News & announcements

“The rebellion of the archivist against his normal role is not, as so many scholars fear, the politicizing of a neutral craft, but the humanizing of an inevitably political craft."
-- Howard Zinn "Secrecy, Archives, and the Public Interest," Vol. II, No. 2 (1977) of Midwestern Archivist.

The boundaries between "archivist" and "activist" have become increasingly porous, rendering ready distinctions between archivists (traditionally restricted to the preservation of records, maintaining accountability, and making critical information available to the communities they serve) and activists (who, with greater frequency, look to archives or adopt elements of archival practice as a means of documenting their struggles) virtually unsustainable. In the past year, archivists and citizen activists collaborated to document the Occupy Wall Street movement, and archivists committed to open government worked with the New York City Council to advocate for keeping the Municipal Archives as an independent city agency. While the apparent convergence of archival and activist worlds may appear a timely and relevant topic, these distinct communities often deliberate their roles separately with little dialogue.

The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York and the New School Archives and Special Collections are sponsoring a symposium to bring together a diverse group of archivists, activists, students, and theorists with the aim of facilitating discussion of their respective concerns. Among its proposed topics, the symposium will address potential roles that archivists may engage in as activists, as well as how archivists can assume a greater role in documenting and contributing toward social and political change.

Possible areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

-Archivists documenting the work of activists and activist movements
-Activists confronting traditional archival practice
-Possible models for an emergent “activist archives”
-Methodologies for more comprehensively documenting activism
-Archivist and activist collaborations
-Community-led archives and repositories operating outside of the archival establishment
-Archives as sites of knowledge (re)production and in(ter)vention
-Relational paradigms for mapping the interplay of power, justice, and archives

-Critical pedagogy in the reference encounter
-Interrogating preconceptions and misunderstandings that obscure common goals

Date: Friday, October 12, 2012

Location: Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, The New School

All individual presentations will be 20 minutes long (10 page paper).
Submissions must include a title, name of author and institutional affiliation (if applicable), abstract (250 words max), and indication of technological requirements.
Individual papers or entire panel proposals accepted.

Deadline for Proposals: Proposals should be emailed to admin@nycarchivists.org by August 1, 2012.

Time to vote for your NWA leadership!

2012 NWA Elections Guide: NWA2012ElectionGuide.pdf
2012 NWA online ballot: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5JYQTJW

Online voting will close at end-of-day April 23.

Questions?  Contact Tony Kurtz mailto:tony.kurtz@wwu.edu


Your 2012 NWA Nominations Commitee:
Tony Kurtz
Sara Piasecki
Geoff Wexler

PSU Library Archives will tweet a great photo of the day! 

Twitter name: PSU Library Archives

Twitter ID: @PSULibArchives

PSU Library’s University Archives & Special Collections 

is home to PSU's historical records and to an array of 

rare books, collections and manuscripts.

The Program Committee is seeking proposals for a special session dedicated to poster displays created by both archives and cultural heritage professionals and students. The Poster Session will showcase research that is completed or underway; discuss interesting collections with which professionals or students have worked; report on archives, records projects, or exhibits that submitters have contributed to or are currently working on (e.g. historic preservation, outreach projects, multi-disciplinary projects, collaboration, successful internship project). Posters should be designed as an inspiring visual exploration of work or research related to the archival and cultural heritage fields.

Posters will be presented on Friday, April 27, 2012, during the morning and afternoon breaks. Participants will be expected to register for and attend the conference. A half-price registration fee is available for full-time students. 

Proposals are due on Friday, February 24, 2012. Click here for more information. 

Established in 1989, this award honors an individual, institution, or organization that promotes greater public awareness, appreciation, or support of archival activities or programs. Note that nominees must be from outside the archives profession. Individuals directly involved in archival work, either as paid or volunteer staff, or institutions or organizations directly responsible for an archival program are not eligible for this award.

The individual's or institution’s contributions may take the form of:

•  advocacy,
  
•  publicity,
•  legislation,
•  financial support,
•  or a similar action that fosters archival work or raises public consciousness of the importance of archival work.

Contributions should have broad, long-term impact at the regional level or beyond. Up to three awards may be given each year.

This award is named in honor of historian J. Franklin Jameson, who labored for more than 25 years to establish the U.S. National Archives.
For more details, see the SAA Awards Competition webpage, which includes the nomination form, and the J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award page (includes list of previous winners) in the SAA Handbook.

All nominations shall be submitted to SAA by February 28 of each year. Send 6 copies of the completed form (including an documentation) to:

J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award Subcommittee
Society of American Archivists
17 North State Street, Suite 1425
Chicago IL 60602-4061

Questions? Contact the Chair of the J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award Subcommittee, which this year is Lynn Eaton of Duke University.

Greetings,

We will be hosting a testing session for those interested in becoming Certified Archivists in Bozeman, Montana.  This is part of the Academy of Certified Archivists’ “Pick Your Site” program which allows the exam to be given in any city selected by at least 5 applicants. The Academy conducts these exam sessions throughout the country for applicants who meet a series of defined professional standards (For more information, see www.certifiedarchivists.org). This is an excellent opportunity to take the test at a location near you and significantly reduce travel costs.

Here are some of the details:

Location:

      Renne Library, Montana State University, Bozeman

      1501 South 11th Avenue

      Bozeman, Montana

Date of Testing Session:

      Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Deadline for Application:

      May 12, 2012

Instructions for Application

An application for the test is attached to this email.  Please fill it out according to the instructions on the form.  Remember to select “Pick You Site” and write-in “Montana State University, Bozeman” in the space provided.  The ACA will notify all approved candidates and send follow-on information such as instructions and directions to the testing site.

When you’ve completed the application and submitted it, please email me at shawn_bawden@nps.gov.  We need a minimum of five applicants in order to administer the exam.

Hope to hear from you soon and good luck!

____________________________________________

Francis Shawn Bawden, MLIS

Archives Technician

Yellowstone National Park

307-344-2220

406-848-9958 fax

The 26th annual Western Archives Institute will be held at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, July 8 – 20, 2012.  The Western Archives Institute is an intensive, two-week program that provides integrated instruction in basic archival practices to individuals with a variety of backgrounds, including those whose jobs require a fundamental understanding of archival skills, but who have little or no previous archives education; those who have expanding responsibility for archival materials; those who are practicing archivists but have not received formal instruction; and those who demonstrate a commitment to an archival career.

The Institute also features site visits to historical records repositories and a diverse curriculum that includes history and development of the profession, theory and terminology, records management, appraisal, arrangement, description, manuscripts acquisition, archives and the law, photographs, preservation administration, reference and access, outreach programs, and managing archival programs and institutions.

Thomas Wilsted has graciously agreed to serve as Principle Faculty Member for the 2012 Institute. Wilsted has been an archivist for more than forty years.  During his career, he has worked at the Illinois State Historical Library, the National Library of New Zealand, The Salvation Army Archives and Research Center, and the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming before retiring from the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut in 2008.  He is currently the principal at Wilsted Consulting, and is the author of Managing Archival and Manuscript Repositories (SAA, 1991) and Planning New and Remodeled Archival Facilities (SAA, 2007), and co-editor of Archival and Special Collections Facilities: Guidelines for Archivists, Librarians, Architects, and Engineers (SAA, 2010).   He taught archives administration at the University of Wyoming and the University of Connecticut as well as numerous workshops for the Society of American Archivists.  Mr. Wilsted is a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists and a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists.

Tuition for the Institute is $700 and includes a selection of archival publications. Other non-negotiable fees including program transportation, facility fees, opening dinner, and luncheon at the closing program will be available in early February.  Housing and meal plans are available at additional cost.

The application deadline for the 2012 Western Archives Institute is March 30, 2012. For additional program information, see http://www.calarchivists.org/WAI, or contact:

For additional information, contact:

Administrator

Western Archives Institute

1020 O Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

Telephone: (916) 653–7715

Fax: (916) 653–7134E-mail: ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov

My CA Colleagues,

Please help the ACA out by volunteering a bit of your time to sit at the ACA booth during the conference in Helena later this week. We (I) need people to hand out pamphlets, chat with people and answer questions. Pretty straightforward stuff. The added bonus is that you can count your service towards your re-certification.

Please contact me ASAP so I can work out a schedule.

Thanks!

Diana Banning
diana.banning@portlandoregon.gov
503-865-4110

Students looking for financial assistance, this is for you. The Society of American Archivists (SAA) will award up to two Mosaic Scholarships, Josephine Forman Scholarships, and F. Gerald Ham Scholarships (that’s six scholarships!) in 2011 to students pursuing graduate education in archival science. To learn about eligibility and application requirements, visit www2.archivists.org/recognition. The application deadline is February 28, 2011.

 

Questions? Contact Jenny Schooley, jschooley@archivists.org.

The Reference, Access, and Outreach Section (RAO) of the Society of
American Archivists seeks volunteers for at least one unpaid internship
for 2010-2011. (Two interns were selected for the pilot of this program
in 2009-2010, and a report about the internship is available online on
the RAO page of the SAA website -
http://www2.archivists.org/groups/reference-access-and-outreach-section.
)  The intent of the internship is to provide an opportunity for a
current graduate student or an archivist with less than three years
experience in the profession to be actively involved in and observe the
activities of the Section. The intern's responsibilities will involve
general communications and governance, but may include other Section
initiatives based on the interests and needs of the intern and the
Section. The intern will serve from the time of selection through the
2011 SAA Annual Meeting. (Attendance at the 2011 Annual Meeting is not
required.)

Applicants should have a demonstrated interest in archives, as evidenced
by their employment, volunteering, internships, and/or coursework. Also
important are attention to detail, good organizational and communication
skills, flexibility, and a sense of humor.

Responsibilities will include the following:

  * Communicate with RAO Steering Committee members regarding ongoing
business, projects, concerns, etc.
  * Participate in RAO projects, working groups, sub-committees, etc.
as appropriate. Topics may include: needs identified through the RAO
meeting discussion groups; ongoing projects of the section (such as
National History Day, impact of MPLP upon users and reference
archivists, Web 2.0/social media education for archivists, teaching
about primary sources); or other identified priorities of the section.
  * Monitor the RAO blog and Facebook group for potential
improvements, revisions and/or corrections, posts or comments requiring
responses.
  * Assist RAO Webmaster as needed, particularly as SAA continues its
transition to Drupal to support its online presence.

To apply for the RAO Section internship, please submit your resume and a
cover letter detailing your reasons for interest in the internship,
including potential topics of interest, to RAO Chair Jim Gerencser
(gerencse@dickinson.edu <mailto:gerencse@dickinson.edu>) by September 15.

Jim Gerencser
RAO Chair