Donors and Archives A Guidebook for Successful Programs [Hardcover]

[This book] is a well-crafted blend of the hard and soft skills necessary to navigate the many steps involved with archival donations. Purcell takes it one step beyond the archives and includes the development officers of organizations in the conversation. If properly educated and prepared, allies will pay off in the form of both great collections and monetary compensation to care for those collections.Aaron D. Purcell has prepared a useful and engagingly written book about donors and archives, offering a comprehensive view of the various elements that make for a successful donor program. . . .[F]or professional archivists, those working in collecting archives or with manuscript collections in libraries, this is an informative and unique contribution to the professional literature.[T]he body of literature devoted specifically to donors and archives is quite limited, and the instructive guidance provided in Donors and Archives fills an existing gap. In terms of audiences, it offers highly instructive examples for those starting a career in archives, whilst simultaneously providing considered reflection for seasoned archivists who have wrestled with many of the issues discussed.This book opens a new world for archivists, one that was always there but which few of us could ever see through the fog of our focus on the more technical issues in the field. This book is a call to action, a roadmap, and an avuncular advisor all at once. Donors and Archives codifies something core to the archival enterprise yet one treated with something worse than disdainwith neglect borne out of our certainty there was just too little there to consider. Now, our consideration can begin, and we can thank Aaron Purcell for getting us started.In Donors and Archives: A Guidebook for Successful Programs, author Aaron D. Purcell, professor and director of special collections at Virginia Tech, has written a comprehensive and practical overview of what it takes to successfully navigate the many isl3!