CAPES Program Offers Free Archival Assistance

The Caucus Archival Projects Evaluation Service (CAPES) is funded by the New Jersey Historical Commission and operated by members of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference - New Jersey Caucus.  CAPES offers free general assessment surveys of archival collections held by non-profit organizations in New Jersey.

The survey includes reviewing and providing recommendation for improvement in the following areas; physical facility (environmental factors, fire and security protection), storage (shelving and containers), reformatting materials (microfilm/digitization), collection arrangement and description, and policies.  A detailed report will be provided and can be used to supplement other grant applications.

To be eligible, you must have collections that are open to the public and relate to New Jersey history.  Only archival materials (books, papers, maps, photographs, audio-visual) are surveyed.  Government archives are not eligible.

Follow-up visits are available to those who have already had their first CAPES visit.  These sessions can include a staff training workshop, focused collection survey, or a reassessment of your original report if the visit was many years ago.

The CAPES program is in its 23rd  year of providing free archival and preservation consultation to public libraries, academic libraries, museums, historical societies and other non-profit organizations in New Jersey.  In December 1988, members of the New Jersey Historical Commission and New Jersey Caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference jointly established the program that has, to date, provided consultations to more than 400 organizations in New Jersey.

Please direct any questions to Frederic Pachman, CAPES Program Coordinator, capescoordinator@gmail.com.

To apply for the program, visit the New Jersey Historical Commission website and download and application:

http://www.state.nj.us/state/historical/dos_his_grants.html.