Business Archives Section

The Business Archives Section (BAS) comprises of archivists active in the work of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) with common interests in business archives management. The Business Archives Section includes corporate, business, and noprofit employees administering and providing access to historical or archival records. The conduct of business for this section is guided by the standing rules maintained on this site.

Business Archives in North America: Invest in Your Future, Understand Your Past provides a brief explanation of business archives and the archivist's role in developing, collecting and maintaining the records of business entities.  If you are interested in business archives, this article is a good place to start. 


2024/2025 Election Results

Vice Chair/Chair Elect: Alison Quirion, Santa Monica Studio

Vice Editor/Editor Elect: Sam Citarella, Tiffany & Co.

Secretary: Stephanie Branas, Best Friends Animal Society

Education Chair: Samantha Bradbeer Stephens, Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Member at Large: Michael Bullington, McDonalds Corporation


Other Steering Committee members include:

Past Chair: Jennifer Henderson, Hershey Community Archives

Chair: Dave Moore, Carhartt

Editor: Jennifer Steinhardt, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

 

Advocating For Business Archives Toolkit

The BAS Steering Committee is pleased to publish the first version of the "Advocating for Business Archives Toolkit".  Advocating for one's self and archival collection is a constant effort, and unfortunately there's no silver bullet that will work for every business archives every time.  As stated in the 2013 defense of the Georgia State Archives, "Too often, advocacy is effectively crisis management, responding to specfic events.  Proactively developing a plan allows time to consider a range of options, find ways to refine the message, and identify and educate a broad range of stakeholders."

Therefore the intent of this page is to provide Business Archives Section (BAS) members with a resource center to allow development of individualized advocacy plans to avert future issues, and if necessary to successfully "win the day".  There is a wealth of advocacy information available, and this list is not exhaustive but merely a starting place for you develop your own policies.  Materials listed and provided are not endorsed by BAS, but rather provide solid examples for you to consider leveraging.  

We welcome your suggestions and additions!  Send them to bascontent@gmail.com.  


  Stay Up to Speed with Business Archives News!BAS SM

BAS has pages on FacebookLinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter! Join the conversation and network with your colleagues over social media!  Please use these sites to post any stories, articles, job postings or content related to business archives that you run across the web and want to share.  

We kindly ask not to use these sites as a platform to solicit or sell products or services. 

Image courtesy of Microsoft Office

We'd love your input on our social media channels.  Please feel out the forms below if you'd like to be featured in our "Meet the Archivists" series or have a submission for "Overheard in the Archives."

Meet the Archivists Submission Form

Overheard in the Archives Submission Form


Frequently Asked Questions: please click here

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

News & Announcements

Deadline for submissions is June 19, 2020.
This event will take place on May 6, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Deadline for submissions is March 13, 2020.
Deadline for submissions is December 13, 2019.
Check out these new up-and-comers in the Business Archives Section!
Please take a look at the results of the Steering Committee's survey on this important issue.
Calling all new professionals with an interest in business archives!
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2020 BAS Standing Rules126.13 KB
2020 Recommended Changes to BAS Standing Rules100.31 KB
BAS Industry Call on Exhibitions Transcript - April 27, 2020145.05 KB