Creating a Research Agenda for the Archival Profession: Open Call to Participate

In late July of 2024, the Society of American Archivists received a $150,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grant program to establish a prioritized research agenda for the archival profession that builds upon SAA’s recently adopted Research and Innovation Roadmap. Spearheaded by the Committee on Research, Data, and Assessment (CORDA) and with funding from IMLS, SAA will convene 35 archival experts, educators, community leaders, and grantmakers—archivists from across key sectors and professional positionality as well as relevant non-archivist stakeholders—to be part of a professionally facilitated two-day forum to take place in Chicago on May 1–2, 2025. Travel, lodging, and food for participants will be covered by grant funds. The participants will transform the recently adopted SAA Research and Innovation Roadmap into a research agenda and develop a framework for its implementation and adoption.

Establishing a prioritized agenda is too important to too many stakeholders to consider developing it within CORDA alone, or even within SAA or the larger archival community. This agenda must be the collaborative work of stakeholders representing diverse perspectives in the archival endeavor. It is for this reason that the 35 participants will be selected from an open call application process to form the Research Agenda Advisory Collective.

To ensure the success and thoughtful design of the 2-day in person forum, CORDA in consultation with SAA leadership and funding from IMLS have hired a professional facilitator, RMC (Research Making Change). RMC Research Corporation was our top contender for this project as they worked with the National Endowment for the Arts on a similar project turning a complex strategic plan into a Research Agenda and engaging a diverse group of 46 participants in 7 focus groups. RMC works across education, healthcare and arts industries. Their clients include local, state, and federal agencies; philanthropic foundations; creative services organizations and other nonprofits; higher education institutions; and private businesses. Their research profile, track record of conducting research and program based evaluation, and capacity building across industries, many of which deliver public benefit, is well aligned with the focus and intent of this effort.

Application Evaluation

To select 35 applicants for the 2-day in-person forum, CORDA and RMC have developed an online application that takes approximately 30–45 minutes to complete. The application consists of 9 demographic questions, CV upload, and 2 open-ended questions regarding engagement, experience, and expertise, as well as a positionality statement asking applicants how their lived experiences and/or DEIA-related work connects to the development of the roadmap into a research agenda for the profession.

To ensure an inclusive and diverse group, we have developed a weighted rubric, aligned with the Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, to guide the selection of applicants to participate in the 2-day forum, based on the following criteria:

• In and outside of the profession. Practicing archivists will form the majority of the Collective, including archivists affiliated with allied professional groups including the American Library Association (ALA), COSA, Regional Archival Associations, foundations and funders, as well as international organizations including either IFLA or UNESCO, grant makers, and educators.
• Geographic location. Participants will primarily represent the United States of America, (West, Midwest, Northeast, South, Pacific, Caribbean). We will also allocate space and budgetary funds for one international participant (e.g. IFLA, UNESCO).
• Socio-cultural factors. The Collective will represent different race/ethnicities and gender, related to individual and community identity, including the attributes mentioned in SAA’s Equal Opportunity/Non-discrimination Policy.
• Employment seniority, status, and level. (1) We seek to include archivists that are individual contributors/solo archivists, managers, and senior administrators/executives in the profession. Archivists that are both contract/limited term vs. permanent. Archivists that are entry level (0-5 years), mid-level (6-14 years), and senior (15+ years) in their respective careers.
• Archives sector. Participants will represent all sectors of the field including: Academic, Government Agency, Non-profit, For-profit, Self-employed, Community Archives, and Religious Archives.

How to Apply

Potential participants will have one month to apply and express their interest, as applications are due on December 20, 2024. Invitations to participate with further details will be sent by late January / February 2025.

(1) Classification based on the A*Census II survey and findings, see: https://sr.ithaka.org/publications/acensus-ii-all-archivists-survey-report/