We’re pleased to announce that UNC Greensboro University Libraries was awarded a 2018-2019 Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) EZ grant. The grant provides $14,416 to support one year of work to research and develop a statewide archival processing service. This service would provide smaller cultural heritage institutions with assistance in arranging and describing their archival collections, thereby providing researchers with greater access to collections often considered “hidden.” University Archivist Erin Lawrimore wrote the successful application and will serve as the grant’s principal investigator.

Through this grant, a steering committee will be formed to explore the most effective ways of providing these services as well as the scope of the future service. Guidelines to be developed through this initial project include an application process and rubric for prioritization of service requests from institutions, best practices for archival arrangement and description completed through the service, and a workflow for ingesting and sharing finding aids from institutions. Additionally, online training modules in archival management will be created to ensure that institutions benefiting from the service will be prepared to manage and provide access to their archival collections after the processing service concludes.

This grant is made possible by funding from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (IMLS grant number LS-00-18-0034-18).