- Display the Washington State Archives Month poster prominently. Use it to advertise events and exhibits.
- Send press releases to local media, including student newspapers, describing your institution's collections related to the year's theme; other collections and services offered; and your Archives Month activities.
- Obtain a proclamation of October as Archives Month from your local mayor or county commission, and use it in your publicity. If you obtain such a proclamation, submit it for inclusion on the Washington State Archives Month web page and publicize it in the media.
- Provide an article based on research in your collections or a sampling of photographs from your collections to local media. You might try to get a photograph or document published for each week during Archives Month.
- Install exhibits of archival materials related to the Archives Month theme or of library holdings, with emphasis on books by authors who have used primary source materials.
- Feature your Archives Month exhibits and activities on your website and include a link to the Washington State Archives Month web page (www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/archivesmonth)
- Schedule an open house and provide behind-the-scenes tours of your facility, highlighting materials that relate to the year's theme.
- Coordinate Archives Month activities with an appropriate existing local celebration or event. Examples: Art Walk, lecture series, etc.
- Sponsor or co-sponsor lectures, panels, or symposia, perhaps in cooperation with a local college or university. Your institution might sponsor a lecture by an author whose work is based on research done there.
- Sponsor or co-sponsor seminars on using primary source materials to research the Archives Month theme and other topics (for general audiences or targeted to specific audiences based on local needs).
- Sponsor or co-sponsor Family History Day, possibly in cooperation with local genealogical societies and museums.
- Work with other institutions in your community or region to sponsor an Archives Fair featuring exhibits, literature, and staff to field questions.
- Working with local educators, arrange presentations and tours for classes that will be involved in the History Day program to introduce collections related to the year's theme and research methods in primary sources.
- Organize a children's activity around photographs or documents relating to youth.
- Organize guided tours of historic houses and business buildings, with special emphasis on how the use of archives provided information about the history of the buildings.
- Sponsor or co-sponsor a film festival featuring historic films from your collections.
- Arrange a "What do archivists do?" program demonstrating the steps that Archivists take to make records available to the public.
- Compile and distribute/publicize a list of local archives and primary resource repositories in your area. Add lists of local resources to your institutional website.
- Produce a brochure or map for a walking/driving tour of archival resources in your city or county.
- Organize a meeting of representatives from local archives, libraries, museums, historical and genealogical societies to share information about current projects and resources.
Online resources:
For guides produced by other states, see links on the Council of State Archivists resource site.
