The goal of a Community Archiving Workshop (CAW) is to help an organization jumpstart the preservation of their collection by bringing together experienced archivists with local volunteers for a daylong workshop to assess, catalog, and label as many items as possible. In the process, participants gain hands-on training so they can carry on preservation work in the future. The model has been designed to address the challenges of audiovisual collections, but it can be applied to all material types, including digital collections.
California Revealed is one of three national sites for the Community Archiving Workshop Regional Training of Trainers (TOT) program, supported by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, in partnership with the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). TOT programs are being hosted by Recollection Wisconsin and the Metropolitan Government Archives at the Nashville Public Library in Tennessee.
In April 2019, staff from regional partner organizations gathered at the Sacramento Public Library to receive hands-on training, covering the essentials of care and preservation of film, video and audio collections. The group assessed and inventoried collections from the Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library; West Sacramento Historical Society; and Galt Historical Society. Separate demonstration stations were set up for basic film inspection and VHS digitzation. Each regional partner is responsible for hosting a local CAW at their organization.
- Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library
- African American Museum and Library Oakland (AAMLO)
- Bishop Paiute Shoshone Cultural Center and Museum
- Karuk Tribal Libraries
California Revealed seeks to expand CAWs to other regions in the state by offering up to $1,500 in funding on a reimbursement basis to plan and host a local Community Archiving Workshop, using the CAW's Training of Trainers toolkit. Collaborating with multiple organizations is strongly encouraged to support regional networks.
CAWs are ideally an in-person event. Please note that due to COVID-19, this particular funding initiative is on hold. We hope to reopen the application for next fiscal year 2021/2022, with an application deadline in December 2021.
Questions?
Contact Pamela Vadakan, Director, California Revealed
916.603.6719/pvadakan@californiarevealed.org