News & announcements

The 2018 Northwest Archivists Annual Meeting will take place April 25-27, 2018 in Warm Springs, Oregon. This will be the first conference in recent years held in a federally-recognized Tribal nation. This year’s conference theme, Stewarding Collections, Engaging Communities, speaks to the role of archives within the larger ecosystem of cultural resource management. On a broader level, the theme asks us to consider how we, as archivists, care for collections to the benefit of present and future generations.

You can view the official Call for Proposals here: http://northwestarchivistsinc.wildapricot.org/Call-for-Proposals-2018

The rest of the 2018 webpage will be populated as information becomes available.

We are in the process of examining and re-envisioning NWA’s communications strategy. Crystal Rodgers, in collaboration with departing Easy Access Editor Jennifer Greenwood and the NWA Board, have crafted a survey to better inform the process and ensure we are meeting the needs of our membership. We want to hear from you and hope you will take a few minutes to let us know what information you would like to receive from NWA and how you would like it delivered by completing the survey! The survey will be open through Monday, November 6. Thank you for your participation! 

Take SURVEY 

A revised version of the DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard) principles are now available, and the Technical Subcommittee is currently looking for feedback! Deadline to submit comments is July 1. 

To make comments on the revised principles, they are suggesting the following methods: 

"There are two ways to send feedback -- as a group (this is the method we encourage), or as an individual.

As a group:

1. Find your community. This may be the people you work with, or it may be archivists in your town or city whom you enjoy sharing ideas with. Perhaps you could do this as a Skype call with your former classmates, or twitter archivists could find a time to come together. You may choose to lead a group at a local, regional, or national conference. We want to hear from as many people as possible!
2. Find a discussion group leader, and make sure that this leader takes time to think about how to facilitate a productive and inclusive conversation. Use our facilitators’ guide to help prepare.
3. Have an awesome discussion, keep notes, and use our discussion guide to keep on track.
4. Tell us what you think! Use our feedback form to report back about what your group discussed.

As an individual:

1. Do the reading. It may be helpful to read not only the proposed DACS principles, but also the current ones. We’ve also included a list of articles that we consulted during the revision process.
2. Do some thinking. In particular, think about this from the point of view of the people who use your archives. How would principled description, in accordance with this text, improve their experience? Are there any ways that they would produce a diminished experience?
3. Tell us what you think! Use our feedback form to let us know what you think works about the revised DACS principles and what could use more thought.

We look forward to receiving your feedback by July 1, 2017." 

Hello conference attendees,

Thanks for making last week's joint conference such a success! We hope you will spend a few moments taking this survey as it will provide us with valuable feedback about the meeting. We look forward to knowing what we did right and what we could improve on in future meetings. 

CIMA/NWA 2017 Joint Meeting Survey

Please respond by June 9. 

Thank you,

CIMA/NWA Program Committee

CIMA/NWA Local Arrangements Committee

The online shop where you can purchase NWA 40th Anniversary swag is now live! Includes a rad t-shirt, tote bag, and even a set of golf balls, all featuring the anniversary logo. Show up to the 40th parties at CIMA/NWA 2017 and SAA 2017 in style- or is that the equivalent of wearing a t-shirt of the band you're seeing at a concert? Oh well! Who cares?! 

http://www.cafepress.com/northwestarchivists

The Programming Committee would like to determine which of our meeting sessions will require larger rooms based on expected attendance. Please help us out by filling out this quick survey of the sessions you plan to attend. Here's a link to the program if you need further information to decide on a session: https://goo.gl/sQXCio. 

Take the survey at: https://tinyurl.com/lea8nvk.

The Northwest Archivists Executive Board seeks to gather membership feedback regarding our professional development and continuing education offerings. Each year only a handful of members apply for NWA’s $6,000 in awards and scholarships. The Board is therefore interested in realigning its professional development activities to better target member priorities and interests and to alleviate the barriers to applying.

Please provide feedback through this quick survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8J3D5DH. 

Thank you for your participation. Your feedback is extremely valuable.

Thanks,

Northwest Archivists Executive Board

NWA needs YOU! 

The Nominating Committee is seeking nominations for Vice-President/President-Elect, Treasurer, and the State Representatives for Alaska and Washington.  Please consider running for a position on the NWA Board!

• Are you interested in helping to set the direction of NWA?  Gain leadership experience?  Serve your professional organization? 

• Do you know someone who would be a great addition to the NWA Board? 

Now’s the time to nominate yourself or a colleague!   Don’t be shy – the nomination form is anonymous, and easy. Nominate through the online form at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GM3NWBV.  Nominations are due by March 26.

Here are the descriptions and requirements for the open positions:

Requirement:  All candidates must be NWA members in good standing and may not be current Nominating Committee members.

The Vice-President/President-Elect serves a two-year term; the first year as the Vice-President and then assumes the role of President upon the adjournment of the annual meeting the year following their election.  The President is responsible for supervision over the NWA corporation, presiding at all meetings, and reporting on the activities of the corporation. The President also appoints committee chairs, the Membership Coordinator, and delegates not otherwise provided for in the by-laws.  Candidates should be members who have served in leadership positions within NWA or a similar organization, with familiarity with the history and issues before NWA.

The Treasurer serves a two-year term and is responsible for managing the NWA funds and provides an annual financial report to the President and the NWA membership; attends Board meetings.

The State Representatives serve a two-year term and serve as a part of the Executive Board and attends Board meetings. State Reps are responsible for reporting relevant news to their constituent state, serving as a liaison between the NWA Board and their state’s membership, and actively supports regional efforts pertaining to archives.

http://northwestarchivistsinc.wildapricot.org/nacr-scholarship

The NWA Student Scholarship application deadline has also been extended to Friday 3/31! 

http://northwestarchivistsinc.wildapricot.org/studentscholarship

This is a great opportunity to help offset the costs of professional development activities, including organizational membership, conference registration, workshops, and more! Please share widely with those who qualify! 

The Northwest Archivists Education Committee and the Oregon Representative have approval from the Board to forward a program to help mitigate the costs of workshops and continuing education projects on a state-by-state basis. NWA Members are provided the opportunity to apply for this funding through the Education Committee, who will decide awards. A total of five $500 awards, one for each member state, will be awarded annually.

Fill out the application form found here and send it to: bhenry@pdx.edu

Read more about how to apply and to see examples of funded projects on the NWA Continuing Education Fund webpage!