Another introduction and National History Day mentoring

Since this is my first post, I'll start with a quick introduction. My name is Jessica Miller and, along with Ben, I am one of this year's RAO section interns. I graduated from Wayne State University's School of Library and Information Science in December and am currently working in my first professional position as a project archivist in Chicago.

I recently had the opportunity to volunteer as a student mentor for the Chicago Metro History Fair. The program allows Chicago area 6^th through 12^th grade students to conduct original historical research and enter their final products into a local competition. Students are not required to adhere to the National History Day theme, but winners whose projects do so advance to the state and possibly national levels.

Because I volunteered for the fair as a whole and was not affiliated with a particular repository, my experience was probably a bit different than what many of you may be seeing at your institutions. I was a bit nervous at first since I have no teaching experience and haven’t spent much time with students of that age. I hope my experience can help to alleviate fears anyone may have about working with younger students.

I was assigned to assist students with their research at the Chicago Public Library’s main branch on Sunday afternoons. Over the course of three weekends I worked with about ten students, most of whom were in grades 6 through 10. They were in varying stages of the research process—some needed help formulating their theses, some needed help locating secondary source background material, and others were ready to begin visiting special collections and archives and needed information on how to go about doing so. Unfortunately, CPL’s special collections reading room is closed on Sundays, so I didn’t get to work with any students in that setting. I was able to refer a few students to local repositories and explain a bit about the archival research process, though.

I found that I was amazed at the caliber of work students in this age group were doing, especially since my most vivid memories of 8^th grade history are fill-in-the-blank dittos and U.S. map quizzes. History Fair students’ topics included a Civil War prisoner camp near Chicago, the Special Olympics (which originated in Chicago!), feminism in the 1960s, and how the 1893 World’s Fair impacted and included women. The research technique I showed students the most was how to check footnotes, photo captions, and endnotes to find additional sources. A few students found CPL’s newspaper databases to be helpful, especially if PDF images of articles were available.

Although my experience was more library based than archives based, I hope it might help convince folks who are nervous or on the fence about NHD to take the plunge. I think it is also worth noting that few of the students I met were aware of the wealth of archival resources available available in the area, and I wonder whether it is feasible or desirable to reach out to them a bit more.

I’m glad to have had the chance to dip my toes into NHD/History Fair activities and I can say with confidence that I’ll be back next year.

A is for ????

How do you define Access (as in Reference, Access and Outreach)?

During the breakout discussions at SAA, this question came up for the RAO mission discussion and it's come up in several email conversations. Do we have a clear enough definition of access to keep the word in our title?

While I'm writing this in part because all the RAO board members have committed to writing blog entries, I really interested in the question and generating some comments.

A recent opportunity on my campus to be part of a multi-disciplinary panel series around the concept of memory (how different disciplines define and work with it), I was reflecting on the inherent politics of archives - who gets to control information --what is gathered and who has access? Those questions generated a fair amount of interest from historians and psychologists.

But are they of interest to the members of our Section? What is your definition of access? If you were to design a workshop around access, what would the content be?
Is it about who gets to use materials? and what barriers still exist or or being created with digital access?
or addressing physical barriers (ADA compliance issues)?
Is it about description - generating more access points, more subject headings?

How does it relate to or differ from Reference and Outreach - is it already implicit in those activities?

I'll add my reflections in a later post, but I want to start with questions and the conviction that RAO members will want to chime in on these questions - so hit that comment button and share your thoughts and definitions and experiences!

Jan Blodgett

National History Day Committee Volunteers: Back on the Road Again

The Reference, Access, and Outreach (RAO) Section of the Society of American Archivists is seeking enthusiastic volunteers to join the section's National History Day Committee. Volunteers are not required to be members of the section and archivists with varying levels of experience with National History Day including as archivists, judges, or participants are encouraged to participate.

Members of RAO have been engaged in National History Day (NHD) for some time (see the RAO website and the most recent issue of the RAO newsletter for more information). The NHD Committee is charged with sharing information about and advocating for NHD amongst archivists and archival repositories, the NHD organization, and NHD participants. Potential activities of the NHD Committee include: disseminating information to the archival community; reviewing resources of potential use to archivists; compiling bibiliography for and from archivists participating in NHD; exploring and fostering collaborations with other groups; and others.

Expressions of interest should be sent to NHD Comittee co-chair Doris Malkmus (djm51@psu.edu). In particular, anyone interested in developing its online presence for archivists and educators is encouraged to join.

An introduction and podcasts

Hi everybody! My name is Ben Bromley and I am one of the RAO interns for this year. I'm a graduate student at the School of Information and Library Science at UNC, and I'll be graduating in May. My goal for writing on this blog is to try and find some of the cool things that archives are doing to promote and provide access to their materials.

Podcasts are audio broadcasts delivered via an RSS feed or through a website. You can listen to them on your computer, or you can listen to them on a digital audio player, such as an iPod or a Zune. There are usually presented in episode format and are published on a regular basis.

There are two primary types of archival podcasts: podcasts that contain digitized audio material from their collections and podcasts of new material that are created by archives in order to promote materials, talk about events, and other similar things. Often, both of these types of podcasts are combined. Here is a short list of archival podcasts that are available online.

• Presidential Libaries Uncovered: A podcast from the National Archives and Records Administration which takes recorded audio of presidents from Hoover through Clinton talking about major policy initiatives, giving major speeches, or talking informally with friends and advisors. Recent episodes include Nixon talking about his 1972 trip to China, John F. Kennedy creating the Peace Corps, and Lyndon B. Johnson talking about his Great Society.

• The Virtual Gramophone: A podcast from the Library and Archives of Canada which features digitized recordings of 78-rpm records and wax cylinders from their collections.

• Podcasts from the Los Alamos Historical Society: A podcast from the Los Alamos Historical Society which primarily focuses on the Manhattan Project, nuclear technology, the Cold War, and (surprisingly enough) ranching.

• Collections Up Close: A podcast from the Minnesota Historical Society which “tells the stories behind selected items in the Minnesota Historical Society's collections.”

• Podcasts from the National Archives of the United Kingdom: This podcast “features a mix of lectures from top academics specifically aimed at pupils alongside radio-style investigations of historical topics using primary documents from the National Archives read by actors.”

• Kansas Memory Podcast: This podcast features the stories of people from Kansas, both famous and not, as told through their letters, diaries, and other documents.

• What Endures...: This podcast from the LSU Libraries Special Collections T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History features updates on Center projects and activities as well as featuring audio excerpts from their collections.

RLG draft report on digital cameras in the reading room

Thanks to Kate Theimer and ArchivesNext for this information:

"Capture and Release": Digital Cameras in the Reading Room
Lisa Miller, Steven Galbraith, and members of the RLG Working Group on Streamlining Photography and Scanning [forthcoming in February 2010]


As Kate notes, this report contains an overview of current practice, guidelines concerning use of digital cameras in your reading room, copyright law, and adaptable forms.

It’s a good bet that the working group would be interested in comments on the draft from RAO members. Send ‘em in! (http://www.oclc.org/research/feedback/form.asp)

-- Kathy Marquis

Top Ten Tips for getting involved in NHD Activities

National History Day may be not be until June but many students are already beginning work on projects. Students and teachers are preparing for the state and local History Day competitions that will start soon. How can you support these students? Here are ten suggestions for you…..

1. Visit the National History Day website <http://nhd.org/> to learn this year’s theme (Innovation in History), learn more about the contest, see sample topics, see the kinds of projects students and do and the criteria used for judging these projects.

2. Talk to other archivists in your community about their involvement in History Day activities. Consider working together to develop a program to support students and teachers participating in History Day activities.

3. Serve as a mentor. Students may need help locating beneficial resources and may nervous about using archives or other information resources. Help them find the resources they need and be available to review their project and help them prepare for the competition.

4. Add information about History Day to your repository website. Include a list of archival terms and their definitions, provide information on the rules and regulations for your repository and give information on collections or other resources that might support student’s topics.

5. Write an article for your community newspaper or for your school district’s teacher newsletter letting readers know about your repository, your hours and how you can support students and teachers participating in History Day.

6. Provide additional support to History Day students. Offer to wave fees to those students participating in History Day programs. Open on a few Saturdays or evenings to provide students who may not be able to come in during regular business hours an opportunity to use your resources.

7. Offer to speak either at a faculty meeting or a Parent-Teacher Association meeting about your repository and how you can support National History Day or other kinds of educational programming.

8. Serve as an advocate for History Day activities. Encourage community leaders and government representatives on the local, state and national level to support History Day activities and the archival repositories that support these activities.

9. Offer a workshop at your repository for students and teachers working on History Day projects. Provide an opportunity for participants to learn about your repository, how to do research in archives, how to use historical documents and provide time for them do their own research at the end of the repository.

10. Volunteer to be a judge. Even if you can’t get to the national competition in College Park, Maryland, the state and local competitions need judges. Contact your state coordinator to learn more. You can find the list of state coordinators at http://nhd.org/Coordinators.htm.

23 Things for RAO Section Members

Would you like to explore and expand your knowledge of the Internet and social media? Are you wondering how archivists are using Web 2.0 tools and how you might too? The Reference, Access, and Outreach Section invites you to participate in its pilot offering of 23 Things for section members beginning January 19, 2009, and continuing for 12 weeks. Participants will be introduced to and required to use blogs, wikis, photo and video sharing, social networking, and other tools. Participants will be assigned to a mentor who has experience using Web 2.0 tools who will offer guidance and support. You will share your experiences and reflections with other participants via a blog established for that purpose.

No previous experience with social media is required, but a willingness to try each of the tools, share your impressions and experience with other participants, and share feedback after the pilot is complete is required. While there is no fee for this opportunity, advance registration by January 13 is required by contacting Kate Theimer at kate.theimer@gmail.com.

The original “23 Things” (“Learning 2.0”) was developed by Helene Blowers for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County as a way to encourage employees to explore and expand their knowledge of the Internet and Web 2.0 by having them do “23 things.”