It’s that time of year again– Society of American Archivist’s annual conference, held this year in Chicago, Illinois. I’ll be blogging session summaries while I’m there- Wednesday August 24- Saturday August 27th. Here is a list of sessions I plan to attend:
Women’s Collections Roundtable:
WCRT hosts a panel discussing women’s collections, diversity, and activism with a special focus on Chicago-area archives and repositories. Guest speakers include local archivists and historians. A short business meeting follows the panel discussion.
Security Roundtable:
Join us to discuss ways to protect our holdings from theft and to recover stolen records. Learn about new tools for combating archival theft, ranging from websites to clearinghouses. Suggest approaches to educating ourselves, colleagues, and constituents in preventing theft and building sustainable security programs. Share your stories, solutions, and support with colleagues.
Thursday August 25th
Plenary Session I: Keynote speaker Scott Simon
Simon hosts National Public Radios acclaimed Weekend Edition Saturday.
Session 107:
What Happens After “Here Comes Everybody”: An Examination of Participatory Archives
Many archivists believe the key to the success of our profession in the future lies in effectively harnessing the participatory culture of the Web. But what does it really mean to be a “participatory archives”? The speakers provide a definition and examples of participatory archives, discuss the latest research on the impact of user participation on authenticity, reliability and credibility, and share research about user collaboration efforts at
the National Archives (UK).
Panel:
Robert B. Townsend, Chair and Commentator
American Historical Association
Kate Theimer
ArchivesNext
Elizabeth Yakel
University of Michigan
Lunch Break-out Session
Social Media Forum
Today’s media landscape is changing rapidly. Successful advocacy and outreach demands that organizations make effective use of current and emerging technology to enhance communication with internal and external audiences and stimulate collaboration among constituents . Share your opinions with members of SAA’s Communication Technology Working Group (CTWG) in this inter-active planning forum as we explore opportunities
to enhance SAA’s use of social media .
Session 205:
EAD and the global information Environment: An Exploration of Opportunities
The global information environment relies heavily on exchange of data, and the archival world is no exception. Through encoded archival description (EAD), the bridge between archival and digital library practice has strengthened; the future points to exciting collaboration and data exchange opportunities. The panelists discuss assessment of EAD-based finding aids, technical frameworks for achieving our goals, and future
developments, particularly in the context of semantic web (Web 3.0) and resource description framework (RDF) formats.
Panel:
Susan G. Hamson, Chair and Commentator
Columbia University
Terry Catapano
Columbia University
Clifford Wulfman
Princeton University
Jon Stroop
Princeton University
Joanna DiPasquale
Columbia University
Section Meeting:
College and University Archives
This meeting includes reports on amending the Section bylaws to bring the Section into compliance with SAA guidelines and other Section initiatives. A panel discussion on topics of interest to members follows the business meeting. For more information, please see the Section website.
Friday August 26th
Plenary II
SAA President Helen Tibbo presents “On the Occasion of SAA’s Diamond Jubilee: A Profession Coming of Age in the Digital Era” and welcomes her special guest, Archivist of the United States David Ferriero.
Session 301:
Archives on the go: Using Mobile Technologies for Your Collections
Smartphones are changing how we seek and use information. Archivists should be aware of how patrons use these devices to discover archival resources and how they connect users with collections in new ways. The panelists discuss how archivists have used geospatial data to create an historic walking tour, re-purposed digital collections for patrons on the go, and used QR (Quick Reference) codes and location-based social networking applications to reach existing and potential users.
Panel:
Mattie A. Taormina, Chair
Stanford University
Laura M. Botts, CA
Mercer University
Tiah Edmunson-Morton
Oregon State University
Lynn Eaton
Duke University
Session 406:
Reference, Access, and Outreach: An Evolved Landscape, 1936-2011
Reference, access, and outreach are conceptually and functionally tied together in ways
that were largely unexamined and unarticulated in the mid-1930s. In the second decade of the 21st century, archivists see these entities not only from a custodial perspective, but also as central to both repository identity and to how the broad spectrum of society understands and supports archival work. The speakers discuss the evolution of each function and the cumulative impact of their interaction.
Panel:
Kathy Marquis, Chair
Albany County Public Library
Mary Jo Pugh, CA
American Archivist Editor
Reference: Illusions of Omniscience Then and Now
John A. Fleckner, CA
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History
Access Opportunities We Could Never Have Imagined, Issues That We Can Never Resolve
George W. Bain
Retired
Outreach: An Administrative Function Now Getting Traction
Saturday, August 27th
75 Years of International Women’s Collecting: Legacies, Successes, Obstacles, and New Directions
A retrospective analysis of three international women’s collecting projects across 75 years illuminates the projects’ successes and obstacles, which speak to the historical, national, professional, and interpersonal contexts of their founding. Panelists also chart out the projects’ legacies and their transmutations into the digital realm . Under examination are the World Center for Women’s Archives in New York, Aletta Institute for Women’s History in Amsterdam, and International Museum of Women in San Francisco.
Panel:
Danelle Moon, Chair
San Jose State University, Special Collections and Archives
From Paper to Bytes: Creation of the International Museum of Women (IMOW)
Anke Voss
The Urbana Free Library
Salvaging Their History: Initiatives and Challenges in the Early Development of Women’s Archives and Documentation
Rachel Miller
Center for Jewish History
Kick Her in the Shin for Me: The International Women’s Archives Projects of Two Warring Suffragists in the 1930s and Their Digital Footprints in the 2010s
Be sure and check back here after the conference is over, for some final thoughts.