SNAP Steering Committee Meeting Minutes - 09/07/2017

SNAP Steering Committee 2016-2017

Date: September 7, 2017

Location: Skype

Time: 8 pm EST/7 pm CST/5 pm PST

Attending: Lauren Gaylord, Brenna Edwards, Katie Rojas, Eve Bourbeau-Allard, Emily Kintigh, Gayle Schechter, Adrienne Duris, Elena Colon-Marrero

1.     Introductions and goals for the year

a.     Name

b.     Position

c.     Institution

d.     What would you like SNAP to accomplish this year?

Katie Rojas, SNAP Chair

Manuscripts Archivist at University of Texas San Antonio

Goals: Katie would love to re-attempt the student housing for SNAPers at annual conference. Also, would love to collaborate more with other sections.

Adriana Flores, SNAP Secretary

Archivist & Special Collections Librarian at the University of Puget Sound

Goals: AF would love also love to see more opportunities for SNAPers to present their work/scholarship at annual conference (through our meeting’s lightning talks) or through over venues like a Twitter chat, webinar, blog series, etc.

Gayle Schecter, Steering Committee Member

Library Services Assistant at Fenway Libraries Online

Goals: GS would like us to seek opportunities to provide good information for job hunt practices (salary negotiation, navigating the process, etc.)

Eve Bourbeau-Allard, Ex-Officio Web Liaison

Processing Archivist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Goals: EBA would like to address the financial stress that SNAPers feel (making conferences affordable), support for the job search process, and releasing stress for SNAPers.

Lauren Gaylord, Ex-Officio Blog Coordinator

Archivist at Pixar Animation Studios

Goals: LG would like to increase the visibility of the blog; to get more readers and more writers who will contribute to its future.

Brenna Edwards, Ex-Officio Student Blog Editor

UNC Chapel Hill graduate student

Goals: BE would like to get more people to write for the blog and contribute their experiences and stories.

Emily Kintigh, Steering Committee Member

Communications & Recruitment Specialist at the University of Denver

Goals: EK worked on the student manual and now her main focus is putting it on the website. Making it accessible to students for use and further development!

Adrienne Duris, Ex-Officio Student Chapter Coordinator

Recent graduate from Univ of Pittsburgh who is on the job search.

Goals: AD would like to push out the student chapter manual and to get more of the student chapters involved.

Elena Colon-Marrero, Vice Chair/Chair-Elect

Digital Archivist at the Computer History Museum

Goals: ECM wants to do more student-focused efforts; getting students more involved in SNAP and finding the gaps between SAA as an organization and students entering the profession.

2.     Ex Officio Positions

     a.     What is coming up/General questions?

Ève - wondering if she could do different menus on the side of the micro-site. Thinks she knows how to do it but she may reach out officers from other sections for their advice.

3.  Potential Twitter chat on “Through the Archival Looking Glass”? (Katie)

The SNAP twitter account got a message about the book Through the Archival Looking Glass from Abigail Christian (SAA Editorial Production coordinator).  She was thinking you wouldn’t have to read the book to participate in the chat. We could have a conversation in the vein of that book. Could break it up by section of the book or just provide general themes for people to talk about if they haven’t read the book.

Twitter chats--the time was problematic last month (earlier than usual). The group discussed the times and the usual time of 8pm EST/7pm CDT/5pm PST should work for everyone who wants to be involved.

4. Blog (Lauren)

Thank you to everyone who responded with bios. Lauren is updating the steering committee page. All new steering committee members and people who have changed jobs need to send a 2-3 sentence bio to Lauren.

She’s also in conversation with the Business Archives Section to start an “Ask an Archivist” post for people to ask BAS people individual questions. We’re looking at different platforms to seek out questions.

SAA recaps have been posting every week recently and those will end next week. If anyone has any blog content, reach out to the coordinators with ideas!!

5. Student Membership sponsorship fund (Elena)

On Twitter a while back there was a conversation about sponsoring student memberships for SAA. Currently, SAA doesn’t provide any scholarships for membership (just the reduced rate is provided, which can still be a burden). A few people had offered to provide to a fund one if there was the opportunity! We could possibly reach out to Felicia to get the ball rolling. Would it be a scholarship style fund? The preservation section has done a fundraiser to raise money for a fund, so we could reach out to them for advice. Lauren heard at the Leadership Session that SAA does have funds, so potentially we could apply for start-up money to get the fund going? Katie R. says we would have to go through our council liaison. This would be a big project, so we need to take some time to develop/investigate this project. Elena will take the lead on this. Gayle is interested in helping/providing assistance.

6.     Collaboration with Manuscript Repositories Section (Katie)

Katie got an email from the MRS proposing an idea to collaborate on a discussion on the value of generalists vs. temp positions/project positions. Or possibly a broader discussion about project positions and how they impact our profession. Katie is thinking more about project positions vs. permanent positions. Katie can reach out to see what kind of format this should take. Katie likes the idea of discussing this issue since it’s so prevalent in our profession and will respond and let her know that we’re interested.