Ideas for Hosting a Repository Tour

Invite your local media representatives on a tour of your repository.  American Archives Month, an anniversary, or a special exhibit provides an opportunity to begin a relationship that can last throughout the year.

Sponsor a lecture by a researcher who has used your collection.  Invite your local paper’s culture or business reporter to view the collection used by the researcher in advance, to attend the lecture, and to have access to the author before or after the lecture.

Organize a workshop or other program and advertise it via a community calendar.  Design your workshop to be of interest to your primary audience.  Workshops for the public might cover researching your family history on the web, digitizing family photographs, or learning the history or your house or neighborhood.

Organize a walking tour of a neighborhood documented by your repository.

Volunteer your organization as a resource for students preparing for National History Day projects.  SAA endorses this year-long effort whose objectives include providing students with the opportunity to work with and analyze historical documents and other primary source material.  Many state archives participate in National History Day.  (www.nationalhistoryday.com)