National Parks: Archives Tell Yellowstone’s Story with Millions of Records

From the Associated Press:

Most people first entering the historical archives at Yellowstone National Park see long shelves of mute-colored boxes.

But for Yellowstone National Park Archivist Anne Foster, those boxes — and the treasures they hold — are a thing of beauty.

“Most people just see rows of plain gray boxes, but to me they’re beautiful because they show how organized and preserved the documents are,” Foster told The Livingston Enterprise.

Foster has served as Yellowstone’s archivist for the past nearly 10 years in what she calls her “dream job.”

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Documents stored at the archives are ones deemed to be administratively or historically significant to the park’s history. In today’s electronic era, Foster said digital records are also stored using an archival computer server. She’s also in the process of sorting through and cataloging film reels, which will be digitized and eventually stored in the building’s vault.

Paper documents are catalogued and stored in boxes in a large temperature- and humidity-controlled room at the archives. Some documents have been scanned and are available for review in digital format.

Read the Complete Article (1200 words)

Direct to Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center Website

A Few National Park Service Digital Resources

• National Park Service (NPS) Makes 32,000 Historic Agency Technical Documents Available to the Public Online (eTIC Database) (2018)
• 10 Digital Resources to Help Celebrate 100th Birthday of the National Park Service (2016)
• Yellowstone National Park Sound Library
• National Park Service Sound Gallery

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Journal Articles, Libraries, News