Show your support for the Preserving the American Historical Record Act (H.R. 2256) by writing your congressmen asking them to sign this bill.  In short, this bill will help to provide federal funding to our states to aid in record preservation.

According to the fact sheet:

The Preserving the American Historical Record Act will provide formula-based funding to states, territories, and the District of Columbia for statewide projects and redistribution to local governments, historical societies, library historical collections, universities, and other organizations to ensure essential care of and improve access to documents and historical records in many forms, from paper to electronic media.

  • States would establish strategic funding priorities reflecting local needs for projects in the following areas:
  • Creating access tools, including archival finding aids, documentary editions, indexes, and images of key records online;
  • Preservation actions, such as digitization projects, electronic records archives, and collections assessment;
  • Disaster preparedness and recovery initiatives for essential records;
  • Educational initiatives to use historical records in creative ways, including development of teaching materials for K-12, college students, new immigrant populations, and lifelong learners;
  • Programs to provide education and training to archivists and others who care for historical records, in particular to ensure that they are prepared both to manage the electronic records being created and to provide online access for public use.

The complete bill can be viewed here.  Additional information, including draft letters, can be found here.