News

The Society of Southwest Archivists 2024 Virtual Annual Meeting is less than one month away and registration is open! The meeting will be held May 1 - 3, 2024 hosted on Zoom Events. The theme is “DO NOT DEPLETE: Creating Sustainable Solutions in LAMs.” This theme emphasizes sustainability in all its many forms. There are four main areas of sustainability - Human, Social, Economic, and Environmental - all of which are reflected in the archival and archives-adjacent professions.

We have an exciting program planned with pre-conference workshops, engaging educational sessions, social events, and will also have a virtual repository tour showcase spotlighting innovative collections storage methods and spotlight sustainability.

The Plenary Address will be delivered by Eira Tansey. Eira Tansey is an archivist, researcher, and consultant based in her hometown of Cincinnati/the Ohio River watershed. She is the founder of Memory Rising, which provides research, consulting, and archival services with expertise in climate change, environmental and labor movements, and Ohio Valley regional history.

We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone virtually! For more information about the 2024 Virtual Annual Meeting please visit: https://societyofsouthwestarchivists.wildapricot.org/annual-meeting-2024.

Questions? Contact: Melissa Gonzales or Kristine Robb, 2024 Local Arrangements Co-chairs

The Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists is offering a stipend of up to $6,000 for early professionals to participate in our Archives Fellowship Pilot Program. The purpose of this program is to support a more diverse field of applicants who wish to, or are curious about, embarking on a career in the archival field. Acknowledging that the archival field has high barriers to entry, including requiring an ability to complete substantial (and often unpaid) fieldwork and internships, this program is intended to allow early career professionals from underrepresented and marginalized communities to gain experience while also being paid appropriately for their work. In particular, the selection committee encourages Black, Indigenous and/or people of color (BIPOC) to apply.

This is a unique experience for a new professional to develop a project based on their goals and skills and work directly with an organization to determine the project’s scope, goals, and outcomes. Institutions in SRMA member states (CO and WY) will partner with a fellow to identify a project needing the fellow’s expertise and labor. The fellowship project may last up to sixteen non-continuous weeks, but must be completed within one year of selection. Work may be done onsite, remotely, or a combination of both, depending on the fellow’s availability, the project, and the needs of the partner institution. Hours worked should scale appropriately with the length and available stipend (e.g., part-time for 16 weeks), so as to guarantee a livable wage for the fellow. 

Dates: Application Open: February 1 - May 1, 2024

Notification: May 19

Project work: May 19,2024 - December 21, 2024 (within 16 weeks)

Full details can be found at the following link: https://www.srmarchivists.org/SRMA-Archives-Fellowship

The Digital POWRR team invites applications for the third of five upcoming in-person, 2.5 day digital preservation training institutes. The third Institute will be held June 5-7 at the Edmon Low Library at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Due to the generosity of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institutes are offered free of charge and travel stipends are available!

An ideal candidate for a POWRR institute fits some of these descriptions:

·         Someone who works directly with collections, including digital materials

·         Someone who has been exposed to basic digital preservation concepts, but struggles with moving from theory to practice

·         Someone who represents or serves historically underrepresented populations

·         Someone who is comfortable with basic technology (navigating a basic computing environment), but would benefit from instruction on more intermediate concepts

·         Someone employed by an institution unable to provide professional development funding adequate to attend other digital preservation training opportunities

·         Someone who would benefit from being a part of a small cohort of professionals like themselves, and who will put forth effort into sustaining these professional connections after the end of the Institute

For more details on the POWRR Institutes, please visit the following page: https://digitalpowrr.niu.edu/upcoming-events/

Apply here: https://forms.gle/eZPwzxLPCBXXTeDj7

Questions? Unable to apply via the Google Form link? Please contact us at digital.powrr.workshops@gmail.com for more information or further assistance.  

Application deadline: February 9, 2024

Applicants will be notified of application status by March 11, 2024

CIMA 2024 Annual Conference: Back to the Basics and into the Future! 

When: May 29, 2024 to June 1, 2024 

Where: Reno, Nevada, University of Nevada, Reno Libraries in the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center.

We are bringing it back to the basics and looking to the future for 2024 with a program focused on discussing core archival principles as well as innovative projects with an eye on the future! Session topics may include but certainly are not limited to workflows, processes, archival description, mentoring, outreach, relationship building, digitization, and beyond! 

Proposals for the following are encouraged:  

Pre-conference Workshops (Wednesday): 

• Workshops may be full-day (6 hours) or half-day (3 hours) 

Conference Sessions (Thursday/Friday): 

• Presentations may be 15, 30, or 60 minutes 

• Breakout rooms/roundtable discussions

• Informal hour-long discussions related to a particular theme 

• Submitting a proposal indicates your intention to lead the discussion 

• Poster sessions:

• Posters will be on display Thursday and Friday of the conference 

• Presenters should be available to discuss their posters with conference attendees during specified breaks 

Please submit your proposals here. Presenters can attend in person or present virtually.  

There is also a Google document where CIMA members can informally propose ideas and connect with other members who might be interested in presenting on the same or similar topic. 

The Program Committee has completed a tentative schedule, which includes workshops, dine-arounds, presentation sessions, keynote, posters, reception, breakout sessions, business meeting/awards luncheon, and tours. Stay tuned for more! 

Schedule:

• December 8, 2023: Submissions open

• February, 16 2024: Submissions close

• February 23, 2024: Presenters notified

• March 1, 2024: Sessions and conference schedule announced

Sincerely, 
Trent Purdy
CIMA President 

The Oral History Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) commemorated its 20th anniversary on October 23rd, 2023. At this evening event, UNLV Libraries presented a live oral history interview of the Center's Director, Claytee White. The interview was conducted by the Center's Projects Manager, Stefani Evans. In attendance was UNLV President, Keith Whitfield, Ph.D.; Vice President of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, Rickey N. McCurry; UNLV Dean of University Libraries, Maggie Farrell; UNLV Director of Special Collections & Archives, Sarah Quigley. The event was also attended by numerous friends and numerous colleagues, at the Beverly Theater in downtown, Las Vegas.

As the inaugural director of the Center (in 2003), Claytee White was tasked with developing a robust program for UNLV. Over the years, the Center has conducted 13 major projects, starting with the "Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project". An exhibit documenting these works is currently on display on the first floor of Lied Library, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Claytee White participated in the "All That Jazz: An Oral History Project" panel session during the 2014 CIMA Annual Conference in Carson City, NV.

In honor of the Oral History Research Center’s 20th Anniversary, the Libraries have launched a fundraising campaign to fund the work of the center in perpetuity. Gifts may be made through the UNLV Foundation. More information about the 20 Years of the UNLV Oral History Research Center is available at https://www.unlv.edu/news/article/story-collector-becomes-story.

The CIMA Education Committee is excited to announce the call for presentations for the CIMA Fall Caucus, scheduled to take place on 14 November 2023 from 1:00 to 5:00pm MT. The program will be presented virtually.

The theme for presentations is "Creative Solutions in Archives." We welcome submissions on the following topics, or any submissions that demonstrate innovation and originality in the application of archival principles. 

• Inter-departmental, institutional, or community collaboration
• Application of DEIA principles
• Ways to approach archival processing and backlogs
• Workflows and project management
• Crowd-sourcing, indexing, and metadata
• Managing electronic records
• Resource and budget management
• Student and intern projects
• Approaches to community outreach, especially coming back from the pandemic

We encourage all types of presentations, individual or group panel presentations. Individual panels would be in the range of 15-20 minutes. Group panels would be in the range of 30-45 minutes. If you have something to share with fellow archivists, please submit!

Submission deadline: Tuesday October 10th

Submission form: https://forms.gle/amqSPGJWk7fe32j67

Respectfully, CIMA Education Committee

The Digital POWRR team invites applications for the second of five upcoming in-person, 2.5 day digital preservation training institutes. The second Institute will be held January 3-5, 2024 at the University of Arizona’s Main Library in Tucson, Arizona. Due to the generosity of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institutes are offered free of charge and travel stipends are available!

An ideal candidate for a POWRR institute fits some of these descriptions:

·         Someone who works directly with collections, including digital materials

·         Someone who has been exposed to basic digital preservation concepts, but struggles with moving from theory to practice

·         Someone who represents or serves historically underrepresented populations

·         Someone who is comfortable with basic technology (navigating a basic computing environment), but would benefit from instruction on more intermediate concepts

·         Someone employed by an institution unable to provide professional development funding adequate to attend other digital preservation training opportunities

·         Someone who would benefit from being a part of a small cohort of professionals like themselves, and who will put forth effort into sustaining these professional connections after the end of the Institute

For more details on the POWRR Institutes, please visit the following page: https://digitalpowrr.niu.edu/upcoming-events/

Apply here: https://forms.gle/7ZfSSyN5DRyauaVW9

Questions? Unable to apply via the Google Form link? Please contact us at digital.powrr.workshops@gmail.com for more information or further assistance.  

Application deadline: September 1, 2023

Applicants will be notified of application status by October 2, 2023.

​​Cordially,

The Digital POWRR Team

Sarah Quigley and Michael Don Fraser from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) received a $75,000 Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant from the Nevada State Library, Archives and Public Records to update and modernize preservation and conservation equipment in the UNLV Libraries Special Collections & Archives. The new equipment will enable Special Collections and Archives to ensure appropriate long-term preservation for our rare and unique collections ensuring long term access for students and community. Quigley is the director of Special Collections and Archives and Fraser is the book and paper conservator in Special Collections & Collections. 

https://www.unlv.edu/news/accomplishments/sarah-quigley-michael-don-fraser

The Journal of Western Archives (JWA) is seeking submissions for an upcoming special issue on the following topic: Collection stewardship in the age of finite resources.

Articles for this special issue could be on any of the following subjects:

• Reappraisal
• Deaccessioning
• Donor relations and managing their expectations
• Changing collecting scopes and policies – from collecting anything to being more selective
• Managing/reimagining collection space
• Innovations in collections management
• Types of works considered:
• Research articles
• Case studies
• Work-in-progress articles

If you are interested in contributing to this special issue, please submit a draft through the JWA website at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/submit.cgi?context=westernarchives.

Submissions received before October 1st, 2023, will be considered for publication in this special issue, which will be published on the JWA website in early 2024. If you have any questions, please contact JWA managing editor, Ryan Lee at ryan_lee@byu.edu.

Journal of Western Archives is a peer reviewed, open access, online journal, that gives archivists, manuscript curators, and graduate students in the American West a place to publish on topics of particular interest and relevance to them. To learn more about the journal and our policies and submission guidelines, please take a moment and visit the JWA website at: http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/westernarchives.

The Journal of Western Archives is seeking a new managing editor. The managing editor is responsible for the overall quality of the intellectual content of the journal and works closely with the editorial board to ensure that the needs of the professional community (including the journal’s four regional sponsors) in the western United States are met. If you are interested in this position, please submit a CV and a letter of interest to journal director Gordon Daines at gordon_daines@byu.edu by Tuesday September 5th , 2023 at 5:00 pm MST. The successful applicant will assume their duties on January 1st, 2023 and receive a yearly honorarium of $500.00. The initial term will be for three years with the opportunity to renew once.

JWA job announcement - J Gordon Daines.pdf