Blogs

Ann Schoenenberger, MLIS
Business Librarian
Kenton County Public Library

SoapBlog 1: Preserving yesterday: what's business past is business prologue

My path to becoming a professional librarian was precipitated by a series of rejected library job applications - a mere side product of a chronic, obsessive information habit.  I grew up in a little Pennsylvania town across the street from a one room library where my mother worked.  I would walk there after school and spend hours exploring.  My habit may have started there but, regardless, the curiosity and pleasure of finding information remains a central motivation.  Taking time to remember, gives each work day meaning and purpose. It sustains me as I try to transfer my enthusiasm to the people I help. It compels me to seek out anyway to support education, especially literacy and kids.  
    
The power of remembering doesn't only apply to individual workers.  For any sole proprietor, business, or nonprofit, history plays an important role.  When and why was your company founded? What will it be like in 50 years? To answer these questions as you grow and evolve, you need a methodology to capture the story along the way.  What may have started from a habit or an obsession is now a traceable line of decisions and expended energy. By bringing the notion of history into your business consciousness, any marketing, administrative, and operational efforts will be rewarded with the fortifying power of purpose, legacy, and mission.  

5 reasons why history matters to your business

1. Forces you think long term
What did you achieve today that would be memorable in 10-20 years?  By thinking how the present leads to success in the future, you may eliminate some unnecessary activities and find motivation to make hard choices.  

2. Strengthens your brand
Having record of your history means you have a story.  That story is what customers will relate to and trust.  By saving pictures, documents, videos, and other evidence you won't just have a story but tangible proof of where you've been.

3. Protects institutional knowledge
Knowing the past means you know what decisions didn't work. It will save your company the time and money for paying for mistakes already made.  It will allow you to at least make some new ones.

4. Gives each day meaning
Think about this right now: Why did you start your business?  Does the reason bring you to a central motivation and value center?  Ponder it a bit and if you don't get a little spark maybe it's time to reinvest or move on.

5. Honors overcoming obstacles
Years from now there will be many fascinating stories of how businesses survived during these tough times.  If you've been in business for awhile, you probably have some stories similar to this.  Maybe you need to thank employees who made sacrifices or pitched in. Maybe a vendor or customer needs a phone call.  


5 ways to preserve business history
    
1. People
Designate someone to be the historian.  If you are a solo worker then it is you.  It is preferable that it is someone who enjoys history but anyone can be the point person that is responsible to save, organize, and help everyone else remember.

2. Place
Whether it is a hard drive, remote server, or an archival quality storage box,   historical records need a place to be stored that is protected, safe, and monitored.  So much of our history has been lost because it was placed in a box, forgotten, and thrown away. 

3. System
Having policies and putting a records management system in place will help keep your records from being lost regardless of location changes and staff turnover.  What needs to happen each day, month, and year to preserve your history? Write it down and follow it as if it were law.

4. Practice
Probably the most difficult part of preserving history is deciding what will be valuable in the future.  We cannot predict the future so often we overlook what seems unimportant now.  Do your best and remember the process is useful too.  Select photos, videos, documents, and stories from key events and people.

5. Get help
Visit your local library with a history department and talk to them about their collection policy. They may be interested in accepting your materials and preserving them for you.  If they are not, ask them to recommend some books and classes on archival methods or records management. 

All these steps may sound like a lot of work but you'll preserve beautiful and unique memories and records that others didn't have the thought to keep.  It'll help you stand out now and years from now.  I don't have a picture of that little library in my hometown, but if I did it would hang over my desk a symbol of the goods things that followed.

For sample images of businesses of the past visit: http://www.kentonlibrary.org/genphotos/
Explore and add terms like businesses or street names to the left hand search box.