The Archival Award of Excellence honors individuals within California who have made an outstanding contribution to the archives profession and accomplished exceptional work in the archives and records management field. These contributions include activities such as contributing innovative or creative ideas to the profession, improving the profession’s effectiveness through advocacy or services, processing or preservation of historical materials, or promoting greater public awareness of archives and the archival profession. Nominees must have accomplished the work within the state of California during the five–year period preceding the year in which the award is presented.
The Archival Award of Excellence (formerly the Archivist Award of Excellence) was established in 1989 by the California Heritage Preservation Commission, an advisory body to the California State Archives, which identified a need to recognize outstanding work done within the state and was previously co-sponsored by the Society of California Archivists and the California Historical Records Advisory Board (CHRAB) through 2017. The Society of California Archivists revived the award in 2025 and currently serves as the sole sponsor of the award. The Archival Award of Excellence is presented at the Awards Ceremony at the Annual General Meeting of the Society of California Archivists.
Nominees must have worked with materials that are primarily related to California; must have performed work that is clearly identified as archival, record or manuscript related; and must have completed it within the past five years.
The cost of the recipient’s Awards Luncheon meal is a committee expense, and should be reflected in the Awards Committee’s annual budget request (one lunch for individual, 2 lunches for organization).
Revision history: 4/2010 jmw, 06/2018 llc, 01/2026 ck