Noah Huffman

When choosing tools for an archival project, it is easy to jump to a system you are already familiar with or to assume you need a custom solution, but there are other factors that need to be considered.

Here are some common issues that arise in archival projects, and some ideas for helping improve your workflow.

To determine the scope of your project, consider the following questions. These will give you the information you need to develop a budget, choose tools or programs, and create a workflow for building your archive.

The individual types of expertise you will need for a project will vary, of course, and in many projects a single person will have more than one role.

You will need a prototype or wireframe both for the internal structure of your content and for any interface or output where your content will be used

Archival project timelines are dependent on the amount of material and the process you use, but there are often ways to automate or improve processes to deal with large quantities of material.

What do you need money for and when do you need it?

Documentation for an archival project should cover at least three areas.