RAO Steering Committee Nominations: Matt Herbison

Bio: Matt Herbison is the Reference& amp; Outreach Archivist at the LegacyCenter of Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. Matt writes, "I enjoy advocating for the rights of archives users—and for the obligation and right of archivists to actively cultivate and meaningfully engage as many new archives users as possible. I have a particular interest in working with K-12 and undergraduate students and teachers to bring primary sources into the classroom in both face-to-face and online settings, with the goal of building 'simple' document analysis skills all the way through to the complex task of intelligently incorporating archives into students' research processes.

Statement: For the last two-plus years, I've been working with the RAO Teaching withPrimary Sources (TPS) Working Group, as a member of the TPS Survey group and as a leader of the group creating the TPS Bibliography. I have also done stints as Web-person for MARAC and the SAA Museum Archives Section. I am active in local groups, including leading the THATCamp Philly organizing group, am a founding member of the Greater Philadelphia Digital Humanities Group (PhillyDH), and am currently Immediate Past Chair of the Delaware Valley ArchivistsGroup. I'm also a member of the 2013 cohort of the Archives Leadership Institute.

Don’t Be Shy, Apply!

Deadline for RAO Marketplace Vendors Extended
to May 23, 2013

Consider an Arranged Marriage…

There is still plenty of time to propose your own hot topic or cool demo for this year’s magical marketplace extravaganza, but here are a few suggestions that the marketplace team believe could be the perfect match for the today’s chic, super-cool RAO archivists:

Possible Cool Demos…

Elevator Speech Lab: Facilitator(s) would discuss what makes a good elevator speech (as an elevator speech delivered in 90 seconds or less) and then participants would have 5 minutes to draft a speech and  share (on a voluntary basis) other booth shoppers.

When the keyword is not enough: reference and instruction strategies for the Google generation: A moderated discussion of what works well to get researchers to move beyond the basic keyword search

Steps to obtaining your own Wikipedian in Residence: The hot new thing for outreach and access is to leverage the power of Wikipedia and its legion of users and creators by embedding a Wikipedian-in-residence.  Discussion leaders share steps and answers questions for establishing a Wikipedian-in-residence.

Possible Hot Topics…

Outreach to community archives: How can we help groups and organizations interested in preserving their history themselves make good decisions and get the help they need?

To loan or not loan; that is the question: RAO recently supported the effort to have the SAA standards committee endorse the guidelines for loaning and borrowing with a few caveats.  Facilitators could continue the discussion started at last year’s marketplace on the challenges and opportunities of lending and borrowing.

Copy requests in the reading room: what is the current state of the safe harbor of fair use? Many archives allow patrons to make their own copies with digital cameras or with a photocopier in the reading room.  What are best practices to ensure safety and integrity of materials and that fair use is upheld.

What makes a great archives exhibit? Discuss strategies for creating engaging exhibits that add value and interest to archival materials on display

Make a Proposal…


Applying to purvey hotness and coolness is simple and easy:

 1.      Draft a brief description of the demonstration or hot topic and explain how and/or why it relates to reference, access, or outreach archivists and their work. 

2.      Come up with a working title.

3.      Determine who will lead the demo or moderate the discussion (this may be you, so talk to yourself)

4.      OR, VOLUNTEER to lead one of proposed hot topics or cool demos suggested above and use the proposal form link below to do so.

5.      Visit http://tinyurl.com/RAOmarket2013 and complete the online proposal form

6.      Deadline to apply is May 23, 2013

7.      QUESTIONS? Contact Jill Severn at 706-542-5766 or jsevern@uga.edu

More details in case you missed them…

Wanted: Hot Topics and Cool Demos
 The 2013 RAO Program Committee seeks Hot Topics and Cool Demonstrations for provocative conversation and deep thinking in a hotel in New Orleans in August.   On August 15^th 2013 RAO will host its second annual Marketplace of Ideas and seeks purveyors of hot topics and cool demonstrations to sell their wares to a savvy audience of RAO archivists.

What is an RAO Hot Topic?
 An RAO hot topic is an issue, a concern, an idea that has sparked recent attention in RAO circles.  It can be something that seems novel or cutting-edge; it can be an enduring issue that is garnering new attention or approaches. 

What Makes an RAO Hot Topic HOT?
 An RAO hot topic can be provocative and even fractious; it can also be surprising and funny. Above all else, a hot topic should engender passion, engagement and excitement.   

What is an RAO Cool Demo?
 An RAO Cool Demonstration is a presentation of an approach or technique that has enhanced services, simplified processes, or transformed workflows and approaches. It could be a simple fix or adaptation, or a reinvention of the wheel.

What Makes an RAO Cool Demo COOL?
 An RAO Cool Demo should be widely applicable to RAO archivists and simple enough to explain in a low-tech manner in a short period of time.  Think of it as an app that works without a mobile device.

RAO Wants YOU!

Seeking a few good members to run for the RAO Steering Committee!

Please send us any nominations for Steering Committee for the Reference, Outreach, and Access Section. And of course, you’re welcome to nominate yourself!

Here are the (short) by-laws that explain the duties and terms of the officers: http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/rao/bylaws.asp

Serving as a section leader is a great way to get involved with—or continue to be involved with—SAA, and a chance to benefit your profession. The Nominations Committee would be glad to answer any questions you might have; please feel free to contact us!

Nominees should submit their name, a brief bio, and a short statement to a member of the Nominations Committee.  Deadline: May 31, 2013. 

 

Each nominee will get their own post here on the blog as their nominations come in. Plus we will be posting the short statements on the RAO website and in the next issue of the RAO newsletter.

~The Nominations Committee

Rachael Dreyer, rdreyer@uwyo.edu

Jean Green, jgreen@binghamton.edu

Kathie Otto, kathryn.otto@uwrf.edu

Teaching with Primary Sources Survey

RAO's Teaching with Primary Sources group has a survey they would like you to complete by Friday, January 25, 2013.

The goals for this survey are:
1) to obtain data on current instructional trends among archivists;
2) to identify successful methodologies and resources for instruction; and
3) to identify needs for tools and professional support for archives instruction.

By completing the survey, you will be eligible to WIN one of five copies of the recent publication Past or Portal? Enhancing Undergraduate Learning through Special Collections and Archives, containing nearly 50 widely ranging case studies on engagement with special collections. These books are very generously donated by ACRL!


Deadline to complete the survey: Friday, January 25, 2013
Estimated time to complete the survey: 15-20 minutes

Note that multiple people from a single repository can take the survey.

Seeking Nominations for Archival Advocacy Award

The J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award Subcommittee of the Society of American Archivists seeks nominations for the 2013 award.

http://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-jameson

 

Established in 1989, this award honors an individual, institution, or organization that promotes greater public awareness, appreciation, or support of archival activities or programs.  The individual's or institution's contributions may take the form of advocacy, publicity, legislation, financial support, or a similar action that fosters archival work or raises public consciousness of the importance of archival work.  Contributions should have broad, long-term impact at the regional level or beyond. Up to three awards may be given each year.

Recent Winners:

• 2012:  Eve Kahn, Bebe Miller, Phillip Stewart
• 2011:  "Who Do You Think You Are?" (NBC)
• 2010:  The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation
• 2009:  Ross King (Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board)
• 2008:  Data-Intensive Cyber Environments (DICE)

Eligibility: Nominees must be from outside the archives profession.  Individuals directly involved in archival work, either as paid or volunteer staff, or institutions or organizations directly responsible for an archival program are not eligible for this award.

Mailed materials must be postmarked by February 28, 2013 and should be sent to:

J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award Committee Society of American Archivists

17 North State Street, Suite 1425

Chicago, IL 60602-4061 

Nominations may be submitted electronically; please see the nomination form for details.  For more information on SAA awards and the nominations process, please go to: http://www.archivists.org/recognition/index.asp>

Call for Case Studies: innovative best practices in archives

Dear colleagues, 

I have signed on to edit a series of books for Scarecrow Press highlighting innovative best practices in archives. I’m excited about this opportunity to learn about and share the best examples of how professionals working in archives and special collections are adapting to changes and creatively solving problems.

I’ll be doing a total of four books in this first round, one each on outreach, reference, management, and description. For now, I’m collecting proposals for case studies for the volume on reference and the volume on outreach. If you want to propose a case study, just send me a short (1-2 paragraph) description of the problem you set out to solve, how you solved it, and what the results have been. Please also include the name of the repository, and your job title. Proposals are due by *Thursday, January 31*.

The final case studies should be about 6-7,000 words.

Don’t be intimidated by that word “innovative.” Sometimes we have a tendency to think what we do isn’t that special or unique. Rather than fixate on whether or not what you did was “innovative,” if you’ve implemented something in your archives or special collections library that you think is effective and other people would be interested in, please send me a proposal.

In addition to this open call, I will also be soliciting case study proposals, so if you know of a person or project that you think would be good to include in these volumes on reference and outreach, please let me know about it so that I can follow up. Case study institutions are not have to limited to any specific type of archives or special collections, and are not limited to the U.S. only.

If you have any questions, I’m happy to answer them here on this post or via email. Please send any questions, proposals or suggestions for me  to follow up on to me at kate.theimer@gmail.com.

I’ll be putting out separate calls for proposals for the books on management and description, so if you want to participate in those books, stay tuned in the next few months.

Best regards,

Kate Theimer

Calling all Special Collections Librarians, Archivists and Museum Professionals Who Teach!

We seek submissions of innovative, hands-on classroom exercises utilizing primary sources for an upcoming Libraries Unlimited publication. The forthcoming book will provide cultural heritage professionals with adaptable, template-based class exercises—think of these as recipes that can be reused as is, or customized for multiple situations. We solicit your easy-to-adapt, creative exercises that includes a title, 2-5 learning objectives, intended audience, collections/materials/preparation required, description of the exercise mechanics or activity, and any assessment you've done.  We seek your submission by MARCH 30, 2013.

The exercises we want to include will teach lessons in "artifactual literacy" and/or "archival intelligence." Artifactual literacy refers to skills needed to interpret and analyze primary sources, including concepts such as: evaluating authenticity, understanding historical contextualization, identifying bias, understanding the physical object, and deducing original audience and purpose. Archival intelligence refers to skills needed to use archives and special collections, such as: finding aid usage, understanding what kinds of materials are held in archives and special collections, physical use and handling of collections, and searching for primary sources.

Exercises making use of any source types are welcome, including rare books, maps, manuscripts, ephemera, born digital, and even the unusual types we know you are working with (video games, natural history specimens, models, blueprints, comic books, graphic novels, LPs, floppy disks and hard drives).  The exercises may focus on teaching undergraduates or graduate students, or may be geared toward public outreach events, educating donors, our peers, and/or administrators. We want your creative and inventive exercises for K-12 class visits as well.

Co-editors Anne Bahde (Oregon State University), Heather Smedberg (UC San Diego), and Mattie Taormina (Stanford University) look forward to receiving your submissions. Please submit your exercise via our webform by MARCH 30, 2013:

http://tinyurl.com/8h6dr6o

We know you're doing wonderful things with students, and this is a great opportunity to share what you're been doing with colleagues around the country.

Sincerely,

Anne Bahde (anne.bahde AT oregonstate.edu)

Heather Smedberg (hsmedberg AT ucsd.edu)
Mattie Taormina (taormina AT stanford.edu)
Co-Editors, Using Primary Sources: Hands-On Instructional Exercises, Libraries Unlimited, to be published 2014