Preservation Programs at the U.S. National Archives

09/05/2023

We’re no longer actively updating this account. For updates from the Preservation Programs Division at the National Archives, please visit
https://www.archives.gov/preservation. You may also want to check out other social media accounts at the National Archives.

06/14/2023

Premiering today, June 14, at 1:00 PM Eastern time. Recording is available anytime afterwards!

How are you keeping your family history collections and stories safe for future generations?
Join us on Wednesday, June 14, to learn how professionals preserve records with surveys to create a plan, use archival techniques, and select storage strategies. Our guide will be Sara Holmes, a conservator in Preservation Programs from the National Archives at St. Louis.
https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-series/2023

04/27/2023

Our new series begins on May 3!

Join us for a series of six presentations, all free and available on YouTube, by experts on the National Archives staff.

See the full list of times and topics: https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-series/2023

William J. Bosanko, National Archives Chief Operating Officer invites you to join us for the Genealogy Series starting May 3, 2023.

05/04/2021

The new Genealogy Series starts today at 1 pm EST with a presentation on Preserving Photo Albums and Scrapbooks. Don't worry if you can't catch it live--you can information on how to view this today or later at https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-fair.

12/23/2020

Wondering about the status of our facilities? We regularly update our website with any changes to the operating status of our research rooms, Presidential Libraries and Museums, and other buildings. https://www.archives.gov/coronavirus

04/01/2020

N-95 masks, nitrile gloves, gowns, and Tyvek suits are in high demand across the United States right now.

The same equipment is used by National Archives employees when dealing with damaged records. Now the agency’s supplies are making their way to health care workers, thanks to some quick brainstorming and closet-searching from employees.

Preservation and conservation specialists knew that the same gear they use to deal with records damaged by floods, fires, or mold is in short supply for their hospital staff responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Motion Picture Preservation specialist Audrey Amidon asked National Archives leadership about the possibility of donating supplies.

“I know what we have is only a drop in the bucket,” she said, “but they're on our shelf and could help save lives.”

Property Management Officer Calvin Shoulders was soon coordinating the donations with other federal agencies. The National Archives transferred supplies to Washington DC’s Emergency Management Response Team, which in turn is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to distribute and reallocate the donated supplies.

Read the full story here: https://go.usa.gov/xvC6m

03/12/2020

Starting at the close of business, Friday, March 13, all National Archives research rooms will be closed to the public until further notice.

Our staff will continue to serve our public remotely by responding to emailed requests to [email protected] for records, and via History Hub inquiries (https://historyhub.history.gov/).

The National Archives Museum and all museums in our Presidential Libraries system will also be closed to the public until further notice, starting at the close of business, Friday, March 13.

All public events in National Archives facilities nation-wide are cancelled until further notice. This includes in-person public programs, tours, school group visits, public meetings, external conferences, and facility rentals. Where possible, we will conduct public events and outreach activities online and through virtual meetings.

We are working with public health officials and our counterpart agencies to monitor and respond to the evolving conditions.

For more information, go to https://www.archives.gov/coronavirus

01/28/2019

Congress has restored funding of appropriated activities and the National Archives has begun to resume normal operations.

Staff will be recalled in a phased manner and should wait to hear from a supervisor before reporting to work.

The Research Rooms at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, the National Archives at College Park, MD, Presidential Libraries, and all archival field sites will be closed to the public through Monday January 28 to give staff time to ensure the proper protection of holdings.

The National Archives Museum in Washington, DC and Presidential Library Museums will open to the public as they complete re-start procedures and are ready to accept visitors from the public.

Please check www.archives.gov for updates.

12/22/2018

We’re sorry, but we will not be posting updates to our social media channels during the government shutdown. Also, all National Archives facilities are closed and activities are canceled until further notice. We’ll be back as soon as possible!

12/19/2018

HOW MANY WAYS CAN YOU SAY CONSERVATION?

Conservation or preservation of a country’s cultural heritage is a universal pursuit. Whether safeguarding monuments, historical buildings, art, books or archival records, nations value their heritage and do what they can to preserve the artifacts that tell their story. So, it got us wondering what the word for conservation or preservation is around the world. The term in several of the Romantic languages is familiar to us because it is part of the Indo-European family of languages from whence the English language came. Thus, Concervacíon (Spanish), Conservazione (Italian) and Conservation (French) are pretty recognizable to us in the U.S. Of close similarity is the German Konservierung; however, other words used are Erhaltung (safe-guarding/conservation) or Bewahrung (preservation). Here we begin to lose familiarity with English, but from the latter German words, we see similarities with Swedish (Bevarande), Danish (Bevarelse) and Dutch (Behond). Moving into the Slavic languages, we find the Czech word for conservation is Zochování, Polish is Zachowania and Slovenian is Ochrony (or, Zachowania = preservation). Finally, getting to the Turkic languages, the term for conservation is Koruma; however, the term Konservasyon is also used. So it appears we’ve come full circle at least in the Indo-European language families!

African languages have significant European influences: for example, the word for conservation in Afrikkans is Bewaring; however, a predominant language family is Kiswahili, and the word for conservation in Swahili is Uhifadhi. The Somalians word is Ilaalita; in Zulu it’s Ukulondolozwa, and in Sudanese, Konservasi (hmmm…. Familiarity here?). We won’t even get into the many Asian languages or the Cyrillic alphabet as U.S. keyboards have difficulty accommodate these! Nevertheless, no matter what language you use, the need and importance of conservation and preservation is boundless!