Welcome to CoPAR!

The Council for the Preservation of Anthropological Records (CoPAR) was founded in the 1990s to foster awareness of the importance of preserving anthropological records, to provide technical support to archival repositories, provide information on records location and access, and foster collaboration between archivists at institutional repositories and in Native communities.

Today CoPAR is revitalizing its efforts as a network that supports producers, users, and stewards of the record of human diversity in the digital age. We advocate for access to archival records while encouraging repositories and users to be culturally-responsive and ethical. We provide resources for anthropologists, librarians, archivists, information specialists, Indigenous communities, museum professionals, historians, linguists, educators, students, and others to locate repositories and find resources relating to the care and use of archival materials.

This site provides access to 1) the original bulletins and 2) Preserving the Anthropological Record publication created by CoPAR on a range of topics relating to anthropological archival materials, as well as updated versions of CoPAR’s original guides: 3) the Directory of Anthropological Archives and 4) the Guide to Anthropological Fieldnotes and Manuscripts in Archival Repositories.

See the original site here: https://copar.org

We are supported by the University of Maryland and The Wenner-Gren Foundation.