Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives

Since its original publication Hunter's manual has been "not only a rich and ready reference tool but also a practical resource for solving problems" (Catholic Library World), and no text has served as a better overview of the field of archives. Newly revised and updated to more thoroughly address our increasingly digital world, it remains the clearest and most comprehensive guide to the discipline. Editor of American Archivist, the journal of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), Hunter covers such keystone topics as

A history of archives, including the roles of historical societies and local history collections in libraries
Conducting a survey and starting an archival program
Selection, appraisal, acquisition, accessioning, and deaccessioning
Important points of copyright, privacy, and ethics
Arrangement of archival collections, with a discussion of new theories
Description, including DACS, EAD, and tools such as Archon and the Archivists' Toolkit
Access, reference, and outreach, with a look at how recent innovations in finding aids can help researchers
Preservation, including guidance on how to handle rare books, maps, architectural records, and artifacts
Digital records, addressing new and popular methods of storage and preservation of email, image files, Webpages, Word documents, spreadsheets, databases, and media files
Disaster planning, security, and theft prevention
Metrics, assessment, establishing employee procedures and policies, working with interns and volunteers, and other managerial duties
Public relations and marketing, from social media and the Web to advocacy
Professional guidelines and codes, such as the newly developed SAA Statement of Core Values of Archivists
Providing in-depth coverage of both theory and practice, this manual is essential for archivists at all levels of experience and of all backgrounds.