Congratulations to Maggie Gaspar, Curator of Library, Manuscripts, and Photographs at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas!

Post by Maggie Gaspar:

The word "archives" typically brings to mind images of tangible, paper records stored in folders and boxes. However, in a world where much is done digitally, archival repositories are faced with the challenges of storing, organizing, maintaining, and providing access to digital materials. The Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas is no different. The museum's research library focuses on preserving Southern Nevada history, and in recent years it has begun collecting some born-digital materials. However, no concrete standards or workflows related to these records have yet been established, resulting in a reluctance to accept born-digital collections. When born-digital collections are received, there is a lack of workflows and procedures to guide their management.

In 2023, I was awarded a scholarship by the Nevada State historical Records Advisory Board to participate in three Society of American Archivists classes to help me better manage digital materials. I completed these classes:

1. Thinking Digital
2. Standards for Digital Archives
3. basics of Managing Digital Records.

These classes have given me the foundational knowledge that I was previously lacking and raised my comfort level in working with digital materials and creating local workflows to manage digital records. The classes have also given me the confidence to advocate for the inclusion of born-digital materials in the library's collections. This knowledge and confidence is essential as it will help the library grow its collections and meet the challenges of information management in the modern age. Thank you to SHRAB and the NHPRC for the funding and the opportunity!