ADMINISTRATIVE Resources
Governance and Management Resources:
- Governing Documents
- AASLH Statement of Standards and Ethics – A good sample document w/ relevant sections on governance and human resources
- Finances and Budgeting
- “Improving Financial Management” – A detailed technical leaflet from the AASLH
- Human Resources
- “How to Create an Employee Handbook Your Team Will Want to Read” – A downloadable guide covering topics like transparency, pay equity, sexual harassment, whistleblower protection, and technology policies for non-profits.
Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion (DEAI) Resources:
- City of Chicago Mental Health Resources – find mental health support at centers across the city. Also includes info for disability services, domestic violence support, LGBTQIA+ support, and veterans’ services.
- The Inclusive Historian’s Handbook: Accessibility
- Project Access: Beyond the Ramps
- Museums and Race Reading List
- “Going Beyond Land Acknowledgments” from Arts Midwest
Marketing Resources:
- Canva for Nonprofits – Apply for a free Pro Account on Canva to design high-quality graphics
- Content Management Systems (CMS) or Social Media Schedulers: Online software that allows you to schedule your social media posts in advance
- Canva Content Planner – if you’re already using Canva to design your digital content, consider using its own built-in CMS
- Later – useful visual layout, plans ranging from $15-$40/month
- Hootsuite – one of the largest and most popular schedulers. Starts at $49/month.
Event listing websites – Submit your event for free to these websites to increase your coverage (you may need a free account for some):
- https://www.dailyherald.com/share/
- https://wgntv.com/community/public-service-announcements-for-wgn-9-chicago/
- https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/things-to-do/ct-things-to-do-in-chicago-htmlstory.html#!/
- https://chicago.thelocaltourist.com/addingevents
- https://www.choosechicago.com/events/community/add/
- https://abc7chicago.com/community/submitevent/
- https://yourchicagoguide.com/add-event/
- https://www.chicagoparent.com/calendar/
- https://wgnradio.com/community-calendar/#!/
- https://chicagoreader.com/community-calendar-event-listings/theater-performance-arts-culture-events/
- https://beintheloopchicago.com/?page_id=49
- https://the-scene.thetriibe.com/
- http://www.thevisualist.org/submit/ (Art events only)
Technology Resources:
- Airtable: Not specific to libraries/archives/museums, but a useful tool for managing all kinds of information efficiently and intuitively. The free version has some limitations, but is still very usable.
- ArchivesSpace: While the software itself is free and open source, you may want to consider paying for an ArchivesSpace community membership (sliding scale based on institution size) and/or paying for hosting service depending on your internal capacity for installing and maintaining software.
- Catchafire: Post a project you need help with in technology, design, administration, or other categories and an expert volunteer can help you complete it.
- Dreamhost Nonprofit Discount: For those considering installing/maintaining their own software, Dreamhost offers a free shared hosting plan to nonprofits registered in the U.S.
- Omeka: Free and open source. You will need to decide whether to install & maintain your own install on a server, or pay for hosting service (through https://www.omeka.net/ or other hosting providers)
- OpenRefine: Free, open source. Extremely useful for normalizing/cleaning up messy data. Prepare to invest some time in learning how to use this tool (There are many tutorials available! See below for starters)
- https://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/openrefine/
- https://sustainableheritagenetwork.org/digital-heritage/manipulating-data-openrefine-tutorial
- https://programminghistorian.org/en/lessons/cleaning-data-with-openrefine
- PastPerfect
- Scalar
- Tech Soup: Register for an account to get free and discounted software like Adobe, Microsoft Office Suite, and lots more.
- Wayback Machine
