ANNUAL MEETING 2017
Photo credit: Idaho State Historical Society, P62-20-0072s, R. Harold Sigler
Join us for the 2017
Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists/Northwest Archivists
Joint Annual Meeting
NOTE: this page was updated and some subpages were removed in August, 2025. Valuable information from removed pages has been relocated onto this page.
Theme: Preserving the Voices of the West
Location: Boise, Idaho
Dates: May 17-19, 2017
Program: Complete Schedule
Pre-Conference Workshops: See below
Conference Hotel & Conference Venue:
Area Maps:
Directions to Hampton Inn Downtown | Downtown Boise | Boise State University
Restaurants: List of Boise Restaurants
Tours and Activities:
Boise Attractions | Local Tours Details
Boise: Overview | Fact Sheet
Call for Papers: Closed January 11
Thank Our Conference Sponsors!
Conference Exhibitors
To become a sponsor or exhibitor contact Bryce Henry.
Program Committee Co-Chairs:
Su Kim Chung, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Anne Jenner, University of Washington
Local Arrangements Committee Co-Chairs:
Alessandro Meregaglia, Boise State University
Conor Casey, University of Washington
Pre-Conference Workshops
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
at JUMP (Jack's Urban Meeting Place)
See registration details with each workshop description
Arrangement and Description of Audiovisual Materials (SAA)
Instructor: Megan McShea
Wed. May 17 - 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (lunch break noon - 1:00) at JUMP
This course is open to the public and requires registration and payment through SAA.
Minimum enrollment is 18. Limited to 35 participants.
In this full day SAA course you will learn how to arrange and describe archival sound, video, and film materials found in mixed-media archival collections. In the morning you'll focus on understanding archival audiovisual media with sections on format identification, evaluating content, and assessing institutional capacity for providing access for researchers. In the afternoon, you'll examine processing procedures in depth, including pre-processing assessment of archival audiovisual materials, intellectual and physical arrangement, describing audiovisual materials in EAD according to DACS, and strategies for processing audiovisual materials at minimal, intermediate, and full levels of processing. Information and registration for this workshop are here.
The Basics of Digital Preservation
Instructor: Erin Baucom, The University of Montana
9:00 am - 12:00 pm at JUMP
This workshop is free, but you must reserve a spot when you register for the conference.
Limited to 25 participants.
Participants will learn about the basics of digital preservation and how to disseminate this information to colleagues, volunteers and donors. This half-day workshop will center on practical steps that can be taken to start the process of digital preservation, which do not require a high level of technical knowledge. Gain hands-on experience with file management (standardized file/folder naming, preservation level file types, embedded metadata), transfer of digital resources (retrieving files from storage media, moving files from legacy systems to new storage, moving files safely within the current storage environment) and digital preservation planning (creating a plan, documenting resources used for digital preservation, keeping track of usernames and passwords, creating a preservation workflow). At the end of the workshop, you will be able to understand, perform and teach the basic steps of file management and storage that are the first steps toward digital preservation.
Preserving Western Voices on the Web
Instructor: Lori Donovan, Internet Archive
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm at JUMP
This workshop is free, but you must reserve a spot when you register for the conference.
Limited to 25 participants.
With the advent of the internet, content that archivists once preserved in physical formats is now web-based, and new avenues for information sharing, interaction and record-keeping are fundamentally changing how the history of the 21st century will be studied. Due to the transient nature of web content, much of this information is at risk. This half-day workshop will cover the basics of web archiving, help attendees identify content of interest to them and their communities, and give them an opportunity to interact with tools that assist with the capture and preservation of web content. Attendees will gain hands-on web archiving skills, insights into selection and collecting policies for web archives and how to apply what they've learned in the workshop to their own organizations.
Local Tours
Boise State University Special Collections and Archives
Albertsons Library, 2nd Floor
1865 W Cesar Chavez Ln, Boise, ID 83725
Open House, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM every day of the conference
Getting there: Easy 15-minute walk from the conference hotel.
Stop by anytime during the conference to see highlights from the collections and a take a behind-the-scenes tour of the archival storage area.
Idaho State Archives
2205 Old Penitentiary Rd, Boise, ID 83712
Wednesday, May 17, 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Getting there: Carpooling recommended, or take ValleyRide Bus Route 17 to Old Pen Road
The Idaho State Archives (ISA) and Research Center provides public access to records of fiscal, administrative, legal, vital and long-term research value to the citizens and government of Idaho. Archives staff will provide a behind-the-scenes tour of the repository and discuss highlights from the collection.
Basque Museum and Cultural Center
611 W Grove St, Boise, ID 83702
Wednesday, May 17, 3:00 - 5:00 PM
Getting there: Located just two blocks from the conference hotel.
Take a tour of this unique museum to learn about the history of the Basque people in the western United States. Included is a guided tour of Cyrus Jacobs-Uberuaga House, which was used as a Basque boardinghouse. Additionally, museum curators will discuss the museum’s collections.
Local Arrangements Committee Co-Chairs:
Alessandro Meregaglia, Boise State University
Conor Casey, University of Washington