News & announcements

My CA Colleagues,

Please help the ACA out by volunteering a bit of your time to sit at the ACA booth during the conference in Helena later this week. We (I) need people to hand out pamphlets, chat with people and answer questions. Pretty straightforward stuff. The added bonus is that you can count your service towards your re-certification.

Please contact me ASAP so I can work out a schedule.

Thanks!

Diana Banning
diana.banning@portlandoregon.gov
503-865-4110

Students looking for financial assistance, this is for you. The Society of American Archivists (SAA) will award up to two Mosaic Scholarships, Josephine Forman Scholarships, and F. Gerald Ham Scholarships (that’s six scholarships!) in 2011 to students pursuing graduate education in archival science. To learn about eligibility and application requirements, visit www2.archivists.org/recognition. The application deadline is February 28, 2011.

 

Questions? Contact Jenny Schooley, jschooley@archivists.org.

The Reference, Access, and Outreach Section (RAO) of the Society of
American Archivists seeks volunteers for at least one unpaid internship
for 2010-2011. (Two interns were selected for the pilot of this program
in 2009-2010, and a report about the internship is available online on
the RAO page of the SAA website -
http://www2.archivists.org/groups/reference-access-and-outreach-section.
)  The intent of the internship is to provide an opportunity for a
current graduate student or an archivist with less than three years
experience in the profession to be actively involved in and observe the
activities of the Section. The intern's responsibilities will involve
general communications and governance, but may include other Section
initiatives based on the interests and needs of the intern and the
Section. The intern will serve from the time of selection through the
2011 SAA Annual Meeting. (Attendance at the 2011 Annual Meeting is not
required.)

Applicants should have a demonstrated interest in archives, as evidenced
by their employment, volunteering, internships, and/or coursework. Also
important are attention to detail, good organizational and communication
skills, flexibility, and a sense of humor.

Responsibilities will include the following:

  * Communicate with RAO Steering Committee members regarding ongoing
business, projects, concerns, etc.
  * Participate in RAO projects, working groups, sub-committees, etc.
as appropriate. Topics may include: needs identified through the RAO
meeting discussion groups; ongoing projects of the section (such as
National History Day, impact of MPLP upon users and reference
archivists, Web 2.0/social media education for archivists, teaching
about primary sources); or other identified priorities of the section.
  * Monitor the RAO blog and Facebook group for potential
improvements, revisions and/or corrections, posts or comments requiring
responses.
  * Assist RAO Webmaster as needed, particularly as SAA continues its
transition to Drupal to support its online presence.

To apply for the RAO Section internship, please submit your resume and a
cover letter detailing your reasons for interest in the internship,
including potential topics of interest, to RAO Chair Jim Gerencser
(gerencse@dickinson.edu <mailto:gerencse@dickinson.edu>) by September 15.

Jim Gerencser
RAO Chair

Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

September 30, 2010 * 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Portland, Oregon

William E. Landis  (Instructor)

Get an in-depth, practical consideration of the key concepts and descriptive elements in Describing Archives: A Content Standard, the U.S. standard. Explore strategies for incorporating this standard into workflows for accessioning, arrangement, and description through discussions and hands-on work with a variety of exercises, culminating in a DACS-based analysis of existing finding aids. This workshop, a basic introduction to the standard, focuses on application of DACS rules and concepts, which participants can apply to repository processes and descriptive outputs.

See the SAA page for more details:
http://saa.archivists.org/Scripts/4Disapi.dll/4DCGI/events/214.html?Action=Conference_Detail&ConfID_W=214&Time=1759039586&SessionID=14155983261r14207304p4u93ks8849xalis0590cr4d6225iafii19546vggf5w

If you were a member last year or even the year before, you're probably in our system and don't have to register again. 

Instead of starting a new member application, log into the system with your email address and password.  If you don't have a password, click here to set one up. If you have one and forget it, click the "forget password" link and it will be sent to your email address. If you can't what email you used for your membership, please email: nwa.membership@gmail.com.

1.) Login using your email and password at the lower left hand corner of the page (in the light green box).

memberinstructions01.bmp

 

Once you are logged in your name will display on the lower left hand corner of the page.

memberinstructions02.bmp 

 

2.) Click "View profile." You should then see your profile page.

 

3.) Under the section called Membership Details, click the "Renew until 1 July 2015" button to renew your membership for the current year.

 

The website will take you through a number of steps, including updating your profile information.  If no information needs to be updated, click the "Next" button in the lower right corner of the screen. 

 

4.) Then, you must choose between two payment options. 

 

ONLINE OPTION If you choose to pay online, please select the “Online” option under “Payment.” You will be redirected to the Northwest Archivists PayPal site. You can pay through your own PayPal account OR click on 'credit card payment' (small link on the left). 

 

MANUAL OPTION If you choose to pay with a check, select the “Manual” option and mail your payment to Joshua Zimmerman at the address provided.

 

If you have any trouble, please don't hesitate to email the membership coordinator (nwa.membership@gmail.com)

 

CONNECTING-TO-COLLECTIONS (C2C): PLEASE COME!

FREE FOCUS GROUPS IN EUGENE AND PORTLAND, JULY 15 AND JULY 16

Worried about Preserving Your Heritage Collection? You Can Make a Difference!

Please attend one of two free meetings being held in Eugene and Portland on July 15th and July 16th.  We need your input to make a successful plan. The dates of additional fall season meetings in Pendleton, Medford, and Bend will be announced as they are finalized.

By attending a focus group in Eugene on July 15 or Portland on July 16, 2010, you can help the heritage community...archives, libraries, and museums...plan a better future for Oregon's heritage collections.

A grant from the federal Institute for Museums and Library Services (IMLS) to the Oregon Museum Association on behalf of archive, library, and museum partners throughout Oregon is making it possible for us to take stock of our preservation, training, and disaster preparedness needs.  From this a statewide preservation plan to address those needs will be developed.  The plan is a necessary first step to secure funding for implementation.

Refreshments will be provided.  Please let us know you are coming so that we can plan adequate seating and refreshments by emailing Ruth Metz (ruthmetz@spiretech.com<mailto:ruthmetz@spiretech.com>).  You may also email your questions to Ruth Metz.

Meeting Details:
EUGENE
Thursday, July 15, 2010, 1:30-3:30, Eugene Public Library, 2nd floor, Singer Room
100 W 10th Ave, Eugene, OR 97401
Directions and Parking Detail: http://www.eugene-or.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=492&PageID=885&cached=true&mode=2&userID=2


PORTLAND
Friday, July 16th, 1:30-3:30 p.m., The Oregon Historical Society, the Madison Room,  1200 SW Park Ave. Portland, OR
Directions and Parking detail: http://ohs.org/visit-ohs/locations-directions-parking.cfm.  Public transit is recommended; street parking may be limited.

C2C Steering Committee (6/15/2010)
'Kyle Jansson' Oregon Heritage Commission and C2C Project Director
Shawna Gandy, Collections Access Specialist, Oregon Historical Society Research Library
Gardner Chappel, OMA President and Douglas County Museum
James Fox, Head, Special Collections and University Archives University of Oregon Libraries
Keni Sturgeon, Curator & Museum Director, Mission Mill Museum part of the Willamette Heritage Center
Kris Kern, Fine and Performing Arts Librarian, Portland State Library
Larry Landis, Archivist at Oregon State University
Layne G Sawyer, Oregon State Archives
Lindy Trolan,  cultural resource specialist with the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
Marsha Matthews, Oregon Historical Society Director of Public Services
Mary E Herkert, OSA State Archivist
MJ Koreiva, Oregon Museum Association and Umpqua River Lighthouse (URLH)& Museum
Normandy Helmer, University of Oregon Libraries
Judith Norton, Head, Access Services, Oregon Health & Science University Library
Randall Melton, Tamastslikt Cultural Institute
Terry Baxter, NWA immediate Past President
Tiah Edmunson-Morton, Archivist, Oregon State University
Alex Toth, Pacific University Library and Oregon Library Association

It is time once again to gear up for the Career Center at the 2010 SAA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. This year it will be a major part of  SAA’s new Networking Café, which will host information tables for allied archives and records associations, public computers and space for the Career Center where attendees can meet representatives, recruiters, and volunteer career advisers; peruse literature and job vacancy announcements; or post resumes.

If you are planning on attending the conference in August, please consider volunteering an hour of your time to the Career Center. Check the preliminary program online at http://www2.archivists.org/conference/2010/washington to see if you can find a spare hour or two to donate so that a student or young professional can benefit from your experience.

The Career Center will be open during the following times:

12:00 to 5:00pm on Wednesday, August 11

7:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Thursday, August 12

7:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Friday, August 13

7:00 AM to 3:30PM on Saturday, August 14

Due to the extended hours of the Career Center and the fact that we hope to schedule one volunteer for each shift and two during the busy lunch/break shifts, we need a total of 41 volunteers. Feel free to send a few dates and times so that we can coordinate which slot will work best for you. Participants from the past few years expressed an interest in knowing the specialty of the advisor scheduled to help, so please feel free to also add your area of expertise when you sign up so that visitors can plan accordingly.

Thanks for helping out this year! We think it will be the best year yet for archivists looking for career advice.

Sincerely,

Renna Tuten

Career Development Coordinator

p.s. - questions? comments? suggestions? Feel free to give me a call at 706-542-0618 or send me an email at rtuten [at] uga [dot] edu

If your library houses special collections or archives, we need your help.

The "Streamlining Work Flows" subgroup of the RLG Sharing Special Collections Advisory Group seeks to identify best practices in processing requests for special collections and archival materials received from external organizations and users. Please take 15-20 minutes to share your experiences and opinions with us by taking a short survey.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JTRSBMG

Please complete your response by Thursday, June 3. Ideally, interlibrary loan and special collections staff will work together in responding.

You can learn more about our working group by visiting our project Web site:

http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/sharing/default.htm

Thanks in advance for your help!

--The "Streamlining" subgroup

Greetings fellow archivists!

Each year, more than half a million elementary and secondary students, encouraged by thousands of teachers nationwide participate in the National History Day contest. Students choose historical topics related to a theme and conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews, and historic sites. This year's theme is Innovation in History: Impact and Change.

The archival community can serve a vital function in National History Day by working with local teachers and state National History Day coordinators to make them aware of the possibility of conducting research at nearby archival institutions. In addition to proving support to the National History Day program, participation in NHD is a great way for archives to reach out to nearby community members.

The amount of participation your archive chooses is completely up to you and can range from posting a NHD poster in your reading room to actively working with local teachers and students. You choose the amount of time you would like to invest in NHD involvement.

Regardless of the resources you choose to invest, involvement in NHD is a great way to increase the exposure of your repository and to highlight the vital task that archivists all over America perform.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact your state NHD coordinator (NHD Affiliate Coordinators: http://www.nationalhistoryday.org/Coordinators.htm) or consult the National History Day web page at http://www.nationalhistoryday.org/  

Alaska: http://ak.nhd.org/

Idaho: http://www.idahohistory.net/historyday.html

Montana: http://www.nationalhistoryday.org/Montanapage.htm

Oregon: http://www.nationalhistoryday.org/Oregonpage.htm

Washington: http://www.washingtonhistory.org/historyday/sponsors.aspx

NHD resources on the Society of American Archivists can be found at this web page: http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/rao/hday.asp?

Thank you.

Polina E. Ilieva

Reference, Access, and Outreach Section

National History Day Committee Member

The Society of California Archivists, the Northwest Archivists, the Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists, and the Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists invite paper submissions for the inaugural issue of The Journal of Western Archives.  Submissions received before June 1st, 2010, will be considered for publication in the first issue.

JWA, a peer reviewed, open access, online journal, will give archivists, manuscript curators, and graduate students in the American West a place to publish on topics of particular interest and relevance to them. The journal will consider for publication:

 *   Research articles;
 *   Case studies;
 *   Work-in-progress articles; and
 *   Book, exhibit, Web, and film review essays.

Articles should pertain to one the following categories:

 *   Important Western regional issues in archives and manuscript repositories;
 *   Unique archival developments in the western United States;
 *   Technological innovations and their effect on archival theory and practice;
 *   The history and development of the archival and curatorial professions in the American West;
 *   Collaborative efforts and projects between various cultural institutions.

Please take a moment and visit the JWA website at:  http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/westernarchives, and if you are interested in contributing to the journal please contact the managing editor, John Murphy john_m_murphy@byu.edu.