Why Using Archival Services Will Ease Your Historical Resear

1. Why Using Archival Services Will Ease Your Historical Research NeedsYou open the door and step in to the horror. Hidden behind that door is decades of documents, photos, news clippings, blueprints, and quotes from your company’s history. You stand there staring at box after box of documents stuffed on the shelves. How are you ever going to find the information you need? Historical research without a proper archival system is a nightmare.How Much Time Can You Dedicate to Sorting It All OutThe problem with these treasure troves of information is the inability to find anything. Your company may have blueprints, sketches, and copyright documentation which are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars hidden in that room, but if no one can find them it is just wasted paper.The time it takes to sort, organize, and cross-reference all the material is daunting for any average person. The good news is there are companies who specialize in exactly this type of work. Archival services do not see a disaster behind that door. They see an adventure waiting for them to organize it. Top archival services employ people who specialize in organization, categorization, and preservation of your information. Many of the top archival services employ historians who value the history hidden inside those boxes. They understand the gentle touch older papers and photographs may require. Many archival services offer restoration services, too. They can take materials which have great value and work to preserve and restore them for safe keeping.

3. Historical Research Can Be Fast and SimpleThe most important job of an archival service is to prepare for your future historical research. When they are finished with that room every item will be organized, indexed, cross-referenced, and documented. Often this data is saved in a database allowing you to search for materials right from your desktop PC. Some archival services will even digitize papers, photographs, and other materials to allow you to utilize digital copies while the originals remain safely stored. An archivist is going to give you advice on proper storage, or may even recommend off-site storage for better protection. They know the longer your critical documents remain in imperfect storage conditions the faster they will decay and become unusable. Long Term Savings through Short Term InvestingYou are probably starting to wonder how your company could ever afford this kind of service. You need to start asking better questions. How long can you continue to lose money by not finding important documentation? How important could it be to your company to find documents proving your rights to a process, product, or idea? How much would your company pay for a few employees to dig through all of those papers and most times come back empty handed? You will discover the cost of your historical research decreases dramatically once everything is organized. You may discover your storage requirements decrease dramatically, also. The reality is over time you will save money by having your historical records properly cared for. Archival services often seem unimportant until the moment you really need to find those historical facts. Then you will be wishing you had made the investment years ago.