News & announcements

MAC is soliciting applications for the 2022 Archie Motley Memorial Scholarship for Students of Color (http://www.midwestarchives.org/motley). The scholarship is designed to provide financial assistance to students of color pursuing graduate education in archival administration and to encourage ethnic diversification of the MAC membership and of the archival profession as a whole. Two $750 scholarships, accompanied by one-year memberships to MAC, will be awarded.  

In order to be eligible for a scholarship, the applicant must be of African, American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Latinx descent; must be a student currently enrolled in or accepted in a graduate, multicourse program in archival administration; and must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in their academic program. If the program is not listed in the SAA Directory of Archival Education, http://www2.archivists.org/dae, the applicant must provide proof of the multicourse standard by submitting copies of course descriptions from the institution’s current departmental catalog.  

Applications are due March 1, 2022 and must include the following documents:  

• Completed Application Form, available at http://www.midwestarchives.org/motley  
• Transcript from the applicant's most recent academic program (unofficial transcript is acceptable)  
• Essay of not more than 500 words outlining the applicant's interests and future goals in archival administration  
• Two letters of recommendation.  

Completed applications should be sent to:  

Rebekah McFarland Certified Archivist
Sisters of the Living Word rmcfarland@slw.org  

Applications must be emailed by March 1, 2022.  
Awards will be announced no later than June 1, 2022.  

Dear Northwest Archivist Members,

I am reaching out to you today because of our mutual passion for archives and our desire to grow paid internship opportunities within our organizations. I'm chair of NWA’s Paid Internship committee, a group committed to fostering ethical labor practices within the archival profession. In 2019, we announced the launch of the NWA’s Archivist-in-Residence Program. Despite all the challenges of the past two years, we’ve successfully funded and awarded two AiR residencies. These paid opportunities make it possible for a new professional to afford accessing valuable work experience, and it’s a program we are committed to expanding.

The residency for 2021 was awarded to Valeria Dávila Gronros and Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS). Valeria has just completed her residency where she researched and developed best practices for captioning and transcription of audiovisual materials, to support ongoing accessibility efforts at MIPoPS. Additionally, she created closed captions and transcriptions for 20 videos from the MIPoPS collection. Learn more about Valeria and her project in her first blog post on the NWA site: https://northwestarchivists.wordpress.com/2021/05/13/introducing-nwas-second-resident-for-the-archivist-in-residence-program-valeria-davila-gronros/

The impact of COVID-19 on our profession has been staggering. Layoffs, budget cuts, furloughs, and closures have been devastating to many of us personally and professionally. At this time, it’s more important than ever that we commit ourselves to equitable labor practices in our profession. Our creation of paid internship opportunities serve to uphold the value of our work and are a necessary component to meeting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion commitments. 

In fundraising for our second residency, we were able to raise more than $750 from NWA membership and $4,500 from corporate sponsors. We’re hoping to beat that goal so that we can continue to grow the residency program. We hope to raise $1,000 from membership by December 15 in order to offer a robust residency opportunity anywhere in the NWA region.

We’re now asking membership to consider donating to the Archivist-in-Residence Program. (To those who have already donated - thank you!) NWA can accept payment in two ways:

1. Electronic donation via the NWA Donation page by selecting the "Archivist in Residence" program category. (There is a small transaction fee that will be taken out of the donation).
 
2. A check made out to "Northwest Archivists" with "Archivist in Residence" in the memo. Send check to:
 
Anneliese Warhank
Montana Historical Society
PO Box 201201
Helena, MT 59620-1201

Don’t forget to check if your institution or partner’s company provides matching donations! As NWA is a nonprofit, all donations are tax deductible.
I hope you will consider joining us in investing in the next generation of archivists and the archival profession as a whole. Please feel free to reach out to myself or any of the other members of our committee if you would like to continue the conversation. 

With gratitude,
Rachael Woody

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, C.M. Russell Museum (Montana)
Erin Passehl Stoddart, Michigan State University Libraries (Michigan)

The Digital POWRR Peer Assessment Program is a supportive, year-long, cohort-based training program for cultural heritage professionals who are interested in learning and applying digital preservation assessment procedures into their work. 

Three cohorts of six participants, each with a peer facilitator, will work over the course of one year to perform systematic analyses of each organization’s current stewardship practices, focusing on the creation of achievable goals and activities. 

The first half of the training period will be dedicated to preparing for and performing two rapid self-assessments and one in-depth peer assessment. In the second half of the program, participants will work with peers and facilitators on setting goals, based on recommendations set forth in their peer assessments, and will start to work on tackling some of their digital stewardship challenges. This program will be delivered entirely online.

Benefits of participating include a $3,000 stipend, a $870 “Technology Start Up” award that can be provisioned towards helping to jump start digital preservation activities, the opportunity to publish a case studies and/or assessment reports as part of the project’s final white paper, and a collaborative network of colleagues.   

Learn more about this opportunity: Digital POWRR Peer Assessment Program

Deadline for applications is October 31, 2021.

Northwest Archivists, Inc. is excited to share that the #ACENSUSII #AllArchivistsSurvey is now live! This is a major nationwide survey of the archives profession. It aims to gather information from every archivist and community memory worker in the US on their demographics, educational backgrounds, job placements, and salaries, as well as perspectives on key issues in the field. A*CENSUS II findings will be shared widely with the profession, and the more people who participate, the stronger the data and resulting action will be. Your story. Our future.

The All Archivists Survey is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and

was collaboratively developed by the Society of American Archivists, Ithaka S+R, and the A*CENSUS II working group. It will take about 30 minutes to complete the survey, linked here:

https://surveys.ithaka.org/jfe/form/SV_4UfKQtGLT3mf2u2...

If you have questions about the survey or require technical assistance, please contact Ithaka S+R by sending an email to surveys@ithaka.org.

Get your questions ready for #AskAnArchivist Day, happening October 13th on Twitter! Archivists from all over the country will be providing answers and insights.

October's Archives Month is right around the corner - have you checked out what's in store?

The new Washington State Archives Month Website is now live with everything you need to know, including event listings, a poster gallery and more: https://wastarchivesmonth.com/

Washington State Archives Month (WSAM) is an annual statewide opportunity each October to engage a range of audiences by communicating the value of our historical records, to publicize and raise awareness of the many ways these collections enrich our lives, and to recognize those who preserve and manage our communities' historical records, whether at archives repositories, museums, libraries, within companies, or at non-profit institutions.

This year’s theme is “Reconnect, Converge, Rediscover” and organizations across the state are invited to participate. Suggestions for activities, whether virtually or in-person, include:

Open houses, exhibitions with archives, panel discussions, film screenings, walking tours, and partnering with other institutions and archives for collaborative events. Check out the WSAM website to see previous programs and events.

If you would like for your activity to be further promoted by the Archives Month Committee, please complete the form.

Washington State Archives Month Activity Form:

https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSdwI.../viewform

Questions Or Comments? Contact Us:

Archives Month Committee of Washington State (AMCW)

washingtonstatearchivesmonth@gmail.com

Be Kind, Please Rewind: Creating an Oral History of the Local Video Store – Northwest Archivists (wordpress.com)

The Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists (CIMA) is hosting an online SAA workshop prior to our annual meeting next month, and we wanted to let you know that anyone is invited to register.  The workshop is “Intro to PREMIS” and it counts toward both the Arrangement & Description (A&D) and Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) certifications offered through SAA.  It is planned to take place on Wednesday, April 28, and will be all day.

For information on cost and a link to registration, as well as a summary of the workshop, please visit the following website:

https://cima.wildapricot.org/event-4128619

Registration is due by Friday, April 9.

NWA Native American Collections Roundtable Conference Scholarship 2021

Intent

One of the main goals for the Native American Collections Roundtable [NACR] is to bridge access for individuals working with, or aspiring to work with Native American collections with the Northwest Archivists [NWA] Annual conference, as participant or presenter. To support this effort, the NACR is offering 25 scholarships to cover conference registration as well as an annual membership to Northwest Archivists as an opportunity for continued professional development of award recipients.

Information professionals working within, affiliated with, or interested in working for tribal information institutions with Native American collections located in one of the five member states (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington) are encouraged to apply.

Due to COVID-19, the meeting will be held virtually from May 10th – May 14th. Past scholarship recipients are welcome to apply, however, priority will be given to new applicants.

Guidelines

Eligible applicants will meet at least one of the following criteria and reside in one of the five member states: 

A. Tribal member working with Native American collection(s);

B. Individual working for tribal information program;

C. Individual working with Native American collection(s);

D. Tribal member interested in working with Native American collection(s).  

All awardees are expected to write a short report (example) by June 30, 2021, about their conference experience to be published on the NWA and NWA-NACR blogs.

Selection

Applications will be reviewed and evaluated by current members of the NWA NACR Scholarship Committee based upon the answers provided to the required questions in their application. Considerations will be made to provide geographic representation in the awards. The application is available at:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSZioMmhqH26iyaGO-HKwte_EIRQuGlIekfzEewLO-gp7Dmg/viewform?usp=sf_link

The application deadline is Monday April 5, 2021. All applicants will be notified within three weeks of the application deadline.

The committee may contact you for additional information post-application submission.

Please direct any questions about the scholarship and application process to:

nwanac@gmail.com with the subject line: “NACR Scholarship”.

Last month the Northwest Archivists Continuing Education Fund sponsored a two-part miniseries created for archivists and collection managers titled: Digital Collection Essentials. These webinars are now available on YouTube and can be accessed freely at your leisure. They also serve as a great complement to the presentation I delivered to ARCS on November 4, 2020: Database Blues – An action plan for selection and implementation of a new CMS; a version of which can be found here.

Link: youtu.be/lHoCZgqBhFM

Abstract: Over the years digital collections have steadily increased in their importance to how archivists and other collection workers serve up collections. And COVID-19 has shown us just how critically important it is for archives and museums to provide a public way to access digital collections. But what if you have little to no collections online? What if they're online, but they're failing to engage the community by any meaningful metric? If your collections aren't online and in front of people, then they don't exist. This webinar will define what an engaging point of access is, outline creative ways to deliver collections online with or without a Collections Management System (CMS), and review strategies for how to create meaningful digital collection experiences with non-traditional (read: not CMS) platforms.

The CMS: What's Essential, What's Hackable, and What Does it Cost?

Link: youtu.be/Mn9WdGRF1i4

Abstract: The Pacific Northwest is home to a wide array of cultural heritage organizations with varying budget sizes to accomplish the Sisyphean task of digital collections management. For those who have no Collections Management System (CMS), have cobbled together CMS tools, or are looking for a new CMS; there are questions that require answering:

1. What is “essential” when it comes to serving up digital collections via a CMS?
2. How can I hack various digital collection tools to accomplish my goals?
3. What costs do I need to be aware of when considering my options?

Whether you’re a large and well-funded organization, or a lone-arranger at a modest shop, the truth is we could all use more information to evaluate our digital collections management options. There’s no one-size fits all CMS option, so instead this webinar will provide strategies for how to critically evaluate the essential (to you) functions of a CMS, how the CMS can be flexed to creatively fit needs, and review *all* of the costs to consider when considering digital collection management.