Archives – Page 5 – SJSU SAASC

Archive of the Month: Beinecke Rare Books & Manuscript…

by SAASC Team

Upon first glance, this large, windowless geometric building looks a bit out of place amongst the Gothic-style buildings on the Yale University campus. The building itself is an architectural feat, containing hundreds of ¼ inch thick Vermont Marble, framed by granite. It’s not only an exemplary use of New England building materials, but also a state of the art preservation method for the thousands of archived treasures housed inside.

This iconic institution is the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and is a worthy feature in our Archives of the Month series. Though a part of Yale University, the Beinecke is open to the public and the exhibition gallery is free for students and visitors alike. The library’s modernist design, courtesy of Gordon Bunshaft, has made it a destination for architecture enthusiasts. The building’s striking exterior, composed of white Vermont marble and a translucent marble “skin,” filters natural light into the interior. Even on a cloudy July day when I visited, the interior glow was striking- allowing for natural light without hazardous UV rays.

The library’s extensive collection of rare books and manuscripts are housed in the glass enclosed books stacks, which are located in the center of the building. Permanent and rotating exhibits line the exhibit hall space around the perimeter of the building.

Among the exhibits include The Gutenberg Bible, one of only 48 remaining copies in the world, as well as Audubon’s Birds of America, and my visit in July afforded me a view of one of the 26 known copies of the first printing of the Declaration of Independence.

If you are ever in the New Haven area, the Beinecke Library is a must visit for Archives lovers.

*All photos provided by Aryn Prestia, SJSU’s SAASC Blog Editor

Welcome to Fall 2023

by SAASC Team

Welcome to a new semester! We are so excited to bring some great Archives programming to you this Fall.

This summer, several of our members were busy with internships and a few were even able to attend virtual Archives * Records 2023 conference this summer. Education sessions included Emotional Intelligence in Archival Interactions, Digital Content Moderation, Fee Elimination, Unionizing, the COVID Tracking archive, and more!

SJSU’s very own former SAASC members, Katrina Williams, Anna Robinson, and Mia Lewis even presented their poster A Collaborative Approach to Engaging Students in Meaningful Career Exploration.

Check out the latest issue of Archeota and keep in mind that ideas for articles in the next issue can be submitted now through November 11, 2023. Check your e-mail for more information and e-mail our managing editor Taliyah Shaver (archeota.saasc@gmail.com) with any ideas.

If you are a new student, the SAASC will be included in the iSchool Meet and Greet on September 14 at 6pm PST. Come and meet some of our board members and learn more about joining SAAC and other student organization chapters!

This year you can look forward to fun virtual events with SAAC like a Scavenger Hunt and Ask An Archivist Talks. Our first event will be our Fall Membership meeting on Thursday, September 21 at 5:30PT

Looking forward to working with you this year!

Final Blog For Spring 2023

by SAASC Team

For our final Spring 2023 blog, we would like to say thank you and give a few kernels of advice in our own words:

“It has been such a pleasure being part of the executive board this year and leading SAASC! We built on what last year’s board started to strengthen our SAASC community. I want to thank our board for all of their hard work putting together events, activities, blog posts, and a strong social media presence! I also want to thank our members for coming to those events and activities for us to get to know each other better. I’m looking forward to seeing what the next board will do! Thanks SAASC!” – Katie Burns, SAASC Chair

“The best part of SAASC was meeting so many great people. I looked forward to our leadership meetings and having a chance to talk and laugh and plan with such a dedicated and fun group of people. I appreciate everyone who attended our events. There were so many good conversations happening in the zoom/chat as we all figure out what this career path means to us. I encourage everyone to try some part of SAASC- attend an event, run for a board position, submit your writing, do a member activity- because it is the best way to find other people who care about things the way that you do.” – Katrina Williams, SAASC Vice Chair

“Being part of SAASC was a great opportunity to push myself beyond my comfort zone and just be around people who share my love of books, history, museums and archives. Hanging out with them virtually broadened my horizons and inspired me to delve deeper into my education.” – Ali Phelps, SAASC Secretary

“Being a part of SAASC has been a highlight of my time in the iSchool and I’m grateful to have worked with the amazing members of our executive team. Even in the most stressful weeks of the semester, we still managed to have fun and bring the incredible world of archives to life through our activities, events, social media, and blog posts. I was lucky enough to meet in person this year with several members of our team at the Society of California Archivists’ Annual Conference in Sacramento (photo below). I hope there will be more es to chat over coffee and pastries with my SAASC friends soon!”– Mia Lewis, SAASC Membership Director

“Well, we’ve made it to the end of another eventful and busy semester. We hope you’ve enjoyed the events and webinars we’ve hosted this year, we are lucky to have been able to provide our chapter membership with a variety of perspectives and engagement opportunities. As I finish up my year as the Webmaster of the chapter, I look forward to welcoming in the next Board. Something I’ve learned within the last year is to not be afraid to reach out to people in our profession if you are interested in learning more about them or their work. Everyone I’ve reached out to has been very willing and open to having an informational discussion about their work and profession, and this can be useful for determining whether a job or MLIS career path is right for you. Don’t be afraid to start a conversation! And best of luck to y’all in future semesters!”– Ashley Minnich, SAASC Webmaster

“Breathe…one simple word, that we all forget to do. When it is all a bit too much, remember to breathe. Also, connect with people in school, they know what you are going through because they are too. Having sounding boards to vent and get advice from helps immensely!” – Erin Robinson, SAASC Social Media Coordinator

“Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and make connections. Your lifetime best friend just may be that person who posted that really cool discussion post, or your someday boss or colleague could be a fellow SAASC member!” – Madalyne Mazurek, SAASC Social Media Coordinator

“We have come to an end: the final blog for the SAASC Board of 2022-2023. But in all actuality, it is more of a pause. We have an amazing group of individuals taking over for the 2023-2024 term, and we are so excited to see what they will accomplish! Thank you to my fellow SAASC Board members for a great year. I am so greatful that I was able to be a part of such an amazing group of change leaders. Thank you to all the students who contributed and participated in our events. I hope to see you in class or out in the real world. Stay true to yourselves because you can accomplish more than you realize. Inspiration, in whatever form it takes, is worth sharing.” – Hannah Holshouser, SAASC Blog Editor

Images:

Katie Burns, our fearless leader!
Ali Phelps at work as a Public Services and Curatorial Assistant at the Special Research Collection at UCSB (University of California Santa Barbara).
Katrina Williams, Mia Lewis, and Erin Robinson at the Society for California Archivists (SCA) in Sacramento, 04/07/23.
Erin Robinson at work as the Assistant Media Archivist at Sherman Grinberg Film Library in Los Angeles, CA
Ali Phelps, Mia Lewis, and Erin Robinson at the Archives Bazaar at USC, 10/22/22.
(back row) Erin Robinson, Sarah Lewis, (front row) Katrina Williams, Mia Lewis, and Rosa Pena at the Society for California Archivists (SCA) in Sacramento, 04/07/23.

Creating Personal Archives

by SAASC Team

It can be a challenge to consider creating a personal archive. We thought it would be helpful to compile a few suggestions, inspirations, and resources for our Personal Archive Project participants, and for anyone interested in pursuing a project on their own. A personal archives could be a collection of memorabilia like theatre ticket stubs from your favorite movies or Instagram posts that document a specific spiritual or physical journey. It could be a collection of genealogical records preserving family history, like kYmberly Keeton’s archives entitled The Southern Migration of the Keeton and Chafer Family. If you are interested in organizing your family genealogical records, take a look at the free templates available on Ancestry.com*.

You also never know where your archives could eventually end up. The dedicated preservation of your personal history could one day be a part of a repository! Every individual has a story to tell that adds to the rich history of our country and our world. You are unique, as are your experiences! At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (which is also part of SJSU’s WISE program!) Christopher J. Prom, Ph.D., has proposed A Trusted Personal Archives Service entitled iKive. “The iKive project will develop open source software that makes it easy for people to save their digital lives in a trusted location, then donate their iKive to a public archives or manuscript repository later in life” (UIUC Library, 2018).

We have some advice on starting personal archives: brainstorm! Think about what items you have collected intentionally or perhaps out of habit over the years. Do you have a collection of family heirlooms that have been passed down to you? What kind of idea or emotion would you like to convey when others view your personal archives? Once you have established a list for your archive (a minimum of 3 objects), take at least one photograph of a grouping or a single item. Compose a short introduction/synopsis, and if you want to go the extra mile, you could include extended didactics for individual items. Canva or Google would be excellent sites for putting together images of your archives. Once you have completed your project, post it here.

Resources on personal archiving that can help you get started:

SJSU SAASC’s Personal Archive Project FAQs: https://ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu/saasc/events/the-personal-archive-project/

The Library of Congress: Your Personal Archiving Project: Where Do You Start?: https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2016/05/how-to-begin-a-personal-archiving-project/

Book Bunk: How to Build A Personal Archive: https://youtu.be/K8vGxcj_OZ4

Jewish Women’s Archive: Basic preservation tips for family papers and personal archives. https://jwa.org/stories/how-to/preservation

**ALAstore: The Complete Guide to Personal Digital Archiving—eEditions e-book. https://www.alastore.ala.org/content/complete-guide-personal-digital-archiving%E2%80%94eeditions-e-book

As always, if you are interested in becoming a member of SAASC, you can find out more here. We would love to see you on our social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, or you can email us directly at SJSUSAASC@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments. Thank you for reading!

* We are not affiliated with or actively endorsing Ancestry.com

**Requires purchase!

Resources

UIUC. (2018). A Trusted Personal Archives Service. [web page]. https://www.library.illinois.edu/staff/a-trusted-personal-archives-service/

Conference Recap: SAASC at the Society of California Archivists…

by SAASC Team

Recently, three members of SAASC’s Executive Board and two members of the chapter made it up to Sacramento, California’s historic Grand Sheraton hotel for the Society of California Archivists (SCA) Annual General Meeting. For those unfamiliar with SCA, this organization works to “support and develop the education of those who collect, care for, and provide access to the documentary heritage of California and adjoining areas,” while also promoting public interest of archives through programming and events (SCA, n.d.). This year’s Annual General Meeting was titled “History of the People,” and featured tours of local libraries and archives, two afternoons of sessions with speakers from institutions across California, social receptions, and our favorite, a poster session that featured some of the amazing projects of our own SAASC members and fellow iSchool classmates!

California State Capitol, from https://www.assembly.ca.gov/public-services/visit-state-capitol

Thursday featured a tour of the California Room at the Sacramento Public Library, a workshop introducing transfers from VHS tape with the Bay Area Video Convention, and a reception at the historic Elks Tower in downtown Sacramento. Friday was just as action packed, starting with a new-member meet-and-greet breakfast and a plenary address by Dr. William J. Bauer, co-author of We Are the Land: A History of Native California. We moved into an afternoon of speaker sessions — a few highlights included:

Collaborating to Share “Hidden” History, which explored the historic Broadway neighborhood in Santa Monica, California through archival and outreach efforts made by the Quinn Research Community, Santa Monica Public Library, and the Santa Monica History Museum
Level Up! Archivists Are Unlocking the “Extra Life” for Video Games, where SJSU iSchool and SAASC Executive Board Member alumna Alison Quirion presented an overview of the current state of game archives, the types of materials archived, the unique needs of their end users, and the challenges of building and maintaining game archives, using examples from her own work and the work of colleagues within the industry.

Next on Friday afternoon came the poster sessions! The list below gives you an idea of the breadth of subjects covered at the conference, and the photo below shows SAASC Executive Board Members Katrina, Mia, and Erin in front of their poster, repping SJSU! Are you curious about what it’s like to present your work at a conference, or have thought about it but are hesitant to apply? We strongly encourage you to watch a recording of our last event, “Writing and presenting: Students share their conference experiences,” where we discuss this exact topic and hear from SJSU student presenters!

From Enemies to Friends: Incompatible prints – Hannah Rogers, Krystel Jimenez
A Collaborative Approach to Engaging Students in Meaningful Career Exploration – Katrina Williams, et al.
La Historia: Creating a sustainable community archive – Rosa Pena
SAA Dataverse – Maggie Hughes
The Forward Clubhouse Turns 100 – a case study in archival outreach in an all-volunteer historical society – Sarah Lewis
Digitizing and Describing the Southeast Asia Community Resource Center Collection – Elyse Fox, Lynn Drennan, Pachia Lucy Vang
Ready – Or Not Emergency Preparedness for Cultural Collections – Hillary Ellis, et al.
All’s Fair in People and Archives: The Los Angeles County Fair and the Celebration of Culture, Heritage, and History of Southern California – Andrew Kopp

SAASC Executive Board Members Katrina, Mia, and Erin in front of their poster!

Saturday concluded with a few more great sessions, including Community-Centered Archives Practice and the Institution: Transforming Education, Archives, and Community History, where speakers Speakers from UC Irvine, the California Digital Library, and Orange County Heritage Museum illustrated community-centered archives partnerships and initiatives that support social justice and ethnic studies educational objectives in California. The three panelists described their efforts to identify actionable strategies to support ethical and responsible representation of marginalized histories in digital collections, exhibits, and documentation projects. The Sheraton Grand in Sacramento was bustling with excitement from the nearby Kings game, but sadly it was time for the archivists to pack up and head home! We hope you’ll consider staying engaged with the Society of California Archivists for their future meetings, events, and opportunities.

As always, if you are interested in becoming a member of SAASC, you can find out more here. This Thursday, April 20th we will officially begin the call to sign up for SAASC’s Personal Archive Project! You can find out about it via the SAASC Group Discussion on Canvas. Also, be sure to attend The Personal Archive Introduction with kYmberly Keeton next Tuesday, April 25th for all the details. We would love to see you on our social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, or you can email us directly at SJSUSAASC@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments. Thank you for reading!

References:

Society of California Archivists. (n.d.). About. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from https://calarchivists.org/About_SCA/Mission

Category: <span>Archives</span>