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EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED
Preparing the Office

first draft by
Gerry Stoner

Objective: Select your office tools to suit your own goals.

• Try to arrange for a private, dedicated office space
• It should have secure storage
  • cabinets
  • shelving
  • drawers
• It should house your own personal oganizational system, including any or all of the following:
  • flat surfaces for papers and work areas
  • space for loose leaf notebooks
  • space for reference books
  • computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse
  • removable hard drives and back-up software
  • scanner and scanning software
  • record-keeping applications
• Preservation materials
  • acid free folders
  • copy paper
  • acid free or plastic boxes

This article is one of several to help you document local history. Other articles will help you convert your interviews, documents, pictures, and artifacts into documentation of your local history that can be shared with your community.

Assignment: Most historical societies close down for the winter, and non-migratory neighbors tend to fight cabin fever by going to the Saturday or Sunday afternoon movies in Hunter, at the Power Authority, or another venue. While these may be fun, I hope you set up this alternative: host a series of workshops using this article as a focus and start to document your own local history.

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