History Associates Expands Digital Archives Services

ROCKVILLE, MD, March 13, 2014 (Press-News.org) History Associates, the leading U.S. historical services firm, is pleased to announce the expansion of its digital archives advisory capabilities and has hired Mark Evans as Director of Digital Archives. Mr. Evans is a trained software engineer who has served as a pioneer in the field of developing solutions for the long-term preservation of digital content.

"Mark possesses a rare combination of engineering expertise and deep understanding of archival needs and best practices," said History Associates President, Brian Martin. "Over the last decade he has become a leading figure in the emerging field of digital archives. I am very pleased that he is now on board to enhance and direct our capabilities in this area." Expanded archival services include collection and digital archives assessments, program development advice, and technology implementation recommendations.

For decades, History Associates' archivists and historians have tracked a growing trend while working with digital archives. "Our clients have become increasingly aware that simply storing the content is not sufficient to guarantee long-term access to their valuable information. A successful digital archive program requires broader consideration of technology, policy, process, and people," noted Dr. Martin. "We are now in a unique position to lead on these important issues." He added that History Associates has long-addressed the challenges of digital content; having co-sponsored a conference with Microsoft on the topic in 1997 and served on the development team to establish a digital archive for the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in 2004.

Mr. Evans joins the company after a long tenure at Tessella, an international software services company, where he played a key role in developing, marketing, and delivering the world-leading digital archives solutions Safety Deposit Box (SDB) and Preservica. He also developed and executed a range of consultancy projects, helping commercial and government organizations prepare for and implement digital archiving strategies and solutions. He began addressing the digital archives challenge in 2001 as part of the team building a digital archive system for the UK National Archive. He also worked alongside History Associates on the Lockheed Martin team building the Electronic Records Archive for NARA. Mr. Evans holds a degree Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Manchester.

Read Mr. Evans' bio on www.historyassociates.com or visit his LinkedIn profile for more information.

About History Associates
For more than thirty years the historians and archivists at History Associates have demonstrated that history is valuable in the market as well as the marketplace of ideas. They provide professional archival services, records management, collections management, historical research, exhibit content, interpretive planning, and corporate histories to clients throughout the United States and around the world. History Associates strives to be The Best Company in History, serving corporate, government, legal, and nonprofit clients from its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, with an office in Brea, California. For more information, call (301) 279-9697 or visit www.historyassociates.com.