Archives COVID-19 Preservation Program: Landing Page

The Nevada State Archives is encouraging every state agency to participate in the COVID-19 Preservation Program. This program is a way to preserve records related to your agency’s response to COVID-19 by passing them on to the State Archives when they have reached the end of their lifecycle, so archivists can start reviewing and developing a State of Nevada COVID-19 collection.

In addition to official records, the Archives encourages agencies to send any information on community-building efforts within your agency.  Did staff mount a mask-making drive or support local social services? Did you share photos of any younger and four-legged “co-workers”?  We want to preserve not only the official work being done, but also the virtual community built while your agency navigated the pandemic. 

If you are unsure about what should be considered for preservation, please contact the Archives for more information.  

What Records Do The Archives Want

Below you will see labeled tabs.  Within each tab is a list of records and their corresponding records disposition asset (RDA) number.  These are the records that the Archives have identified as potentially having historical value related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Getting Started

In order to start the transfer process, digital files must to in the following file formats in order to help facilitate digital preservation and ensure the authenticity of the record.

• Text Document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) = PDF or PDF/A (Note:  It is the Archives' preference that agencies redact their records of Personal Identifying Information [PII] before sending the records for preservation)
• Written Communication (Emails) = PDF or PDF/A (Note:  Further guidance on other forms of written communication will be coming soon)
• Images = JPG 
• Audio Communication (Public Meeting Recordings, Staff Meeting Recordings, etc.) = WAV
• Video Communication (Public Meeting Recordings, Press Conferences, Virtual Meeting Recordings, etc.) = AVI or MPEG-4 

The Archives is also asking for links to any website or social media created by your agency related to COVID-19 

For more information on the electronic records preservation and preferred file formats, go to the Archives Electronic Records page.



Filing Plan

Most agencies utilize a network drive or a database to store their electronic records.  The Archives recommends the following to help ensure COVID related records are identified for transfer:

1. In A Database:  If the system allows, flag or tag the record to be sent to the Archives.  A tag to consider could be "COVID-19 Related-Transfer to Archives When Done"  
2.  In A Database:  If the database does not allow you to flag or tag records, please include information about the COVID-19 Preservation Program in your agencies policies and procedures.  This should also be considered in any succession planning your agency might conduct.  
3. In a Networked Storage Drive:  Label the file folder/document with the agency applicable information and add information that identifies the records for transfer to the Archives.  For example, "COVID-19 Related-Transfer to Archives When Done"  

Submit to the Archives

Now that you have your records in the preferred format and you have compiled all the records identified for transfer, it is time to submit to the Archives.

Once you have submitted your email request to the Archives, you will receive a follow up email within 1-3 business days with a OneDrive link to start the transfer process. The email will also include further instructions as necessary to make the upload and transfer process and efficient as possible.

More Information

For more information regarding archival preservation efforts related to COVID-19 check out the Council of State Archivists (CoSA) or the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  The Archives will be linking to specific announcements, articles, etc. regarding preservation as they become available.