August 30, 2018—Record-setting attendance was just one of the many highlights of ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2018, the Joint Annual Meeting of CoSA, NAGARA, and SAA in Washington, DC, August 12–18. Among the many others:
- The SAA Council endorsed “Protocols for Native American Archival Materials” as an external standard. As noted in the Council’s support statement: “These Protocols establish a foundation for archival practice in caring for culturally sensitive records, and center Native American communities in the discussions of preservation and access to these materials. They call on the profession to ‘recognize that the conditions under which knowledge can be ethically and legally acquired, archived, preserved, accessed, published, or otherwise used change through time.’”
- Sixty-seven archivists participated in the first-ever Archives on the Hill event, which began with orientation and training and culminated in Congressional office visits that paired experienced advocates with those who wanted to learn.
- Zeynep Tufekci delivered a powerful plenary speech on the interactions between technology and social, cultural, and political dynamics. Learn more about her work.
- SAA President Tanya Zanish-Belcher delivered her presidential address, “Keeping Evidence and Memory: Archives Storytelling in the 21st Century.” If you missed it, watch it here. The full address will be published in American Archivist.
- Archivist of the United States David Ferriero spoke about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s records and encouraged attendees to learn more via his blog.
- More than 30 award recipients were recognized for their contributions to SAA and the profession, including SAA’s newest distinguished Fellows: Amy Cooper Cary, Donna McCrea, Kate Theimer, and Rachel Vagts. Jameson Award winner and popular author Brad Meltzer sang his praises of archivists via video.
- More than 300 individuals participated as session chairs, speakers, or moderators in the 77 education sessions and 12 pre-conference courses offered, and 34 individuals presented professional or graduate student posters for discussion.
- “A Finding Aid to My Soul,” the Committee on Public Awareness’s inaugural open-mic storytelling session, drew many heartbreaking and funny true stories about encounters in the archives—and prizes were awarded!
- SAA’s “Peace, Love, Archives” t-shirts were a sellout—with all proceeds supporting the SAA Foundation.
Watch for the September/October issue of Archival Outlook for more coverage of the Joint Annual Meeting.
Session speakers: We encourage you to upload your presentation to the online schedule for the benefit of anyone who missed your session or would like to know more. And consider submitting it for publication in American Archivist or Archival Outlook!
Thank you to all attendees for your participation! We especially appreciated all of the knowledge and anecdotes shared on Twitter using #saa18. Remember that as an attendee you will have access to all recorded sessions. Watch your email in early September for information about downloading the MP3s (and those who weren't there can pre-order the recordings). We encourage you to complete the conference evaluation form so that we can continue to improve and enhance the SAA Annual Meeting. (Couldn’t make this year’s conference? We’d like to hear from you, too!)
