Current Training Programs

This webinar will provide an overview of the history of the book with a focus on the evolution of Western binding styles and techniques. Materials and methods from antiquity to the present will be reviewed, providing important context for the cataloging, care, and handling of bound collections. Research tools and resources that provide further insight into historical binding structures will also be discussed.

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Renovation and construction projects in your facility can present significant risks to your collections. In this webinar, you will learn the most common risks for collections, risks for personnel, strategies for risk mitigation, and issues with temporary storage.

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NEH Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions are relatively easy to apply for and have launched successful preservation projects and programs in institutions across the country. Be ready for the round of applications! This webinar is presented by an NEDCC Preservation Specialist and covers the issues that should be considered when preparing to submit an NEH Preservation Assistance Grant. Emphasis will be on preparing the grant narrative, making the case for your project, and getting requisite information from consultants. 

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There are many things that can go wrong when hinging artwork, photographs or other cultural heritage materials using Japanese paper hinges and wheat starch paste. Many are hesitant to reveal their mistakes or share ways that their hinging projects have failed. Learning from past failures is one of the best ways to avoid these mistakes in the future. In this webinar some of the many ways hinges can fail or cause damage to an object will be openly shared and strategies for how to avoid these mistakes discussed.

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Metadata, and especially preservation metadata encompassing the technical and administrative aspects of description, is essential for providing continued access to your digital objects. It provides assurance that digital objects are authentic, renderable, and useable. This webinar serves as a starting point for understanding the kinds of information you will want to gather to support digital preservation, using current guidelines, standards, and models in the field to identify core information required to steward digital objects over time.

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This session provides attendees with an in-depth introduction to developing and implementing a storage plan for audiovisual media, including grooved media, motion picture film, magnetic tape, and optical discs. The instructor will cover fundamental activities needed to carry out a storage plan from start to finish, including inventorying materials, proper handling, selecting the right enclosures, and improving the storage environment. Attendees will receive guidance on how to track the condition of materials in storage, understand each format’s unique vulnerabilities, and how to implement cold storage. Prioritization for storage will also be covered to help participants make optimal use of their resources.

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This webinar instructs participants on good practices for caring for oversized materials in their collections, including those made of paper (e.g. posters, maps, large books, architectural plans) and textiles (e.g. flags, quilts). Storage and handling methods will be covered in detail. Participants will gain a solid understanding of how to protect oversized collections and will receive a decision-making tree and a bibliography.

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Making sure the stories of your oral history subjects will be available long into the future starts before you even press “record.” This session teaches participants about the technical considerations that go into making an oral history recording preservation-quality. This includes selecting the right equipment, capturing audio that is clear and with as few ambient noises as possible, and making sure your recordings are in file formats that support digital preservation. The instructor will cover practical and achievable recommendations that meet different resource levels and budget needs so that both small and large organizations can improve the preservation quality of their oral history recordings.

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Now including exhibition of 3-D objects and textiles! Cultural heritage organizations often look to their collections to create public exhibitions, but putting the spotlight on rare books and documents is inherently at odds with preservation. Exhibits, though, provide a powerful avenue for outreach and also present opportunities for collection advocacy. Preparing collections for safe exhibition ensures that these materials remain accessible into the future. This webinar will help you understand the risks of exhibition so that you can develop policies and guidelines to mitigate those risks. Selection for exhibition will be covered, along with space considerations, safe handling, and display methods.

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Scrapbooks document personal moments alongside local and national history. The variety of records and materials inside--and the myriad methods of fastening them to the page--pose significant preservation challenges. Participants will learn about the structure of scrapbooks, the types of materials commonly found in them, methods of attachment, implications for preservation and conservation, and how to provide the best level of care for scrapbook collections. Low-cost, in-house preservation approaches are included. NEDCC’s Director of Book Conservation, Bexx Caswell-Olson, will join attendees for a Q&A session following the presentation.

Sign up for "Digitizing Scrapbooks" on 2/27/2024 to learn about imaging scrapbooks in your collections.

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This session provides an overview of digitizing scrapbooks, photo albums, and other unique bound items. Selecting, preparing, and imaging scrapbooks requires careful planning and the right equipment. Scrapbooks often include fragile binding, adhesives, and folded or tucked-in elements that require careful handling during the digitization process. This one-hour webinar addresses the benefits and drawbacks of various digitization methods, as well considerations related to file formats and resolution, in order to help you decide on an approach that is right for your project.

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2/29/24 Session 1: Intro to Preservation
3/7/24 Session 2: Building an Environment 
3/14/24 Session 3: Caring for Collections
3/21/24 Session 4: Caring for Paper Collections 
3/28/24 Session 5: Caring and Handling of Photograph 
4/4/24 Session 6: Media Collections 
4/11/24 Session 7: Reformatting and Digitization 
4/25/24 Session 8: Emergency Preparedness
5/2/24 Session 9: Building a Preservation Program 
5/9/24 Session 10: Preservation Assessment Review

The Preservation 101 course is an interactive online course designed to introduce preservation topics such as environmental management, deterioration of materials, emergency preparedness, and preservation of paper-based, audiovisual, and digital formats. The course prepares participants to complete a preservation needs assessment and offers structured guidance on developing an institutional disaster plan. A series of 10 live, instructor-led webinars builds on self-paced study between sessions, using assigned readings and other resources to supplement the “classroom” discussions. 

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Have you heard the word "fad-gee” used in reference to a digitization project but unsure what it meant? Or are you an old pro when it comes to digitization guidelines but interested in hearing more about their application and implementation? This new webinar will provide both an introduction to and a critical engagement with the Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Cultural Heritage Materials (2016), published by the Still Image Working Group - aka FADGI. The webinar will begin with a history of image quality standards and guidelines in the US and abroad. It will then proceed to consider the intentions behind standards-based digitization and the specific aspects of image quality of concern. Finally the intended application and practical implementation of FADGI will be discussed, considering both the advantages and disadvantages of strict adherence to standards-based workflows. Please note that while technical standards are the subject of discussion, the webinar is designed for audience members of varying backgrounds and skill levels.

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This webinar introduces participants to issues in audio preservation, beginning with an overview of common formats and their preservation risks. The instructor will describe basic care and handling techniques, briefly discuss reformatting-as-preservation, and share tools for format identification, inventory, and storage. Note that many of these concepts apply to moving image collections as well. Participants will gain a solid understanding of how to devise next steps for their audio collections and where to find more information.

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This webinar introduces participants to concepts that will facilitate the care and management of moving image collections. The instructor will discuss common film formats and their preservation risks, as well as introduce tools for film identification and assessment. Participants will gain a solid understanding of how to devise next steps for their moving image collections and where to find more information.

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Audio collections are at a high-risk of loss due to the relatively short lifespan of their carriers and dependence on obsolete media for playback, but reformatting is a challenging and technical process, which can require the involvement of vendors whose services might be difficult to afford without outside funding. This webinar will introduce participants to a variety of grants that fund audio preservation and reformatting activities and offer guidance on selecting a grant-worthy project for their institution. Director of Audio Preservation Bryce Roe will also walk participants through each major section of a grant with tips and advice for preparing a successful application.

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Preservation is an underlying responsibility of any collections caretaker, whether you are an archivist, a public librarian, a family collector, or anyone in between. Preservation has a lot to do with knowing your collections and prioritizing the materials that need the most help to survive. This webinar will discuss methods and projects that require no additional funding or supplies, including collection management, storage environment assessment, care and handling practices, and emergency preparedness.

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This session covers digitization project stages; selection criteria for converting paper, audio, video, and film collections; and handling considerations for vulnerable media across these format categories. How existing descriptive metadata and available institutional resources factor into conversion planning will also be covered. Learning goals for this webinar include understanding how to outline a conversion project plan, evaluate collections for conversion, and articulate special requirements for unique media.

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Providing the right kind of storage with the right number of copies for your digital files can make the difference between losing and saving your organization's digital cultural heritage. If you are completely new to digital preservation storage, or simply need a refresher or tips for how to work with your IT department, this webinar will help you improve storage at your institution. The instructor will cover requirements for storage environments as well as several affordable and scalable options to meet small and mid-size organization's needs for storage.

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Visit NEDCC's YouTube Channel for Free Training Videos, Conservation Shorts, and more. You’ll find the playlist of free preservation training videos at https://www.nedcc.org/preservationvideos 

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Renovation and construction projects in your facility can present significant risks to your collections. In this webinar, you will learn the most common risks for collections, risks for personnel, strategies for risk mitigation, and issues with temporary storage.

Participants who are eligible Certified Archivists earn 2 Archival Recertification Credits (ARCs) through the Academy of Certified Archivists.

Duration: 2 hrs.

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Most digital preservation software uses free, smaller tools that run on the command line. This webinar introduces attendees to Windows command line tools, including ROBOCOPY, MD5DEEP, FIDO, EXIFTOOL, and BagIt. Participants will receive an introduction to the command line and a demonstration of these tools in a workflow that breaks down the steps most digital preservation software automates for you. Watch this webinar if you want to learn more about the command line, gain a deeper practical understanding of digital preservation activities, and make more informed decisions about the workflows you build. Watch Building an Easy Digital Preservation Workflow with Small Tools to learn how to use more free digital preservation tools and build your workflow.

Duration: 2 hours

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