SAA – SJSU SAASC

Announcement from the SAA!

by SAASC Team

Provided by: Jenny Galipo

Edited by: Sereen Suleiman

Hey everyone! First, we thank our very own Jenny Galipo for taking the time to inquire the SAA messaging boards to bring us this information! She asked the following question and found some helpful resources.

Is there a discussion board or forum for archivists or aspiring archivist-graduate students to use for questions?

The Society of American Archivists has multiple discussion boards that provide resources for various standardized methods on the website: to find information about standards surrounding digitization and metadata there’s the Metadata and Digital Objects Section in the SAA website, for encoding standards like EAD or EAC-CPF, there’s the Encoded Archival Standards Section (as well as the Library of Congress’ very useful EADlistserv), and for processing or accessioning, there’s the Manuscripts Repository Section. There’s a full list of all the section discussion lists available on SAAConnect. You do have to be an SAA member to view/subscribe to section discussion lists, but SAA offers a nice student discount membership, so maybe the cost won’t be a barrier for your fellow students.

There’s the general-purpose Canadian archives listserv, ARCAN-L, which is open to anyone. There’s also the InternationalCouncil on Archives (ICA) list – again, open to anyone. The Archives and Records Association (UK and Ireland) has an email list – membership needed.
Active archives communities include SAA’s official one, @archivists_org, and regional lists such as @NEarchivists and @SWarchivists. If you’re on Slack, there’s Archival Processing.

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.

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!

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.

Celebrating Archives All Month Long

by SAASC Team

It’s officially American Archives Month! Archives Month began in 2006 as an initiative to celebrate the work of archivists and raise awareness about the function, purpose, and cultural and historic value of archives. How many blank or quizzical looks have you received when you mention that you are (or want to be) an archivist? Increasing public knowledge about the importance of archives translates into increased attention, visibility, support, and even funding. We know what we do (or want to do) is important in the here-and-now. Now is the chance to share your passion for archives with the world!

We kick started the month with #AskanArchivist day on October 3rd, but keep an eye out for lectures, programming, and other events taking place throughout October in honor of Archives Month. If you are looking for inspiration as to how to get your own institution involved, the Society of American Archivists offers a wide range of tools to help practitioners brainstorm and prepare for engagement and outreach opportunities – check out their website for more info.

One fun way to get involved in Archives Month is to attend or volunteer at an archives crawl event. According to ArchivesAware!, the Society of American Archivist’s blog, “Archives Crawls are multi-repository tours that allow participants to visit several institutions throughout a day or month and become acquainted with the range of resources held by local cultural heritage institutions. Similarly, Archives Bazaars or Fairs bring together several institutions into a single space, allowing attendees to learn more about local archival resources.” Cities and counties from across the county host these kinds of events, often annually. For those of you in California, there is still time to attend one of these events this month: the Monterey Peninsula Archives Crawl (Saturday, October 12th), the Los Angeles Archives Bazaar (Saturday, October 12th), the San Francisco Archives Crawl (Saturday, October 19th), or the Sacramento Archives Crawl (Saturday, October 26th). If you can’t make one of these, don’t worry – there are archives crawls or bazaars that take place throughout the year all over the country, so check out the libraries and archives in your local area to see what is happening near you.

Category: <span>SAA</span>