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2024 SAA Activities and Resources
Read Engagement in the Digital Era, edited by Nicole J. Milano and Christopher J. Prom, which offers offers practical and creative approaches for archival outreach from managing media requests to incorporating effective social media strategies.
Are you looking for practical information and great ideas to help you make your archives program more visible during American Archives Month in October? Then you've come to the right place!
You can access public relations kits by clicking on "Related Pages" at the bottom of this page. Additional tips and tools are contained in supplementary material ("Get Started!") below. Whether you're interested in planning an event, issuing a press release to attract media coverage, or prepping for a media interview, these "evergreen" resources will assist you in enhancing public awareness of your repository—and your profession!
Download the "October Is American Archives Month" graphic to promote Archives Month on your website and social media:
Facebook Banner | Facebook Event Page | Instagram
X(Twiiter) Banner | Twitter Post | Tumblr Banner
Logo created by Eve Neiger, archivist at Yale University.
Get Started!
No matter what your budget is, you can enhance public awareness of your collections. Check out the following materials for ideas and practical tips about what you can do!
What Is An Archives?
Make this document available to young people who visit your repository. Or take it with you to distribute to students on your next career day visit.
Say What? Talking Points on the Value of Archives
Imagine yourself on an elevator with a friendly stranger who innocently inquires what you do for a living. You say with enthusiasm, "I'm an archivist!" The stranger gives you that blank look and you know she's thinking, "Say what?"
Event Planning Guide
Read tips on how to organize your American Archives Month event, and see a sample media relations timeline.
How to Know If Something Is Newsworthy
If you’d like to pitch a news story or interview to a particular editor or reporter, it helps if you know why your story is newsworthy.
Creating and Maintaining Good Media Relations
You and your institution may already have developed relationships with one or more reporters as part of your repository’s outreach efforts. If so, American Archives Month is another opportunity to take advantage of your contacts.
5 Easy Steps for Ensuring Media Coverage
Take a crash course in media relations in five steps.
Tips for Media Interviews
So you’re going to be interviewed? See these tips for preparing for your interview and getting your point across.
Changing Channels: New Media
Use your institution's online presence to engage your audience and encourage participation in your archives.
Archives and Young People
Tailor the "good word" about archives to a younger generation. They're current and future users of archives, influencers of our culture, and they may even be future archivists.
A Dozen Ideas for Reaching Out to Your Community
Here are twelve specific ideas to kickstart your community outreach effort.
Tried and True: Outreach Ideas from Your Colleagues
Take a look at some examples of how other archives have celebrated the American record.
Lasting Impressions: Care and Management of Photographs
Whether you work in a repository that handles photos on a collection level or you're sorting through some old family photos, here are some tips from the experts on the care and management of photographs.
How to Use Prized Items in Your Collection to Tell Your Story
People love a good story, so use that memorable document, photo, or artifact in your repository to present a compelling explanation of archives and archivists.
Measuring the Impact of Archives
How can we measure the impact of archives? The Georgia State Archives used the results of a simple survey to develop a profitable partnership with the state tourism agency.
Sample Proclamation Request Letter
And Don't Forget To Tell Us How You Participated!
Share your American Archives Month activities. Send a note about what you did to participate to jpillard@archivists.org and visit the website of the Council of State Archivists and check out what others did.
