Here is a comprehensive, authoritative introduction to the elements of day-to-day operations of local government archives, with special emphasis on best practices and practical solutions and strategies for establishing and improving such things as storage, environmental control, staffing, and intellectual control. It includes a chapter on general consideration for preservation of electronic archival records. Local government records are the records that most directly touch the lives of U. S. residents: deeds and property records, marriage licenses, school transcripts, law suits, and more, yet these records are often the most neglected records in the country. This guide is designed to appeal both to trained archivists as well as to those without formal training but find they are dealing with the administration of an archives program in a municipality, county, parish, township or borough, or a quasi-governmental entity such as a water district or a regional transportation authority. Managing Local Government Archives describes and prescribes the essential elements and best practices of a local government archives program. It is intended to be both a text for classroom instruction and a self-help tool for both professional and paraprofessional archivists. It is also intended to be helpful to local governments considering the planning and implementation of a formal archives program. Coverage encompasses the various domains of archival enterprise as practiced in a local government setting: acquisition, appraisal, arrangement and description, preservation, access, relationship to the records management profession, and other topics.

Archival records are meant to serve as evidence of responsible governance, and in addition to their undeniable political value, they also serve as the basic component of a nation’s documentary heritage. Records today are history tomorrow. However, with the absence of an Archives Law in Hong Kong and the significance of keeping records being overlooked or actually not understood by people of Hong Kong, there are heightened concerns that government records would be destroyed for unjustifiable reasons and that public’s rights to access well-preserved government records would be deprived of. This book in 16 chapters is based on a series of direct face-to-face interviews with different practising archivists and special library managers in Hong Kong. Their conversations recorded in the book not only enable readers to understand the urgency of approving the Archives Law, but also reveal the details about their profession, as well as the richness of the local heritage that is uniquely Hong Kong. While the role of archivists is always being confused with that of librarians, this book clarifies the function and job nature of the two professions and demonstrates the prospects they have and challenges they face. The book also serves as a reference guide for current students and graduates who are considering choosing the archival science or library and information science profession, providing them insights into the life and work of archivists and special library managers.

"This practical book considers the causes of threats to the basic material, outline the preservation options available and offers flexible solutions applicable in a variety of situations. Benefiting from the author's contact with international specialists at The National Archives, it offers a wide range of case studies and examples. This is a vital handbook for professional archivists, but also for the many librarians, curators and enthusiasts, trained and untrained, in museums, local studies centres and voluntary societies in need of good clear advice."--BOOK JACKET.

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. Former 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.