WILLIAM SUMNERS, director of the Southern Baptist Library and Archive, received SAA’s Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award for his significant contribution to the field of religious archives. Established in 1974, the Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award is sponsored in conjunction with and funded by the Society of Southwest Archivists.
Sumners has served as director of the Southern Baptist Library and Archives since1988, where he has shaped an important collection into a model of archival standards and efficiency during a time of transition and controversy within the denomination. One nominator described Sumners as a “hardworking, creative, and utterly dependable fellow laborer in the archival vineyard.” Another praised his general excellence and persistence in keeping the Southern Baptist archive intact during financial hardships. Archivists, librarians, and researchers alike praise him as a mentor and inspiration to many who have sought aid and answers at the Southern Baptist Library and Archive. Sumners’s contributions to the profession include being a workshop instructor and an author of numerous publications, most notably Documenting the Spirit: Manual and Guidelines and the Church Archive Series. A 30- year member of SAA, he has served with distinction in the Archivists of Religious Collections Section.
The SURVIVORS OF THE SHOAH VISUAL HISTORY FOUNDATIONreceived SAA’s Philip M. Hamer and Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award in recognition of its website and online resource featuring information about the Testimony Archive of Holocaust survivors and other Holocaust witnesses. The award was accepted by DONNA CASEY, an archivist for the foundation. The award, which recognizes individuals or institutions that have increased public awareness of archival documents for education, instructional, or other public purpose, was established in 1973 and is named for two SAA Fellows and former presidents.
The Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation has innovatively raised public awareness of its vast archive of testimonies from Holocaust survivors and witnesses. One of three strategic goals adopted by the foundation is to preserve and provide access to the Testimony Archive. Through its website, www.vhf.org, the foundation has made available basic biographical data on more than 50,000 testimonies searchable through the online Testimony Catalogue. The online Testimony Viewer allows visitors to view portions of materials from the Testimony Archive directly. To further extend awareness of the Testimony Archive, the foundation has produced 10 documentaries that have been screened or broadcast in 50 countries for 110,000 students, educators, and the general public. The foundation partners with more than 42 locations around the world that serve as Visual History Collection Sites.
The Online Archive of California (OAC) received SAA’s C.F.W. Coker Award. The award was accepted by OAC Director ROBIN CHANDLER.
The Coker Award recognizes finding aids, finding aid systems, projects that involve innovative development in archival description, or descriptive tools that enable archivists to produce more effective finding aids. Nominees must, in some significant way, set national standards, represent a model for archival description, or otherwise have substantial impact on descriptive practices.
The OAC provides access to more than 120,000 images, 50,000 pages of documents, letters and oral histories, and 8,000 guides to collections located at museums, historical societies, and archives in California. The OAC’s consortial approach for implementing and delivering Encoded Archival Description (EAD) finding aids has become a model for other regional and statewide projects. The OAC has developed best practice guidelines for EAD and encoding tools to assist contributing institutions, all of which are made available to the archival community on its website at www.oac.cdlib.org. The OAC’s work has made it possible for more than 100 repositories in California to encode finding aids in EAD and make them available through a sophisticated user interface.
The OAC exemplifies positive collaboration among cultural heritage institutions. This collaboration gives researchers unprecedented access to historical records from institutions throughout California.
SAA’s 2005 Waldo Gifford Leland Award for writing of superior excellence and usefulness in the field of archival history, theory, or practice was presented to RICHARD J. COX for No Innocent Deposits: Forming Archives by Rethinking Appraisal (Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2004). Established in 1959, the award is named for one of North America’s archival pioneers and SAA’s second president.
The book makes an important and valuable contribution to the topics of appraisal and acquisitions. Rather than offering a basic primer or “how-to” guide, it presents a much needed, and more thoughtful, analysis of the issues surrounding these two critically important archival enterprises. The book is both insightful and provocative, engaging readers in lively interaction with the discussions presented. Highly readable and extensively researched, it leads readers to think deeply about appraisal and to question their beliefs and assumptions. No matter their own points of view or biases, all archivists can benefit from the analyses, musings, and examples that illustrate how and why appraisal is the most fundamentally important activity the profession undertakes, the activity that carries the greatest long-term consequences. This is the third time that Cox has received the Leland Award.
SAA’s 2005 Preservation Publication Award was presented to the National Film Preservation Foundation for its book, The Film Preservation Guide: The Basics for Archives, Libraries and Museums. The award was accepted by DAVID WELLS, designer and typesetter of the book. Established in 1993, the award recognizes the author or editor of an outstanding work published in North America that advances the theory or practice of preservation in archival institutions. The Film Preservation Guide is an introductory text, jargon-free and suitable for a broad audience. It is the first of its kind and much needed because it codifies principles, terms, and practices and presents up-to-date archival theories, methods, and techniques. The book is well illustrated and easy to use. It is available both in print and electronically at www.filmpreservation.org.
SAA’s 2005 Fellows’ Ernst Posner Award was presented to ELENA DANIELSON for her article in the most recent volume of the American Archivist. The award, established in 1982 by the Fellows of SAA and named for former SAA President Ernst Posner, recognizes an outstanding essay dealing with some facet of archival administration, history, theory, and/or methodology published in SAA’s semi-annual journal.
Danielson, associate director of the Hoover Institution, and director of Library and Archives, received the award for her essay, “Privacy Rights and the Rights of Political Victims: Implications of the German Experience” in volume 67 of the American Archivist. This superior exposition of the conflicts between privacy, security, and access as exemplified in the East German “Stasi” files clearly and effectively sorts out and explains these competing elements. She shows that opening records can help address past injustices and strengthen the democratic process. The article reflects substantial research using primary and secondary resources in multiple languages and offers keen analysis of issues. Danielson demonstrates that privacy rights and the right to information can be reconciled, an issue that is timeless and often vexing for archivists and citizens of all nations.
SAA’s 2005 Theodore Calvin Pease Award was presented to IAN CRAIG BREADENof the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, for his student paper, “Sound Practices: Online Audio Exhibits and the Cultural Heritage Archive.” Established in 1987, the award is named for the first editor of SAA’s semi-annual journal, American Archivist, and recognizes superior writing achievement by a student enrolled in archival administration classes or engaged in formal archival internship programs. The award includes a certificate, cash prize, and forthcoming publication of Breaden’s paper in the American Archivist.
“Sound Practices” was written by Breaden as a master’s student paper for Professor Helen Tibbo at UNC’s School of Information and Library Science. In her nomination form,Professor Tibbo wrote, “This is one of the best papers I’ve supervised in years. The creation of an analysis/evaluation framework and recommendations based on such analysis places this student paper in a small group of such ambitious studies.” Breaden is the fifth student from UNC to receive the Pease Award.
Breaden’s paper examines the use of audio media in twenty- five Web exhibits. The online audio exhibits are analyzed using a matrix that measures specific aspects of audio performance. Based on this analysis, the author proposes a set of standards for archives to use as a starting point whenever they are incorporating audio elements into online exhibits. The paper was praised by committee members for its solid review of the technical and other issues surrounding the use of digital audio and the standards for digital audio formats. The author was also commended for going the extra mile by developing an assessment tool for archivists.
JENNIFER OSORIO and PAUL SEVILLA of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), are the joint recipients of SAA’s 2005 Harold T. Pinkett Minority Student Award. The award recognizes minority graduate students of African, Asian, Latino, or Native American descent who, through scholastic achievement, manifest an interest in becoming professional archivists and active members of SAA. The award, established in 1993, honors the late Dr. Harold T. Pinkett, who served with distinction during his long tenure at the National Archives and Records Administration and was a Fellow of SAA. It is coordinated through the SAA Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable.
Jennifer Osorio is currently enrolled in the MLIS program at UCLA, specializing in archives and records management. She is incoming co-president of UCLA’s SAA student chapter and the outgoing co-president of the student chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. She is also the recipient of the Society of California Archivists’ James V. Mink Scholarship. Osorio is currently working as a graduate student researcher on the International Research and Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (InterPARES 2) Project in the UCLA Department of Information Studies.
Paul Sevilla was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States when he was 10 years old. Before he began his graduate degree, he provided reference support at theCalifornia Department of Health Services Resource Center. He is in his second year as a MLIS student at UCLA. Currently, Sevilla is working at UCLA’s Department of Special Collections and interning as an archival research assistant at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood, Calif. In addition to the Pinkett Minority Student Award, Sevilla also received a partial scholarship to attend the 46th Annual American Library Association’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Preconference in St. Louis last July. He has also received other student honors and awards through the years, including the Gates Millennium Scholarship.
LINDA HOCKING and DEBRA KIMOKreceived SAA’s 2005 Colonial Dames Scholarship. Established in 1974, the award enables new archivists to attend the Modern Archives Institute of the National Archives and Records Administration. Each scholarship covers $1,200 of the total tuition, travel, and housing expenses associated with attending the institute. To be eligible for this scholarship an individual must have been employed less than two years as an archivist and work in an archives or manuscripts collection where a fair percentage of the repository’s holdings predate 1825. The award is funded by the Colonial Dames of America, Chapter III, Washington, D.C.
Linda Hocking, recipient of the Colonial Dames of America Scholarship to the Winter 2005 Modern Archives Institute, is Curator of Library and Archives at the Litchfield Historical Society in Litchfield, Conn. Hocking received her MLIS in 2001 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her BA in Political Science in 1995 from Marist College. In a letter to the Colonial Dames she explained that she will soon begin a digitization project on historical society records from 1751–1833. Because of her attendance at the MAI, she “will now be able to make better decisions about level of description, arrangement, conservation needs and issues surrounding the creation of digital facsimiles.”
Debra Kimok, recipient of the Colonial Dames of America Scholarship to the Summer 2005 Modern Archives Institute, is Special Collections/Reference Librarian for the Benjamin F. Feinberg Library, State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh. Kimok received her MLS from SUNY Buffalo in 2000 and her BA in History from SUNY Plattsburgh in 1997. In her cover letter, she wrote, “While all of my previous internships and self-study have provided me with a good understanding of archival practice, I strongly believe that both SUNY Plattsburgh and I will benefit greatly by my participation in the Modern Archives Institute. I am looking forward to immersing myself in this work and learning all I can from the instructors and other archivists.”
CHARLOTTE A. WALTERS received SAA’s 2005 Donna Cutts Scholarship. Established in 2002, the award enables one archivist each year to attend the Modern Archives Institute of the National Archives and Records Administration. Each scholarship covers $1,200 of the total tuition, travel, and housing expenses associated with attending the institute. To be eligible for this scholarship an individual must have been employed less than two years as an archivist and work in an archives or manuscripts collection where a fair percentage of the repository’s holdings predate 1825. The award is funded by the Colonial Dames of America, Chapter III, Washington, D.C.
Walters, who attended the Winter 2005 Modern Archives Institute, is an administrative assistant in the University Libraries/Center for Southwest Research-Political Archives at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where she processes and describes manuscript collections as well as maintains and develops guidelines for the processing and description of political papers. The Center for Southwest Research holds both manuscript and book materials that document the history and culture of New Mexico and the Southwest, including New Mexico’s governance and administration by Spain and Mexico, pre-1825. Walters received her BA in Social Thought and Political Economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2004. In a letter to the Colonial Dames, she notes, “The Institute gave me many resources and an important professional network to support the archives here in New Mexico. It is a solid base for me to build upon and increase my professional expertise.”
ROBERT S. MARTIN, who completed his four-year term as director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in July, received SAA’s Council Exemplary Service Award.
Martin was nominated by President George W. Bush to be director of IMLS in June 2001; the U.S. Senate subsequently confirmed his nomination by unanimous consent. During his tenure, IMLS awarded 4,704 grants to America’s museums and libraries totaling more than $899 million. Martin served with distinction throughout his term as IMLS director and he consciously and consistently sought to include archival projects and priorities within the IMLS scope of grant programs.
A librarian, archivist, educator, and administrator, Martin was professor and interim director of the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Women’s University (TWU) prior to his appointment at IMLS. From 1995 to 1999, he was director and librarian of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Martin returned to work in September at the Denton campus of TWU, where he has been named the Lillian Bradshaw Endowed Chair in Library Science.
GEORGE F. FARR, JR. received the 2005 J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award from SAA in recognition of his advocacy and support of archival preservation and access projects during his distinguished career at the National Endowment for the Humanities, and particularly as its Director of the Division of Preservation and Access. Established in 1989, the award is named for the noted American historian who was a long-time advocate for the establishment of a National Archives in the United States.
Farr put a concerned and caring face on the Division of Preservation and Access, fostered an openness and understanding that changed the NEH’s grant process, and assisted in transforming the preservation world as it is known today. Always generous with his time, and gracious to everyone he met, he was an integral part of the archival, library, and academic communities, and a frequent presence at SAA Annual Meetings. Fostering a belief that the cultural heritage of the nation needs to be preserved and made available to all, he energized a generation of individuals and organizations to make a difference in the future by paying attention to the past. His broad definition of cultural artifacts included archives, books, and three-dimensional objects. This breadth of vision expanded preservation efforts and helped develop access tools to still and moving images and sound recordings, thereby unlocking many hidden collections.
Farr’s groundbreaking work has had a national impact on the preservation and access of archival and library materials. Projects that he guided during the past two decades include: a national initiative to identify, catalog, and microfilm the nation’s newspaper heritage; the microfilming of brittle books; the preservation of material culture collections; the digitization of microfilmed newspapers for increased accessibility; grants for smaller institutions to obtain consultants and preservation supplies; the establishment of regional preservation/conservation centers with field service departments; the creation of a national clearinghouse for preservation information; and the establishment of university programs to train preservation personnel, among others.
Two long-standing contributors to the Society of American Archivists—PHILIP B. EPPARD and SCOTT SCHWARTZ—were honored for their service by the SAA Council at the 2005 Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Eppard, associate professor in the School of Information Science and Policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York, served as American Archivist Editor for ten years. Schwartz, archivist for the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was the Membership Committee chair and advocate who saw SAA’s membership development efforts reach new levels.
SAA Council Resolution Honoring
Philip B. Eppard
American Archivist Editor
1996–2005
Whereas Philip B. Eppard has furthered professional discourse through his editorship of the American Archivist from 1996 to 2005; and
Whereas he facilitated the transition from quarterly to semiannual publication; and Whereas he re-established a timely production schedule for the journal; and
Whereas he balanced the content mix with theoretical and practical articles and oversaw publication of theme issues on graduate archival education, encoded archival description, and user studies; and
Whereas he harnessed new technologies to streamline the editorial review process; and
Whereas at SAA Annual Meetings he hosted new author forums and, together with Editorial Board members, presented sessions on how to conduct research projects and produce publishable papers from them; and
Whereas he brought a personal warmth to the editorship that encouraged new authors to submit manuscripts to the journal; and
Whereas his sharp intellect and analytic perspective enhanced the quality of the journal;
Therefore Be It Resolved that the Society of American Archivists owes a debt of gratitude and expresses its sincere thanks to Philip B. Eppard for advancing he professional discourse through his nine-year editorship of the American Archivist.
SAA Council Resolution Honoring
Scott Schwartz
SAA Membership Committee Chair
1996–2005
Whereas Scott Schwartz has served with distinction for ten years on the Society of American Archivists Membership Committee, nine years of which he has served as its chair; and
Whereas during his tenure the organization has experienced increased membership; and
Whereas he has enthusiastically and passionately supported the recruitment and retention of members through tracking and reporting on membership statistics and trends and through the Key Contact Program, Mentoring Program, Career Center, annual raffle and silent auction, and other development initiatives;
Therefore Be It Resolved that the Society of American Archivists extends its sincere gratitude to Scott Schwartz for his outstanding leadership of the Membership Committee.