Category: Archival Issues

This is what happens when you cut a library’s budget

As I talked about in my letter to the Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, and the Secretary of Education, Dietra Trent, the Library of Virginia has been forced to make massive and devastating budget cuts, which account for 12% of their total staff being laid off. The other shoe has now dropped: the Library will… Continue reading This is what happens when you cut a library’s budget

My letter to Terry McAuliffe and Dietra Trent about the importance of the Library of Virginia

Below is a letter that I wrote to Governor Terry McAuliffe and Secretary of Education Dietra Trent about the proposed layoffs at the Library of Virginia. 26 state employees have to be laid off state-wide, and out of that number 15 are currently proposed to come from the Library of Virginia. It is unfair, inequitable,… Continue reading My letter to Terry McAuliffe and Dietra Trent about the importance of the Library of Virginia

Prospect research as an alternative career for archivists and librarians

This is the text of a presentation as written that I gave at the Fall meeting of MARAC in Roanoke, Va., on October 9, 2015. I adlibbed some, but it is pretty close. My name is Ben Bromley and I am a development research analyst with Virginia Commonwealth University. While this may seem to be… Continue reading Prospect research as an alternative career for archivists and librarians

MARAC Plenary thoughts: We will keep getting hit over the head with advocacy until we do it

During the MARAC plenary today, Kathleen Roe of the New York State Archives gave a rousing call for more advocacy by archivists for their profession to those external stakeholders who don’t necessarily know what we do but upon whom we rely for funding. It was an inspiring speech that had a number of us fired… Continue reading MARAC Plenary thoughts: We will keep getting hit over the head with advocacy until we do it

Does it matter if libraries and archives aren’t involved with open government data repositories?

Accessing information about government no longer has to mean going to a building and requesting permission to sift through paper documents. It doesn’t even have to mean writing a letter, filling out a complex form, or trying to figure out who to contact about public records or how to access records in the first place.… Continue reading Does it matter if libraries and archives aren’t involved with open government data repositories?

The Library of Virginia now has emails from Tim Kaine’s administration available online!

Since being hired by the Library of Virginia just over a year ago, a part of my job has been to process emails from the administration of Governor Tim Kaine, who was Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010. And last week, the first fruits of our labors were realized, with the release of over… Continue reading The Library of Virginia now has emails from Tim Kaine’s administration available online!

Going to MARAC!

I hope to see anyone and everyone at MARAC next weekend! I’ll try to post some updates like I did last year, even if I am able to tweet this year.

Disappearing documents, Archives Team, Facebook, and more: Link roundup 10/4/11

This time, on the link roundup, there are disappearing documents, distributed digital archives projects, inaccurate quilts, government records, and more! The Case of the Disappearing Documents [wsj.com] Archives Team: A Distributed Preservation of Service Attack [youtube.com] What Facebook’s Changes Mean for Museums and Visitor Serving Organizations [colleendilen.com] Metro ‘quilt’ art draws national scrutiny for historical inaccuracy [nashvillecitypaper.com] University’s digitization… Continue reading Disappearing documents, Archives Team, Facebook, and more: Link roundup 10/4/11