News & announcements

We are excited to announce that the application for the free Florida 2022 Preserving digital Objects With Restricted Resources (POWRR) Institute is now available and can be found at: forms.gle/Dno6Ls7qDSU1CTQ37.    The deadline for applying is Sunday, February 13th, 2022. Participants will be notified of the application decisions in March of 2022 to allow for sufficient travel planning time.    The POWRR Institute is a free, two-day Institute in conjunction with the 2022 Society of Florida Archivists (SFA) Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida for up to 24 archival professionals working in the State of Florida and/or across the Southeastern United States. The Institute will be held on Monday, May 9th and Tuesday, May 10th, 2022 from 8:30 am to 4 pm at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.    The POWRR Institute is an intensive workshop-style experience of enormous potential benefit to archival practitioners in many contexts as it provides educational materials about, hands-on training with, and tangible deliverables for long-term digital preservation standards and best practices. Selections will be made on a variety of factors, including diversity and previous access to professional development opportunities. The Institute has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.*   For more information about the POWRR Institute, please refer to the POWRR Website: digitalpowrr.niu.edu/upcoming-events. Thank you to the National Endowment for the Humanities for their support of this professional development experience! We are truly grateful to be among those receiving an NEH award in the 2021-2022 grant cycle.   With excitement and gratitude,  Project Director Rachel Walton (Digital Archivist, Rollins College) Project Coordinator Mary Rubin (Archivist, University of Central Florida)

The Society of American Archivists’ subcommittees for Awards for Excellence: Contributions to the Archives Profession invite nominations for their 2022 awards. Brief descriptions are provided below. Click on the links for additional information about the criteria and process for each award. 

If you have nominated a project or person who was not selected for an award in a recent cycle, and you feel their work is still timely and relevant, we encourage you to resubmit the nomination.

Distinguished Service Award: Recognizes an archival institution, education program, nonprofit organization, or government organization that has provided outstanding service to its public and has made an exemplary contribution to the archives profession.

Eligibility: Any archival institution, archival organization, records center, or manuscript repository, archival education program, or nonprofit or government organization providing service or support to the archives community in North America. nomination form

Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award: Recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to the field of religious archives.

Eligibility: individual archivists only. nomination form

Spotlight Award: Recognizes the contributions of individuals who work for the good of the archives profession and of archival collections, and whose work would not typically receive public recognition.

Eligibility: An individual archivist or a group of up to five archivists who have collaborated on a project. Preference is given to archivists working in smaller repositories, especially those without institutional support for professional activities. nomination form

Diversity Award: Recognizes an individual, group, or institution for outstanding contributions in advancing diversity within the archives profession, SAA, or the archival record. Nominees will have demonstrated significant achievement in the form of activism, education, outreach, publication, service, or other initiatives in the archives field. The award is given based on the long-term impact on improving and promoting diversity as defined in the SAA Statement on Diversity and Inclusion.

Eligibility: An individual, group, or organization. nomination form

Archival Innovator Award: Recognizes an archivist, a group of archivists, a repository, or an organization that demonstrates the greatest overall current impact on the profession or their communities.

Eligibility: The work should be undertaken within the past three years—it need not be completed, but it must be sufficiently advanced to demonstrate results. nomination form

Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award: Celebrates and encourages early-career archivists who have completed archival work of broad merit, demonstrated significant promise of leadership, and/or performed commendable service to the archives profession. The award is given based on the total experience of the awardee, including knowledge, leadership, participation, and/or achievements in the profession.

Eligibility: Nominees must be SAA members with more than two years and less than ten years of professional archives experience. nomination form

Deadline: February 28, 2022

Dear Colleagues,

Please share the following award opportunity with your peers who may not be on the NWA email list.

The NWA Paid Internship Committee is pleased to report that the fundraising for the 2022 Archivist-in-Residence (AiR) was successful! The AiR application is now open and the application deadline is April 1, 2022. We are also very pleased to report that we have the capacity to raise the award ceiling to $6,000. This increase was necessary in order to keep pace with the rising cost-of-living and maintain a robust residency experience. I hope you'll all join us for a little celebratory dance at our desks for achieving this milestone, especially in the times we're in. Thank you so much to NWA membership for helping us reach our $1,000 fundraising goal! And thank you especially to our sponsors who have contributed to this residency program from the beginning: Schellinger Research, Lucidea, and Hollinger Metal Edge! This residency would not be possible without you!

Archivist-in-Residence Applications are OPEN

Northwest Archivists, Inc. is offering a $6,000 stipend for one graduate student (or recent graduate) to receive an Archivist-in-Residence opportunity. The purpose of this residency is three-fold: 1. To offer upcoming and new professionals with paid career development opportunities to apply knowledge in archives, libraries, museums, or a related field; 2. To teach new archivists how to accurately calculate the value of their education, experience, and overall value as an archivist; and 3. To provide an opportunity for archival organizations to work toward the long term goal of eliminating unpaid work within the field. The residency may last up to 12 weeks to be completed by the end of the current calendar year. The resident will receive a one-year complimentary membership to Northwest Archivists. 

For more information and to apply: http://northwestarchivists.org/archivistinresidence/

The NWA Paid Internship Committee would like to thank NWA membership and our Platinum-level sponsors: Shellinger Research and Rachael Cristine Consulting; and our Gold-level sponsors: Hollinger Metal Edge, Lucidea, Permanent.org, and Atlas Systems! We would also like to thank our Bronze-level sponsor: Northeast Document Conservation Center.

Thank you,

The NWA Paid Internship Exploratory Committee
Rachael Cristine Woody, Rachael Cristine Consulting LLC (Chair, Oregon)
Laura Cray, Oregon Historical Society (Oregon)
Sara Piasecki, National Park Service (Alaska)
Rachel Thomas, George Fox University (Oregon)
Kathryn Kramer, K.M. Kramer Consulting (Montana)
Erin Passehl Stoddart, Michigan State University Libraries (Michigan)

Calling all would-be SAA Digital Archives Specialist certificate pursuers! Digital Preservation Outreach and Education Network (DPOE-N) is pleased to offer professional development support to cultural heritage professionals in the area of digital preservation. We are particularly looking to support low-resourced institutions and individuals (emerging professionals and pandemic-impacted folks) help make the transition to stewarding digital materials. Consider applying to our professional development funding in order to pursue an SAA Digital Archives Specialist certification or to obtain a renewal of your existing certificate.  

DPOE was an initiative at the Library of Congress for many years, and in 2018 the project was moved to the Pratt Institute School of Information in collaboration with New York University's Moving Image Archiving and Preservation graduate program. With the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, for the past two years we have been able to pursue building our network through the availability of microgrants to US citizens and permanent residents who support the stewardship of digital materials at institutions. Groups also supported include those who will one day make an impact on collecting institutions, including information workers laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as emerging professionals in information studies, museum studies and related fields, including recent graduates and those currently enrolled in masters- or certificate-level programs.

We also offer funding for emergency hardware support to small archives, libraries and museums that are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and have digital storage or related needs to ensure the persistence of digital information with enduring value, as well as workshops for cultural heritage professionals. Follow our social media (Twitter / Instagram / Facebook) for the announcement of our next workshop, coming up soon.

Please help us to recognize the best in our profession!

Have you read a great new book about archives? Encountered a new documentary publication that is head and shoulders above the rest? Has a new web publication really stood out to you?

If you have, please consider nominating it for the Society of American Archivists Waldo Gifford Leland Award. Nomination forms, a list of previous winners, and more information are at http://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-leland

The deadline for nominations is February 28, 2022.

The annual Leland Award – a cash prize and certificate – recognizes “writing of superior excellence and usefulness in the field of archival history, theory, and practice.”  (Please note that periodicals are not eligible.)  

Established in 1959, this award honors American archival pioneer Waldo Gifford Leland (1879-1966), president of the Society of American Archivists in the 1940s and one of the driving forces behind the founding of the National Archives.

MAC is soliciting applications for the 2022 Archie Motley Memorial Scholarship for Students of Color (http://www.midwestarchives.org/motley). The scholarship is designed to provide financial assistance to students of color pursuing graduate education in archival administration and to encourage ethnic diversification of the MAC membership and of the archival profession as a whole. Two $750 scholarships, accompanied by one-year memberships to MAC, will be awarded.  

In order to be eligible for a scholarship, the applicant must be of African, American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Latinx descent; must be a student currently enrolled in or accepted in a graduate, multicourse program in archival administration; and must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in their academic program. If the program is not listed in the SAA Directory of Archival Education, http://www2.archivists.org/dae, the applicant must provide proof of the multicourse standard by submitting copies of course descriptions from the institution’s current departmental catalog.  

Applications are due March 1, 2022 and must include the following documents:  

• Completed Application Form, available at http://www.midwestarchives.org/motley  
• Transcript from the applicant's most recent academic program (unofficial transcript is acceptable)  
• Essay of not more than 500 words outlining the applicant's interests and future goals in archival administration  
• Two letters of recommendation.  

Completed applications should be sent to:  

Rebekah McFarland Certified Archivist
Sisters of the Living Word rmcfarland@slw.org  

Applications must be emailed by March 1, 2022.  
Awards will be announced no later than June 1, 2022.  

Dear Northwest Archivist Members,

I am reaching out to you today because of our mutual passion for archives and our desire to grow paid internship opportunities within our organizations. I'm chair of NWA’s Paid Internship committee, a group committed to fostering ethical labor practices within the archival profession. In 2019, we announced the launch of the NWA’s Archivist-in-Residence Program. Despite all the challenges of the past two years, we’ve successfully funded and awarded two AiR residencies. These paid opportunities make it possible for a new professional to afford accessing valuable work experience, and it’s a program we are committed to expanding.

The residency for 2021 was awarded to Valeria Dávila Gronros and Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS). Valeria has just completed her residency where she researched and developed best practices for captioning and transcription of audiovisual materials, to support ongoing accessibility efforts at MIPoPS. Additionally, she created closed captions and transcriptions for 20 videos from the MIPoPS collection. Learn more about Valeria and her project in her first blog post on the NWA site: https://northwestarchivists.wordpress.com/2021/05/13/introducing-nwas-second-resident-for-the-archivist-in-residence-program-valeria-davila-gronros/

The impact of COVID-19 on our profession has been staggering. Layoffs, budget cuts, furloughs, and closures have been devastating to many of us personally and professionally. At this time, it’s more important than ever that we commit ourselves to equitable labor practices in our profession. Our creation of paid internship opportunities serve to uphold the value of our work and are a necessary component to meeting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion commitments. 

In fundraising for our second residency, we were able to raise more than $750 from NWA membership and $4,500 from corporate sponsors. We’re hoping to beat that goal so that we can continue to grow the residency program. We hope to raise $1,000 from membership by December 15 in order to offer a robust residency opportunity anywhere in the NWA region.

We’re now asking membership to consider donating to the Archivist-in-Residence Program. (To those who have already donated - thank you!) NWA can accept payment in two ways:

1. Electronic donation via the NWA Donation page by selecting the "Archivist in Residence" program category. (There is a small transaction fee that will be taken out of the donation).
 
2. A check made out to "Northwest Archivists" with "Archivist in Residence" in the memo. Send check to:
 
Anneliese Warhank
Montana Historical Society
PO Box 201201
Helena, MT 59620-1201

Don’t forget to check if your institution or partner’s company provides matching donations! As NWA is a nonprofit, all donations are tax deductible.
I hope you will consider joining us in investing in the next generation of archivists and the archival profession as a whole. Please feel free to reach out to myself or any of the other members of our committee if you would like to continue the conversation. 

With gratitude,
Rachael Woody

The NWA Paid Internship Exploratory Committee:
Rachael Cristine Woody, Rachael Cristine Consulting LLC (Chair, Oregon)
Laura Cray, Oregon Historical Society (Oregon)
Sara Piasecki, National Park Service (Alaska)
Rachel Thomas, George Fox University (Oregon)
Kathryn Kramer, C.M. Russell Museum (Montana)
Erin Passehl Stoddart, Michigan State University Libraries (Michigan)

The Digital POWRR Peer Assessment Program is a supportive, year-long, cohort-based training program for cultural heritage professionals who are interested in learning and applying digital preservation assessment procedures into their work. 

Three cohorts of six participants, each with a peer facilitator, will work over the course of one year to perform systematic analyses of each organization’s current stewardship practices, focusing on the creation of achievable goals and activities. 

The first half of the training period will be dedicated to preparing for and performing two rapid self-assessments and one in-depth peer assessment. In the second half of the program, participants will work with peers and facilitators on setting goals, based on recommendations set forth in their peer assessments, and will start to work on tackling some of their digital stewardship challenges. This program will be delivered entirely online.

Benefits of participating include a $3,000 stipend, a $870 “Technology Start Up” award that can be provisioned towards helping to jump start digital preservation activities, the opportunity to publish a case studies and/or assessment reports as part of the project’s final white paper, and a collaborative network of colleagues.   

Learn more about this opportunity: Digital POWRR Peer Assessment Program

Deadline for applications is October 31, 2021.

Northwest Archivists, Inc. is excited to share that the #ACENSUSII #AllArchivistsSurvey is now live! This is a major nationwide survey of the archives profession. It aims to gather information from every archivist and community memory worker in the US on their demographics, educational backgrounds, job placements, and salaries, as well as perspectives on key issues in the field. A*CENSUS II findings will be shared widely with the profession, and the more people who participate, the stronger the data and resulting action will be. Your story. Our future.

The All Archivists Survey is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and

was collaboratively developed by the Society of American Archivists, Ithaka S+R, and the A*CENSUS II working group. It will take about 30 minutes to complete the survey, linked here:

https://surveys.ithaka.org/jfe/form/SV_4UfKQtGLT3mf2u2...

If you have questions about the survey or require technical assistance, please contact Ithaka S+R by sending an email to surveys@ithaka.org.