Archives have long collected correspondence, but as communication has shifted to digital platforms, archivists must discover and develop new tools and methods.  From appraising one massive inbox to describing threaded messages, email has introduced many new challenges to the way we work with correspondence. Likewise, instant messaging, text messaging, collaborative online working environments, and other forms of digital communication have introduced new challenges and opportunities.

We want to hear how you and your institution are managing the acquisition, appraisal, processing, preservation and access to these complex digital collections.  Although the main focus of most programs is email, we’re also interested in hearing how you manage other formats of digital communication as well.

We’re interested in real-life solutions by working archivists: case studies, workflows, any kind of practical work with these collections describing the challenges of the archival processes to acquire, preserve, and make accessible email and other forms of digital communication.

A few potential topics and themes for posts:

• Evaluating tools to acquire and process email
• Case studies on archiving email and other forms of digital communication
• Integrating practices for digital correspondence with physical correspondence
• Addressing privacy and legal issues in email collections
• Collaborating with IT departments and donors to collect email

Writing for bloggERS!

• Posts should be between 200-600 words in length
• Posts can take many forms: instructional guides, in-depth tool exploration, surveys, dialogues, point-counterpoint debates are all welcome!
• Write posts for a wide audience: anyone who stewards, studies, or has an interest in digital archives and electronic records, both within and beyond SAA
• Align with other editorial guidelines as outlined in the bloggERS! guidelines for writers.

Contact ers.mailer.blog@gmail.com with any questions or to discuss proposals.

The Journal of Archival Organization is an international, peer-reviewed journal encompassing all aspects of the arrangement, description, and provision of access to all forms of archival materials.

JAO addresses a broad range of issues of interest to the profession including archival management and staffing, archival technologies, the arrangement and description of records collection, collection growth and access, grant-funding, and institutional support. Articles addressing academic, public and special/corporate libraries, museums, and governmental agencies are all welcome.

How to submit:

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to Marta Deyrup  martadeyrup@gmail.com

The separate abstract page should be single-spaced to include a 100-word abstract, list of keywords for indexing purposes, and author(s) footnote (name, title, affiliation, address, and email address), with identification of the corresponding author.

References, citations, and general style of manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the APA Publication Manual, 6th ed. Cite in the text by author and date (Smith, 1983) and include an alphabetical list of references at the end of the article.

For more information about the Journal of Archival Organization, please visit the journal’s webpage: www.tandfonline.com/WJAO