What Should You Do with Your Historical Records? Advice from Johnson’s Archivist

Over the years, Johnson Space Center has collected roughly 5,000 boxes of historical documents — and that’s only counting the paper records Archivist Mark Scroggins manages on-site in Building 412 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Building 412 can be a mysterious place with its maze of shelves containing documents from organizations across the center. It is not what many would consider a traditional archive, where you might imagine sitting in a reading room, rifling through old papers, and jotting down research notes. In fact — it isn’t truly an archive at all.

Just as the Moon is NASA’s steppingstone on the way to Mars, Building 412 is the steppingstone for historical collections to move to other archives, where they can be made accessible for public use. Many of the collections that pass through the archivist’s hands only sit in Building 412 temporarily before going to the University of Houston-Clear Lake archive, the National Archives and Records Administration, or to Johnson’s History Office (located in Building 1).

So, what does this mean for people who want to access or store archival records related to the center? First, if you need to locate historical documents, you can use the Archive Search Index to see what records are available at UHCL, or you can contact the Johnson archivist to track down collections that might have moved to other facilities. Second, if you would like to donate NASA documents to an archive, the archivist can help determine what papers are historically significant, provide a place to store materials until they are moved to a permanent home, explore possibilities for making documents accessible to others, and share information about digitizing collections.

If you are interested in donating paper collections to Johnson, or if you are interested in improving your own records management at home, please see the archivist’s advice for these processes below.

What materials can the Johnson archivist collect?

Because archiving is not an exact science, it is often easier to say what is not wanted rather than what is. If your NASA collections contain documents that you are unsure of whether to keep, please feel welcome to ask the archivist. However, here is a short list of items not accepted to help you get started:

• Documents not related to NASA or Johnson
• Books, magazines, newspapers (including photocopies of published articles)
• Phone books, travel vouchers, and receipts
• Personnel files (annual reviews, promotions, etc.)
• Personal emails or junk mail
• Copies of Roundup Reads
• Artifacts (stickers, pins, patches, etc.)

How can you preserve your personal records at home?

1. Keep papers in a stable environment.

If possible, store your documents in a dark space indoors that has stable temperature and humidity levels. Avoid storage in garages, sheds, and attics. Heat and humidity can cause paper to become brittle, moldy, or attractive to pests.

2. Label what you have.

The best way to ensure your documents can be used long term is to make sure it is clear what they are. Group items together in the way you originally used them and create a typed or handwritten list of what you have. Adding a personal bio with information about your background and your job are also useful and can increase the value of your collection.

3. Store papers flat and separate from other materials.

It is easy to store paper in boxes, but check that the pages are kept flat (either vertically or horizontally) to ensure efficient use of storage space. Additionally, items often used to organize papers can damage your documents over time. Three-ring binders, binder clips, and paper clips will rust and leave marks. Using plastic covers, tape, and sticky notes can also be detrimental and are difficult materials to preserve.

For questions concerning paper collections, please contact Mark Scroggins at mark.scroggins-1@nasa.gov. If you are on-site and interested in digitizing your organization’s paper collections, information about Johnson’s Office of the Chief Information Officer’s document and data-conversion services can be found here.