ASLA Chapter Archives

The Archives and Collections Committee asked chapter leaders at the 2019 annual conference in San Diego to complete a survey about their chapter's archives. This information and these resources were put together based on the survey's results.

Number of Archives

All but two of the chapter leaders surveyed said that their chapters keep archives, including 24 who said they “sort of” have archives. ASLA knows of the following eight chapter records that are formally stored in an archival repository:

• ASLA Minnesota at the Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota
• ASLA Nevada at the Architecture Studies Library, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• ASLA New York Upstate at the F. Franklin Moon Library, SUNY College Environmental Science and Forestry
• ASLA North Carolina (and the old Southeastern Chapter) at the State Archives of North Carolina
  • East Georgia Section of the old Southeastern Chapter at the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Georgia
• ASLA Northern California at the Environmental Design Library, University of California, Berkeley
• ASLA Potomac at the DC Public Library, Special Collections
• ASLA South Carolina at the Special Collections Library, Clemson University
• ASLA Washington (and the old Pacific Northwest Chapter) at the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections

Where to Begin

Many people who took the survey said they would like help creating and maintaining an archive of chapter records. The Archives and Collections Committee has already created a reference guide for archiving landscape architecture records. It is a great place to start when planning how to organize a chapter’s archives.

What Should Be Archived

What a chapter keeps in its archives will be different from chapter to chapter. It depends on things like the size of the chapter, whether it has employees, and what the chapter leaders want to save. Items that might be included are:

• Organizational chart
• Chapter bylaws and administrative rules
• Executive Committee meeting minutes
• Annual meeting agenda
• Annual report
• Membership list
• Awards
• Chapter founding documents
• Oral histories

ASLA’s Document Retention and Destruction Policy is also a useful tool for deciding which records a chapter should keep. It includes guidance on documents that must legally be kept for a certain period of time and then destroyed, such as:

• Tax documents
• Nonprofit incorporation materials
• Budget
• Bank statements

When making these decisions, it is important to remember that ASLA does not keep chapter records. It is the responsibility of each chapter to save the materials they believe have lasting historical value.

Where Should Things Be Stored

Many, if not most, records that chapters need to save now and in the future will be digital. Because of this, and because chapter leaders change every year, it is a good idea to use a shared cloud-based storage service to safely store and organize chapter documents and records. Popular options include Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive. For especially important records, it may also be helpful to save a backup on a physical hard drive.

For long-term storage of chapter records that have lasting historical value, chapters should try to find a local archival institution to accept these materials. Examples of archival repositories include universities, state archives, and historical societies.

Who Should Manage the Archives

This is another decision that each chapter will have to make based on its own needs and abilities. The important thing is that someone is in charge of keeping records. Chapters might decide to create a "Chapter Archivist" position, or they might give the job of historical archiving to the person who is already (hopefully) keeping the chapter's legal and financial records organized. Possible chapter leaders who could take on this role include:

• Chapter executive
• Chapter trustee
• Immediate-past chapter trustee
• Chapter secretary
• Chapter archivist
• A (semi-)retired chapter fellow

Only five chapter leaders who took the survey said they had seen the ASLA Library's webpage. Here are some of the resources you can find there: