Alpha Phi recently shared about the progress and impact of their partnership with HistoryIT. The Summer 2023 issue of The Quarterly discussed the process and goals of building Alpha Phi’s robust digital archive with a focus on expansion of preservation for chapters.
Curious to learn more about HistoryIT’s services and software? Drop us a line, anytime.
Your organization’s rich history and vibrant culture provides unique opportunities for engagement on social media. By effectively sharing your stories, you can foster and grow your community. Since history is our specialty, we’ve put together five ways to use your history on social media.
One of the most powerful (and easiest) ways to engage your audience is by sharing old photos. Images can immediately spark memories and connection. Instagram and Facebook are ideal for showcasing visuals and telling the stories behind them. A digital museum can be a great resource to discover or rediscover some hidden histories that your audience will love.
Encourage your members to contribute their own memorable moments. These shared experiences will not only strengthen connections within your organization, but also promote a sense of belonging with new and prospective members.
Have fun with your next #TBT!
Celebrating your organization’s milestones on social media can foster excitement, pride and engagement among members and the broader community. Whether it’s commemorating anniversaries, highlighting significant achievements or recognizing exceptional individuals, sharing these milestones demonstrates the longevity and impact of your organization.
Look for archival materials relevant to the milestone you’re sharing. Those could be photos, letters, awards, memorabilia, etc. Think of things that can provide a visual for the occasion or can share never before seen perspectives. A digital archive can be a one stop shop to help you find those iconic pieces and the gems that have been hidden away for decades. (Thank you metadata tagging!)
Utilize video content where available and dedicated hashtags to amplify the celebration. Encourage others to share their personal experiences and engage in the conversation. You might be surprised by the heartfelt messages they share.
Members and alumni play a vital role in the legacy of any organization, but they can be located across the country — or globe. Thanks to social media groups, you can build and strengthen connections within your network and foster a sense of continued involvement and loyalty.
If members have already created dedicated groups on Facebook or LinkedIn, join them! If not, find a teammate to champion building and inviting members. Private groups can be a great way to communicate internal resources, announce upcoming special events, and share more in-depth stories with your biggest supporters.
This is a fantastic outlet to share more nuanced archival materials. Something that involved members love to dig into, but wouldn’t see huge numbers on your main feed. Giving your biggest fans more to interact with only makes them that much more dedicated to your organization. Serving it up in a way that feels exclusive — even better.
Whether it’s just a snippet or a larger piece, you can leverage the power of storytelling to share unique aspects of your history with a broad audience on social.
Consider featuring members who have made significant contributions to their communities or share stories of important fundraising events throughout your history. By highlighting these narratives, you not only inspire others, but also showcase the consistent values and positive impact of your organization.
Locate relevant videos, photos and archival objects to help provide visuals that bring the story to life. A digital archive can help your team uncover unique assets quickly. They can then incorporate those visuals into compelling and shareable content.
Social media platforms offer a powerful medium for organizing and promoting fundraising campaigns. Whether it’s supporting a philanthropic cause or funding programs in the organization, using social media allows you to reach a broader audience and rally support.
Using your organization’s history can add depth to your social fundraising campaign. Sharing photos or stories about your past support of a particular cause or program will demonstrate your consistent dedication. That goes a long way when building trust with donors. Those good memories can also spark nostalgia that translates into giving.
In addition to the traditional crowdfunding platforms or dedicated donation pages on your website, Facebook Fundraisers offers a way for donors to give without having to click through. The easier it is for them to give, the more willing they’ll be to contribute.
By utilizing the history and culture of your organization on social media, you can create a layered and engaging online presence. These tactics will not only strengthen the bonds within your organization but also expand your reach, raise awareness and inspire others to connect over their shared history.
Access to your historical assets helps you to more quickly develop an enhanced social presence. Digital museums have advanced search filters to pinpoint the precise type of item you’re looking to share. You can also connect your audience on social media with your bigger picture through exhibits, timelines and biographies.
If you don’t have a digital museum yet, but are interested in creating a tool for your team, we’re here for you. We work with a wide variety of organizations to develop digital preservation strategies and provide all the support they need to build robust digital archives.
Grants provide the resources often necessary to fund research projects, preserve artifacts, digitally preserve archives and provide digital access to collections. However, the process of writing a successful grant proposal can be daunting, but also very exciting! To make the process a bit easier, we’ve put together five tips that will help you navigate the grant writing process effectively and increase your chances of securing funding to save your organization’s history.
Before diving into the grant writing process, it is essential to clearly define your project’s goals and objectives. Identify the specific outcomes you aim to achieve, whether it’s preserving a specific collection, digitally preserving historical documents or conducting research on a particular historical topic. Clear goals will demonstrate your project’s focus and help grant reviewers understand the impact of your work.
Put these goals on paper (or in a Google doc)! We often think our goals are defined, but when we challenge ourselves to write them out, we gain clarity. Meet with your team or find a colleague to brainstorm and/or review the goals you’ve written. This will provide direction as you search for grants and begin the formal writing process.
Invest time in researching and identifying grant opportunities that align with your project’s objectives. We’re seeing a growing number of foundations, government agencies and non-profit organizations offering grants in the digital preservation space.
Each grant has its own requirements and preferences. Carefully review the eligibility criteria, funding priorities and submission guidelines to ensure your proposal meets the expectations of the grantor.
If you’re unfamiliar with the organization, take some time to understand their mission and culture. Even if it’s a group you’ve heard about previously, check to see if any major changes have taken place. Tailoring your proposal to fit the specific goals and values of the granting organization will significantly increase your chances of success.
We’ve done some of the heavy lifting for you and compiled a list of available grants that can help save your history here!
Craft a narrative that clearly communicates the importance of your project, its potential impact and why it aligns with the grantor’s mission. Introduce the historical significance of your topic, highlight how it relates to broader themes or contemporary issues and discuss your work’s long term impact.
Use persuasive language to convey your passion, expertise and commitment to the field of history and digital preservation. Supporting your narrative with relevant data, case studies and/or community or industry testimonials will further strengthen your proposal.
Here’s a quick persuasive writing guide from Grammarly and another from the University of Minnesota. Even if you’re an expert wordsmith, a refresh can be helpful to get in the *write* headspace.
Develop a detailed and realistic budget that clearly outlines how the grant funds will be spent. Identify all the necessary expenses, including personnel, equipment, supplies, travel costs, third party vendors and any other relevant expenses. Be sure to align your budget with the specific guidelines provided by the grantor. Justify each expense, demonstrating how it contributes to the successful completion of your project. A well-constructed budget will enhance the credibility of your proposal and showcase your ability to manage funds effectively.
If you’d like to include specific figures for costs associated with digital preservation imaging, metadata work, collections management software and online curation, feel free to reach out. We are here to help you save history.
Grant writing can be an iterative process. Seek input from colleagues, mentors or experts in your field. Be sure to remain open to feedback and thoroughly consider opinions. New perspectives and insights can help you refine and strengthen your proposal and address any potential weaknesses.
Additionally, consider partnering with other organizations that share similar interests and goals. Collaboration can not only enhance the impact of your project, but also show your ability to work well with others which can increase your chances of being awarded funding.
Facebook groups or listservs can be great resources to find organizations to collaborate with or individuals willing to grab a coffee and brainstorm. By all means, build your grant writing network!
Writing a successful grant proposal requires careful planning, meticulous research and effective communication. No small task! Remember, grant writing is a skill that improves with practice. Be persistent, learn from each experience and keep refining your approach. Best of luck in securing the funding needed to preserve your stories and make history accessible!
We have that list of digital preservation grant opportunities for you here.
As always, we’re available to provide more information about how we can support your project and any details needed for your budget proposal. Drop us a line anytime.
Your history is not merely a collection of past events. It’s a treasure trove of experiences, lessons and wisdom that can shape your present and pave the way for a brighter future.
By digitally preserving your history and sharing it in a digital archive you’ll create an incredibly powerful tool for your team to better engage with and learn from your audiences.
We’ve put together a brief list of ways to use your history (and your digital archive), but truly the opportunities are endless.
A strong, established history can be a very compelling reason to join an organization. People want to be a part of something larger than themselves. You can use your historical materials to demonstrate how belonging to your organization has created that experience for people for decades, or maybe even centuries.
By creating access to archival materials, your team can easily and more clearly craft messaging to communicate your core values that have attracted new members and staff throughout your history. They can look to founding documents to review the original vision or showcase past accomplishments.
As you share photos, quotes or information with potential new members and staff, provide links to your digital archive so those interested can dive further. Remember that you’re building the next generation of your organization! Creating that sense of belonging and connection from the get-go is essential.
Whether you’re a member-based organization or just in need of getting new team members up to speed, your history can be a helpful onboarding tool.
By making your materials, timelines, exhibits and biographies easily accessible, your members and staff can better understand your mission and how it has evolved over time. Your history can also inspire new ideas and initiatives based on past successes or challenges.
If you have a new member or staff training guide, consider weaving your archival materials into that piece. Provide links to your digital museum for relevant content as you discuss your organization’s history, mission and values. By sharing additional, engaging resources, your team will develop a deeper connection.
Some organizations have unique traditions. Sharing the history of these events helps new members understand the meaning and symbolism woven throughout. Each HistoryIT digital museum has the capability to share “member-only” materials to ensure the security of confidential materials.
Your historical materials can provide your team a wealth of content to connect with your audiences — members, staff, the local community, etc. With digital access to old photos, documents and memorabilia, you have a treasure trove of materials to share and inspire.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
From #TBT to kitschy holidays, a fully searchable digital archive can help your social team to quickly find quality content. They’ve likely been dipping into the same wells for years. Now your followers can interact with fresh material that’s highly relevant to their interests — you.
Social media is a great platform to share “mini-histories.” You might come across a photo or a program that has a unique story, but not quite enough to fill out a blog post or podcast. The short attention span of social scrollers is a fantastic place to share that history.
You also have the opportunity to tell your larger story to a broad audience. In a digital museum you can develop carefully crafted exhibits, timelines and biographies. You can then share all of those curated experiences on social media to help educate and engage your followers.
Many organizations produce publications, blogs and podcasts. With a digital archive you can easily explore new ideas for articles or add context to previously planned pieces.
Consider unique pieces within your collection and what stories they can tell. You could create a fun spread that uses photos to show the evolution of fashion from the perspective of your organization. Or you could use menus from event programs to discuss the history of food or traditional dishes served.
Many of your current activities are likely connected to your past in some way. If developing a story about an upcoming initiative, consider incorporating your history into the piece. With a digital archive you can conduct a quick topical search that would likely yield relevant content to add credibility or depth for your audience.
Your history can both be the focal point of an event and inspiration for events.
Consider hosting a virtual trivia night. Participants can use your digital museum to answer questions! It’s a fun way to get people to engage with your organization’s history and show them how to explore the resource you’ve created.
You can also host virtual exhibit opening events. The beauty of a digital museum is that you can refresh exhibit content without the fabrication and installation expenses. That means you can share more stories with more people. When you release a new experience, put together an unveiling and have someone share a few words.
When planning an event, you can search through your digital archive for opportunities to include quotes from prominent figures. You can also use archival materials to inspire elements of an in person event — from themes and menus to promotional materials.
HistoryIT’s digital archives all connect to a Google Analytics account that provides powerful insights into visitor behavior and preferences. By analyzing data, such as page views, keyword searches and visitor demographics, you can gain a deeper understanding of your audiences’ interests and tailor offerings accordingly.
This extends beyond the curation of your digital museum to the selection of content to share via social media, email or publications. You can even review visitor behavior to inform the direction and strategy for your next fundraising campaign or donor solicitation.
This data-driven approach can help you identify trends with more certainty and yield better results.
When it comes to fundraising, history can be a powerful tool.
History can also help build relationships with donors. If you know a potential donor’s connection to your organization or how their personal interests relate, look for relevant materials in your digital archive to share. Those little details make a big impact. If someone can see themselves and their interest in your organization, they’ll be motivated to give. Perhaps on a larger scale.
Digital archives also provide a unique opportunity to acknowledge donors. The biographies section included in almost all the digital museums we develop can be used to highlight significant donors. If they’ve donated to the preservation of your organization’s history, you can easily provide naming opportunities on the digital archive itself.
If you want to dive in a bit more, we have a blog post on “How to Fundraise with a Digital Museum.”
Put your history to use. If you need help brainstorming further, drop us a line. We love this stuff!
If you don’t have a digital museum yet, but know your organization could benefit from one — we’re here to help. We work with a wide variety of organizations to develop digital preservation strategies and provide all the support they need to build robust digital archives.
It’s no secret that organizations adjusted their office models in 2020. However, what we once saw as a temporary necessity has become the norm.
A Gallup survey in June 2022 found that 8 in 10 employees work either remotely or in a hybrid model. That is expected to continue as only 6% of employees prefer to work fully in the office and 57% say they’d leave their job if unable to have some remote work options.
Indeed, JPMorgan Chase CEO pointed out that their adopted hybrid structure meant that for every 100 employees, they only need 60 desks. Earlier this year Google Cloud announced their five largest U.S. offices are moving to a desk sharing model with hybrid employees coordinating in-office and remote days.
The cost saving measures for downsizing office space in tandem with improved employee satisfaction is making this less of a trend and more of a paradigm shift — this extends to sororities and fraternities. However, there are many considerations to take into account when moving offices, especially when you have materials documenting decades (or centuries) of history.
Many of HistoryIT’s fraternal clients have cited current or future plans to downsize offices as a driving factor in their need to digitally preserve their historical materials. While it might seem to be adding another task to the never-ending relocation to-do list, it’s an important time to evaluate the storage and organization of your archival assets.
We have a few of questions to ask when planning your move to determine if now is the right time to address your legacy materials:
If so, you could stand to profit from the sale. Those funds could then be used to support a digital preservation project.
If not, having a professionally trained team assess your archives prior to a relocation could prevent loss of precious materials. Moving offices can be chaotic. Without a firm grasp on what is where, things can be easily misplaced or lost.
If not, consider your alternatives. Storage units can be a quick solve, but they lack environmental controls. Also, you lose the ability to easily access your materials.
HistoryIT now offers long-term archival storage. With our expertise, you can trust that your history is in good hands. It also streamlines the digital preservation process in order to provide complete, instant access as quickly as possible.
Office moves are happening more than ever before. We know how complicated that process can be. That’s why we’re here to help. If you’re considering a relocation, reach out to chat about how to handle your history during that process.
As the school year winds down, ensure your chapter house is set up for success. With fewer people coming and going (or none at all), it’s important to consider a few extra details and take necessary precautions. You want to protect the home and the materials within it, including your history.
To help make that process easier, we’re sharing a few tips to get your chapter house ready for the off season. If you love a good checklist, we have that for you here.
Take stock of what you have and what you need to keep for preservation purposes. While we can’t reliably determine what will be important in years to come, we can make some informed decisions.
With that in mind, here are a some examples of things to keep an eye out for:
Look for anything moldy. Mold will endanger all of your historical materials — stop it in its tracks and get rid of moldy materials as soon as you discover them.
Fires, floods — they happen when you’re there and when you’re away. They can cause irreparable damage to your historical materials.
We highly recommend forming an archives disaster plan, which you can dig into here. For a quick run-down, we have some highlights:
Empty houses attract unwanted attention. From pranks to break-ins, theft can rob you of so much more than your material goods. When it comes to history, your precious items tell a bigger story. That’s priceless.
There are a few things you can do to prevent theft:
Packing materials aren’t necessarily a threat to your items, but using the right ones can make a big difference in protecting your treasures for the long term. So as you’re storing your historical materials, which include this year’s items, do so thoughtfully.
We have some tips as you put things into storage:
There is no better time to preserve history than as it’s happening. You can so easily lose track of time and forget the details. You will absolutely thank yourself in the future.
We have a complete guide for how to save your chapter’s history here. Let’s do a quick summary to help brainstorm:
While all of the above helps to protect the tangible items that communicate your story, digital preservation is the only future-proof solution. Summer can be a great time to take on a digital preservation project. With fewer people in the house, it’s much easier to coordinate and get things done quickly. Plus, it’ll give you peace-of-mind during the next break.
As always, we’re here to help.
More and more organizations want to digitize their materials with the intent of preserving and sharing them. The realization that technology can help extend the lives of physical materials shows that stewards of history are moving in a forward-thinking direction. However, we often find that these efforts have pitfalls — no strategy, an intern with a scanner, lack of management software, etc.
To help prevent headaches and wasted resources, we’re sharing what it takes to properly create a digital archive. We’ve broken it down into three basic steps: develop a strategy, conduct proper digital preservation and share the materials you’ve preserved.
Building a digital preservation strategy is the essential step in creating a digital archive. Investing time in this phase of the process will only improve your end product.
Your strategy will inform the team every step of the way. Most importantly, it ensures your digital archive will be searchable and therefore accessible. A quality strategy also provides guide rails to help stay focused on the broader goals and adhere to established organizational structures.
The first step is to evaluate your historical materials. Consider the types of materials. Are they paper based, bound publications, jewelry, photos, clothing or something else entirely?
You may already have a catalog of your items, but reviewing that in the context of digital preservation will help inform the process. Start considering the logistics of preservation imaging, terminology used to describe each, etc.
You will want to take note of the quantity of each item type. This will help you determine the amount of time needed to digitally preserve your collections. It can also guide the prioritization of which materials to process first. If you have a large magnetic tape collection, consider moving that up the list as it’s at peak degradation.
In your assessment take a closer look at your storage facilities. Are there controls in place for temperature and humidity? Do you have proper fire suppression systems in place? (More about that here.) Are your materials stored in a way that won’t damage or alter the items? Do you use acid-free folders and boxes?
While your goal is digital preservation, it’s a good time to take stock of how you’re safeguarding physical objects as well. If there are unavoidable circumstances, such as storage limitations, that may impact which items you prioritize. Most at risk goes first.
We all have the tendency to work in silos. It creates the assumption that everyone thinks the way we and our closest colleagues do. Conducting a series of stakeholder interviews expands your point of view. The information you gather informs your strategy and leads to a digital archive designed for all users rather than specific groups.
When selecting interviewees think about the end user. Once accessible, who will be using your digital archive? Will they be your internal development and marketing teams? Will they be potential donors? Are your end users sixth graders working on a research project? Are you hoping to share your stories with members or potential members?
Gathering the input of your target audiences will inform your process and prioritization. Perhaps most importantly, it will help you select which terminology to use and which stories to tell. You’ll likely be surprised by the findings — we often are.
To help get you started, here’s a guide for hosting stakeholder interviews.
Of course you’ll be brainstorming throughout this process, but pause and dedicate time to ideation. Think through the details.
Spending time here will pay dividends in the long run. This is where you’ll consider the way your target audiences want to interact with your digital archive. What stories are most compelling to them? Are there materials that are particularly interesting or helpful to them? What search phrases are they most likely to use?
Your strategy should structure the experience in a way that maximizes accessibility.
Once you’ve gathered your information, thoroughly evaluate your preservation needs and the audience expectations. Establish your goals and priorities. Then consider the necessary steps to execute your plan. Do you have the equipment and skills necessary? Do you need to outsource all or portions of this to get it done in a reasonable time?
Lay everything out in a document and make sure all parties review and agree with the plan. Then get to work — and stick to the strategy.
There are two pillars of digital preservation — preservation and access. You want to make sure your assets will last and that people can find them. Both require careful consideration and expertise.
This is most often where we see people assigning all tasks to interns that should be done by highly trained professionals. We cannot emphasize enough, simply scanning materials is not digital preservation.
Proper digital preservation results in searchable archival master files. Let’s dive in.
Digital preservation imaging requires precise lighting, levels, color and more — all meeting the standards of the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI). Images must be saved as raw master files, also known as TIFFs, in order to future proof against ever-changing technology.
Remember floppy discs and CDs? No longer useful. While hard to imagine, JPGs, PDFs and PNGs will one day be obsolete. A TIFF, however, is at such a high resolution that future iterations of file formats can be derived from the master file.
HistoryIT’s team has thousands of hours of experience and exceeds the FADGI guidelines. You can access our digital preservation imaging guide here.
Data about data — it’s so meta.
Metadata are terms used to describe an archival asset — names, dates, locations, condition or any relevant information about the item. Traditionally, historians use metadata to index and organize their collections. But in digital preservation, metadata tags become a magical tool that connects every element of your digital collections and creates an interactive experience.
Making history accessible means meeting the visitors where they are — physically and mentally. Using metadata terms that fit a user’s natural language, as opposed to terms developed for and by professional researchers, allows for the average individual to quickly find the information they need.
When researching online users expect to have a similar experience as they do with Google. Developing metadata with that in mind not only improves their onsite experience, but it also ensures your materials populate Google searches, which helps attract new visitors.
Whatever terms you select, maintain consistency when implementing. It can quickly turn into a game of telephone if team members begin to stray from the plan.
If you want to nerd out about metadata with us, we’re here for that.
You’ve created a strategy, conducted proper digital preservation imaging, thoughtfully selected metadata — now where do you put all that? A collections management software (CMS) will house and organize your assets and data.
You’ll want a CMS flexible enough to meet the unique structure and contents of your collections. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll want a software capable of building a public facing, fully searchable digital archive. Because why go to the effort of digitally preserving your materials if not to share them?
In order to truly share your historical materials, you need to offer portals for discovery. That’s why when we developed our own CMS, Odyssey Preservation Software, we made it easy to share stories and a variety of curated experiences. Timelines, biographies, exhibits, etc. — they all give users starting points to dive deeper into your materials.
In order to truly share your historical materials, you need to offer portals for discovery. That’s why when we developed our own CMS, Odyssey Preservation Software, we made it easy to share stories and a variety of curated experiences. Timelines, biographies, exhibits, etc. — they all give users starting points to dive deeper into your materials.
Need a little help weighing the pros and cons of different types of CMS? We have a guide for you here.
Any step in the direction of developing a digital archive is a good one. It’s how we’re going to save history and make it accessible to everyone.
Now, this may all seem overwhelming, which is completely understandable. We’re here to help.
If you need some support developing strategy, working through the time consuming digital preservation process or need software to manage it all — we’ve got you.
We’re happy to chat through your needs and find the solution that’s right for you.
Our society has placed great importance on preserving our past. For centuries we’ve built repositories to store and organize historical materials. These archives have ensured that primary sources remain available for future generations.
In the digital age, there’s a great opportunity to more openly share those critical pieces of our history. Though digital preservation means so much more than scanning and uploading.
Our CEO, Kristen Gwinn-Becker, dives into the true meaning of digital preservation and how HistoryIT is using it to create equitable access to our shared past.
If you’re interested in saving your history, get in touch. We’d love to help preserve and share your story.
Digitally preserving your archival materials provides a multitude of benefits. Your history is saved for future generations — pretty important, if you ask us. But digitally preserving an archive also creates an incredibly valuable tool for an organization.
Continue reading “How to Fundraise with a Digital Museum”History is happening now — right this second. Your stories matter. Future generations will want to understand their chapter’s legacy and how they fit into the bigger picture. In a few years, you’ll want to be able to take trips down memory lane and be reminded of these incredible, foundational years.
Continue reading “5 Ways to Save Your Chapter’s History”
