Season 8, Episode 3: Maryna Paliienko
Jul 11, 2024
In this episode, co-hosts Chris Burns and Camila Zorrilla Tessler speak with Maryna Paliienko, a Ukrainian historian, archivist, and Fulbright Scholar conducting research at New York University on the topic “Archives in the Time of War and Emergency: Problems of the Cultural Heritage Preservation and Usage (from the Experience of the United States and Ukraine).” Listen to learn more about Dr. Paliienko’s work, the crucial role that archives play in documenting shared history and memory during times of war, and evolving strategies for preserving archives in times of emergency.
In this episode, cohosts Chris Burns and Camila Zorrilla Tessler speak to counterculture historian and archival music producer Pat Thomas about his new book Material Wealth: Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg. Join us for a discussion about Pat’s research process, favorite items from Ginsberg’s collection, and thoughts on Ginsberg’s legacy.
Order your own copy of Material Wealth: Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberghere!
Season 8, Episode 1: dindria barrow, Marika Cifor, Sarah Nguyễn, and Anna Trammell
Jan 19, 2024
In this episode, cohost Chris Burns speaks with dindria barrow, Marika Cifor, Sarah Nguyễn, and Anna Trammell about their work on The Community Archives Center Toolkit, which was collaboratively developed by the Tacoma Public Library and the University of Washington.
This free resource is now available for other libraries and archives to use in creating community-focused projects. Listen to learn more about the toolkit and how you might use it at your institution.
Season 7, Episode 6: Lyric Evans-Hunter, Allegra Favila, and Lia Warner
Aug 15, 2023
What is on the minds of our newest professionals? In this episode, host Nicole Milano speaks with Lyric Evans-Hunter, Allegra Favila, and Lia Warner, all new or recent graduates of New York University’s Archives and Public History program. They share how they came to the field, what they find exciting and daunting about the profession, and how we might increase mutual understanding between archival practitioners and those who rely on our work.
Check out Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s, an exhibition organized by the the Grey Art Gallery, that explored “mid-20th-century abstract art from North Africa, West Asia, and the Arab diaspora—a vast geographic expanse that encompasses diverse cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds.”
Season 7, Episode 5: Rachel Chatalbash, Susan Hernandez, and Megan Schwenke
Jun 01, 2023
In this episode, co-hosts Nicole Milano and Camila Zorrilla Tessler speak with Rachel Chatalbash, Susan Hernandez, and Megan Schwenke about their recent book Museum Archives: Practice, Issues, Advocacy (Society of American Archivists, 2022). Chatalbash, Hernandez, and Schwenke discuss museum archives and archivists, the genesis of the publication and its connection to the Museum Archives Section of SAA, and what they hope readers will learn from the volume.
The editors want to thank all the contributors to the publication: Seth Anderson, Susan Anderson, Brad Bauer, Ellen Brooks, Rebecca Chandler, Emily Connell, Maygene Daniels, Sarah R. Demb, Nancy Enneking, Christina Velazquez Fidler, Jessica Gambling, Heather Gendron, Melissa Gonzales, Rebecca Morgan, Samantha Norling, Suzanne Noruschat, Michael Pahn, Lesley Parilla, Lynette Stoudt, Dawn Sueoka, Jennie Thomas, Madeleine Thompson, Lindsay Turley, and Kathleen M. Williams.
Episode Extras
Read more about Museum Archives: Practice, Issues, Advocacy in the March/April 2023 issue of Archival Outlook, and order your copy via the SAA Bookstore!
Season 7, Episode 4: Kristine K. Fallon, Aliza Leventhal, and Jody Thompson
May 09, 2023
In this episode, co-hosts Anna Trammell and Chris Burns speak with Kristine K. Fallon, Aliza Leventhal, and Jody Thompson about their new book Born-Digital Design Records (Society of American Archivists, 2022), the ninth installment of SAA’s Trends in Archives Practice series. The interview explores the unique challenges of managing born-digital design records, prior efforts to address these issues, emerging research on user needs, and much more. Give it a listen!
To learn more about Born-Digital Design Records, see SAA’s press release and read Aliza Leventhal’s interview from the September/October 2022 issue of Archival Outlook.
How did archivists partner with activists to document and preserve the history of AIDS activism? How are archivists and community partners activating AIDS archives to reveal AIDS’s continued impact on marginalized communities? What lessons can archivists take from this moment of social and community memory-building as we grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic?
In this episode, co-hosts Anna Trammell and Chris Burns speak with Marika Cifor about her recent book, Viral Cultures: Activist Archiving in the Age of AIDS (University of Minnesota Press, 2022). Cifor is an assistant professor at the University of Washington. In this episode, Cifor discusses her inspiration for exploring AIDS archives, how the concept of vital nostalgia can inform archival theory and practice, and lessons for memory workers and activists interested in documenting other social justice movements.
Season 7, Episode 2: Cheryl Oestreicher
Jan 03, 2023
Cheryl Oestreicher
How can archivists reimagine reference services as they increasingly serve a broader and more diverse user base? In this episode, cohosts Anna Trammell and Chris Burns speak with Cheryl Oestreicher about her recent book, Reference and Access for Archives and Manuscripts (Society of American Archivists, 2020), the fourth volume in SAA’s Archival Fundamentals Series III and the recipient of SAA’s 2021 Waldo Gifford Leland Award for writing of superior excellence and usefulness.
Oestreicher is a professor at Boise State University and the head of Special Collections and Archives at Boise State’s Albertsons Library. In this episode, she shares memorable reference experiences and discusses the evolution of the reference model away from acquisitions and toward advocacy.
Listen to learn how access informs all areas of archival practice.
For even more information about Reference and Access for Archives and Manuscripts, see Kayla Scott’s review of the book in Issue 84.1 of American Archivist.
Reference and Access for Archives and Manuscripts is the current selection for SAA’s One Book, One Profession reading initiative—learn more, download study guide questions, and consider reading it with your colleagues! To order your own copy, visit the SAA Bookstore.
Season 7, Episode 1: Archivists Connect at ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2022
Dec 12, 2022
Archivists attend ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2022 conference in Boston.
More than 1,000 archivists came together in-person—many for the first time since 2019—in Boston in August during ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2022, the annual conference of the Society of American Archivists. Another 1,000 archivists tuned in virtually. In this episode, co-hosts Chris Burns and Anna Trammell talk with attendees about their favorite conference sessions, the perks and challenges of remote work, the “glass half-full” lessons we can take away from the pandemic, and the joy of connecting with other archivists.
If you missed ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2022, or attended but didn’t get to all the sessions you would have liked, don’t worry! All education sessions, both plenaries, and the open forums were recorded and are available for on-demand access on the conference website. Register today to get access—and join us next year for ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2023, which will take place July 22–29, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Season 6, Episode 4: SAA Foundation with Bob Clark and Beth Myers
Jul 28, 2022
Bob ClarkBeth Myers
“Archivists helping archivists”—in this episode, cohosts Nicole Milano and JoyEllen Williams speak with Bob Clark and Beth Myers, members of the Society of American Archivists Foundation Board. Myers and Clark discuss the Foundation’s purpose, goals, and opportunities for engagement. Listen to learn how the Foundation supports SAA, archivists, and the profession.
Bob Clark is director of Archives at the Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC), a historical research center for the study of philanthropy. In addition to managing a talented team of thirty-two archives and IT professionals, he actively engages with the RAC’s records-creating organizations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation, to shape information governance, records management, and archival programs that are responsive to the digital environment. From 2001 to 2015, he served in various leadership roles at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum, including as supervisory archivist, deputy director, and acting director.
Beth Myers is the director of Special Collections at Smith College Libraries, a position held since 2014. She provides leadership and oversight to a unit that averages twenty staff and encompasses the three primary repositories of Special Collections. Myers is responsible for personnel, budget, developing internal and external funding streams, working with donors and developing strategic initiatives and planning. A dedicated archival professional, Myers participates actively in the Society of American Archivists, most recently as chair of the A*CENSUS II Working Group and member of the Foundation Board. She has published reviews, articles and book chapters related to the field of archives and special collections.
Season 6, Episode 3: Jesse R. Erickson
Feb 18, 2022
Jesse R. Erickson
As the United States continues to confront systemic racism on several fronts, archival repositories are rethinking the idea of space and how it pertains to inclusivity. A leader among these conversations is Dr. Jesse Erickson, author of “The Gentleman’s Ghost: Patriarchal Eurocentric Legacies in Special Collections,” published in Archives and Special Collections as Sites of Contestation (2020) and Astor curator and department head of Printed Books and Bindings at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. In this episode, Dr. Erickson discusses his path to special collections and the physical spaces that gave him entry into the field. Dr. Erickson also shares insight into “The Gentleman’s Ghost” and encourages archivists to think critically and imaginatively about reading rooms of the future.
Dr. Erickson most recently worked as coordinator of special collections and digital humanities and assistant professor in the department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, and as associate director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center at the University of Delaware. Prior to this role, he worked as a bibliographic researcher and archival processor in the manuscripts division of the Charles E. Young Research Library and the Center for Oral History Research at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He recently served as the vice president for programs for the American Printing History Association. He has also served on the editorial boards of the University of Delaware Press and Publishing History, and he is co-editor for the Papers of Bibliographical Society of America. His research specializations are in ethnobibliography, alternative printing, non-canonical textuality, African American print culture, and the transnational publishing history of the works of Ouida. Dr. Erickson holds a master’s degree in library and information science and a doctoral degree in information studies from UCLA.
Check out Dr. Erickson’s essay “The Gentleman’s Ghost: Patriarchal Eurocentric Legacies in Special Collections Design,” in Archives and Special Collections as Sites of Contestation, edited by Mary Kandiuk (Library Juice Press, 2020).
Season 6, Episode 2: Amy Cooper Cary and Stacie Williams
Jan 31, 2022
Amy Cooper CaryStacie Williams
Interested in publishing with the Society of American Archivists? Cohosts Anna Trammell and Chris Burns talk with SAA Publications Editor Stacie Williams and American Archivist Editor Amy Cooper Cary about the many publishing opportunities that SAA offers. Williams and Cooper Cary provide an overview of these opportunities and ways that archivists of all experience levels can engage in scholarship, and they discuss their own personal journeys as writers and editors.
Learn more about the SAA Publications Program more broadly, including writing case studies, modules, books, Archival Outlook articles, and more.
Season 6, Episode 1: Jacqualine Price Osafo
Oct 27, 2021
Jacqualine Price Osafo
Cohosts Nicole Milano and JoyEllen Williams conduct a special interview with the Society of American Archivist’s new executive director, Jacqualine Price Osafo. In this interview, Jackie shares her professional and personal roots, including her long-time passion for associations and the impact of an inspiring relative. Jackie also explains what drew her to SAA and why she values the archival profession.
Jacqualine Price Osafo is a Certified Association Executive with more than thirty years in association management. She received her MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has held high-level leadership roles in various associations, including the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the Water Quality Association, and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Jackie currently serves as chair of the Black Indigenous People of Color Advisory Task Force For Association Forum.
Season 5, Episode 6: Archives, Community, and Education at the Library of Congress with Danna Bell and Guha Shankar
Sep 07, 2021
Danna Bell
Guha Shankar
Cohosts Nicole Milano and JoyEllen Williams interview Educational Resource Specialist Danna Bell and Folklife Specialist Guha Shankar from the Library of Congress. During this conversation, Bell and Shankar discuss the intersection of archives, community, and education, specifically addressing how the country’s renewed focus on social justice impacts their work at the Library of Congress.
Season 5, Episode 5: Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia’s Anti-Racist Description Working Group
Jul 13, 2021
Many archivists are reevaluating workflows and practices in order to create more equitable, anti-oppressive, and anti-racist metadata in their repositories. This important work is foregrounded by the Anti-Racist Description Resources, authored by the Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia’s (A4BLiP) Anti-Racist Description Working Group. Archives in Context spoke with A4BLiP’s Anti-Racist Description Working Group members Alexis A. Antracoli, Annalise Berdini, Faith Charlton, Valencia Johnson, and Katy Rawdon on the creation of the Anti-Racist Description Resources and ways that archivists can begin addressing racist and oppressive description in their repositories.
Season 5, Episode 4: Petrina Jackson and Verónica Reyes-Escudero
Mar 09, 2021
Petrina JacksonVeronica Reyes-Escudero
As American society reckons with racial injustice, many archivists wonder how they can combat systemic racism in the workplace and the profession. Archives in Context reached out for guidance from Petrina Jackson, director of the Special Collections Research Center, Bird Library, Syracuse University; and Verónica Reyes-Escudero, Katheryne B. Willock head of special collections, University of Arizona Libraries. As chair and incoming chair of the Rare Books and Manuscript Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, Jackson and Reyes-Escudero called upon their colleagues “to take action to recognize and destroy structural/systemic racism and inequality in our workplaces and in our profession.” Learn more about how you can help create a more diverse and inclusive profession in this episode.
As we leave 2020 behind us, Archives In Context begins 2021 on a hopeful note. In this special episode focused on archivists and archival work during COVID-19, we hear from you! Archivists called and wrote to us with their advice on navigating this challenging time and shared the ways they are finding joy, what they are thankful for, and how they are practicing self care. From embracing escapism to hiking or taking a nap, take a listen to colleagues’ strategies for finding silver linings and Zen moments.
Take some Zen time for yourself and color! For a few years, the Society of American Archivists Publications program made its annual book catalog a coloring book and collection of mazes. PDFs of the catalogs can be downloaded and printed below (colored pencils not included!):
What is self-care, and why should archivists care? Listen to our conversation with Dorothy Berry, digital collections program manager at Harvard University’s Houghton Library, as she explores a more sophisticated understanding of self-care—one that goes beyond eating brownies and taking bubble baths. With wisdom and humor, Dorothy talks about how and why we should be kinder and gentler to ourselves and our colleagues.
Watch Dorothy’s virtual workshop “Self Care is a Radical Act!,” given at the Women Archivists Section meeting during ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2020, the Joint Virtual Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archivists and Council of State Archivists.
Season 5, Episode 1: Archival Workers Emergency Fund
Nov 25, 2020
Anna Clutterbuck-CookLydia Tang
In this episode of a special Archives in Context season on how the events of 2020 have affected archivists, we meet two of the driving forces behind the Archival Workers Emergency Fund (AWEF): Anna Clutterbuck-Cook, reference librarian at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and Lydia Tang, special collections archivist-librarian at Michigan State University. Anna and Lydia tell us about the origin of AWEF, its impact during the COVID-19 crisis, and how archivists can donate to or receive help from the fund.
Follow AWEF on Twitter for updates about the fund and the archivists it has helped. Learn how to donate to or receive help from AWEF.
Season 4, Episode 7: Courtney Dean and Grace Danico
Aug 11, 2020
Courtney Dean
Grace Danico
What do sex, awards, and the occult have in common? They are all themes that the Los Angeles Archivists Collective explored in its online publication Acid Free. In this episode, Courtney Dean, head of the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) in UCLA Library Special Collections, and Grace Danico, an independent archivist and freelance designer, talk about labor issues, relationships between archives and design, and much more.
Season 4, Episode 6: Jennifer Johnson
Aug 11, 2020
Finding ways to connect diverse audiences with archives is an art. It is also an important aspect of leadership. Jennifer Johnson, director of Corporate Archives at Cargill, Incorporated, discusses her essay “Cultivating Success: The Business of Archives” in volume one of SAA’s Archival Fundamentals Series III, Leading and Managing Archives and Manuscripts Programs. Jennifer describes working in a corporate setting and the importance of outreach, building relationships, and storytelling.
Episode Extras
Jennifer is a contributor to Leading and Managing Archives and Manuscripts, edited by Peter Gottlieb and David W. Carmicheal (Society of American Archivists, 2019), which provides examples of successful leadership practices from the archives field and offers insight regarding key functions of leaders and managers: communication, strategies, resources and budgets, leadership in transformative change and crisis, building relationships within and beyond the archives, and leadership development.
Season 4, Episode 5: Liza Posas
Aug 11, 2020
“The stories in between” are what drive Liza Posas, head of Research Services and Archives at the Autry Museum of the American West, and her work on the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials. The Protocols were created by the First Archivist Circle in 2006 and endorsed by SAA in 2018. Liza discusses the workbook she is developing for the Protocols and the ways that archivists can put the Protocols into practice to care for culturally sensitive materials and better understand repatriation. (Please note that the date of the 2020 Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums conference, which Liza references, has changed.)
Dr. Trevor Owens, head of digital content management at the Library of Congress, thinks about the intersection of history and digital media—a lot. He discusses his award-winning book, The Theory and Craft of Digital Preservation, providing encouragement to under-resourced archivists who need to add digital preservation to their very full professional plates. Trevor also muses on the digital equivalent of lamination and why he considers digital preservation more craft than science.
What does “Archiving While Black” feel like? Dr. Ashley Farmer, assistant professor in the Departments of History and African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, follows up with us on her Chronicle of HigherEducation article and her talk at the 2019 SAA Annual Meeting. She also discusses the role of scholars of color in stewarding historical records and shares her thoughts on interprofessional engagement between historians and archivists.
Dr. Lydia Tang is working to make archives more accessible and break down access barriers for people with disabilities. Lydia, who is the special collections archivist at Michigan State University, talks about her work on the SAA Task Force to Revise Best Practices on Accessibility and the SAA-ACRL/RBMS Task Force to Revise the Joint Statement on Access to Research Materials in Archives and Special Collections Libraries. Lydia underscores the importance of putting people first in all archival accessibility decisions and how this informed her work to revise the Guidelines for Accessible Archives for People with Disabilities. Lydia is the recipient of the 2020 Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award.
Season 4, Episode 1: Lae’l Hughes-Watkins and Tamar Chute
Aug 11, 2020
Lae’l Hughes-Watkins
Tamar Chute
How do you document a student movement? Student activists organize and mobilize within ephemeral spaces that need to be documented ethically and with care. Lae’l Hughes-Watkins, university archivist at the University of Maryland, and Tamar Chute, university archivist and head of Archives at the Ohio State University, discuss the impetus behind Project STAND (Student Activism Now Documented) to create an online space for primary sources on student activism and marginalized communities. Originally created as a consortium of Ohio-based colleges and universities, Lae’l and Tamar talk about how Project STAND has taken off and now includes more than 70-member institutions. (Please note that the Archiving Student Activism Toolkit mentioned here has been released since this episode was recorded).
Episode Extras
Browse the Project STAND portal to find collections from participating institutions, upcoming symposiums, and resources for participating. The Archiving Student Activism Toolkit, created by Annalise Berdini, Rich Bernier, Valencia Johnson, Maggie McNeely, and Lydia Tang on behalf of Project STAND, compiles information on documenting, collecting, and providing access to student activism collections in archives.
Season 3, Episode 4: Finding Aid to My Soul, Part 3
Mar 24, 2020
Joanna Black
Listen to compelling stories about archives from A Finding Aid to My Soul, a storytelling event at ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2019, sponsored by SAA’s Committee on Public Awareness (COPA). The event was hosted by Micaela Blei, two-time Moth Grand Slam Story Champion and former director of the Moth’s Education Program, who coached the ten storytellers in advance of the event, and also told a story of her own.
Part 3 features stories from Joanna Black, archivist at the William E. Colby Memorial Library, Sierra Club; Joyce LeeAnn Joseph, founder of Archival Alchemy; Tanya Zanish-Belcher, director of special collections and archives at Wake Forest University; and Travis Williams, archivist and special collections librarian at St. Edward’s University.
Listen to part 1 and part 2 of A Finding Aid to My Soul and follow ArchivesAWARE! to stay up-to-date on COPA’s activities.
Season 3, Episode 3: Finding Aid to My Soul, Part 2
Mar 17, 2020
Leah Harrison
Listen to compelling stories about archives from A Finding Aid to My Soul, a storytelling event at ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2019, sponsored by SAA’s Committee on Public Awareness (COPA). The event was hosted by Micaela Blei, two-time Moth Grand Slam Story Champion and former director of the Moth’s Education Program, who coached the ten storytellers in advance of the event, and also told a story of her own.
Part 2 features stories from Leah Harrison, manager of research archives and heritage at the Salt River Project Archives; Katie Dishman, corporate archivist at Marriott International; Katie Moss, library associate at the State Historical Society of Iowa; and Cliff Hight, department head and university archivist at Kansas State University.
Love what you heard? Listen to part 1 of A Finding Aid to My Soul. Then check out selected stories from the 2018 storytelling event.
Season 3, Episode 2: Finding Aid to My Soul, Part 1
Mar 10, 2020
Listen to compelling stories about archives from A Finding Aid to My Soul, a storytelling event at ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2019, sponsored by SAA’s Committee on Public Awareness (COPA). The event was hosted by Micaela Blei (pictured), two-time Moth Grand Slam Story Champion and former director of the Moth’s Education Program, who coached the ten storytellers in advance of the event, and also told a story of her own.
Part 1 features stories from Micaela Blei; Arielle Petrovich, instruction and outreach archivist at the University of Notre Dame; and Kira Lyle, grad student at the University of South Carolina.
Watch another story by Micaela Blei on teaching the Oregon Trail, and stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 of A Finding Aid to My Soul.
Season 3, Episode 1: Elevator Going Up!
Mar 03, 2020
“What’s an archivist? Who uses archives? Isn’t everything online?”
As archivists, we sometimes find ourselves answering questions about what exactly we do and why we do it. During ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2019 in Austin, Texas, hosts Chris Burns, Colleen McFarland Rademaker, Nicole Milano, and Anna Trammell “took to the streets” to ask attendees to respond—on the spot with no preparation—to questions archivists commonly receive. Listen to their responses and find some ideas for your own elevator speech. Elevator going up!
Learn more about crafting an elevator speech with this step-by-step template and be ready to advocate for your institution and the archives—no matter where you are!
Season 2, Episode 7: Margot Note
Sep 24, 2019
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be an archival consultant? Margot Note, founder and principal of Margot Note Consulting, shares with us her journey into consulting work and her experiences working in nontraditional archival settings. In her new book with SAA, Creating Family Archives: A Step-by-Step Guide to Saving Your Memories for Future Generations, Margot shares tips for effectively explaining an archivist’s work and archival principles to the public.
Family history is important. But who’s in charge of saving all of the photos, videos, aged documents and cherished papers? They need a better home than a cardboard box. Creating Family Archives is written by an archivist for your family, taking them step-by-step through the process of preserving the stuff of their own history.
Gift this book to family and friends! Pre-order your copy today from the Society of American Archivists.
Season 2, Episode 6: Kathleen D. Roe
Sep 24, 2019
As president of the Society of American Archivists from 2014 to 2015, Kathleen D. Roe called upon archivists to expand their advocacy efforts by demonstrating how “archives change lives.” In this episode, Kathleen, who recently retired from the New York State Archives as director of Archives and Records Management, reflects on writing her new book for SAA’s Archival Fundamentals Series III, Advocacy and Awareness for Archivists, and the importance of advocacy for archives and archivists. She also shares her most successful advocacy effort and advice for archivists who wish to engage in advocacy work in their own contexts.
Advocacy and awareness are essential activities that underpin the work of the archives profession, helping archivists communicate the value and relevance of our work to administrators and the general public. In Advocacy and Awareness for Archivists, volume three in SAA’s Archival Fundamentals Series III, Kathleen D. Roe draws on her extensive experience to walk new and experienced archivists through basic principles and practices of advocating for and creating awareness of archives. Available at the Society of American Archivists.
The Society of American Archivists has a remarkably robust publications program. Providing continuity behind-the-scenes is the director of publishing Teresa Brinati, who gives a guided tour of the wide-ranging program and invites archivists of all experience levels to imagine themselves as authors and to find their place within SAA’s suite of digital and print publications. She also divulges what she, as a non-archivist, appreciates most about the archival profession and the archivists she has encountered during her lengthy career with SAA.
In this bonus episode, we meet Davia Nelson (left), one half of The Kitchen Sisters along with Nikki Silva. Their podcast, The Keepers, spotlights activist archivists, rogue librarians, curators, collectors, historians and other keepers of culture. Because of their work, The Kitchen Sisters received SAA’s 2019 J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award. Learn how The Keepers came to be and why The Kitchen Sisters revere archivists and the materials stewarded by archival repositories.
You can read excerpts from this conversation (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) on ArchivesAWARE!, the blog of SAA’s Committee on Public Awareness.
Season 2, Episode 3: Christine Weideman and Mary Caldera
Sep 24, 2019
What values do you hold dear as an archivist and why? In this episode, Christine Weideman, director of manuscripts and archives at Yale University Library, and Mary Caldera, head of arrangement and description at Yale University Library, talk about their new book, Archival Values: Essays in Honor of Mark A. Greene. Both Mary and Chris reflect upon the values that animate their work and ways in which archivists can engage with foundational principles of the profession.
In Archival Values: Essays in Honor of Mark A Greene, twenty-three archivists honor the late SAA Felllow and past president Mark A. Greene by offering a variety of perspectives on the Core Values of the Society of American Archivists and their relevance today. These essays clearly demonstrate how core values empower archivists’ interactions with resource providers, legislators, donors, patrons, and the public. For anyone who wishes to engage in thinking about what archivists do and why, Archival Values is essential reading. The book is available from the Society of American Archivists.
Season 2, Episode 2: Laura Millar
Sep 24, 2019
We live in an age where evidence and facts matter more than ever. Laura Millar, an independent consultant in records, archives, and information management and in publishing and distance education, discusses the “evidence crisis” and the urgency of all citizens to share a vested interest in preservation and access to archival evidence in her new book, A Matter of Facts: The Value of Evidence in an Information Age. Laura talks about why it is vital for the public to understand the nature and importance of records and archives, and actionable steps everyone can take to protect authentic evidence.
In this urgent manifesto, Laura Millar makes the case that authentic and accurate evidence is crucial in supporting and fostering a society that is respectful, democratic, and self-aware.
SAA Fellow Peter Wosh, editor of the Archival Fundamental Series III and former director of the Archives/Public History Program at New York University, kicks off the second season of Archives in Context. Peter discusses his path to archival work and the ways that teaching changed his understanding of archival practice. He also reveals the process behind reimagining the Archives Fundamental Series and what archivists can expect from the seven new volumes.
The seven-volume Archival Fundamental Series III published by the Society of American Archivists, provides a gateway to contemporary archival best practices. Whether a student, new professional, seasoned archival veteran, or in the information science and public history fields, you’ll find the books in this series accessible, stimulating, and indispensable to your daily work. In addition to editing the series, Peter is the author of Volume 7: Introducing Archives and Manuscripts, forthcoming 2021. In the meantime, check out his other SAA books, Waldo Gifford Leland and the Origins of the American Archival Profession andPrivacy & Confidentiality Perspectives: Archivists & Archival Records or his award-winning American Archivist essay, “Going Postal.”
Episode 7: Dominique Luster
Jan 28, 2019
Dominique Luster, Teenie Harris archivist at the Carnegie Museum of Art, discusses her TED Talk and her role in building community to better steward a large photographic collection documenting African American life in mid-twentieth century Pittsburgh. Her experiences in cleaning up “dirty data” and her thoughts on archivists’ understanding of professionalism round out the conversation.
Anthony Cocciolo, dean of the Pratt Institute School of Information, speaks about his award-winning book, Moving Image and Sound Collections for Archivists. He discusses his inspiration for the book and explains how his recommendations can be realized even in small archival programs. He also shares his thoughts on archival outreach for audiovisual and other archival collections.
Most archivists encounter and most archives contain some form of moving image and sound material. This book offers practical guidance on how to preserve and make accessible the moving image and sound record, from the most relevant legacy formats to born-digital formats. Cocciolo won the SAA Waldo Gifford Leland Award for best publication in 2017 and the Arline Custer Memorial Award from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference in 2018. The book is available from the Society of American Archivists.
Episode 5: Karen Trivette
Jan 28, 2019
Karen Trivette, head of special collections and archives at the Fashion Institute of Technology, provides a behind-the-scenes look at An Archivist’s Tale (a podcast produced by Karen and her husband, archivist Geof Huth), tells her own archival origin story, and talks about her passion for sharing archival and special collections materials.
Check out An Archivists’s Tale podcast, in which archivists discuss their work and passions and how they care for the historical record and present the storied past.
Episode 4: A Finding Aid to My Soul
Jan 28, 2019
Listen to four compelling stories from the archives in this selection from A Finding Aid to My Soul, the open-mic storytelling event at ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2018, sponsored by SAA’s Committee on Public Awareness (COPA) and emceed by COPA member Chris Burns, University of Vermont.
Storytellers are Petrina Jackson, head of Special Collections and University Archives, Iowa State University; Elizabeth Myers, director of Smith College Libraries; Geof Huth, chief records officer and law librarian, New York State Unified Court System; and Mary Rubin, senior archivist, University of Central Florida.
Check out two of the spookier stories from A Finding to My Soul by Jennifer Overstreet, graduate student at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Terry Baxter, archivist at Multnomah County Archives.
Follow ArchivesAWARE! to stay up-to-date on the Committee on Public Awareness’s (COPA) activities.
Episode 3: Michelle Caswell
Jan 28, 2019
Michelle Caswell, associate professor of Archival Studies in the Department of Information Studies at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the cofounder of the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA), discusses her research and writing process for her book, Archiving the Unspeakable: Silence, Memory, and the Photographic Record in Cambodia, in an interview in July 2018.
In Archiving the Unspeakable: Silence, Memory, and the Photographic Record in Cambodia, Michelle Caswell traces the history of the bureaucratic recordkeeping regime of the Khmer Rouge and examines the ways in which these photographs are testaments of archival silence and agency. The book received the SAA Waldo Gifford Leland Award for best publication in 2015 and was a finalist for the ICAS Book Prize, given by the International Convention of Asia Scholars. The book is available from the University of Wisconsin Press.
Episode 2: Cal Lee
Jan 28, 2019
Christopher (Cal) Lee, professor at the University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science, talks about his role as editor of American Archivist and his vision for the journal’s immediate future. He also shares tips for aspiring authors interested in writing for SAA’s professional journal.
American Archivist is the leading publication in the archives field. Published semi-annually by the Society of American Archivists, this peer-reviewed journal features research articles, case studies, perspectives, and international scene pieces as well as reviews of professional literature, archival technologies, and resources. Browse current and past issues.
Kären M. Mason, curator of the Louise Noun-Mary Louise Smith Iowa Women’s Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, discusses her experiences stewarding women’s collections, the role of women’s archives in contemporary archival practice, and SAA’s One Book, One Profession selection, Perspectives on Women’s Archives.
Perspectives on Women’s Archives, edited by Tanya Zanish-Belcher with Anke Voss, features eighteen essays written by noted archivists and historians (including Kären Mason!) that illustrate the origins of a women-centered history, the urgent need to locate records that highlight the diverse experiences of women, and the effort to document women’s experiences.
Kären contributed the chapter, “‘A Grand Manuscripts Search’: The Women’s History Sources Survey at The University of Minnesota, 1975–1979.” The book is available from the Society of American Archivists.