David Ferriero’s recent post over on the AOTUS blog made mention of NARA’s Wikipedia ExtravaSCANza in the context of a discussion of the “Yes We Scan” initiative and a broader digitization strategy. I want to take the opportunity to recap the citizen archivist scanning the National Archives has been hosting for Wikipedians in recent months. [...]

Ever wonder what exciting new projects the many employees at NARA are working on? The “What are You Working On?” blog feature aims to introduce a variety of NARA employees and highlight some of the exciting projects we are working on around the agency. Check for this blog series on Wednesdays! What is your name [...]

Recently, the National Archives introduced the Citizen Archivist Dashboard where citizen archivists can crowd-source the records of the National Archives.  The Dashboard contains several “tagging missions” that feature records and images from our holdings including over 2800 images of  World War II posters, 483 photographs taken by photographer Lewis Hine, and the petition against the annexation of Hawaii which contains 21, [...]

Throughout this holiday season, we encourage you to participate in the exciting activities featured on the Citizen Archivist Dashboard, which is available starting today. Check it out and try tagging, transcription, editing articles, uploading digital scans, and participating in contests all related to the records of the National Archives. We hope that you’ll share any suggestions [...]

Tag It Tuesday’s all shook up!  Our pals over at the Our Presidents tumbler are celebrating “Elvis in the Archives” week and we thought we’d join the fun.  Sure, the King is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but you can also find him in the National Archives.   Included in the Archives’ holdings [...]

Today’s Tag It Tuesday is going Hollywood!  Did you know that every once in a while there’s a star sighting in the records of the National Archives?   You just might find a poor little rich girl, a future Godfather, or a Top Gun making a guest appearance in our holdings. Tammy Kelly, a colleague from the Truman Library, [...]

Tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of what President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed  “a date which will live in infamy,” the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Navy.  Thousands of American naval personnel were killed or wounded and U.S. ships and aircraft were sunk or damaged.  As a result of the attack, the U.S. declared war on Japan and entered World War [...]

Have you ever looked at an historic storefront flanked by modern office buildings and wondered what the streetscape might have looked like back when that first building was constructed? If so, the National Archives’ new partnership with Historypin may be right up your alley! Historypin, a project of the British non-profit We Are What We [...]

All this month, the National Archives joined with the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Gallery of Art, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to pay tribute to the traditions of Native Americans during Native American Heritage Month.  The National Archives has hundreds [...]

Thanksgiving rolls around once a year but at the National Archives you can tag our Thanksgiving related records every day.  Our sample set is a little heavy on the turkey,  so pass up dessert and tag a few records instead!  Here are some of my favorite images: Look at her perfect form.  To achieve the [...]