A true story by Lisa Lewis

 Funded by IMLS  Based at SLIS at LSU  Mission: a sustainable program of archival training for staff and/or volunteers working in any type of historical repository

Also The Ten-Minute Trainer: 150 Ways to Teach it Quick… by Sharon L. Bowman and Training for Dummies by Elaine Biech

OBEDIENCE TEACHINGEXCESSIVE TALKING Whaaap, whaaaap, whaaap, whaaaap…

 Sharing Knowledge  Pointing the Way  Showing  Doing Activities aimed at particular objectives based on archival skills

 Articulate goals for seminar  Demonstrate understanding of archival terminology  Write archival mission statement  Identify items with historic value  Describe an appropriate archival storage space  List sources of archival products  Locate resources for archival standards and best practices  Etc.

We used activities Aimed at particular objectives Based on archival skills In a user-friendly way Often drawn from existing web- based content

 Terminology  Online content  Standards and Best Practices  Contacts  Ourselves  List-servs  Local Organizations  State Associations  National Archival Societies NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PUBLICATIONS Conserve O Grams Short, focused leaflets about caring for museum objects, published in loose- leaf format.

A Variety of Methods Word Games Shout-Outs Short Lectures Fill-in-the-Blanks Action Plans Group Sharing Group Problem Solving Historic New Orleans Collection, NOLA

 Came from very varied backgrounds  Examples  Newspaper editor  Library school students  Photo journalist  Studio Operators  Many others who all wanted to know HOW TO DO IT.... NOW

 They couldn’t learn it all in one morning  Overly complicated activities FLOPPED  Preparation took a LOT of time  Time management sometimes difficult  Meeting expectations, sometimes unrealistic  A really limited budget  But we did manage “motivational” prizes  Pencils, tape measures, calendars

 Pointing the Way to further information, resources, knowledge opportunities  Learning a LOT of basic terminology  Empowering them to act to improve preservation, description, arrangement and access to significant collections  Connecting them with each other and with the archival community

 Significant Content being added to ATC site  MUCH LESS CREATION TIME  A more uniform process  Learning from our mistakes and those of others

 Better situations for existing records in small repositories  Much better products make it to established archives in the long-run  Teaching others improves personal knowledge

 Remain flexible  Remember that PRACTICE is the best of all instructors  Adapt to individual training groups  Remain responsive to situations that develop  Include some humor  for more information