Demonstrates how to integrate digital archives and manuscripts into collection development policies and strategies, build strong relationships with creators and colleagues, appraise born-digital materials prior to an acquisition, and prepare for the challenges of collecting digital manuscripts and archives.

Megan Barnard is associate director for Acquisitions and Administration at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, where she has worked to acquire the archives of David Foster Wallace, Julia Alvarez, and the McSweeney’s publishing company, among others. She served as curator of the exhibitions Literature and Sport (2013) and Culture Unbound: Collecting in the Twenty-First Century (2011) and co-curator of The Mystique of the Archive (2008). In 2013, she contributed to the report Born-Digital:Guidance for Donors, Dealers, and Archival Repositories (CLIR).

Gabriela Redwine is digital archivist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Previously she was archivist and electronic records/metadata specialist at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin, where she served as co-curator of The Mystique of the Archive (2008) exhibition, as well as curator or co-curator of Director’s Gallery exhibitions related to African history and literature (2008–2010). In 2013 she co-authored Born Digital: Guidance for Donors, Dealers, and Archival Repositories (CLIR), and in 2015 she authored Personal Digital Archiving (DPC).

Introduction 1
A Note About Terminology 2
Collection Development Policies and Strategies 4
Building Relationships 9
Preacquisition Appraisal and Selection 20
Documenting an Acquisition
Conclusion 30
Appendices 31