There is perhaps no single figure whose own life and career embodies the promise, success, and continued challenges of civil rights for Black Americans than John Lewis. We mourn this tremendous loss and look back on his incredible history through our holdings dating back to the early 1960s, including the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and “Bloody Sunday,” the first March from Selma to Montgomery.
Representative Lewis spent his life fighting for human rights and civil liberties and...
Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia (A4BLiP), formed in 2016, is a loose association that now includes 80+ archivists, librarians, and information professionals in the Delaware Valley concerned about the issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement and interested in finding ways to react and engage as community members and as archival professionals.
A4BLiP has watched with alarm as Black library workers at the Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP) have surfaced significant complaints,...
The RBML’s archival, manuscript, oral history and University Archives are full of materials from people who were out and proud, recently revealed queer collections and likely materials and people still somewhat closeted by historical forces and past archival practices rooted in homophobia.
You’re invited during PRIDE month, and every other month, to explore the collections we have on offer that begin to demonstrate the range of LGBTQIA people, voices and experiences.
Read more here.
The LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory is excited to announce the completion of the Trans Collections Guide for The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives! Drawing on research supported by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, a rotating team of Collaboratory and members of The ArQuives have been hard at work for the past six years to create The ArQuives’ first-ever Trans Collections Guide, offering researchers much-needed insight into The ArQuives’ extensive trans-...
The Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) has announced immediate action to address recent allegations of systemic racism, discrimination and claims of sexual harassment at the Museum.
“These allegations were not properly escalated to the Board of Trustees,” said Board Chair Pauline Rafferty. “Now that we have a more complete understanding of these events, we are taking immediate action and will undertake long‐term steps to address these issues.”
The Board and CMHR...
In recent years, I’ve spoken (or tweeted) in passing about some of the ways I’ve been disabled by traditional academic conference models. I am intentionally using the verb tense “disabled.” Where the medical model of disability argues that I am rendered incapable by my own broken and deficient body, the social model of disability emphasizes that we are disabled by the hostility and inflexibility of our environment. The social model reminds me that pain and discomfort is not the inevitable price...
As noted in the Society of American Archivists’ June 2 Statement on Black Lives and Archives, the vitality of American archives depends on the safety of archives workers and an explicit commitment to social responsibility, justice, and anti-racism in the work that we do and the organizations we work within.
The SAA Council convened this forum of reflection to move toward healing and understanding on the continuation of anti-Black violence and provide an affirmation of the importance of Black...
As racial terror against Black Americans continues, many cultural heritage associations and organizations have chosen to remain silent thus far. This is inexcusable, dangerous, and implies complicity on the part of those organizations. Archivists have a responsibility to combat racist practices in our profession and at large, particularly given the overwhelming whiteness of our profession. We therefore call on all cultural heritage organizations to publicly stand with the Black Lives Matter...
We are Black memory workers committed to documenting the Black experience during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the current uprisings brought about by racist police violence against Black people. Our work is imperative, especially as we witness this dual assault white supremacy has unleashed on Black people. We offer this call to action to ethically and comprehensively archive during this moment, to ensure that we shine light onto the oppressive systems that disproportionately subject Black...
On Friday, June 19th, Documenting the Now hosted a live streamed conversation with WITNESS, The Blackivists, Texas After Violence Project, and Project STAND. We are so thankful to the 800+ attendees and to our amazing panelists: Tracy Drake, Raquel Flores-Clemons, Erin Glasco, Stacie Williams, Skyla Hearn, Steven Booth, Gabriel Solis, Yvonne Ng, Lae’l Hughes-Watkins, and Jessica Ballard. Also much thanks to the Documenting the Now team members who helped put the event together: Alexandra Dolan-...
The RAO Section is organizing a Community Call to encourage discussion and support among SAA members. The focus of this Community Call will be on how the RAO community has been doing reference and outreach during this time of varied work environments. We hope this call will allow members to share challenges and successes, whether you are working remotely, in a hybrid model, or fully back in the reading room.
Please join us on Tuesday, November 10 from 12:30pm – 2pm EST. Feel free to drop in...
The Web Archiving Section is excited to announce the 2020-2021 Steering Committee leadership! The new roster is as follows:
Chair: Tori MachesVice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Melissa WertheimerEducation Coordinator: Ryder KoubaCommunications Manager: April FeldmanSecretary: Kiera SullivanStudent Member: Allison Fischbach
Congratulations and best of luck to those newly elected!
Register Now for the Event: https://bit.ly/3deypX3
As we have begun returning to our collections over the past few months, there are sure to have been surprises waiting for us! Join the SAA Preservation Section for an informal virtual coffee klatch to catch up with each other and talk about the “new normal” in our workplaces.
We are hosting an hour-long forum on Friday, October 16th from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm ET to talk about pandemic-related closures and the aftermath, with guided...
Do you have an idea for an article, book, or presentation about design records but don't want to go it alone? It can be intimidating to get started, so why not work with your colleagues! There are several ways through SAA to get involved, including Archival Outlook, American Archivist, and the Case Study Series. There are also other publications outside of SAA you can contribute to. The upcoming issue of American Archivist is dedicated specifically to design records, but that doesn't mean you...
As we have begun returning to our collections over the past few months, there are sure to have been surprises waiting for us! Join the SAA Preservation Section for an informal virtual coffee klatch to catch up with each other and talk about the “new normal” in our workplaces.
We are hosting an hour-long forum on Friday, October 16th from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm ET to talk about pandemic-related closures and the aftermath, with guided conversations about what is like to be back and group problem...
2020 Special Election: Candidate Statements
Thank you to our excellent candidates for standing in the 2020 Collection Management Section special election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.
You will be voting for one Steering Committee member (three-year term). Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot opens!
Steering Committee Candidate Statements...
The Technical Subcommittee on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (TS-DACS) recently requested feedback on its proposal to adopt two new single-level minimum required descriptive elements:
· 8.2. Rights Statement for Archival Description
· 13.10. Rights Statement for Archival Authority Records
As noted in the request, these elements were proposed by Alston Coburn (East Carolina University) and Patrick Galligan (Rockefeller Archive Center). They would require archival...
SAA's Technical Subcommittee for Encoded Archival Standards (TS-EAS) is pleased to highlight the following new resources in our GitHub repository, following on the SAA 2020 annual conference:
We've updated our procedural handbook, to include a set of design principles that we began to formulate in early 2020 -- and codified at the conference. The design principles reflect recent decisions and will guide future discussions for the development of EAD, EAC-CPF, and any other schemas that might be...
Nominees for Vice-Chair
Andrew Hinton - Head of Collection Development, Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University
Andrew Hinton joined the Vietnam Center and Archive in 2015 as Assistant Archivist. In this role, Andrew manages the Archive of Modern American Warfare, which collects and preserves the records of modern veterans. Andrew works closely with post-9/11 veterans to ensure that their records – especially born-digital records – are made available for...
Our 2020 SAA virtual section meeting recording is now available! This recording is free and open for anyone to view: Local Government Records Section | SAA.Complete list of section meeting recordings here: SAA Section Meetings | SAA
Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2020 Local Government Records Section election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.
You will be voting for:
One Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (or Co-chair), for a two-year term; and
2 Steering Committee members (three-year terms).
Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot opens! ...
VOTE NOW!
NAAS is holding a special election for two vacancies on the Steering Committee. Check out candidate statements and check your email inbox to vote by SEPTEMBER 17.
The Native American Archives Section (NAAS) is holding a special election to fill two one-year vacancies on the Steering Committee. We have four candidates running for these positions:
Selena Ortega-Chiolero
Eric Hung
Jackie Beckey
Katherine Meyers Satriano
SAA staff emailed section members their ballots on September 3, so...
On August 12, 2020 the Military Archives and Records Section held its annual meeting.
The program portion of the meeting featured two presentations:
Bill Carpenter and John Powers from the Information Security Oversight Office at NARA led an informative and engaging conversation about declassification. Their presentation on declassification realities is attached to this post.
Professor Edward Benoit, III and Gillian Brownlee from Louisiana State University gave an update on their Virtual...
Meet our wonderful candidate for the 2020 WCS election! The individual will serve as Co-Vice Chair during 2020-2021 and as Co-Chair of the section in 2021-2022.
Alex McGee
Biography
Alex McGee is the Women@MIT Project Archivist in the Department of Distinctive Collections at the MIT Libraries, where she seeks to add the records of women faculty, staff, students and alumnae to the historic record by collecting, preserving, and sharing their life and work with MIT and global audiences. Prior,...
AES candidates - 2020-2021
Chair
Ashley Todd-Diaz
Ashley Todd-Diaz, Ph.D. is Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections and University Archives at Towson University. She also teaches as an adjunct professor in Emporia State University’s Master of Library and Information Science and Archives Studies Certificate programs. Ashley has served on the Archival Educators Section Steering Committee for the last two years and is interested in taking the next step with her work on the...
