What are /r/Archivists' favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I'm currently enrolled in an Archives and Records Management track, and our go-to text book is "Managing Archives" by Caroline Williams: link on Amazon

Here's a list of software that I've used and come across pretty regularly:

• ArchivesSpace
• ContentDM
• Islandora
• BitCurator
• Archivematica
• OpenRefine
• ePADD
• ABBYY FineReader

I'm not sure how useful it would be to really delve into learning the specifics of how to use these, but knowing what these are and what alternative options are out there for things like content management and digital preservation can't hurt. Most of the list I made is open-source software because the archives I've worked in preferred to go that route. The plus side of that is most of that list is free so you can play around with it...the downside being it can be very frustrating to install and actually get working.

The one exception might be OpenRefine. I have found that program to be super helpful with lots of different projects and I tell anyone who's even half interested that it's worth learning. It's a data cleanup tool and it made my life so much easier once I got the hang of it. I've used it for database projects but also just cleaning up messy box lists.

The error you're getting is the 406 HTML response. That means wget is setting certain Accept conditions that the server is telling you it's unable to meet. This can happen sometimes when attempting to set the user-agent. Check this Stack Overflow discussion for a similar problem. You may need to additionally specify certain Accept headers instead of letting wget use full wildcards.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17182553/sites-not-accepting-wget-user-agent-header

For someone dealing with a family collection, it's perfectly understandable to prioritize the context and the emotive value that comes with having an artifact your relatives put together, rather than favoring preservation for some vague future point. Not to mention that, depending on how the album is bound and the objects placed inside them, a person not trained in conservation could end up doing more damage when trying to disbind pages or remove photos.

Putting interleaving between pages (something like this will help reduce the damage caused by deteriorating media. I would also suggest placing loose items in something like folds of acid-free paper or Mylar l-sleeves, before putting them back in situ.

The reference artwork includes pieces from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, British Museum, Archives Department of Seine-Maritime, and Fitzwilliam Museum of Cambridge.

Full Disclosure: I found this through the designer's Kickstarter page for this deck. While this post could be considered advertising, I was just excited to show how archives are being used to both inspire creativity and also remind us of our collective history that has been preserved by archival institutions. I had never considered the history of playing cards until now, but thanks to these institutions I can see actual examples of historical cards and I have a deeper connection to their history.

I second archive.org. You can contact an administrator to have a collection created just for you to upload everything to, so it's nice and organized.

If you decide to run your own, I would recommend https://www.resourcespace.com/

I'm not the first to say this, but polypropylene sleeves may not be the best solution from a cost or preservation point of view. Polypropylene will help protect the letters from outside factors or hold fragile paper together, but not from the acidity within the paper itself. Buffered folders (Folders with an alkaline reserve and a pH of 8 to 8.5) would slow the degradation inherent in the paper.

I would recommend folders and boxes from a reputable archival company. Hollinger Metaledge is the gold standard, but their website is TERRIBLE. Gaylord is just as good as Hollinger, they are a few cents more expensive per unit, but generally quicker to get orders out to customers, however their website is also terrible. Two other companies to check are University Products and Talas.

It is also best to organize, place no more than 5 letters in a folder. Most people choose to keep the original envelopes, however I recommend only keeping them if you need information written only on the envelope, envelopes are often more acidic due to the glues used securing the folds and can be damaging to the letters as a whole. After they are organized, scan them, and use the scans as access copies, handle the originals only when necessary. Use a 3-2-1 strategy with digital storage: 3 copies, 2 backups on different storage mediums, 1 backup offsite (cloud storage is acceptable).

Any thoughts on this VidBox solution for VHS conversion?

https://www.amazon.com/VIDBOX-VCS2M-Video-Conversion-Suite/dp/B00ND0E7FS/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3A720BXW7ZOY1&dchild=1&keywords=video+conversion+suite+vidbox&qid=1600273109&sprefix=vidbox+video%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-3

I'm trying to set up a legacy media station, and with uni budgets getting slashed, I can't go too bonkers with spending. I looked at the link you posted, but we're going with a MacMini dual-boot and I'd need an external solution, which it looks like they make, but it's gotten pretty poor reviews.

Trevor Owens at the LOC wrote a great book on the subject.

It's okay if you admit you don't know what you're doing. I want you to learn.
Converting music from vinyl to an mp3 file is very easy.
I personally recommend the AT LP 60, as I mentioned. It's from a good brand and is made of a quality build. https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT-LP60X-BK-Belt-Drive-Hi-Fidelity-Anti-Resonance/dp/B07N3XJ66N/ref=dp_prsubs_2?pd_rd_i=B07N3XJ66N&psc=1 It's a little pricy but otherwise, this is a much better model. Any vinyl turntable below 100 is sadly just made for casuals who don't know how bad they can be. It's truly a scam. Best to stay educated!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007VPGL5U/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

These are good cheap ones. Or you can buy other brands ready to go in a housing for external use. This one requires a cord or housing with the cord. I've used them for years for thousands of discs. No problems. Or they can be used as an internal drive in the computer.

There are integrations out there. Or there were. Instagram's API changed recently which limited the ability of some integrations to automate the process. This one from IFTTT uses (if it's still viable) Dropbox to store images you've liked.

However, most integrations out there weren't build to be applied retroactively. Most would act on an event - you liking an image. You may find it difficult to automate the backup of what you've already liked. Instagram's data download tool only provides info on activity, not content, i.e. when you liked an image, not what exactly you liked.

It would be consistent with Instagram's engagement model that a user should return to the app to see what they've liked - that's why you can save posts on Instagram. Also, Instagram didn't want to become Tumblr and designed the service intentionally to limit regramming, part of the reason integrations that pull content elsewhere are limited.

If your goal is to simply create a duplicate of the image you've seen, navigate to one of those liked images and use your phone's screencap tool to take a screenshot. That'll create a backup of that post in your phone's photo album.

Or scroll through your likes and manually save each post. If you've not only liked but saved these posts, backup can be done with a screencap tool on desktops if you go to https://www.instagram.com/\*yourusername\*/saved/. With a little Python scripting, you could no doubt automate that process.

I'm sure there are tons of other approaches too.

Yeah, I wasn't planning the document feed ones.

I've seen the overhead flat bed ones, like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Definition-Document-Camera-Webcam/dp/B09QKX28PZ and I wasn't sure if this was "the standard" now, or if the flatbeds were still preferred. And if they are, which ones are the preferred ones of the bunch.

This article confused me because I read it thinking they were going to provide a list but there’s no list!

So here’s another one Lifehacker but with a list. I’m sad because I just saw a Picasso exhibit recently and got yelled at for photos, which you can do now as of the 1st of the month.

A cheap way : You can also use something similar to an old PZO Krokus (remove the top grey part that moves up and down and add something on it to hold your smartphone that let you camera take a shot). Then use the free android app : Easyselfie https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pojkarsoft.easyselfie and just whistle to take a picture (you have your hands free to turn the pages. And you can have a photo of 2 pages at once). Then OCR the images into a pdf file. ;)

> Change the filename to this: exiftool(-k -a -u -g1 -w xml).exe

Holy cow. I did not know it supported that. but here it is in the manual - thanks for this!

Unfortunately I don't know. I've used Digikam quite a while ago and didn't had your requirements.

From their website:

You can use digiKam’s import capabilities to easily transfer photos, raw files, and videos directly from your camera and external storage devices (SD cards, USB disks, etc.). The application allows you to configure import settings and rules that process and organize imported items on-the-fly.

digiKam organizes photos, raw files, and videos into albums. But the application also features powerful tagging tools that allow you to assign tags, ratings, and labels to photos and raw files. You can then use filtering functionality to quickly find items that match specific criteria.

In addition to filtering functionality, digiKam features powerful searching capabilities that let you search the photo library by a wide range of criteria. You can search photos by tags, labels, rating, data, location, and even specific EXIF, IPTC, or XMP metadata. You can also combine several criteria for more advanced searches. digiKam rely on Exiv2 library to handle metadata tag contents from files to populate the photo library.

You don't have to be an expert. If you can troubleshoot problems with Google you are ahead of the curb already. Like Metamucil says, programs like Archivists Toolkit, or Archon, are something you should download and practice archiving your own computer files/family genealogy/etc and you will have the gist of the process. Try getting it set up on a free Apache server. Some HTML/CSS knowledge helps too. If you have those skills on your application you will be ahead of the competition. (Also note, not too many young people are pursuing this. I go to a small college, but out of 13,000 students I am the only one going for a career in archives.)

Most online archival supply stores will sell plastic sleeves. Here are some on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/100-Newspaper-Sleeves-12-1-Brand/dp/B00HNFP8GQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=archival+newspaper+sleeves&qid=1604947245&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A1UPGY8EX1EMOQ&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzV....

You may need different sizes if you have different publications and from across several decades or more because the size is not always consistent.

Stuff like this is really more common than you think. I work with a similar collection, and I highly recommend picking up a copy of Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections by Angela Kipp. I am not finished reading it, but if anything I've found it really helpful in how I think about my collections and just organizing my approach in a way that isn't overwhelming. You need to remember that you're not alone and that whatever decisions you do make are going to leave things better than you started.

I also picked up a copy of Museum Registration Methods and have found it pretty helpful, because there actually is a bunch of stuff in it about how to work with collections with unknown provenance and how to establish systems of order. I also work with a heavily object-based collection, so your mileage may vary.

Other than that, I basically agree with the other comment, and I also would say, in my experience, one thing I focused on early on at my repository beyond searching for any provenance I could find was establishing policies and forms for documentation. Make sure all that stuff is in order. Anywhere that is lacking a policy or a form to fill out related to it, get that in place. It will help you make sure stuff is better documented going forward and can really just shift how everyone in your org thinks about the archives in a positive way.

I find Talas usually has the cheapest options for archival supplies. And try looking for acid-free buffered tissue paper. You can put this

What about this?

Hi there! I'm happy to hear you want to take the proper steps to digitize and preserve your family history!

I would recommend against using a wand-type scanner for anything and would suggest a flat bed scanner. I personally use the Epson V39 and the Epson V550. For your purposes the V39 will be more than adequate and can be found on Amazon for approximately $55 certified refurbished.

When scanning, especially with photos, make sure to be scanning at at least 600dpi and saving at least one copy of the images in the TIFF file format.

Another thing I would recommend is a computer program called "ScanSpeeder". This program allows you to scan several photos at once. The program then automatically separates each photo and allows you to save them all at once. It also allows you to save two copies of each photo at the same time automatically. It will save a TIFF version of the image for archival purposes, and will create a JPEG file for easy sharing with friends and family.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm happy to help!

Regular Expressions is a good backup to have as well.

It doesn't take much to learn and you can use it inside of PSIGEN if you have access to it.

https://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Regular-Expressions-Minutes/dp/0672325667/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1501256018&sr=8-4&keywords=regular+expressions

Are you referring to something like these mylar bags?

Chances are that the things you're receiving books in aren't archival and therefore won't help slow the progression of damage.