One small step? Collection strategies for libraries, archives, and museums in the space age

Grimsley, Reagan L.

This article will compare the collection of materials for the Saturn V documentation project under NAS8-21321 in 1968 to standard processes for collecting space history today. A case study of The Saturn V grant outlines the benefits of collecting research material in real time. This case study is compared to the findings compiled at the 2018 conference “To Boldly Preserve: Archiving for the Next Half-Century of Spaceflight.” The findings of this conference found that collecting space history is often fragmented by three factors: early space actors are in the twilight of their careers and loss of historical memories and materials is imminent, there is a vast expansion of the number of actors in the space industry which makes collection more difficult, and that the digital age has changed both the nature of the material and the methods by which LAMS collect them. Libraries, Archives, and Museums (LAMs) can and should develop a collaborative approach to collecting space history and ensure that acquisition and preservation of these materials goes beyond one small step and is instead one giant leap.