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ecord-keeping

I believe that history is best preserved in the physical objects that we might overlook. This is why I want to expand JCL's archives by...

1. Archiving Physical Media

Currently, the NJCL Archives Page features links to non-convention contest results, past torches + digital scrapbooks, former NJCL officers, and previous campaign corners (check it out!). These make up an important part of JCL history, but they aren't everything.

This is why I want to start digitizing physical media such as name tags, prize ribbons, printed brocures, and colloquia handouts—just to name a few examples!

Maybe in ten years, future JClers will wonder what our ribbons looked like—out of curiosity, or even hoping to replicate them for their own National Convention in 2036.

These physical items carry important historical information and say something about who we are as an organization purely through their existence.

I want this tangible history to be preserved for you to look back on years after today!

Now, you may be asking: how would you collect these items to digitize? My plan is to send out a form after Convention ends giving you the chance to submit photos and descriptions of any items you wish to archive!

Our history is made by all of us, so I think it makes the most sense for this to be a crowdsourced effort.

2. JCL Research Resource

Another important role of an archive is to help researchers or curious internet explorers looking to learn more about the topic that the archive covers!

This is why, in addition to digitizing physical media, I would like to create a page with helpful links for conducting your own JCL research (kind of like a library guide).