Documentary Collections Guidelines

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Project Types and Funding Priorities

You should apply in the Documentary Collections category if your project focuses on preserving historical materials that contain recorded information such as documents, records, newspapers, photographs or similar types of items.

Resources in this category can include a variety of resource formats, such as albums, atlases, blueprints, broadsides, diaries, drawings, electronic records, films, ledgers, letters, maps, memoirs, minutes, newspapers, newsletters, oral histories, pamphlets, postcards, plats, photographs, photographic negatives, programs, reports, videotapes, and other multimedia materials.

The Iowa Historical Records Advisory Board (IHRAB) provides guidance and advice to the HRDP program. IHRAB seeks to prioritize archival projects that improve management and preservation of documentary historical resources and that encourage public access and use. Such projects may include, but would not be limited to, proposals to improve management of documentary collections (e.g., to arrange, describe, and provide access to the materials) and to support physical preservation of underdeveloped and endangered historical materials. IHRAB also welcomes proposals that engage the public, expand civic awareness, and promote understanding of Iowa’s history from resources that possess inherent historical value due to their association with Iowa’s past or the heritage of Iowa’s people.

The IHRAB does not encourage applicants to submit previously funded projects in future HRDP grant funding cycles. Equipment purchases are rarely recommended for funding in the documentary collections category. Projects that use digitization for increasing public access either onsite or through the internet are allowable. The IHRAB at this time is not encouraging applications for projects that digitally reformat physical collections for the sole purpose of digital preservation within a trusted digital repository.

Examples of documentary collections category projects include: 

  • Processing collections – organizing, sorting, cataloging, arranging/describing, producing indexes, lists, inventories, and finding aids. 
  • Microfilming documents and records, with the proper preparation of material and adherence to professional microfilming standards 
  • Purchasing archival supplies such as UV filters, acid-free folders, boxes, envelopes, Mylar and tape for encapsulation. 
  • Formatting alternatives such as paper, microfilm, fiche, electronic, and also preparation of materials for re-formatting. 
  • Format or convert historical records collections, digitize for public access and make them freely available online. 
  • Provide consistent onsite researcher access to physical collections. 
  • Demonstrate the value of the informational contents of the collections to the understanding of Iowa’s history. 
  • Outlining in projects the use of archival best practices. 
  • Developing budgets that accomplish the project in a cost-effective manner. 
  • Outlining activities that bring researchers to the collections included in the project as well as the rest of the repository’s holdings.
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Professional Standards

All projects must comply with nationally-accepted professional standards. Applicants must demonstrate knowledge of, intention to, and ability to adhere to the professional standards that pertain to the grant category to which they are applying.

Every project is strongly encouraged to involve a trained professional in a discipline appropriate to the project scope. If the application requests funding for a documentary collections activity, then the applicant is strongly encouraged to include the services of an appropriate archives or special collections professional.

Documentary Collections projects must incorporate the following principles:

  • All documentary collections projects must incorporate professional standards and best practices.
  • Applicants must demonstrate that they have the commitment and ability to provide care for collections on a long-term basis. In addition, applicants must demonstrate to the review panel that they understand, and intend to adhere to, applicable national standards.
  • Applicants must demonstrate in their project that they will follow technical guidelines for physical and digital collections management generally accepted by the library, archives, and conservation communities.
  • The State Historical Society requires very specific microfilming standards.
    • If microfilming is included as a component of a project, then the project must produce first (S-) and second generation (S-) masters on silver halide film meeting American National Standards Institute (ANSI) PH 1.41 (preferred) or ANSI PH 1.28.
    • Production procedures are to be guided by American National Standards Institute/Association for Information and Image Management (ANSI/AIIM) MS 23 or other relevant standards, such as ANSI/AIIM MS 5 for microfiche.
    • Storage for first generation camera masters must be in accordance with ANSI PH 1.43. Film enclosures must adhere to ANSI PH 1.53.
    • The two master copies of each roll of microfilm become the property of the State Historical Society and are stored according to national standards.
    • Each microfilming grant also requires the production of at least one service copy of each roll of microfilm. The service copy is held by the grantee.
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Digitization Project Questions

This section in the application provides an opportunity for applicants for digitization projects to consider and demonstrate knowledge of long term preservation concerns that are unique to digital formats. This is also to address the applicant’s intention and ability to provide for the long term preservation of digital files created by the project.

Note: If the grant includes the creation of a digital copy, the grantee shall offer a copy of the digital file to the State Historical Society of Iowa.

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Staff Resources

As you prepare your application, you may have technical questions about specific types of resources and professional standards. The following staff resources are available:

Questions about the grant application process:

Questions about projects in the documentary collections category:

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Locating Goods & Services for Documentary Collections Projects

The law establishing the HRDP program stipulates that grantees should give preference to Iowa vendors. Goods and services should not be obtained outside the state unless the grantee demonstrates that it is neither feasible nor prudent to obtain the goods or services within the state.

Our office has found that sometimes grantees have no choice but to choose an out-of-state vendor. For example, few archival supplies are available in quantity from Iowa vendors. Some Iowa businesses, however, do provide archival supplies. The following list is intended to provide guidance in locating archival products.

Resources for Archival Supplies

Within Iowa, the following suppliers may have the archival materials you seek:

Archival Products
P.O. Box 1413
Des Moines, Iowa 50306-1413
800-526-5640
www.archival.com

Art supply stores in larger Iowa communities may also stock some containers and related supplies that are appropriate for storage of paper holdings.

There are several archival suppliers located in other states, including:

Bags Unlimited, Inc.
7 Canal Street
Rochester, New York 14608
800-767-2247
www.bagsunlimited.com

Gaylord Bros., Inc.
P.O. Box 4901
Syracuse, New York 13221-4901
800-962-9580
www.gaylord.com

Hollinger Metal Edge
California:
6340 Bandini Blvd.
Commerce, CA 90040
Phone: 800-862-2228
Fax: 888-822-6937

Virginia:
9401 Northeast Dr.
Fredericksburg, VA 22408
Phone: 800-634-0491
Fax: 800-947-8814
http://www.hollingermetaledge.com

University Products
800-628-1912
www.universityproducts.com

Microfilming Services

Within Iowa, the following vendor provides microfilming services. 
Advantage Archives 
1025 33rd Ave SW 
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404 
(855) 303-2727 
https://www.advantagearchives.com/
 

Documentary collections that are to be microfilmed generally have to be transported to the microfilm vendor. Grant applicants located in some parts of Iowa may find that a qualified microfilm vendor located in an adjoining state may be the prudent choice for their project. For example, if a library located in Council Bluffs wants to microfilm its newspaper collection, it might consider using microfilm vendors located in Omaha, Nebraska. Likewise, a northern Iowa community may find that a microfilm vendor in La Crosse, Wisconsin, is the best choice for its project.

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Finding a Professional for Hire Contractor to Work on Your Grant Project

The Consortium of Iowa Archivists (CIA) is a group of archival professionals who work with archival collections in Iowa. Their website contains a member directory, which may serve as a starting point to identify professionals that could be a resource for your project. Keep in mind, this member directory is not currently being maintained and some of the contacts are out of date.

Also, there is the Iowa Conservation and Preservation Consortium (below). Its mission is to initiate, encourage, and enhance preservation and conservation activities in and among all Iowa repositories and institutions whose collections include a variety of materials such as audio-visuals, microforms, paper-based, and electronically-stored information for the benefit of present and future generations.

The ICPC may be able to help you locate a documentary collections professional. Contact information for the ICPC is as follows:

The Iowa Conservation and Preservation Consortium
c/o The University of Iowa University Libraries
100 Main Library
Iowa City, IA 52242-1420
iowa.conserveandpreserve@gmail.com

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