Digital Preservation Assessment for American Academy in Rome

FAIN: PG-280702-21

American Academy in Rome (New York, NY 10021-4905)
Sebastian Hierl (Project Director: January 2021 to April 2025)

A digital preservation assessment to review the American Academy in Rome’s (AAR) current digital preservation provisions and provide recommendations to ensure the long-term preservation, searchability, and retrieval of diverse formats. The report would provide guidance on improving long-term access to the Academy’s digital collections. The collection has three main repositories, including administrative files and materials documenting the history of the institution; unique photographic collections ranging from the late nineteenth century to the present; and a collection of 9,000 archaeological artifacts and the documentation of two prominent American excavations in Italy during the twentieth century, the AAR’s excavations at Regia (Roman Forum) and Cosa (Tuscany). Scholars and artists are the primary users of this collection as well as the public, which typically accesses it through exhibitions.

The American Academy in Rome (AAR) is applying for a NEH Preservation Assistance Grant for the purpose of completing a digital preservation assessment by Northeast Document Conservation Center Preservation Specialist, Becky Geller.