University Archivist Michael Lotstein takes Yale’s history very seriously

Celebrating 13 years as archivist for Yale Library’s Manuscripts and Archives collections—including nearly 10 years as University Archivist—Michael Lotstein has brought best practices to the preservation of Yale’s historical records.

The University Archives is the official repository of Yale’s historical records, housed in Sterling Memorial Library. Lotstein acquires and processes records from the many offices and academic departments across the university to ensure “historical continuity.” He also ensures those records continue to be easily discoverable and accessible to students, faculty, and staff.

Lotstein has applied those same principles to managing the growing number of digitial and born-digital materials. “Digital records are just as fragile in their own way as paper records are,” Lotstein said in a recent interview with “Yale News.”

“We make sure that offices are in the position to have good digital record-keeping practices at their disposal, so they know when to transfer their records to the university. We take their history very seriously.”

View the interview and read the full article by Linda Clarke in “Yale News.”

—Deborah Cannarella

Photo by Robert DeSanto