Meeting/Event Information

Presentation Abstract: The Impact of the Digital Age in Archives

The move to digital record keeping both in the public sector as well as in the private lives of individuals has created the need for changes in the ways archivists approach and manage records of historical value. This format shift has created opportunities for increasing access to and use of archives, but at the same time, it has also created many difficulties in terms of how we transfer, store, preserve, process, and  provide access to digital records. In this talk, we will discuss some of the benefits and challenges of the digital age for archives and how archivists are attempting to address these issues, while also establishing new best practices and standard procedures for digital records.

About The Speaker:

Kristin Silvestro serves as the Corporate and Philanthropic History Archivist at the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) in Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a bachelor’s degree in History from Wittenberg University as well as a MS in Library and Information Science: Archives Management and a MA in History from Simmons University. She has worked at a variety of archival institutions including Northeastern University Archives, Boston Children’s Hospital Archives, JFK Presidential Library and Museum, and the Dittrick Medical History Center. She also spent a couple of years at a private aviation company working to clean-up and structure their Digital Asset Management (DAM) system. In her current position, she stewards the archival collections documenting the history of manufacturing, business, and industry in Northeast Ohio as well as those documenting philanthropic efforts in the region. In addition to managing internal archival collections at WRHS, Kristin partners with active organizations as part of the WRHS Heritage Management program to help these local organizations take steps towards preserving and managing their heritage stories as they are happening.