National Education Association Oral Histories at George Washington University Libraries
Vakil Smallen, National Education Association Project Archivist, George Washington University Libraries
The National Education Association (NEA) and the libraries of the George Washington University (GWU) formed a partnership in 2008 to process and house the Association’s archives and library at the Gelman Library within the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC). Following the official opening of the...
Billy Graham Center Archives Oral History Interviews Online
Bob Shuster, Archivist, Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College
In 2017, the staff of the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois transcribed over 38 hours of oral history interviews, filling 646 pages. Most of these transcripts have been put online and can be found, along with the audio file, at: http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/newtran.html They are also all available for viewing in the BGC...
Happy 2018! For the new year, the incoming PLASC Steering Committee will be focusing on the following projects:
Conducting a survey to determine how PLASC can better serve its members
Determining the best modes of communication for members to share news, research, and other resources
Identifying possible collaborations with ALA, PLA, and other organizations
Streamlining internal documents and processes for the Steering Committee
Planning the 2018 annual section meeting
Please note that moving...
The inaugural issue of Archival History News, the official newsletter of the Archival History Section, was released in October 2017, just in time for Archives Month. Brighten up your winter months by enjoying the Winter 2018 issue!
Featuring excellent writing and the most up-to-date information, Archival History Newscommunicates the value of archival history to a broad public, through the publication of ongoing research, biographical notes, book reviews, and announcements.
In this issue, read...
On December 7, 2017, we held the first VMCAS Google Hangout to discuss cataloging guidelines. 37 people attended, sharing experiences, challenges and advice. A transcript of the session is attached below.
The Congressional Papers Section formed the CSS/CMS Task Force in August 2016, and the Task Force has pulled together the most comprehensive report to date about archiving Constituent Services Systems (CSS) in the Senate and Correspondence Management Systems (CMS) in the House of Representatives.
The report, released on November 15, 2017, provides an overview of how CSS and CMS developed over time, which vendors and systems are currently in use, how systems are deployed in congressional offices...
The 2016-2017 Preservation Section Annual Report is now available on the Reports Page for members to review: https://www2.archivists.org/groups/preservation-section/reports
The proposed standard was approved by the SAA Standards Committee at its July 2017 meeting. The next step in the SAA approval process is review by SAA Council.
An update on the review and approval process from our ACRL colleagues:
The ACRL Board of Directors has approved the new Standardized Statistical Measures and Metrics for Public Services in Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries. In order to support increasing demands on archival repositories and special collections...
MDOS did not hold an election in 2017. Here are the current members with the date they were elected.
Chair: Martha Parker, University of Arkansas Libraries - 8/6/2016 - 8/18/2018
Steering Committee Member: Matthew McEniry, Texas Tech University Library - 8/22/2015
Steering Committee Member: Laurel Mcphee, University of California, San Diego - 8/6/2016
Steering Committee Member: Melissa Torres, University of Houston Downtown - 8/22/2015
Steering Committee Member: Blake...
Please join us in welcoming the incoming MDOR steering committee members. We are so pleased to have them on board!
Chair: Kari Smith - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Co-Chair: Martha Parker - University of Arkansas Libraries
Steering Committee Member: Laurel Mcphee - University of California, San Diego
Steering Committee Member: Blake Graham - University of Nebraska at Lincoln
And we would like to welcome Bertram Lyons to MDOR as the Council Liaison.
The results of the Future Initiatives Survey, conducted in fall 2017 are available in the attached PDF.
The Students and New Archives Professionals (SNAP) Roundtable is seeking nominations for the appointed ex-officio positions of Blog Coordinator, New Professionals Blog Editor, Junior Social Media Coordinator, and Student Chapter Coordinator (see descriptions below). Ex-officio positions are open to all SNAP members.
The term for each office is one year, beginning on January 1, 2018 and ending on December 31, 2018. A second year may optionally be considered after the end of the first year. If...
Election results are in! Your 2017-18 SAA Research Libraries Section Steering Committee includes:
Lisa Carter, The Ohio State University Libraries: Chair, 7/29/2017 - 8/18/2018
Vakil Smallen, George Washington University: Vice Chair/Chair-Elect, 7/29/2017 - 8/18/2018
Daniel Cavanaugh, University of Virginia’s Claude Moore Health Sciences Library: 7/29/2017 - 8/7/2019
Anton duPlessis, Texas A&M University Libraries: 8/6/2016 - 8/18/2018
Jean Green, Binghamton University Libraries: 7/...
CPS will hold a special election to fill a vacant seat on the CPS Steering Committee. Biographical information and responses from the two candidates are below:
1. Rebecca Denne, Special Projects Archivist, University of South Carolina, South Carolina Political Collections, M.L.S., M.A. Public History
What is your experience with congressional papers?
My experience with political papers began with graduate research in the Mayoral Archives in Indianapolis which houses the collections of local...
You asked and we delivered. The new SNAP Student Chapter Manual is now available under "Resources" on the right-hand sidebar of the SNAP webpage.
You can also access the Student Chapter Manual here.
Power Point slides from the PLASC meeting at SAA17 are available here.
Following the 2017 Preservation Section Business Meeting in Portland, OR, we have begun to compile Handling Guidelines from reading rooms around the country. We hope these will serve as a helpful resource for those institutions looking to write new handling policies, revise existing policies, or create new handouts and guides for their patrons. Check out the new resources at: https://www2.archivists.org/groups/preservation-section/resource-library-handling-guidelines-for-the-reading-room
The 2017 MARS meeting at the annual SAA convention focused quite a bit on the future of the Section and several potential future projects were brought up by presenters and from the floor.
First, the Military Archival Collection Directory now has a rudimentary start on the SAA MARS' microsite: https://www2.archivists.org/groups/military-archives-section/mars-launches-directory-of-military-archival-collections. With time, MARS will grow this list into a dynamic tool for broad use. This project...
Research Libraries SectionCandidates for 2017 election
Vice-Chair/Chair-elect:
Vakil Smallen
Biography: Vakil is the National Education Association Archivist at George Washington University, responsible for processing describing and promoting collections, and providing reference assistance. He primarily works with GW Libraries’ unique collections related to education, including the records of the National Education Association. Additionally, he was part of a project to explore the potential for...
The 2017 MARS officer candidates' biographies and statements are in the attached PDF.
