The Center for the History of Family Medicine (CHFM), within the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, is the primary repository of information and resources on the history and evolution of general practice, family practice and the specialty of family medicine in the United States.

The CHFM fills three roles, as:

• A historical research library, holding published works on Family Medicine as well as books by or about family physicians
• An archive, serving as the official repository for both the records of the major family medicine organizations and leaders within the specialty
• A museum, featuring artifacts and exhibits from the earliest days of general practice up to the present day’s specialty of family medicine

CHFM’s vision, as the collective memory of the specialty, is to play a major role in informing through history the transformation and future of Family Medicine. Its mission is to serve as the principal resource center for the collection, conservation, study, exhibition and dissemination of materials relating to the evolving history of Family Medicine in the United States. 

Crystal Bauer, MLS, is the Manager of the Center for the History of Family Medicine, and as a solo archivist with the part-time support of three volunteers and a yearly internship, drives that vision and mission forward—now with a solid foundation enabled by the ArchivEra collections management system. 

We sat down with Ms. Bauer for a compelling conversation about their implementation of ArchivEra, and exactly how it took them “from Word to the Web”. We invite you to read their full success story here.