News & announcements

Please help us plan next year's NWA conference by taking this short survey!

We are looking at options for the 2023 NWA conference and may be considering sites other than Alaska next year, due to the high cost of deposits to ensure a conference site and the continuing uncertainty around travel. We would like to hear from you before we make any big decisions.

Please respond to our survey here: https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSeaqsf6YxjC5e.../viewform

We are also hoping to get more people engaged with the conference planning process, for this and future conferences. This survey is a great hopping on point if you would like to become more involved with this part of NWA. We appreciate your feedback and welcome you to join our future conference committees. Please feel free to contact us with any questions!

The Society of American Archivists’ subcommittees for Awards for Excellence: Contributions to the Archives Profession invite nominations for their 2022 awards. Brief descriptions are provided below. Click on the links for additional information about the criteria and process for each award. 

If you have nominated a project or person who was not selected for an award in a recent cycle, and you feel their work is still timely and relevant, we encourage you to resubmit the nomination.

Distinguished Service Award: Recognizes an archival institution, education program, nonprofit organization, or government organization that has provided outstanding service to its public and has made an exemplary contribution to the archives profession.

Eligibility: Any archival institution, archival organization, records center, or manuscript repository, archival education program, or nonprofit or government organization providing service or support to the archives community in North America.

nomination form

Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award: Recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to the field of religious archives.

Eligibility: individual archivists only.

nomination form

Spotlight Award: Recognizes the contributions of individuals who work for the good of the archives profession and of archival collections, and whose work would not typically receive public recognition.

Eligibility: An individual archivist or a group of up to five archivists who have collaborated on a project. Preference is given to archivists working in smaller repositories, especially those without institutional support for professional activities.

nomination form

Diversity Award: Recognizes an individual, group, or institution for outstanding contributions in advancing diversity within the archives profession, SAA, or the archival record. Nominees will have demonstrated significant achievement in the form of activism, education, outreach, publication, service, or other initiatives in the archives field. The award is given based on the long-term impact on improving and promoting diversity as defined in the SAA Statement on Diversity and Inclusion.

Eligibility: An individual, group, or organization.

nomination form

Archival Innovator Award: Recognizes an archivist, a group of archivists, a repository, or an organization that demonstrates the greatest overall current impact on the profession or their communities.

Eligibility: The work should be undertaken within the past three years—it need not be completed, but it must be sufficiently advanced to demonstrate results.

nomination form

Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award: Celebrates and encourages early-career archivists who have completed archival work of broad merit, demonstrated significant promise of leadership, and/or performed commendable service to the archives profession. The award is given based on the total experience of the awardee, including knowledge, leadership, participation, and/or achievements in the profession.

Eligibility: Nominees must be SAA members with more than two years and less than ten years of professional archives experience.

nomination form

Deadline: February 28, 2022

The application period for SAA's 2020 Josephine Forman Scholarship is now open!

The purpose of the Josephine Forman Scholarship is to provide financial support to minority students pursuing graduate education in archival science, to encourage students to pursue a career as an archivist, and to promote the diversification of the American archives profession. The scholarship is given to applicants who demonstrate excellent potential for scholastic and personal achievement and who manifest a commitment both to the archives profession and to advancing diversity concerns within it.

The recipient of the award will receive a scholarship of $10,000. Awardees also may be invited to attend the annual meeting of the General Commission on Archives and History and/or the Quadrennial Historical Convocation, with funding provided by GCAH. Also included is complimentary registration to the SAA Annual Meeting in the year in which the scholarship is received.

Eligibility:

• The applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
• The applicant must be of American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander descent.
• The applicant must be currently enrolled in a graduate program or a multi-course program in archival administration or have applied to such a program for the next academic year.
• The applicant shall have completed no more than half of the credit requirements toward her/his graduate degree at the time of the award (i.e., June 1).
• The applicant must be enrolled in a graduate program and begin school no later than September 1 or the fall semester/quarter immediately following the award. 
• Applicants may have full-time or part-time status. 

For more details and application information please visit: http://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-forman

The deadline to apply is February 28, 2021.

Thank you to everyone who has already submitted a proposal! As we start to look at them and put a schedule together, the Programming Committee just wanted to give everyone one last chance to participate. Hey, we get it, deadlines sneak up on us or calendar reminders pop up too late, or maybe you've had great idea for a second session. Now you have until Friday February 11th to submit your proposal!

If you need a refresher on the details, it is below. If you have any questions about the format or process, feel free to email me, Amy Thompson, at amyjo@uidaho.edu. For everyone who has already submitted or plans to now, we will reach out to you to confirm by Friday, February 18.

The 2022 Northwest Archivists Annual Meeting will be held online May 2-6, 2022

DEADLINE for submission is extended to Friday, February 11.

Submit your proposal using this online submission form: https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSeTU7G9h9OaHB.../viewform

Theme: Not to be Forgotten: the resiliency and sustainability of archives to preserve untold stories

Keynote Speaker: tbd

In looking back at 2020 and 2021, it becomes clearer than ever that we need to continue our efforts to collect and protect the complete historical record. The 2022 Program Committee seeks session, paper, and poster proposals on all aspects of archival practice, theory, and research in support of the theme Not to be Forgotten: the resiliency and sustainability of archives to preserve untold stories. Relevant topics could include building community connections or overcoming societal, economic, or environmental changes or barriers, and we are particularly interested on proposals connected to the theme that feature:

- Collaboration and community-building

- Response to environmental changes or disaster mitigation

- Outreach and engagement

- Accessibility

- Education and mentorship

- Advocacy

- Diversity

- Collection preservation or management

- Innovation in archival stewardship

We welcome proposals from anyone involved in archives or information professions: archival employees or volunteers, community organizers, historians, records managers, researchers, creators and donors, museum or historical society employees or volunteers, cultural heritage employees or volunteers, or academics. We especially encourage BIPOC and members from traditionally marginalized communities to share your perspectives with us. Presenters do not need to be members of NWA, but must be registered for the conference.

The 2022 conference will once again be fully online, May 2nd – 6th. We encourage fully synchronous (live) sessions in any of the following formats:

- Traditional: An open session with 2-3 papers of about 15 minutes each and a comment and discussion period after the papers. Papers submitted by individuals will be grouped by theme where possible.

- Panel Discussion: An open session with a panel of 3-4 individuals informally discussing a variety of theories or perspectives on the given topic.

- Virtual Poster Session: Focused visual and textual presentation on applied archival research, technology, or process as case study. Participation guidelines forthcoming.

- Moderated Round table: An open discussion anchored by brief, 5-7 minute presentations. Active participation encouraged.

- Lightning Talks: A fast-paced open session with many concise presentations delivered under a tight time limit.

- Moderated Breakout Rooms: Small discussion rooms of 3-4 individuals based on a shared topic or reading.

- Tours: In order to support camaraderie in an online environment, short (around 5 minutes) pre-recorded tours of participants' archival facilities or spaces will also be accepted in addition to session ideas above.

Live Q&A will accompany each session. Live sessions will not be recorded for post-conference viewing. Registration costs are

- Members $50

- Non-members $100

- Student/hardship $25

Deadline for submission is January 28, 2022. Want to connect with others to share ideas or collaborate on a session? You can do so here!

Please contact Amy Thompson, Program Committee Chair, with any questions or concerns.

We are excited to announce that the application for the free Florida 2022 Preserving digital Objects With Restricted Resources (POWRR) Institute is now available and can be found at: forms.gle/Dno6Ls7qDSU1CTQ37.    The deadline for applying is Sunday, February 13th, 2022. Participants will be notified of the application decisions in March of 2022 to allow for sufficient travel planning time.    The POWRR Institute is a free, two-day Institute in conjunction with the 2022 Society of Florida Archivists (SFA) Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida for up to 24 archival professionals working in the State of Florida and/or across the Southeastern United States. The Institute will be held on Monday, May 9th and Tuesday, May 10th, 2022 from 8:30 am to 4 pm at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.    The POWRR Institute is an intensive workshop-style experience of enormous potential benefit to archival practitioners in many contexts as it provides educational materials about, hands-on training with, and tangible deliverables for long-term digital preservation standards and best practices. Selections will be made on a variety of factors, including diversity and previous access to professional development opportunities. The Institute has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.*   For more information about the POWRR Institute, please refer to the POWRR Website: digitalpowrr.niu.edu/upcoming-events. Thank you to the National Endowment for the Humanities for their support of this professional development experience! We are truly grateful to be among those receiving an NEH award in the 2021-2022 grant cycle.   With excitement and gratitude,  Project Director Rachel Walton (Digital Archivist, Rollins College) Project Coordinator Mary Rubin (Archivist, University of Central Florida)

The Society of American Archivists’ subcommittees for Awards for Excellence: Contributions to the Archives Profession invite nominations for their 2022 awards. Brief descriptions are provided below. Click on the links for additional information about the criteria and process for each award. 

If you have nominated a project or person who was not selected for an award in a recent cycle, and you feel their work is still timely and relevant, we encourage you to resubmit the nomination.

Distinguished Service Award: Recognizes an archival institution, education program, nonprofit organization, or government organization that has provided outstanding service to its public and has made an exemplary contribution to the archives profession.

Eligibility: Any archival institution, archival organization, records center, or manuscript repository, archival education program, or nonprofit or government organization providing service or support to the archives community in North America. nomination form

Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award: Recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to the field of religious archives.

Eligibility: individual archivists only. nomination form

Spotlight Award: Recognizes the contributions of individuals who work for the good of the archives profession and of archival collections, and whose work would not typically receive public recognition.

Eligibility: An individual archivist or a group of up to five archivists who have collaborated on a project. Preference is given to archivists working in smaller repositories, especially those without institutional support for professional activities. nomination form

Diversity Award: Recognizes an individual, group, or institution for outstanding contributions in advancing diversity within the archives profession, SAA, or the archival record. Nominees will have demonstrated significant achievement in the form of activism, education, outreach, publication, service, or other initiatives in the archives field. The award is given based on the long-term impact on improving and promoting diversity as defined in the SAA Statement on Diversity and Inclusion.

Eligibility: An individual, group, or organization. nomination form

Archival Innovator Award: Recognizes an archivist, a group of archivists, a repository, or an organization that demonstrates the greatest overall current impact on the profession or their communities.

Eligibility: The work should be undertaken within the past three years—it need not be completed, but it must be sufficiently advanced to demonstrate results. nomination form

Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award: Celebrates and encourages early-career archivists who have completed archival work of broad merit, demonstrated significant promise of leadership, and/or performed commendable service to the archives profession. The award is given based on the total experience of the awardee, including knowledge, leadership, participation, and/or achievements in the profession.

Eligibility: Nominees must be SAA members with more than two years and less than ten years of professional archives experience. nomination form

Deadline: February 28, 2022

Dear Colleagues,

Please share the following award opportunity with your peers who may not be on the NWA email list.

The NWA Paid Internship Committee is pleased to report that the fundraising for the 2022 Archivist-in-Residence (AiR) was successful! The AiR application is now open and the application deadline is April 1, 2022. We are also very pleased to report that we have the capacity to raise the award ceiling to $6,000. This increase was necessary in order to keep pace with the rising cost-of-living and maintain a robust residency experience. I hope you'll all join us for a little celebratory dance at our desks for achieving this milestone, especially in the times we're in. Thank you so much to NWA membership for helping us reach our $1,000 fundraising goal! And thank you especially to our sponsors who have contributed to this residency program from the beginning: Schellinger Research, Lucidea, and Hollinger Metal Edge! This residency would not be possible without you!

Archivist-in-Residence Applications are OPEN

Northwest Archivists, Inc. is offering a $6,000 stipend for one graduate student (or recent graduate) to receive an Archivist-in-Residence opportunity. The purpose of this residency is three-fold: 1. To offer upcoming and new professionals with paid career development opportunities to apply knowledge in archives, libraries, museums, or a related field; 2. To teach new archivists how to accurately calculate the value of their education, experience, and overall value as an archivist; and 3. To provide an opportunity for archival organizations to work toward the long term goal of eliminating unpaid work within the field. The residency may last up to 12 weeks to be completed by the end of the current calendar year. The resident will receive a one-year complimentary membership to Northwest Archivists. 

For more information and to apply: http://northwestarchivists.org/archivistinresidence/

The NWA Paid Internship Committee would like to thank NWA membership and our Platinum-level sponsors: Shellinger Research and Rachael Cristine Consulting; and our Gold-level sponsors: Hollinger Metal Edge, Lucidea, Permanent.org, and Atlas Systems! We would also like to thank our Bronze-level sponsor: Northeast Document Conservation Center.

Thank you,

The NWA Paid Internship Exploratory Committee
Rachael Cristine Woody, Rachael Cristine Consulting LLC (Chair, Oregon)
Laura Cray, Oregon Historical Society (Oregon)
Sara Piasecki, National Park Service (Alaska)
Rachel Thomas, George Fox University (Oregon)
Kathryn Kramer, K.M. Kramer Consulting (Montana)
Erin Passehl Stoddart, Michigan State University Libraries (Michigan)

Calling all would-be SAA Digital Archives Specialist certificate pursuers! Digital Preservation Outreach and Education Network (DPOE-N) is pleased to offer professional development support to cultural heritage professionals in the area of digital preservation. We are particularly looking to support low-resourced institutions and individuals (emerging professionals and pandemic-impacted folks) help make the transition to stewarding digital materials. Consider applying to our professional development funding in order to pursue an SAA Digital Archives Specialist certification or to obtain a renewal of your existing certificate.  

DPOE was an initiative at the Library of Congress for many years, and in 2018 the project was moved to the Pratt Institute School of Information in collaboration with New York University's Moving Image Archiving and Preservation graduate program. With the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, for the past two years we have been able to pursue building our network through the availability of microgrants to US citizens and permanent residents who support the stewardship of digital materials at institutions. Groups also supported include those who will one day make an impact on collecting institutions, including information workers laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as emerging professionals in information studies, museum studies and related fields, including recent graduates and those currently enrolled in masters- or certificate-level programs.

We also offer funding for emergency hardware support to small archives, libraries and museums that are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and have digital storage or related needs to ensure the persistence of digital information with enduring value, as well as workshops for cultural heritage professionals. Follow our social media (Twitter / Instagram / Facebook) for the announcement of our next workshop, coming up soon.

Please help us to recognize the best in our profession!

Have you read a great new book about archives? Encountered a new documentary publication that is head and shoulders above the rest? Has a new web publication really stood out to you?

If you have, please consider nominating it for the Society of American Archivists Waldo Gifford Leland Award. Nomination forms, a list of previous winners, and more information are at http://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-leland

The deadline for nominations is February 28, 2022.

The annual Leland Award – a cash prize and certificate – recognizes “writing of superior excellence and usefulness in the field of archival history, theory, and practice.”  (Please note that periodicals are not eligible.)  

Established in 1959, this award honors American archival pioneer Waldo Gifford Leland (1879-1966), president of the Society of American Archivists in the 1940s and one of the driving forces behind the founding of the National Archives.