SAASC Team – Page 14

American Archives Month

by SAASC Team

October is American Archives Month!

Why are archivists and the work they do important? Archivists are often referred to as the Keepers of Memory. They collect and care for collections that hold enduring value to the community they serve. American Archives Month is an opportunity for the archival community to spread awareness of the vital work they do.

So what does an archivist do?

Lisa Lewis, the associate archivist for the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge said, “Archivists bring the past to the present. They’re records collectors and protectors, keepers of memory. They organize unique, historical materials, making them available for current and future research.

Another great definition comes from Jacquelyn Ferry of the Wisconsin Historical Society who writes, “Archivists acquire, manage, preserve, and help patrons identify and use historically significant collections of unique materials, such as government records, manuscripts, photographs, films, and sound recordings”.

Over the course of the month we will be exploring various aspects of the archival world including a virtual visit to the Oregon State University Hops & Brewing Archive (created by an SJSU MLIS alumna!), #AskAnArchivistDay, and A Finding Aid To My Soul (a free event celebrating the diversity and commonality of the archivist experience!).

Don’t forget to register for the events and let us know what you think!

Events

Levis. Original People. Original Jeans. Original Archive.

by SAASC Team

The Society of American Archivists Student Chapter at SJSU Presents: Levis. Original People. Original Jeans. Original Archive. A discussion with Levi Strauss & Co. Historian Tracey Panek. Panek is the corporate historian for Levi Strauss & Co. and was kind enough to spend the evening with the SAASC at San José State University sharing her exciting job as the historian and manager of the Levi Strauss Archive. Her presentation focused on how she was able to bring the archive into the digital age.

The archive is located in San Francisco in Levi’s Plaza. According to Panek, the archive is the best collection of vintage garments in the world. She became the corporate historian for Levi Strauss in 2014 and was challenged with the monumental task of bringing the archive, referred to as The Vault, into the 21st century. She was given only one year to complete this. The archive had existed for about 24 years by the time Panek took over. The archive tracked everything on paper in dozens of large binders. To access the information in the archive, one would have to get in touch with either the historian or the archivist or go visit the archive in person.

Panek also manages the museum which is located at Levi’s Plaza. It is basically a recreation of their archives. The exhibition is called “Experience the Archives”. The archive itself is not open to the public. Employees are the primary users of the physical archive and the virtual vault tool is only for employees. They very rarely give anyone else access to the archive.

So how did Panek bring the archive into the 21^st century? She used a 3-phase method.

Phase 1: Convert to Electronic Tracking. Upgrade equipment and processes. There was no working scanner on the premises before this process started.

Phase 2: Create Digital Assets. They closed the archive for a month and brought in a company to photograph everything. The garments are the most important part of the collection.

Phase 3: Upload into Digital System. The Virtual Vault: Digital Archives. The Virtual Vault now has over 150,000 digital assets. Having digital access to the archive has been incredibly important during this pandemic since Panek and her team are not in their offices.

Panek had a special treat for attendees at the end of the presentation. She was able to show a new acquisition to the archive: the only known pair of inside-out Levi’s 501 Button Fly jeans. One of the perks of her work is finding such cool pieces.

The SAASC at San José State University would like to thank Tracey Panek for her exciting and informative presentation. Missed the presentation? Watch it here on the SAASC’s YouTube channel. Remember to subscribe!

Interested in archives? Join the SAA (Society of American Archivists) and the SJSU SAA student chapter (SAASC). Follow us on social media to find out about our next exciting event.

What was your favorite part of the presentation? Leave a comment!

Conference

SAA Annual Meeting – A Personal Review

by SAASC Team

2020 will be known as the year COVID-19 sent everyone to their computers. As the planet battles the pandemic, we must all shelter-in-place in our homes, viewing the world through electronic screens. Seemingly everything is affected by the virus and informational conferences are no exception.

As I was knee-deep into my second semester in the MLIS program, I had been intently looking forward to attending my very first conference. The Society of American Archivists’ (SAA) annual meeting was supposed to take place in the Windy City. I couldn’t wait to book my hotel room, make connections and plans with my fellow SJSU MLIS and MARA students, and learn all I could about Chicago- a city I had never visited.

However, as the conference date drew nearer and the pandemic caused by the Coronavirus rapidly spread across the globe, the world seemingly came to a halt and the SAA annual conference was no exception. When August rolled around, I was not hopping a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago but instead hopping around my house, hair in a bun, comfy p.j.’s on, and settling in for the ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2020: The Virtual Joint Annual Meeting of CoSA and SAA live from the comfort of my living room.

The motto for this year’s conference was “Creating Our Future” and honestly a better motto could not be had. Between inequalities made inarguable because of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests spawned by the murder of George Floyd, we needed to look at ourselves and our communities to reevaluate the status quo and what we were going to do about it. These events begged the question: How will the archival world and archivists incorporate the topics of safety, diversity, and inclusivity?

There were a few sessions tackling these topics under the theme of Creating Our Future. One in particular that I found interesting was A Profession for Us: Creating and Sustaining an Equitable, Inclusive, and Diverse Archives Field. The session featured various speakers discussing topics ranging from how to build a more inclusive work environment, decolonizing university space, and how to spearhead a travel fund for archivists of color.

Heather Lanctot is the Archives and Record Center Coordinator for Yolo County Archives and Record Center and she gave a talk called “Books and More Club: A Vehicle for Internal Engagement with Inclusion and Diversity”. I found this one particularly interesting and useful because Lanctot discussed how to increase inclusion and engagement in the workplace with the Books & More Club.

The Books & More Club originally began as a book club which then morphed into much more, such as poetry discussions and listening to various Ted Talks. Lanctot stated, “The club was started to cultivate a more informed and culturally competent staff.” It is one thing to discuss the need for such training and education but another thing entirely to give the tools to make it happen. Not only did they give the tools, all staff were allowed to participate during paid time. This helps make sure all staff are able to overcome any barriers preventing participation.

While I will say that I would have loved to see these sessions in person and meet more of my peers and network, being able to watch and participate in this conference during a pandemic is an amazing thing. I definitely believe that it was worthwhile and I learned so much that I can take with me into a future career in archives. The SAA and CoSA were able to include many topics on inclusion and diversity which is so incredibly important. Hopefully next year I will be able to attend in person at the 2021 annual meeting in Anaheim, California. If not, at least I now know that watching the conference at home still allows one to learn, participate, and network. It just looks a little different.

*Missed the conference? You can still register to gain access here.

Awards

SAA 2020 Council Exemplary Service Award Recipient Lori Lindberg

by SAASC Team

The ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2020: The Virtual Joint Annual Meeting of SAA and CoSA kicked off last week with the SAA annual membership business meeting where SJSU’s very own Lori Lindberg was honored for exemplary service. Lindberg has been teaching at SJSU since 2002 for both INFO and MARA courses. (Missed the meeting? You can still register to have access to all the amazing sessions here!)

SAA chose Lindberg for this distinguished award because of her commitment to archival education and professional development. The SAA recognized the decades long dedication to the archival profession by Lindberg in their summary below.

“WHEREAS Lori Lindberg has been actively involved in the academic and archival professions, championing archival education as a member of the SAA Education Committee, the SAA DAS Subcommittee and as a longtime university faculty member;

WHEREAS serving as a lecturer at San Jose State University and other institutions, she advocates for education in archival science, records management, and digital preservation; and

WHEREAS she conducted extensive research to map 15 courses to the ACA and ICRM exam to create curriculum; and

WHEREAS she designed 15 weeks of lessons for each course using the SAA Code of Ethics, SAA Core Values, and her wealth of teaching experience and subject expertise; and

WHEREAS her work led to the creation of the first independent accredited Master of Archives and Records Administration (MARA) degree program in the United States; and

WHEREAS in 2008 the MARA degree at San Jose State University accepted enrollment of its first class; and

WHEREAS in 2010 and 2012 she received the WISE (Web-based Information Science Education) Consortium’s Excellence in Online Teaching Award upon student recommendation after experiencing her course content and teaching effectiveness;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Lori Lindberg be honored with a 2020 Council Exemplary Service Award for her long-standing commitment to archival education and the betterment of archives professionals that has contributed to the modernization of the archives and digital curation curriculum.” (https://www2.archivists.org/news/2020/council-exemplary-service-lori-lindberg)

On behalf of the SAASC members, the SAASC executive committee would like to congratulate Lindberg for her 2020 Council Exemplary Service Award. Congratulations Lori!

Interested in joining the SAASC (Society of American Archivists Student Chapter) or want to learn more about the archival profession? Consider joining today! We are in search of a vice-chair. Email the SAASC at sjsusaasc@gmail.com to learn more!

Conference

SAA and CoSA Annual Conference About to Begin!

by SAASC Team

From August 3 through August 8, 2020, the Society of American Archivists is holding their annual conference and meetings. This year’s conference is all virtual and is being held jointly with the Council of State Archivists.

The conference theme is ARCHIVES * RECORDS 2020: Creating Our Future. In addition to networking opportunities, the main conference program includes twelve educational sessions, two plenaries, career center services, poster sessions, an additional 60 pre-recorded education sessions, and a virtual expo hall.

This is a great way to get broad exposure to the archives profession and meet some great people. Because it is virtual, there are no travel costs, and registration fees are quite a deal! Plus, you’ll get access to the recordings of presentations in case you can’t check out the live stream.

Author: <span>SAASC Team</span>