, and artifacts;
• digital records, addressing new and popular methods of storage and preservation of email, social media, image files, webpages, Word documents, spreadsheets, databases, and media files;
• disaster planning, security, and theft prevention;
• metrics, assessment, establishing employee procedures and policies, working with interns and volunteers, and other managerial duties;
• public relations and marketing, from social media and the Web to advocacy; and
• professional guidelines and codes, such as the newly developed SAA Statement of Core Values of Archivists.

Providing in-depth coverage of both theory and practice, this manual is essential for archivists at all levels of experience and of all backgrounds.

Dr. Gregory S. Hunter is a Professor in the Palmer School of Library and Information Science, Long Island University, where he directs the Certificate of Advanced Study in Archives and Records Management. He holds a Ph.D. and two master's degrees from New York University and a bachelor s degree from St. John's University in New York. Dr. Hunter is both a Certified Archivist and a Certified Records Manager. He previously served as Manager of Corporate Records for ITT Corporation and Director of Archival Programs for the United Negro College Fund. From 2004-2009, Dr. Hunter served as Principal Archivist and Records Manager on a team headed by Lockheed Martin to build the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) for the National Archives and Records Administration; the team was awarded a $308 million contract in September 2005. Dr. Hunter is co-inventor on four patents in the area of digital preservation submitted by the project team in the United States and the European Union. In 2017, Dr. Hunter completed a six-year term as Editor of The American Archivist, the premier peer-reviewed journal in the field. Two of his books have received awards from the Society of American Archivists. In the last three years, Dr. Hunter has received $2.2 million in external funding to digitize materials in local historical societies and to make available Robert Moses' archival legacy on Long Island.