In the wake of the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor murders, and in the spirit of protest that followed, the ArchivesSpace community began a conversation last spring about what it could do to promote diversity and inclusion in our community while combating systemic racism in our field. That continuing conversation has led to a series of initiatives that we will undertake in the coming years, ranging from changes in the application to efforts to make participation in the ArchivesSpace community easier.

The ArchivesSpace Diversity Partnership is a new program that will offer support for implementing the ArchivesSpace application to a small cohort of institutions that are themselves or primarily serve communities underrepresented in the ArchivesSpace community. Beginning July 1, 2021, and for the duration of the three-year program, each ArchivesSpace Diversity Partner will receive, at no cost to them:

  • ArchivesSpace membership
  • ArchivesSpace hosting and technical support from a Registered Service Provider
  • introductory and specialized training
  • ongoing user support

Eligible organizations include:

  • academic Minority-Serving Institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities
  • non-profit or community archives primarily run by or serving BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color)
  • tribal archives

While we are starting small, if the program is successful, we would hope to build on it in future years.

ArchivesSpace has a member community of over 400 institutions, representing many different types of archives and collecting institutions from more than a dozen countries. Our passionate member community is definitely one of our greatest strengths. With the ArchivesSpace Diversity Partnership we hope to build on this strength by working toward adding more viewpoints and being more representative of the wider diversity of collecting institutions in the world, while also helping a range of institutions better manage their collections and make them available to their own communities.

More information about the ArchivesSpace Diversity Partnership is at https://archivesspace.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ADC/pages/2049998863/ArchivesSpace+Diversity+Partnership. You can also learn more at our informational webinar on February 10 at 2:00 ET. Free registration available at https://lyrasis.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_f6s6-6JeT_6q6I_TgIqWVA.

The planning group would love to hear from you with any questions or ideas. You can reach us at ArchivesSpaceHome@lyrasis.org.