All of our webinars are free, but registration is required. A recording of the webinar will be sent out to all registrants (especially those who couldn’t make the live webinar) after the webinar.

Accession, Acquisition, & Appraisal

Accession, Acquisition, & Appraisal are closely related concepts, but they are not interchangeable. In this webinar, we will walk through what each term means in archival practice and how they work together to shape both collection development and archival processing. We will look at the practical implications of each concept, from initial contact with a donor or department through formal acceptance, documentation, and long term stewardship.

January 19, 2026 at 5 pm CT

Register here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/WYXhiRRWSG-zPJ2peNrZMQ

Metadata 101

Metadata is the backbone of archival discovery and long term access, but it can feel overwhelming if you are new to the field or working in a small shop without dedicated technical staff. In this webinar, we will break down what metadata actually is, why it matters, and how archivists use it to describe, manage, and preserve collections. We will walk through core concepts, common standards, and practical examples that connect directly to day to day archival work.

January 26, 2026 at 5 pm CT

Register Here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/1E-6V7HiQBW8-DBKu2DE7w

Archival Loans

This webinar will walk you through the full process of managing collection loans in museums and archives, from the initial request to the return of materials. We will cover how to evaluate what can be loaned, how to prepare items for travel or display, and what documentation you need at every stage. You will learn how to build clear policies, communicate expectations with borrowing institutions, and protect your collections through condition reporting, packing standards, and loan agreements.

February 2, 2026 at 5 pm CT

Register here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/kWaBB2zPRuiZWu7JEWDJZw

Restricted Materials

Every repository holds materials that cannot be opened to the public right away. This webinar will walk you through how to identify restricted materials, document the reasons for restriction, and manage access in a way that supports both ethical stewardship and institutional transparency. We will talk about common restriction categories, how to communicate restrictions to researchers, and how to build policies that balance privacy, legal requirements, and user needs.

March 2, 2026 at 5 pm CT

Register here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/A5d90iaxRBSLPg6I9igmcA

Knowledge Management

Knowledge management focuses on capturing the information people carry in their heads, organizing it, and making it usable across an organization. In this webinar, we will outline what knowledge management is, how it differs from archives, and why it often becomes the precursor to a successful archival program. We will talk about practical ways to map institutional knowledge, build documentation, and create repeatable systems that reduce risk and support long term memory for your organization.

April 6, 2026 at 5 pm CT

Register here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/bBB-vpBhRjCUD3bMTSshzg

Shoestring Digital Preservation

Digital preservation does not have to be expensive or complicated. In this webinar, we will walk through realistic, budget friendly steps that museums and archives can take to protect digital files, stabilize at risk media, and build sustainable workflows over time. We will focus on simple tools, clear decision making, and low cost practices that still align with professional standards.

May 4, 2026 at 5 pm CT

Register here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/a2Br54CzTXiMV8VRM6hdAA

Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections is currently accepting applications for the James W. Scott Regional Research Fellowship. Applications are accepted from individuals in doctoral programs as well as individuals who have finished the Ph.D.

The James W. Scott Regional Research Fellowships promote awareness and innovative use of archival collections at Western Washington University and seek to forward scholarly understandings of the Pacific Northwest. Fellowship funds are awarded in honor of the late Dr. James W. Scott, a noted scholar of the Pacific Northwest region and a founder and first Director of the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies (CPNWS).

Up to $1000 funding is offered in 2026 to support significant research using archival resources at Western. Successful applicants will be expected to:

• Spend approximately one week examining CPNWS holdings in support of their research.
• Share a presentation about some aspect of their research during the same calendar year in which the award is offered and accepted. Presentations will be recorded and made available to the public via WWU’s institutional repository, Western CEDAR (format of delivery may vary depending on topic or time of year).

Applications are due by January 31, 2026, with award announcements expected by the end of February 2026. Applications must be submitted by email to Ruth.Steele@wwu.edu (please include “Scott Fellowship Application” in the subject line), and contain:

• Cover letter (please outline the specific research question(s) being addressed, and comment on how this research contributes to the field of study)
• Curriculum Vitae
• Research plan outlining on-site use of CPNWS holdings and proposed presentation topic
• Two letters of recommendation

Detailed guides to archival collections at CPNWS can be accessed and searched at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies.

For more information about collections or the application process, please contact Ruth Steele at Ruth.Steele@wwu.edu or (360) 650-7747. Funds will be awarded after a Fellow(s) has conducted research at CPNWS and delivered their presentation.

The Best Practices Exchange (BPE) 2026 Program Committee is now accepting session proposals for our next unconference, Sustaining Best Practices: Humans Required, which will be held May 18-20, 2026, at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at Indiana University-Indianapolis (in downtown Indianapolis, IN). View the full Call for Proposals.

Submit your proposal via this short form (https://forms.gle/KphBNMQcnsSYrL8E7) by Friday, November 21, 2025. Acceptance notifications will be sent in January 2026.

Find more information about the 2026 unconference here: https://bpexchange.wordpress.com/2026-conference/. View programs from past conferences here for examples of topics and session formats.

Interested in collaborating with others on a particular topic? Connect with others about potential proposals: BPE Proposals Brainstorming Spreadsheet

Apply for a Cultural Support Services Projects Grant!

Cultural Support Services Projects is a new grant program that provides funding for Organizations and Tribes that improve the quality of life and careers for King County cultural practitioners.

Wondering what we fund?

This grant program has five categories of support. Below are a few examples:

• Career Pathways – youth leadership, internships, mentorships with elder stewards
• Wellbeing – basic needs like navigating health insurance and affordable housing
• Community Building and Organizing – cohorts, conferences, networks
• Technical Assistance and Professional Services – business development, accessibility, equipment for practitioner support
• Advocacy and Systems Change – marketing campaigns, study reports, publications

Key dates to remember

Complete your Account Profile, save a draft application, and complete eligibility information by October 29th. Please note, you will not be able to apply if you do not complete your eligibility information by this date.

Submit your final application by November 12th.

Important to note

4Culture Sustained Support awardees are welcome to apply for a Cultural Support Services Projects grant

Summer and Fall 2025 SNACSchool events are part of a series aiming to Indigenize SNAC! This is a grant funded initiative hosted at the University of Maryland College Park (read more about the project HERE). The events below have two tracks: The Indigenous Track and the Standard Track*. You can read more about the events and register on our website: https://portal.snaccooperative.org/node/521

In an attempt to work with young people to tackle the Climate Crisis, the research study titled “Climate Ready, Set, Go! Investigating the Role of Archival Instruction in K-12 Disaster Education” proposes a different approach to learning about the extreme changes undergone by our environment through the use of archives in K-12 instruction. As part of this research study, the researcher plans to hold 1-3 collaborative instruction design sessions throughout the later half of 2025 and is currently seeking host site partners to provide instructional space like a conference room or classroom for 1 full day. These sessions will focus on building instruction and curriculum design skills using collaborative methods and peer learning approaches. Both archivists and K-12 educators will be invited to participate as a way to combine and utilize the teaching and archival expertise of both groups. Host site partners will not be expected to contribute staff time for facilitation of session, only space and minimal coordination of site logistics prior to the scheduled co-design session. If you would like to be a host site for one of the co-design session, please reach out to Itza Carbajal at itzac@uw.edu

For more information about the study, visit bit.ly/ClimateReadyStudy

Announcing two educational opportunities for archives: 

Basics to Genealogy Research: 
4-Week course starts June 9th 
Basics to Genealogy Research | Preserve This

Intro to Community Archiving:
4-Week course starts July 14
Intro to Community Archiving | Preserve This

The Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of ACRL and the Society of American Archivists recently created a task force to review and revise the Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy.
 
This Task Force would like your input. We need everyone who teaches with primary sources to complete this survey, whether you have ever used the Guidelines or not.
 
If you aren’t familiar with the Guidelines, please take a look at them and let us know if/how you would use them.
 
This 10 question survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. All answers will be anonymous and data will only be viewed and tabulated by members of the Task Force. Your answers will guide the taskforce during the revision process. The survey will be open through May 4, 2025.

There will also be a public comment period later in the process, so this is not your only chance to give feedback. The task force plans to finalize the revised guidelines by the summer of 2028.

Primary Source Literacy Guidelines Feedback Survey

Any and all feedback will be crucial in our work, so please pass this along to anyone who works with primary sources in their teaching, librarian or otherwise.

Thank you so much,

- Rachel Cohen

The Native American Collections Roundtable (NACR) is seeking items or packages for its silent auction fundraiser, taking place during this year's Northwest Archivists (NWA) annual conference. Donations of artwork, crafts/craft supplies, games, experiences, non-perishable treats (coffee, preserves, etc.), books/e-books by Native authors, downloadable art, subscriptions, and more are welcome, especially those that will directly support tribal and Indigenous entrepreneurs.

Funds raised will help NACR continue its mission to provide a local forum where tribal and non-tribal people working with Native American-related archival materials can engage in discussion and information sharing. This includes providing scholarships to individuals working with or aspiring to work with Native American collections to attend the NWA annual conference. 

This year’s conference theme is Redefining Resilience: Advocacy, Values, and Creative Solutions and we’d love for folks to get creative with donated item ideas for the silent fundraiser so NACR can continue to support giving voice to tribal interests across the Pacific Northwest region. If you have an item you would like to donate for inclusion in the Silent Auction, please fill out this form by end-of-day May 2, 2025!

SAA Privacy & Confidentiality section is hosting a panel discussion on protecting the privacy of trans people in the archives. Our panelists represent current work being done in academia, both in and out of the archives realm. 

Archivists have long followed ethical best practices that strive to protect individual privacy, but the profession lacks specific guidelines that address the unique and complex privacy vulnerabilities of trans individuals. The discussion will begin with short presentations from each panelist followed by prepared questions. We will end the discussion with 30 minutes of audience questions via chat, moderated by the hosts. This event will not be recorded. 

Event will be on May 5, 2025 at 1:00pm Eastern time.

Please register in advance to receive the zoom information.

Panelists:

TJ Billard is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication and, by courtesy, the Department of Sociology at Northwestern University. They are the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Applied Transgender Studies in Chicago and Editor-in-Chief of the Center’s flagship journal, the Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies. Dr Billard is the author of Voices for Transgender Equality: Making Change in the Networked Public Sphere (Oxford University Press, 2024) and editor (with Silvio Waisbord) of Public Scholarship in Communication Studies (University of Illinois Press, 2024).

K.J. Rawson is Professor of English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Northeastern University where he also serves as Director of the Humanities Center. He is the founder and director of the Digital Transgender Archive, an award-winning online repository of trans-related historical materials, and he is the chair of the editorial board of the Homosaurus, an international LGBTQ+ linked data vocabulary. His work is at the intersections of the Digital Humanities and Rhetoric, LGBTQ+, and Feminist Studies. Focusing on archives as key sites of cultural power, Rawson studies the rhetorical work of queer and transgender archival collections in both brick-and-mortar and digital spaces. He has co-edited special issues of Peitho and TSQ and he co-edited Rhetorica in Motion: Feminist Rhetorical Methods and Methodologies (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010). Rawson’s scholarship has appeared in The American Archivist, Archivaria, DHQ, Enculturation, Peitho, Present Tense, QED, RSQ, TSQ, and several edited collections.

Lara Wilson is Director of Special Collections and University Archivist at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, CA.  The University of Victoria’s Transgender Archives collections located in Special Collections & University Archives comprise the largest Trans + collection in the world of rare print and archival materials: over 530 linear feet dating back 120 + years, in 15 languages from 23 countries on six continents. Wilson’s scholarship has appeared in American Archivist, American Libraries, Archivaria, Archive Journal, and Canadian Issues. Wilson is President of the Friends of the British Columbia Archives, and is past chairperson of the Canadian Council of Archives.

Please share widely with your contacts! If you would like to submit an anonymous question of the panelists in advance please use this form.