Save today’s history to avoid mistakes of the past

These are unprecedented days with historic objects and monuments being destroyed, books banned and burned, religious beliefs under attack, and attempts made to alter, and in worse cases, erase history.

Additionally, antisemitism is on the rise around the world, politicians are veering far right and left, and as World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder pointed out in a recent interview with The Jewish Chronicle, “We’re now dealing with the third generation after the liberation of Auschwitz…and these are young people who have no contact with what happened.”

So, where will people go for the truth – for actual first-person accounts of Jewish history and what transpired in their own communities? Inevitably, they will turn to the most trusted sources, journalists who provided observations, interviews and photographs. The most reliable source is undoubtedly the newspaper but, for people to explore the archives, the information has to be digitally accessible and searchable.

Without digital preservation, the written history is at constant risk of being lost forever whether it be by natural deterioration, disaster such as fire or flood, or by something darker such as intentional destruction or vandalism.

“We work with dozens of religious publications across the country who really have strong feelings about not only preserving the facts but also making history accessible and searchable for future generations,” noted Paul Jeffko, the founder of ArchiveInABox. “We share their passion for protecting the first draft of history so the details, whether it be news or lifecycle events, are available to people far and wide.”

Jeffko created ArchiveInABox to make it easy and affordable for publishers and organizations to scan historic archive materials and place them online where they can be searched from anywhere in the world. Scanning services include shipping, white-glove handling of original newspapers, and the return of the originals and digital files to the owner. “In addition to digitizing archives, we provide a suite of hosting options including free, low cost and custom. You tell us what you need, and we will make it happen,” added Jeffko. 

The Jewish News in Tidewater, Virginia had experienced people cutting articles out of the original bound volume archives so they turned to ArchiveInABox to scan the originals and place the archive, dating back to 1947, online at http://jnt.stparchive.com/.  “The online archive has huge value…there’s a warm feeling seeing the history of our community, everyone really loves seeing old photographs,” explained Jewish News Editor Terri Denison. “Now people can easily research both people and events… the online archive makes that so much easier.”

Visit ArchiveInABox.com or contact us to get started with your digital preservation project.

Karen Tarica
ArchiveInABox

karen@smalltownpapers.com 
www.archiveinabox.com

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