AWARE: Archives Working Across Remote Environments Final Report Available

October 24, 2025 – The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) is pleased to share the consultants' final report for its Institute of Museum and Library Services-funded project, Archives Working Across Remote Environments (AWARE). Initially funded in 2023, 

AWARE investigated the needs of territorial and non-contiguous state archives. Project consultants Eira Tansey and Helen Wong Smith conducted site visits between November 2024 and April 2025 to seven site partners: Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Alaska, US Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC.

The report notes that, "Year over year, a range of needs are expressed by territorial archivists, spanning lack of funding, failing physical infrastructure, attracting and retaining staff with varied backgrounds and skillsets, increasing costs, supply chain issues, and impending and realized environmental disasters. In the last several years, these issues have been amplified by pandemic-related closures, inflation, social unrest, and increasing frequency in emergencies (for example, hardware failure, building deterioration, and storms)."

AWARE consultant Helen Wong Smith with Alaska State Archivist Karen Gray.

CoSA Executive Director Joy Banks said, "Seeing the final report from our AWARE planning project is such an encouragement. The compiled reflections from the seven partner site visits alongside our project consultants' recommendations gives CoSA and our broader community a framework for strengthening our support for and investment in the government archives of the US territories, districts, and non-contiguous states."

Download the AWARE Project Final Report