Do you dream about filling out your records pull slips online?

NARA is in the very early stages of developing a process for electronically requesting records (i.e., an online pull slip). We are currently concentrating on requirements. We invite you to attend one or both of two meetings to discuss what requirements and features you'd like to see for doing records requests electronically.  Project director Rich Tomlinson will brief … Continue reading Do you dream about filling out your records pull slips online?

I Found It in the National Archives! Contest

When you signed up as a researcher at the National Archives, what did our staff pull out of the stacks for you? Was it a photo of your great-grandfather with the Secretary of War as he received a commendation? Or did you find a telegraph your favorite president sent at the height of his career? … Continue reading I Found It in the National Archives! Contest

Meet Our Wikipedian in Residence: Dominic McDevitt-Parks

We asked our new Wikipedian in Residence, Dominic McDevitt-Parks, to tell us a little bit about himself and his passion for Wikipedia.  Welcome to the National Archives, Dominic! Tell us a little about yourself.  Where are you from?  What do you study in school? I am a history buff, a word nerd, a news junkie, … Continue reading Meet Our Wikipedian in Residence: Dominic McDevitt-Parks

Ask Away on #Ask Archivists Day!

The National Archives will be here to answer all your archival questions on June 9th!  Known as Ask Archivists Day, this worldwide event on Twitter will bring together the people who collect, care for, and research archival records in one space where questions from general research practices to whether a repository has your ancestor's information … Continue reading Ask Away on #Ask Archivists Day!

May 18th Citizen Archivist Program

If you are anything like me, you would love to volunteer more, but you don't feel you have enough time to make a commitment. Luckily, these days, anyone with a computer and internet access can easily participate in online volunteer projects. An upcoming public program at the National Archives will look at three projects where … Continue reading May 18th Citizen Archivist Program

Zoom into Online Public Access

We are excited to announce new features that have been rolled out into our Online Public Access catalog! If you haven't already tried our new search interface, now is a great time to test our some of the new features.   Online Public Access (OPA) now includes a Bookmark/Share widget to share your search results through … Continue reading Zoom into Online Public Access

National Archives' First Wikipedian in Residence: This article is a stub.

Have you ever landed on a Wikipedia page containing just the beginnings of an article, waiting to be filled in with valuable content? In Wikipedia parlance, these are stubs; skeleton pages set up with the basic outline of a topic which subject matter experts can work together to build into full encyclopedia articles. We see … Continue reading National Archives' First Wikipedian in Residence: This article is a stub.

Suffragettes, Wearable Art, and Flickr

Since joining the Flickr Commons, several users have wowed us with their insightful comments and tags on our photos.  After highlighting the work of TVL1970 a few months ago, we've interviewed another avid Flickr contributor.  Penny Richards of Redondo Beach, CA, better known to Flickr users as Pennylrichardsca, has contributed tags, comments, and even shared … Continue reading Suffragettes, Wearable Art, and Flickr

Family Tree Friday: The 1940 Census

Today's Family Tree Friday is brought to you by Constance Potter, Archivist in the Archives I Research Support Branch. The 1940 census opens on April 2, 2012. For the first time, the census will be released digitally, not on microfilm. As with other censuses, this one reflects the previous decade of the 1930s and the … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: The 1940 Census