Society of American Archivists

Correction: NHPRC Funding Article

SAA made an error in the May 22 issue of In The Loop by stating that, “The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) has urged Congress to provide at least $5 million (level funding) for the grants program in the 2013 fiscal year.” NHPRC is not permitted to lobby Congress. The National Humanities Alliance (named in the article) and SAA—as well as many organizations involved with cultural heritage—do, in fact, support a funding level of at least $5 million for NHPRC.

Illinois Resident Wins Archives Contest

Julie Dresser, a teacher’s aide from Sycamore, Ill., is the winner of SAA's I Found It In The Archives! contest. Her essay describes how a trip to the Benjamin F. Feinberg Library, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, helped her find priceless letters from her fourth-great grandmother. “I’ve discovered wonderful things in many different archives across the United States, but these letters, with their first-hand accounts of different events, are my greatest of the great,” Dresser wrote. For the contest, SAA invited archives users to submit essays or videos detailing their “discoveries” in the archives. Dresser’s entry bested seven other finalists in the national competition in which the public voted for the winner. More than 8,400 votes were cast. Click here to read the winning essay.

Gain Expertise From Two New Web Seminars

Protect Your Holdings AND Provide Access?
Find out who steals and why records go missing - this presentation is sure to spur your team (whether you are a small or big “shop”) into action! Thursday, May 31, 1:00-2:30 p.m. (CT) | Early-Bird Registration Deadline: May 28, 2012

Using and Understanding PDF/A as a Preservation Format [DAS]
Learn how to recognize the advantages and limitations of PDF/A and how to convert electronic documents to the format. Thursday, June 28, 2012 | Early-Bird Registration Deadline: June 25, 2012

Nominate Your Best Students for the Pease Award!

Attention faculty/instructors! SAA seeks entries for the Theodore Calvin Pease Award for superior writing achievement by a student of archival studies. Entries are judged on innovation, scholarship, pertinence, and clarity of writing. Papers examining major trends and issues in the archives profession are preferred. Students must be enrolled in archival studies classes at either the master’s or doctoral level. Papers must be written within the context of an archival studies program between June 1, 2011, and May 31, 2012. For more details, click here. Deadline: May 31.

New Issue of Archival Outlook Now Available!

Get tips from fellow members on how your archives can make front-page news, innovative programs for connecting with local youth, and why you should consider writing a book. Learn about the Occupy Movement’s archives, copyright infringement and cultural heritage institutions, Woody Guthrie’s birthday centennial, digitizing an audio visual collection, and more! Click here to read the online edition; the print edition will be mailed later this month.

SAA Opposes Elimination of Canadian Archives Programs

May 11, 2012—SAA has sent a letter to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages opposing an April 30 decision by Library and Archives Canada to eliminate the National Archival Development Program and the Canadian Council on Archives. Read the letter here.

Did You Do Something for MayDay? Let SAA Know!

MayDay is a time when archivists and other cultural heritage professionals take personal and professional responsibility for doing something simple to help make a difference if an emergency occurs. Now we'd like to hear what you did and add your activities to the list! Please send information to the Society of American Archivists at MayDay@archivists.org so that we may share it with others. If you or your repository conducts regular MayDay exercises, please send a note to the same address. Here are some examples sent to us describing group and repository participation in the past.

Plan Now to Attend Beyond Borders: San Diego 2012

Click here to view the program, download a PDF of the Preliminary Program, make your hotel reservations, access the Host Committee blog, and register for SAA’s 2012 Annual Meeting, August 6 – 11 in San Diego.

Election Results Are In!

Sixteen candidates vied for four different offices on SAA’s 2012 ballot. Here are the winners:

Danna Bell-Russel, Educational Outreach Specialist at the Library of Congress, has been elected SAA Vice President/President-Elect. She begins her one-year term this August and will become SAA’s 69th president in 2013–2014.
Mark Duffy (The Archives of the Episcopal Church) will serve a three-year term as Treasurer beginning in August and running through the SAA Annual Meeting in 2015.
Elected to the Council for three-year terms (2012–2015) are Geoffrey Huth (New York State Archives), Michelle Light (University of California, Irvine), and Tanya Zanish-Belcher (Iowa State University).
The 2013 Nominating Committee will comprise Erika Castaño (University of Arizona), John LeGloahec (National Archives and Records Administration), Sammie Morris (Purdue University), and two third-year Council members selected by the Council at its June 2012 meeting. Castaño will serve as chair of the Nominating Committee.

Spring Into Action with the Latest Archival Outlook

Read vital tips from advocacy expert and Many Happy Returns editor Larry J. Hackman in the March/April issue. Plus, learn how you can tour the cultural heart of San Diego, Balboa Park, during SAA’s Annual Meeting, travel back in time with Lyndon B. Johnson, and more. Click here to read the issue online. The print edition was mailed mid-April.

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