The registration deadline for the NEA Spring Meeting is this Friday, March 13. Avoid the late fee: get your registration in the mail by Friday!
******Come and join us for the NEA Spring 2009 Meeting,"Blurring the Lines: the Archivist-Researcher Relationship in the 21st Century"
Where: Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
When: March 27-28, 2009
This thought-provoking program will examine all aspects of the researcher-archivist-archives dynamic. Understanding the researcher's experience is important to all archivists as it touches all aspects of our work. Please join us for panels and discussions from the researcher, student, historian, and archivist perspective and discuss how these interactions have an impact on all facets of archival work. The program is at: http://www.newenglandarchivists.org/activities/meetings/2009_NEA_spring_program.pdf
Sessions include:
Where Processing, Reference and Outreach Meet: Providing Access to Collections Using Web 2.0 Technologies
When the Archivist Becomes the Patron
The Perfect Researcher: An Archivist-Designed Role Model for Users
Hosted by the Radcliffe Institute's Schlesinger Library, a renowned center for the study of women in America, conference attendees will meet in the beautifully renovated historical buildings of the Radcliffe Yard, adjacent to Harvard Square.See the full program and registration information at: http://www.newenglandarchivists.org/activities/meetings
We hope to see you there!
Virginia Hunt & Ellen Doon, Program Chairs
Monday, March 9, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
MAC in St. Louis
The Midwest Archives Conference 2009 program will be held in St. Louis, Missouri at the beautiful Hyatt Regency - St. Louis Riverfront, April 29 - May 2. Open to all, this year's sessions range from ethics to video preservation, donor policies, and more. Several pre-conference workshops and tours are also offered.
Of particular note is the session, "Flight Check: Archival Metrics Toolkits as User-Based Evaluations in Archives and Special Collections." This session presents these concepts to a general archival audience, giving an overview of the types of user-based evaluation the different methodologies employed, and explaining how various methods can be used in tandem to help repositories argue for greater support, create strategic plans targeted at specific audiences, and better serve their users.
The Midwest Archives Conference is open to anyone in the records management and archival fields, and at only $75.00 for advance registration ($65 for MAC members) this three day conference is an exceptional value. To take advantage of this special rate your registration must be postmarked by April 10, 2009. Full program descriptions are available at http://www.midwestarchives.org/2009Spring
Of particular note is the session, "Flight Check: Archival Metrics Toolkits as User-Based Evaluations in Archives and Special Collections." This session presents these concepts to a general archival audience, giving an overview of the types of user-based evaluation the different methodologies employed, and explaining how various methods can be used in tandem to help repositories argue for greater support, create strategic plans targeted at specific audiences, and better serve their users.
The Midwest Archives Conference is open to anyone in the records management and archival fields, and at only $75.00 for advance registration ($65 for MAC members) this three day conference is an exceptional value. To take advantage of this special rate your registration must be postmarked by April 10, 2009. Full program descriptions are available at http://www.midwestarchives.org/2009Spring
2.0 Degrees of Separation
Living where I do, it is easy to feel isolated personally and professionally. Not just geographically, but time-wise. As busy as we all are, it’s difficult to find time to connect via phone, letters, or email with friends, family, and colleagues. One of the ways I keep connected is Facebook. For those of you who haven’t used Facebook (or MySpace or other social networking sites), you sign in, add pictures if you want, go find people and add them as “friends,” post updates about what you’re doing, join groups, or become a fan of tartar sauce or all things orange. Not too long ago I was reacquainted with a high school friend, Cheryl McKinnon, via Facebook’s classmate search mechanism. One of Facebook’s functions is that once you are linked with somebody else you can view their online profile and status updates.
I don’t think Cheryl and I have seen or talked to each other since high school graduation night, which was, ouch, more than 20 years ago now. We did the basics of “you’re living where and WHY?”—she in Kitchener, I in Anchorage—and that was about it. Because Facebook associates us as friends and she is a prolific poster, her “what I’m doing now” updates usually show up when I log into my account. Not too long ago she posted a link to a white paper she’d written on 2.0. I had all sorts of reasons to follow the link and read the paper, but the most compelling one was that I didn’t have any excuses left if somebody my age (one day younger, actually) knew 2.0 well enough to write a white paper on it.
Turns out, Cheryl’s paper is about 2.0 applications and ramifications for records management. Miles MacDonnell Collegiate, our high school, had a graduating class of about 170 that year. That’s over one percent of the graduating class ending up in two low-populated and closely related fields. I’ll admit I don’t know the statistical odds, but it seems unlikely to me. When I pointed this out to Cheryl, she said “you couldn’t take the geek out of the girl.” I refuse to claim geekhood now, but will admit we had a fairly high count of geeks at the time of graduation and though I don’t know what happened to the rest, I’m thinking the math and computing genius whose Facebook profile claims a residence in the Cayman Islands probably chose something other than RM or Archives as a career. Since the vast majority of my friends group on Facebook consists of professional colleagues who have become good friends, it was fun to discover one who represented the reverse chronology.
At any rate, Cheryl had some interesting and pithy things to say about administering information developed in a 2.0 environment. The paper made me think about retention issues in a new way. She also provided a few good ideas for how to make 2.0 technologies enable access to records. I never would have found this document on my own, or if I had, I wonder if I would have ever recognized my high school friend in the author’s name?
This past year or so, 2.0 has really come onto the RAO radar (you knew I’d get around to the RAO connect eventually, didn’t you?) and I expect we all will be investigating it for some time. I’ll confess, prior to the ’08 section meeting presentation, I cringed every time I heard “2.0.” I didn’t know what it encompassed, I couldn’t figure out how any of it related to me or to my work. The presentation provided connects and building blocks, including making me realize that I’m already using some of these technologies both in my personal and professional life. From keeping in touch with friends, family and colleagues via Facebook, I’ve discovered that some aspects of 2.0 aren’t all that scary. This fall I created a Facebook page for my department—it’s pretty simplistic because I don’t know how to make the most of it yet—but it’s there. I can see the beginnings of how to use it for outreach, less so for reference and access, but at least we’ll save a few minutes in setup when we figure out what comes next. Soon you will be seeing some RAO working groups looking at various 2.0 tools to come up with suggestions and pointers to share. If you would like to participate, please contact me and I’ll be happy to hook you up.
For those of you who haven’t yet investigated the networking sites like MySpace or Facebook, consider taking a little time out of your schedule to play with them. You might not end up a fan. However, understanding how these sites function will help you make better decisions about using them.
I don’t recall quite when or why I joined Facebook, but I didn’t make use of it until last February during a Kodiak blizzard with all my airport novels read and nothing to keep me entertained but free wireless. Now? I check it near daily, sometimes several times a day. I see what is happening in many friends’ and family members’ lives and feel like I am more in touch with them than ever before. It’s a bit voyeuristic at times, but I hear about the great exhibits and programs and projects they are working on and occasionally I read something by a friend that makes me rethink my work. A social tool that serves to educate: now that’s an effective reference, access, and outreach mechanism we should all be studying closely.
By the way, if you want to read Cheryl’s short, informative, and entertaining piece, it’s at: http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/White-Paper/Article/Are-You-Ready-for-Enterprise-2.0What-Records-Managers-Need-to-Know-51343.aspx. The site requires a free login. As do most of the social networking sites. Join one. You’ll find you’re among friends.
I don’t think Cheryl and I have seen or talked to each other since high school graduation night, which was, ouch, more than 20 years ago now. We did the basics of “you’re living where and WHY?”—she in Kitchener, I in Anchorage—and that was about it. Because Facebook associates us as friends and she is a prolific poster, her “what I’m doing now” updates usually show up when I log into my account. Not too long ago she posted a link to a white paper she’d written on 2.0. I had all sorts of reasons to follow the link and read the paper, but the most compelling one was that I didn’t have any excuses left if somebody my age (one day younger, actually) knew 2.0 well enough to write a white paper on it.
Turns out, Cheryl’s paper is about 2.0 applications and ramifications for records management. Miles MacDonnell Collegiate, our high school, had a graduating class of about 170 that year. That’s over one percent of the graduating class ending up in two low-populated and closely related fields. I’ll admit I don’t know the statistical odds, but it seems unlikely to me. When I pointed this out to Cheryl, she said “you couldn’t take the geek out of the girl.” I refuse to claim geekhood now, but will admit we had a fairly high count of geeks at the time of graduation and though I don’t know what happened to the rest, I’m thinking the math and computing genius whose Facebook profile claims a residence in the Cayman Islands probably chose something other than RM or Archives as a career. Since the vast majority of my friends group on Facebook consists of professional colleagues who have become good friends, it was fun to discover one who represented the reverse chronology.
At any rate, Cheryl had some interesting and pithy things to say about administering information developed in a 2.0 environment. The paper made me think about retention issues in a new way. She also provided a few good ideas for how to make 2.0 technologies enable access to records. I never would have found this document on my own, or if I had, I wonder if I would have ever recognized my high school friend in the author’s name?
This past year or so, 2.0 has really come onto the RAO radar (you knew I’d get around to the RAO connect eventually, didn’t you?) and I expect we all will be investigating it for some time. I’ll confess, prior to the ’08 section meeting presentation, I cringed every time I heard “2.0.” I didn’t know what it encompassed, I couldn’t figure out how any of it related to me or to my work. The presentation provided connects and building blocks, including making me realize that I’m already using some of these technologies both in my personal and professional life. From keeping in touch with friends, family and colleagues via Facebook, I’ve discovered that some aspects of 2.0 aren’t all that scary. This fall I created a Facebook page for my department—it’s pretty simplistic because I don’t know how to make the most of it yet—but it’s there. I can see the beginnings of how to use it for outreach, less so for reference and access, but at least we’ll save a few minutes in setup when we figure out what comes next. Soon you will be seeing some RAO working groups looking at various 2.0 tools to come up with suggestions and pointers to share. If you would like to participate, please contact me and I’ll be happy to hook you up.
For those of you who haven’t yet investigated the networking sites like MySpace or Facebook, consider taking a little time out of your schedule to play with them. You might not end up a fan. However, understanding how these sites function will help you make better decisions about using them.
I don’t recall quite when or why I joined Facebook, but I didn’t make use of it until last February during a Kodiak blizzard with all my airport novels read and nothing to keep me entertained but free wireless. Now? I check it near daily, sometimes several times a day. I see what is happening in many friends’ and family members’ lives and feel like I am more in touch with them than ever before. It’s a bit voyeuristic at times, but I hear about the great exhibits and programs and projects they are working on and occasionally I read something by a friend that makes me rethink my work. A social tool that serves to educate: now that’s an effective reference, access, and outreach mechanism we should all be studying closely.
By the way, if you want to read Cheryl’s short, informative, and entertaining piece, it’s at: http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/White-Paper/Article/Are-You-Ready-for-Enterprise-2.0What-Records-Managers-Need-to-Know-51343.aspx. The site requires a free login. As do most of the social networking sites. Join one. You’ll find you’re among friends.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Newsletter Survey Results
As you know, a task force appointed by the Steering Committee sent out a survey about the newsletter. During the period the survey was open (October 20-27, 2008), we received 36 responses. Thank you for your willingness to tell us about the kinds of communication you want from the section.
Section members want information communicated to them as it becomes available, and your preferences for distribution were blast e-mail, newsletter and blog. We believe that this means you support a desire for information on a regular, timely basis, and still want a newsletter. Therefore, we created this blog that the membership can contribute to by sending the content to the Newsletter Editor (yours truly). Then, when there's enough to put together an actual news letter, I will repackage the blog postings, with some additional content, into a newsletter. I will solicit content for the blog and newsletter at least once a quarter.
The responses indicated that you are most interested in news from repositories, reviews of relevant websites and books, and research project write ups. You also said you would contribute to a newsletter; a majority of the respondents indicated that they would forward their repositories’ press releases or contribute when they “have news to report” or “something significant has occurred.” I am hoping that you are willing to review websites and books and to write up the research project or local initiative you've been working on. Consider this my plea for help.
That's it for now, I'm sure that I'll have more later.
Section members want information communicated to them as it becomes available, and your preferences for distribution were blast e-mail, newsletter and blog. We believe that this means you support a desire for information on a regular, timely basis, and still want a newsletter. Therefore, we created this blog that the membership can contribute to by sending the content to the Newsletter Editor (yours truly). Then, when there's enough to put together an actual news letter, I will repackage the blog postings, with some additional content, into a newsletter. I will solicit content for the blog and newsletter at least once a quarter.
The responses indicated that you are most interested in news from repositories, reviews of relevant websites and books, and research project write ups. You also said you would contribute to a newsletter; a majority of the respondents indicated that they would forward their repositories’ press releases or contribute when they “have news to report” or “something significant has occurred.” I am hoping that you are willing to review websites and books and to write up the research project or local initiative you've been working on. Consider this my plea for help.
That's it for now, I'm sure that I'll have more later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
