People often do not think of themselves as living in history. As such, they don't think of items they have as “artifacts.”

However, to some, saving present day files, records and items is important.

“Everything we do today, tomorrow, is history, so we have to preserve it all,” said Pat Collins, administrative director of the Butler County Historical Society.

The society scans current church records, business records, telephone books and newspaper clippings. It also takes photographs of buildings and events.

“We're always digitizing those records,” Collins said. “We do a lot of backing up.”

In fact, one of the services the society offers is for people to bring in records and have them digitized.

Paper materials are kept in acid-free containers. Collins said the society tries to keep up with industry standards for preservation.

Coming up with current items other than files can be something of a challenge.

“Today's stuff, people are using,” Collins said.

However, she said the society still looks for items from the recent past.

“We're always encouraging people (that) 10 years ago is history,” Collins said.

The society also keeps artifacts from festivals and events. This includes the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival. Items from that include a hat, a pin, newspaper articles and planning documents.

“We try to keep some of the memorabilia,” Collins said.

Just before the Butler Hot Dog Shop was torn down in August, the society got one of its windows.

The Butler Area Public Library's genealogy department also collects current historic items.

Recently, Friedman's Freshmarket sent out a flier to its customers thanking them for their patronage when the supermarket chain closed its Point Plaza store in November.

“We have one here,” said genealogist Luanne Eisler.

She said the department keeps a file full of newspaper clippings and other information. If she hears a building in Butler is going to be torn down, she takes a picture of it.

However, she said saving contemporary artifacts is problematic because so many files are switching from physical copies to digital. She said digital formats and digital printouts are not archival quality.

“We are going to lose so much,” Eisler said.

The library has a special collections room that is climate controlled. It does not do much digitizing. The only time that happens is when it sends out copies of newspapers to be scanned onto microfilm and the company also sends back files on CD.

Eisler said microfilm is much more versatile than digital formats to archivists.

She said it is important to save artifacts and other things from today so future generations can see them and learn from them.

“I'm doing what I can,” Eisler said.

Judy Silva, a professor of library at Slippery Rock University, is one of the people in charge of SRU's archives, which is no small feat.

It officially documents the history of the institution, Silva said.

Minutes and documents from SRU council of trustee meetings, as well as other administrative papers, are placed in the archives.

“They're fascinating when you read them,” she said.

Items such as faculty and staff files, yearbooks and copies of SRU's student newspaper go in the archives. And the archives hold a copy of every graduate student's thesis.

Most recently, a piece of ribbon from the ribbon cutting of the Robert M. Smith Student Center in October and several items from new President Cheryl Norton's inauguration in September, including T-shirts, invitations and DVD copies of the ceremony, were placed in the archives.

Items that are archived are placed in acid-free containers. If an artifact is an odd shape, staff members create a box that will fit it.

Silva said climate control is important because heat, humidity and light should be kept at a constant rate to preserve artifacts.

Some other groups also try to keep track of newer artifacts.

Slippery Rock Mayor Ken Harris, who is active with the Slippery Rock Heritage Association, said the association is collecting oral histories for a second book. It has 23 tapes of people talking about their life experiences.

Earlier this year, the association released “The Way We Were,” its first collection of oral histories.

Harris said these recordings are new artifacts in a way.

“Recording memories that were hitherto unrecorded,” Harris said.

Former association President Jerilyn McDowell, who died in August, searched for current obituaries of Slippery Rock-area people and stored that information in a computer. However, Harris said no one has continued that.

Jim Harmon, president of the Prospect Area Preservation Society, said the main items from today the society save are newspaper articles about Prospect and the surrounding area.

“That will become history tomorrow,” Harmon said.The society also tries to collect genealogical information.For preservation, the paper items are kept in plastic zip top bags and binders. Digitizing likely will happen later.“That would be down the road,” Harmon said.Kathy Luek, administrator for Historic Harmony, said that group recently digitized many photographs of the construction of the new ramp on Interstate 79, which opened in 2011. It collects articles from publications on Harmony and videos filmed in Harmony.Historic Harmony also is saving articles on Marcellus Shale natural gas.“We do keep track,” Luek said.To save the items, they are digitized using a computer scanner, while the physical copies are stored in acid-free materials.Paul Scanlon, president of the Associated Artists of Butler County, said that group saves every newspaper announcement for its art shows and it photographs artwork and the crowds at its shows.“We try to get a large sample of the artwork from each opening,” Scanlon said.The photographs are stored digitally on Scanlon's computer and on a computer at the AABC's headquarters. The photographs and announcements are saved so the AABC can put out a book.In 2009, the AABC put out a book, “A Pictorial History of The Associated Artists of Butler County: 1934-2009.”Large companies also keep track of modern history.Butler Memorial Hospital saves many medical records, X-ray films and business and personnel files, both electronically and physically.Mark Edwards, risk manager/safety officer at the hospital, has an interest in the history of Butler Memorial and holds on to other items, such as newsletters and annual reports.He also keeps photographs of the hospital's construction. During the construction of the hospital's tower during the late 2000s, he took regular pictures of the project.“I think it's important to have the perspective on the way things were,” Edwards said. “This is the stuff we don't want to lose.”Although the collection is not a priority in his job, he hopes to one day to organize it and put it in some sort of order.Scott Shaw, a Westinghouse Electric spokesman, said many of the Cranberry Township-based company's files are stored electronically in an electronic document management system.“It's a huge database,” Shaw said.Documents having to do with design, policy, procedure and business are stored in the system. This includes current documents. Employees working on projects go to the system to look up the documents and work on them.Additionally, hard copies often are saved. Many older files are stored at Iron Mountain in Boyers.