How do you handle the storage of the History of your churches? In what format do you keep it? It was recommended that we put it on Microfish. I haven't a clue how that is done. Or even where to get one.
Thanks
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We had all of the bulletins bound and the church clerk's minutes( by the year)and we kept them locked in the case. When the 25 year history was published there were a limited number of hard bindings which we also kept in the case and the paperbacks were reinforced and shelved. We did reserve some duplicates of those also on the shelves in the work room. This was in Richmond, VA and there is the Virginia Baptist Historical Society which is housed at Univ. of Richmond, They keep all church records on microfilm and other archival methods, so the individual church did not need to do that. If they should have fire damage they have that backup. More than likely your state Baptist assoc. will have such a service for churches. Or your local association office, perhaps.
These have all been very helpful answers, I have started to look into some of the things that have been suggested. thank you all
We are a church of about 350 and growing. If you do come up with a way we would be interested.\
Thanks
I recently attended a short session on archiving church records at a workshop in Nashville. The presenter was Taffey Hall, C. A., Archivist, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, 901 Commerce St. # 400, Nashville, Tn 37203. Phone 615.244.0344. Contact her for more specific information. And, yes, SBHLA does still do the microfilming of church records.
Briefly, she said that archivists continue to encourage microfilming over document scanning as the recommended form of preservation because of the stability of that option. Microfilm has a life expectancy of 500 years.
But, the availabilty of digitizing or scanning to more users makes scanning a good option. It often produces keyword searchable documents and images can be manipulated for higher quality. Scanned documents are easy to back up and store copies in multiple locations.
Thank you Sandra so much for that information. I will look into it. I think it will be very helpful.
At one time the Southern Baptist Historical or Archival Department in Nashville did microfilming of historical artifacts of the church. That was some time ago. I don't know if that option is still available. If so, it may be costly. Marley should know. From Annie Stewart