Hive Mind #2 – Spring Cleaning recap

This post comes courtesy of Steering Committee member Holly Rose McGee. Other members currently on the I&A Steering Committee include: Danielle Simpkins, Burkely Hermann, Caitlin Rizzo, Sheridan Sayles, Liz Call, and Claire Gordon.

It’s April and spring cleaning is top of mind, both in our homes and perhaps in our collections. The Hive Mind gathered in mid-April to discuss Deaccessioning and Reappraisal. The conversation was led by SAA Issues & Advocacy Vice Chair Liz Call and Steering Committee member Sheridan Sayles. Our two main conversation points were “Successful strategies for building Reappraisal and Deaccessioning workflows” and “Advocacy around deaccessioning, both internally and externally, and success stories.” It was another great meeting of minds and transfer of ideas and experiences, and there were requests for the resources mentioned by the group. I have tried to condense the main takeaways and shared links in this post. Please feel free to add to the conversation in the comments below.

Challenges:

• Wanting to deaccession something that was actively acquired by previous staff but no longer fits the collection. Especially tricky if it is from a donor and wasn’t a purchased acquisition.
• When co-workers give pushback and are not onboard with deaccessioning or reappraisal.
• In state institutions, accessioned items become State property. Makes deaccessioning more complex.
• Tracking down heirs of donors, if the original donor is deceased or no longer accessible.
• People dumpster diving and re-donating items or questioning the repository on why the item was thrown away

Tools and things that help:

• Language for accessioning something found in the collection but that has no paper trail within the Archives: FIC – “Found In Collection”
• Having a collection policy
• Reviewing incompletely processed collections (can help weed collections that are out of scope, and a fully processed collection may free up shelf space)

Disposal: A challenge that has its own problems. Here are some helpful ways to work with it.

• In the case of books, even rare books, start with a WorldCat search, just to see what’s out there in libraries.
• Also check free, digitized repositories online such as Hathi, Google, the Internet Archive, and the Getty Portal.
• Reach out to other departments within your institution: perhaps it doesn’t fit your collection policy but might be of use elsewhere. For instance, weeded books from circulation might be of interest to the Rare Books department. Or published books in an archival collection could be passed to Circulation.
• Research if other institutions hold the copyright and therefore have it in their collection so you can let yours go (example: VHS tapes of Riverdance held by an archive not associated with the creation of it.)
• Reach out to other institutions who might have an interest in the material you are deaccessioning. Keep copies of the “reach out” communications in the control files, which should also include the final disposition of the item.
• Some larger institutions have a department that handles destruction/disposal that you can contact before taking any action yourself.
• Stamp things like books with a WITHDRAWN stamp, even before disposing.
• Document the item being deaccessioned. Might want to take a digital photo or scan of the item to keep in the control files.
• Some institutions are permitted to put their deaccessioned rare books up for bid, provided that they don’t have any institutional markings in them.
• Disposal specifically of plaques:
  • Cover them with googly eyes and duct tape to avoid people fishing them out of the garbage and re-donating them
  • Disassemble, send metal pieces to a metal recycling facility, give wood to people who can reuse it.
  • Someone found a local trophy shop that would recycle and reuse old plaques

Good practices:

• Use the SAA Guidelines for Reappraisal and Deaccessioning. Elizabeth Russell of the SAA Technical Subcommittee on Reappraisal and Deaccessioning joined the conversation and said that committee is responsible for maintaining the guidelines and making revisions as needed. She said that if you use the guidelines during a project, to please feel free to contact the committee members with feedback.
• Go to your administration for support with reappraisal and deaccessioning.
• Revisit or create the Collection Development Policy: Include the things you don’t accept, so donors won’t be surprised when these things are deaccessioned/returned to them, especially plaques.
• Work interdepartmentally on guidelines for the repository, so that everyone is on the same page.
• Be clear and transparent in the Deed of Gift and make it a topic of discussion with the donor. Make sure donors understand this before the transaction is complete. Include an option where if the institution decides not to keep something, the donor can choose to have it returned or discarded. Also include in the language that if no living donors or heirs are reached or in the absence of a deed of gift agreement, that the archivist will use their best professional judgement to deaccession appropriately.
• When returning an item to a donor, make it a certified letter with return receipt.

Feelings:

• Overwhelm!
• The politics of trashcans in academic campuses
• PLAQUES! We could probably do an entire session on them.
• New motto (courtesy of Liz Call): I am not a dusty closet!

Links!

Resources:

https://www2.archivists.org/sites/all/files/GuidelinesForReappraisalDeaccessioning_2017.pdf

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538116005/Reappraisal-and-Deaccessioning-in-Archives-and-Special-Collections

https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/Deaccessioning-and-disposal-guide.pdf

https://rbml.acrl.org/index.php/rbml/article/viewFile/138/138

 

Further topical reading:

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/whitney-museum-american-art-edward-hopper-deaccession-1234664840/

https://www.semshred.com/data-destruction-and-the-environment/

 

Free digitized collections online:

https://www.hathitrust.org/

https://books.google.com/

https://archive.org/

https://portal.getty.edu/

 

It was a fabulous discussion, and we had a great turn-out, from people well-versed in deaccessioning to those who have never even considered it. Participants ranged from students to Lone Arrangers to archivists within sprawling institutions and corporate repositories. At the end of the meeting, we discussed the possibility of a theme for the next Hive Mind meet-up: the environmental impact of Digital Archives as well as that of deaccessioning both physical and digital collections. For example, magnetic tapes can be recycled for base elements but there is no repurposing use for CD-ROMs. Interested? Join us for the next Hive Mind!

April 26, 2023May 12, 2024 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Hive Mind, News from I&ATags: academia, appraisal, books, compact disks, deaccessioning, deeds of gift, donations, donors, dumpsters, environmental degradation, environmental sustainability, Googlization, government property, HathiTrust, Internet Archive, lone arrangers, magnetic tapes, reappraisal, videotapes, WorldCat 1 Comment

Archivists on the Issues: Fictional Archivists Out in the Open

Archivists on the Issues is a forum for archivists to discuss the issues we are facing today. Today’s post comes from Burkely Hermann, Metadata Librarian for the National Security Archive and current I&A Blog Coordinator. There will be spoilers for each of the books, animated series, films, and other media he will be discussing.

Eight archivists-of-sorts in fiction. Top row, from left to right: Archie the Archivist (Regular Show), Jocasta Nu (Star Wars), Sunati (Always Human), Russ (Be Cool, Scooby Doo!). Bottom row from left to right: Unnamed archivist / records clerk (My Dictator Boyfriend), Atropos (Lore Olympus), Clotho (Lore Olympus), and Clark (Joker)

In January 2018, Cate Peebles wrote about examples of archives in popular culture, specifically in true crime documentaries. In her post, on this blog, she argued that archivists are missing in “moments of recognition” and said that representations of actual archivists are “few and far between”. She concluded that no popular image of an archivist exists, but that archivists are “more present than ever” even if unseen, adding that “without records and their keepers, there are no stories to tell.” In this article, I’d like to highlight some examples of fictional archivists that I’ve come across through the years, especially since starting my WordPress blog on the subject.

For one, there are some characters who who merge characters of archivists and librarians. This includes a reference librarian who manages a Yale University Library room which combines elements of archives and libraries into one institution in Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) and a character who is almost an archivist, named Archie the Archivist (voiced by John Cygan) in Regular Show. In the latter case, Archie works in a library and becomes a guardian to protect analog data, which could have some parallels to archivists as keepers of information.

Similarly, there’s Madame Jocasta Nu in Star Wars, specifically in Attack of the Clones and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. She is played by Alethea McGrath in the film and voiced by Flo Di Re in the animated series. Madame Nu is described as a librarian and archivist, but seems to manage a library-archives hybrid known as the Jedi Archives, within the Jedi Temple. She is best-known for declaring, in Attack of the Clones, that “if an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist,” an arrogant and untrue statement which ignores reality of archives as memory institutions and their role in society. Madame Nu differs fundamentally from the unnamed librarian in the dark, haunting Thatcher Memorial Library shown in a scene of Citizen Kane (1941). The librarian in the latter has been described as one of the world’s meanest archivists. Played by Georgia Backus, she has her hair tied up in a bun and has “an intimidating stare on her face”, acting as a “real dragon lady at the gates of knowledge.” This is not the type of archives you want to go to! It is not the image which should be projected.

There are various archivists, of sorts, in other media. For instance, in the webcomic, Always Human, Rae, a friend of the protagonist, Sunati, dreams of becoming an archivist and fulfills this dream during the run of the comic. More directly, an episode of Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, entitled “Silver Scream”, features Russ, a young film archivist who works in a film archive room and is a bit eccentric. Other archivists appear in issues of the popular webcomic Lore Olympus in 1980s style dress, helping characters who request records about their past memories, or in the webcomic My Dictator Boyfriend. In the latter case, the archivist/records clerk is manipulated to write a birth form for the ruler’s wife, Anna, even though the son isn’t even born! [1]

There are other prominent depictions. For one, there is a records clerk, named Clark (played by by Brian Tyree Henry), who brings out a medical hospital record for Arthur Fleck in Joker (2019). However, Fleck, who later becomes the Joker, steals the record from the clerk because he hasn’t filled out the appropriate paperwork to take the file with him. Then there’s the well-known depiction of a classy archivist named Abigail Chase (played by Diane Kruger) who appears in National Treasure (2004) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007). It is a depiction which has been oft discussed by archivists. Archivists also make an appearance in former webcomics like Power Ballad, and currently running ones like Brimstone and Roses.

There are many more examples, like supposed newspaper archivist (and former newspaper reporter) in the animated series, Stretch Armstrong, who has a newspaper archives in his basement. He declares in one episode, “some say I’m packrat, archivist I say!” Even The Simpsons has a character who runs the Springfield Historical Society, in the episode “Lisa the Iconoclast” which could be called an archivist. Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, otherwise known as Tangled: The Series, features, along with other archivy themes, a keeper of a museum, known as The Spire, named Calliope (voiced by Natalie Palamides). She is a scholar who does magic tricks and has a messy library. Most recently, a character named Arizal (voiced by Christine Marine Cabanos) is the protagonist of Recorded by Arizal. She puts together vlogs explaining why she wants to be a record keeper, often another name for an archivist.

However, very few, if any, of these archivists have any professional training. Furthermore, some are archivists in name only, or are confused with librarians. Current fictional depiction of archivists is not very positive. After all, there are even books that depict archivists are villains, or others in which archivists which rarely appear. [2] While there are recent webcomics like Vowrune, Fluidium, and Don’t Look at the Sky which feature archives, none of them depict archivists. There has not been, that I’m aware of, any characters which accurately depict an archivist. Surely, there is prevalence of archival source material in “popular recent true crime docuseries” like The Keepers, The Jinx, and Making a Murderer as Cate Peebles noted in 2018, but no archivists.

Often scholars have focused on the role of Star Wars when it comes to depictions of archives, and archivists. [3] Others, such as Gianni Penzo Doria, director of State Archives of Venice, have gone broader, noting archival themes in many films, such as Brazil (1985), Blade (1998), Julie & Julia (2009), Fail Safe (1964), Philadelphia (1993), and Erin Brockovitch (2000). Doria further argued that role of the archivist is lost in common perceptions, with “boring old stereotypes” and “poor visibility” of archives, with archivists becoming caricatures, rather than protagonists. He also states that in film archives are only respected when they are seen as a “sacred place” which preserves “memory of its creator and guarantees accountability and citizens’ rights”, but that archivists are not shown in those films. [4] In the preface to Doria’s book, Micaela Procaccia, president of National Association of Italian Archives (ANAI), urged archivists to make an effort to “spread awareness of the central role of their work and their professional skills in society.” His words ring true.

Others have rightly noted that many of the depictions of archivists “reinforce stereotypes that surround the profession”, including in National Treasure. Nuances in the archival field are often lost in popular depictions. Kyle Neill, a Senior Archivist at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives, has focused on this in his posts on such depictions over the years, as have others. [5] Additional scholars have focused on reel archivists and themes of records, and archives, in espionage fiction. In the case of the former, this included arguments that film images of archivists can be negative to archivists and a risk to the profession, causing negative effects on archival professional identity and may result in potential researchers having “negative connotations about archives and archivists.” For the latter, in such fiction, information is power, with stories often stating that documentation can reconstruct someone’s personal identity and career, and compiling a large amount of information to learn about their enemy, while events and personal information are intertwined. Unsurprisingly, in such stories, archives are shown as repositories of institutional memory, even if they do not focus on the dilemmas that archivists face when torn between their duty to their employer and their duty to society. [6]

Additional scholars have reviewed films, novels, and TV series, finding common themes. Karen Buckley, in fall 2008, argued that these popular culture medium had stories, with archives and records, which equated protection of truth to protection of a record, made archival experiences interior and archival spaces closed, had lost or buried archives, or stated that information within records centers around “the search for self or truth.” This inevitably leads into a strong division between real and fictional archives. [7] Arlene Schumland went further, studying images of archives and archivists “based on a reading of 128 novels”, examining how these novels disseminate and perpetuate “many stereotypes of the archival profession.” Others followed suit, examining issues surrounding the “image and stereotypes of archivists as presented in films”, and arguing that archivists in those films “follow generally accepted stereotypes.”

While archives, and archivists, continue to be portrayed poorly, and inaccurately, in fiction, in Star Wars and beyond, it remains important for archivists to tell the truth about the profession. This can, and should, go hand-in-hand with fights for unionization, better working conditions, and recognition, in order to make clear that archival work remains vital in this day and age.

Notes

[1] Hermann, Burkely. “Libraries, records, and Kore: Archives on Mount Olympus.” Wading Through the Cultural Stacks, Nov. 28, 2020; Hermann, Burkely. “Popular culture and the duties of archivists.” Wading Through the Cultural Stacks, Feb. 27, 2021; Hermann, Burkely. “Evil Anna and How I Learned to Love Archival Manipulation.” Wading Through the Cultural Stacks, Apr. 3, 2021.

[2] This includes archivists in the webcomics Heirs of the Veil and Leif & Thorn. There’s also a librarian named Emily Quackfaster who appears in an episode of DuckTales but works in a library. If you squinted, you could see Theoda and Pothina, who are two researchers who work at the Savior Institute, in Cleopatra in Space, as archivists, or George and Lance in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. There’s also Mystique, otherwise known as Raven Darkhölme, who lost contact with her friend Destiny (also known as Irene Adler), who she found “working as an archivist in the Alamogordo nuclear research facilities in New Mexico.” Additionally, a solo archivist / lone arranger named Filis appears in bonus material for the live-action TV series, Ultraman Taiga, while multiple episodes of Vatican Miracle Examiner feature an archivist.

[3] Personally, I have been focusing on Star Wars more myself, with recent posts positing that R2-D2 may be an accidental archivist, restricted records and record seizure in Star Wars Rebels, and an upcoming post about an archivist, in name only, in Star Wars Crimson Reign. There were also category on Wookieepedia for “archivists” in Star Wars, although it is hard to know how many are actually archivists.

[4] Doria, Gianna Penzo. Asterix, the Others, and the Archives: The Cinema perception of the archival profession (Bolgana, Italy: Filodiritto, 2022), 7, 16, 30, 32-39, 46-47, 52-58, 76.

[5] “Archivists in the Movies.” Dispatches from the Field, Aug. 4, 2006; “Thankful Archivist.” New Archivist, Nov. 24, 2009; Eagan, Daniel. “Film vs. Digital: Archivists Speak Out.” Smithsonian, May 2, 2012; “Badass Archivists in Television and Movies: a Really Short List.” The Society of American Archivists – UW Madison Student Chapter, Oct. 27, 2013; Lucy, Catherine. “A Critical Response to The Archivist (2015).” Solo, May 3, 2018. There are additional archivists who focused on archival themes in Paddington (2014) and use of archival records in comic books.

[6] Anne Daniel and Amanda Oliver. “Seeking an Identity: The Portrayal of Archivists in Film.” Archives Society of Alberta Conference, Spring 2014; Gillis, Peter. “Of Plots, Secrets, Borrowers, and Moles: Archives in Espionage Fiction.” Archivaria 9 (1979-80): 1, 5-8, 12-13. On page 13, Gillis writes that archivists have to temper a desire for secrecy and suppression with “the needs of research and scholarship”.

[7] Buckley, Karen. “‘The Truth is in the Red Files’: An Overview of Archives in Popular Culture.” Archivaria 66 (2008): 95-123.

March 8, 2023March 14, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Archivists on the IssuesTags: animation, anime, archives profession, Brazil (film), CIA, Citizen Kane, classified records, comic books, films, lone arrangers, National Security Archive, National Treasure, popular culture, spies, Star Wars, Tangled, television, TV series, webcomics 1 Comment

Archivists on the Issues: Building a Community of Loners

Archivists on the Issues is a forum for archivists to discuss the issues we are facing today. Today’s post comes from Joanna Black, the Digital Archivist at the Sierra Club’s William E. Colby Memorial Library.

When graduating with my MLIS about nine years ago — deep in the trenches of the economic recession — I had a very difficult time breaking into the professional archives world. Applications went out, nothing came back. I felt disheartened, inadequate, unprepared, and increasingly isolated. Amidst these difficult feelings, I recalled the guidance of the wise whose voices rang out in my ear, “Network! Connect! Participate!” So I did what my introverted self was so hesitant to do: I reached out. I joined the SAA mentoring program and the Society of California Archivists Publications Committee. I started an archives-focused blog (very outdated now) to discuss issues in the field. I set up informational interviews at collecting institutions. I helped friends and family tackle their own archives. I did anything I could to get my foot in the door and move my career forward.

I eventually snagged a job. And a few year later, another, and another. As my professional experiences expanded, so too did my instincts for archival practice. So when I was thrown into a lone arranger position without notice, I wasn’t entirely unprepared. “You’ve got good instincts,” my colleague and friend Marjorie Bryer once told me, “you’ll make the right decisions.” But being a lone arranger can be difficult and, well, lonely. YOU make the decisions. YOU endure the consequences. YOU advocate for yourself. And although our professional organizations do provide some support, it is hard to resist falling victim to imposter syndrome from time to time.

 

At the Society of California Archivists (SCA) annual general meeting this last April, I attended a wonderful session called “Solution Room: Archivist at Work / as Workers.” As part of the session, participants identified one of five key topics listed on the screen and broke into groups to discuss the one that resonated with them most. Topics ranged from wages and working conditions to supporting a more diverse profession. Although all the topics were significant, I was personally drawn to Group 1: Communities of Support which asked, “How can we create communities of support, and find common cause? How can SCA support archivists working in isolation?” Our small group burst with ideas for creating more communities of support within our profession, such as establishing an SCA mentoring program, providing a “helpline” for lone arrangers to call if a question comes up, and coordinating virtual and in-person meet ups for lone arrangers to support one another. As the session ended, I felt grateful knowing I was not alone and professional organizations want to do more to support lone arranger archivists. I felt grateful knowing that there is a larger dialog taking place about the need for community building in the archival profession. The implications of networking go so much farther than just snagging a job; they also ensure that once we have a job we’re able to sustain it.

Cultivating relationships with other archivists outside our institutions can be a form of survival for lone arrangers. When we have a problem, we can ask someone who has solved it before. When we are pushed to the brink of what we can accomplish on a shoestring budget, we can lean on our colleagues for support. When we feel like frauds, our archivist colleagues dispel that falesy and remind us of our worth. Especially for lone arrangers, being part of a “community of loners” can provide camaraderie and shared experience within an otherwise isolated environment.

When I pushed my shy, naive self to network with colleagues after graduating all those years ago, I thought the point was to gain employment. I didn’t realize I was also cultivating friendships that I would one day rely on for professional growth and support. I didn’t realize that by engaging with other professionals, I was laying the groundwork for my future membership in a community of lone arrangers.

For archivists, jobs can be few and far between. We may not choose to be lone arrangers but nonetheless find ourselves in that position at some point in our career. As if advocating for our work is not hard enough, doing so alone can feel near impossible. But having a professional community to lean on helps alleviate some of these challenges and provides a sense of connectedness. Belonging to a community is such an essential element of life outside of work, why not do more to establish them within our careers? If we can be advocates for our colleagues, those outside of the profession will begin to know our value too.

 

May 29, 2019June 22, 2022 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Archivists on the IssuesTags: archival labor, archives profession, lone arrangers, mentoring, Wikipedia 2 Comments

Steering Share from Ruth Slagle

Steering Sharesare an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of I&A committee member Ruth Slagle, the Instruction and Outreach Librarian at the Baptist College of Florida.

 

What is your favorite thing about your job or the archives profession?

The variety! Well I might have a plan for the week, but it always changes. Currently, I do not work in an archive, but I emphasize with lone arrangers because I am solo librarian. The past 6 months has been a whirlwind of change for me since becoming a solo librarian and a natural disaster misplacing the library into another building. In my current position, I am multiple departments rolled into one, perks of working at a small school. I have enjoyed consulting with the archives on campus and giving advice on standards. For the future, I look forward to working with students and connecting with others.

What made you want to join the I&A Steering Committee?

As a member of the committee, I would like to take away useful strategies and methods for further advocating the presence of archives in our society and local influences. As a newer member and professional, I want to connect with other archivists in this section and gain a ready knowledge of best practices.

What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?

Education. In light of the recent Hurricane Michael, which affected the library where I work, it has become more obvious to me the importance of advocacy. Salvaging our collection and workflow has only happened because of myself advocating for the library and its employees. This past fall, I taught an Archives Management course for undergraduates. My teaching experience, taught me the importance of educating non-archival users. By opening their eyes to the archival world. I would love to teach again because the diversity the archival profession opens so many doors to users. As an archivist and librarian, I am my own advocate working with students and faculty. Without archivists, advocating our field, how will the world know our value?

January 11, 2019November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archives profession, climate change, disaster preparedness, Interviews, lone arrangers, patrons Leave a comment

Steering Share from Sara DeCaro

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of I&A committee member, Sara DeCaro, University Archivist and Old Castle Museum Director at Baker University Library.

What is your favorite thing about your job or the archives profession?

There are some great things about being a “lone arranger” at a small private college. I have a lot of control over what we collect and projects we choose to take on. I also have a good idea of where the gaps are in representation, and I can actively take steps to fill in those gaps. I noticed, for example, that we don’t have a lot of records from student organizations on campus. These can be a very rich source of information because student organizations often form to meet the needs of historically marginalized groups; that was definitely the case when our African-American student group formed here in the 1970s. I’ve had conversations with them and our fairly new LGTBQIA group about future donations, and the response has been positive.

What made you want to join the I&A Steering Committee?

Archives and archivists, generally speaking, seem to be chronically underfunded and viewed as somehow lesser, or not essential. I’m really tired of that, and I want to do something about it. I know that’s a broad statement, but even if this is just a small thing I can do to enact change, it’s important to me.

What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?

Diversity and inclusion, in both our collections and employment practices. I think one of the most basic things we can do as a society to correct years of injustice towards marginalized people is to make sure their legacies are preserved. Labor issues are also very important to me; I often feel that wages for archivists don’t reflect the level of training and education we have.

December 5, 2018November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archives profession, Black history, inclusion, Interviews, LGBTQ+, lone arrangers, racial diversity Leave a comment

Archivists on the Issues: Digital Accessibility in the Archives

Archivists on the Issues is a forum for archivists to discuss the issues we are facing today. Today’s post comes from a new regular writer for I&A’s blog, Lindy Smith, Reference Archivist at Bowling Green State University’s Music Library and Bill Schurk Sound Archives.

Archivists spend a lot of time discussing, working on, and agonizing over outreach. We want people to know we exist and are doing the important work of providing access to documents, objects, and files that tell the stories of history. But once we meet that elusive goal of getting people to interact with us, what are we doing to make sure that experience is open to all potential users equally? By focusing on getting people in the door or clicking like, we may overlook the different abilities, experiences, and expectations our patrons bring to these interactions.

In this first of three posts, I will discuss improving digital access. I’m not an expert in this area, but I take accessibility very seriously and am working to educate myself and improve. My library has recently formed a task force to examine all our digital properties; being involved in that work has been a great learning experience. I’ve only scratched the surface in the great literature out there. I encourage you to do your own research and start making small changes locally. They can make a huge difference for users as well as increase potential audiences. We may have a tendency to think primarily of issues facing computer users with visual impairments, but the A11y Project reminds us that there are four categories to consider in making content accessible: visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive.

Existing standards can help prioritize changes. First is Section 508, a 1998 amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. If you work for the federal government, you’re probably familiar with this as it’s required for all federal agencies to meet these requirements. Some state and government institutions also require that employees meet these standards when creating web content. The other major standard is Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a body that sets global standards for web content. Section 508 was updated earlier this year to better address new technology, WCAG 2.0, and other global standards.

Websites

Your collection’s website can be a great place to start since websites are a relatively finite and static collection of pages. Many of the principles applied to your website can be carried over into other digital content.

If your archives is part of a larger institution, your local IT and accessibility services departments can be great allies in making these improvements and they may be able to provide additional information and training based on local infrastructure. Chances are they’ll be delighted to help you be proactive in setting up good, accessible websites rather than reactively making changes when someone makes a complaint.  If you’re a lone arranger or working in a small archives, you can find lots of helpful information online and there may also be local resources in your community that you can take advantage of.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, there are tools like Siteimprove or WebAIM’s WAVE that can help you identify potential accessibility issues on web pages. They scan pages for situations that look like they might cause problems for your users so you can review them and make fixes as necessary.

Additional Resources

• Introduction to Web Accessibility (W3C)
• How to Meet WCAG 2.0 (W3C)
• Accessibility Basics (usability.gov)
• The A11Y Project

Social Media

Most of us use social media accounts for outreach and it is often the first point of contact, so content should be available to anyone who is interested. Social media also is often very current, so you can add in accessible options going forward without having to go back and fix past posts.

Each platform approaches accessibility differently and offers different tools. Take time to explore the options available and decide what makes sense for your content. If you never post videos, for example, you don’t need to worry about captions. If you post photos of documents, find out how to add alt text. Make sure your blog posts conform to best practices for general web content.

The following are links to accessibility information for some popular platforms:

• Facebook Accessibility
• Twitter Accessibility
• Google Accessibility [includes YouTube]
• Improving Accessibility on Flickr

You’ll notice some glaring omissions in the list above. Not all platforms offer good accessibility options or documentation, which is important to keep in mind when deciding which services to use for your archives. Broader guidelines and tips are in the additional resources directly below.

Additional Resources

• Create Accessible Video and Social Media (Section508.gov)
• How to Be More Accessible on Social Media (Siteimprove)
• Improving the Accessibility of Social Media in Government (DigitalGov.gov)

Finding Aids

Many archives have collection descriptions online. This makes collections much more easily findable online and is a laudable goal, but the description also should be accessible to researchers who rely on assistive technologies like screen readers to navigate the virtual world. Finding aids can be tricky because they use a variety of formats and platforms: simple PDFs embedded in websites, HTML or EAD documents posted with style sheets, open source or proprietary software templates. Each presents opportunities and challenges.

In a 2013 study, Kristina L. Southwell and Jacquelyn Slater tested the accessibility of randomly selected online finding aids from ARL member libraries. The formats varied, but overall almost every finding aid had at least a few accessibility errors. Southwell and Slater’s article is highly recommended reading, as it offers specific examples of issues and the problems they cause for users. Perhaps things have improved in the five years since this study was published, but likely there are still many finding aids that inaccessible out there.

If you’re curious, do some research on the platform that your archives is using and look for documentation on their accessibility efforts or test your finding aids the way you would other web pages. You can search for a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), which resources marketed to libraries and archives may provide, to help you make your assessment.

Additional Resources

• Southwell, Kristina L. & Slater, Jacquelyn (2013). An Evaluation of Finding Aid Accessibility for Screen Readers. Information Technology and Libraries, 32(3), 34-46.  https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v32i3.3423

Digital Collections and Exhibits

Digital collections and online exhibits have a lot in common with other websites, but they also have unique issues. They have a higher concentration of images, digitized documents, and A/V files, which can require more mediation to be fully accessible. These items should have, respectively, detailed descriptions, searchable transcripts or OCR-created text, and captions or transcripts. In addition to digital objects, also consider the accessibility of the metadata that describes the objects and the platform that pulls it all together. As with social media platforms and collection management tools, take the time to research the accessibility documentation available from the platform you use for sharing your digital collections.

Tammy Stitz and Shelly Blundell developed a helpful rubric to help assess the accessibility of your digital collections. They draw on various standards, including Section 508 and WCAG 2.0, to help you make high impact changes. For example, audio content would ideally have sign language interpretation and synchronized captions, but if you’re only able to manage a transcript, that’s acceptable.

Additional Resources

• Accessibility Statement (Omeka)
• Digital Commons Accessibility Statement (bepress)
• OCLC Accessibility Statement
• Southwell, K. L. & Slater, J. (2012). Accessibility of digital special collections using screen readers. Library Hi Tech, 30(3), 457-471. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378831211266609
• Walker, W. & Keenan, T. M. (2015). Do You Hear What I See? Assessing Accessibility of Digital Commons and CONTENTdm. Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 27(2), 69. https://doi.org/10.1080/1941126X.2015.1029395

Email Reference

Writing this post, I started with a list of all the ways that we digitally interact with our users; email correspondence was the only option that I had not previously considered accessibility. And why not? It’s the most personal, and accessibility should be just as much of a concern there as anywhere. Basic email text can be approached largely like any web content. I recommend knowing enough about your email client and its necessary features. Both Outlook and Gmail, two major email providers, have websites that offer assistance to make email accessible.

In addition to email’s text, think about what your links and attachments to those emails. When you share digitized content with your patrons via email, is it accessible? I have to confess, this isn’t something I had previously taken into consideration, but it’s worth a few small steps to try to increase accessibility. Even running quick OCR on PDFs or including brief descriptions of requested images is helpful.

If you have a good solution for this or are taking similar measures in your own work, I’d be interested to hear about it.

Additional Resources

• Google Accessibility – Products and Features
• Make your Outlook email accessible (Microsoft)
• The Ultimate Guide to Accessible Emails (litmus)

Challenge: Make One Change

Many commonly discussed accessibility issues are focused on improving user experience using assistive technologies. This can seem abstract, so I encourage you to try it out. One commonly used assistive technology is a screen reader; your computer likely has one pre-installed (VoiceOver for Mac, Narrator for PC). If not, a variety of free programs and YouTube videos demonstrate how to use a screen reader. Turn it on and try it on some of your web content. You’ll soon understand why meeting accessibility criteria is so important. As an added bonus, many changes that improve accessibility also improve all users’ experience and can improve sites’ search engine optimization (SEO) as well. Everyone benefits from accessible websites!

Some problems may be difficult to fix or completely out of your control, but if you start by making a few simple but high impact changes, you can make a big difference for users. Create new workflows with accessibility in mind so it becomes an integral part of what you’re doing, instead of an afterthought. Develop good habits going forward and clean up previous work as you go. Be proactive in policies, instead of reactive. Add accessibility features to your list of criteria for new tools.

My challenge to all of you is to choose one thing, large or small, that will improve user accessibility this week. Maybe you sign up for web accessibility training locally, or start adding alt text to new blog images, or set up a department meeting to brainstorm a plan to improve your finding aids’ accessibility. Every little bit helps and makes it easier for larger audiences to access your content.

February 19, 2018June 24, 2022 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Archivists on the IssuesTags: accessibility, archival description, digital access, digitization, emails, Google Workspace, Googlization, lone arrangers, outreach, patrons, social media 3 Comments

Steering Share: Alison Stankrauff

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post is from I&A Steering Committee Member Alison Stankrauff. She is an Archivist and Associate Librarian at Indiana University South Bend. 

Photo by IUSB Michael McCombs

What was your first job in a library, archive, or museum?

My first job in an archive was as a student worker at the Walter P. Reuther Library Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University. I was working through the Archives Administration and MLIS program at Wayne State. I worked with the amazing Detroit News and Free Press Collection – scanning its glass and acetate negatives for preservation, putting them into acid-free enclosures, entering metadata into the system. I loved that job and working with the amazing archivists and staff at the Reuther. I kept the negatives’ original paper enclosures (instead of recycling them) and then did detective work on bicycle rides around the city – I learned SO much about my beloved Detroit’s history!

What made you want to join the I&A Steering Committee?

I feel very connected to making sure that the wider world know about archives – and primary sources, and the institutions that house them – are so important. They’re far from a luxury or a secondary concern for our society. Archives and professionals to properly care for and make these collections accessible are essential to a democratic society. I feel that archives and trained professionals are ever more important as we move forward to a presidency that questions verifiable data and information.

What is one major issue you see archives tackling in the next five to ten years?

I’d love to see the archival programs throughout North America really tackle and incorporate more classwork for students about teaching with primary sources. Another SAA group I’m active with, the Reference, Access, and Outreach Section (RAO), is taking this on. I’m a member of RAO’s Teaching with Primary Sources Working Group (TPS) and we are surveying archives masters programs throughout America and Canada to see how they’re teaching and what they’re teaching – or not. We hope to publish our survey, so stay tuned!

What archive issue means a lot to you?

I think, per my answer about joining I&A, our cultural institutions are increasingly under attack in ways that we’ve not experienced previously or anticipated. So I think that working with other archivists and information professionals to advocate for archives is key going forward. As a lone arranger in a woefully under-funded institution, I need all the help and extra voice that I can get to lend support to my message!

Describe and share an interesting archive you have come across over the years.

This past summer, I visited Bulgaria on one of my fantastic cycling vacations. I went there directly following the LGBTQ+ Archives, Libraries, Museums, and Special Collections conference in London, where I was presenting our LGBTQ+ Collection with other small archives from the U.S. I was able to visit an amazing archive of the Shumen Mosque in northeastern Bulgaria. This was an honor and the experience impressed itself upon me in so many ways.

 

December 21, 2016November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archives profession, Interviews, LGBTQ+, library degrees, lone arrangers, outreach, professionalism, record destruction, SAA Leave a comment

Research Post: Digital Cameras-Godsend or Cash Cow

I&A Research Teams are groups of dedicated volunteers who monitor breaking news and delve into ongoing topics affecting archives and the archival profession. Under the leadership of the I&A Steering Committee, the Research Teams compile their findings into Research Posts for the I&A blog. Each Research Post offers a summary and coverage of an issue. This Research Post comes from the General News Media Research Team, which monitors news media for issues related to archives.

Please be aware that the sources cited have not been vetted and do not indicate an official stance of SAA or the Issues and Advocacy Roundtable.

SUMMARY OF THE ISSUE

Digital cameras, including those on smartphones, and portable scanners have become an important tool for researchers and other members of the public. Allowing visitors to scan and shoot documents with their own equipment saves staff time, discourages the overuse of paper and toner, and produces a better quality image than that of a photocopier, one that can be used immediately. (1) Many research rooms and service desks provide stands for cameras and outlets for scanners.

However, some organizations, especially government agencies, either prohibit the use of cameras or charge visitors fees to use their own cameras to shoot images.

The ACRL/SAA Joint Statement on Access to Research Materials in Archives and Special Collections Libraries states that “repositories should strive to provide access to their holdings at no direct cost to the researcher.” And where this is not possible, fees should not be prohibitive. (2)

In December 2014 Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen handed down a legal opinion stating that Wisconsin court officials should not charge fees to people who make copies with cellphone cameras or scanners. He originally had approved a charge of $1.25 per page. (3) However, Van Hollen also said that court custodians could choose to prohibit users from making their own copies of any sort, in which case the court custodians could charge a fee. (4)

As of last March, 24 of the 31 Wisconsin county clerks who responded to a survey were still charging fees for images shot with personal cameras. An editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal stated, “Even the National Gallery in Washington allows flash photography …  yet here in Wisconsin county clerks of courts still claim that taking pictures of court records risks damaging the documents.” The real issue is money; as the editorial pointed out, that $1.25 per page fee brings in more than $800,000 a year statewide. (5) In comparison, federal courts in the state charge only 10 cents per page. (6)

Those county clerks who don’t charge gave varying reasons. Primarily, clerks don’t feel they have the resources to prevent photography, because the documents are viewable on a computer screen and patrons could simply photograph the screen. In other words, it would be a burden on staff to monitor computer users. (7)

Wisconsin counties are not alone in charging for photography and scanning. To name a few examples, the Colorado State Archives has a $15 per day personal camera use fee, and a $15 scanner rental fee. (8) The Missouri History Museum charges $10 per day for the same. (9) The Maryland Historical Society charges 50 cents per image. (10) A recent article on archives and camera policies in the United Kingdom reported fees varying from 2 pounds to 25 pounds (about $2.60 to $32.50) per camera per day. That article pointed out that not only do these fees potentially hurt student researchers, but since transcribing documents (often the alternative) is so time consuming, it may force researchers to rely on more limited sources, making the quality of research suffer. (11)

Saying that government agencies should be able to prohibit, or charge for, personal camera use because they need the money is an insufficient argument, since there would be a savings in money budgeted for staff time, as well as agencies’ scanning and copying equipment and the maintenance of that equipment, by allowing the free use of personal equipment. (12)

Additionally, federal, state, and local government archives are taxpayer funded repositories of public records, so charging fees for personally made digital copies seems unethical.

Whether an archives decides to charge fees or not, access fees should be clearly stated on the organization’s website. (13) The Ohio History Connection’s site, for example, has a Digital Camera Use Policy that outlines its digital cameras regulations. It is free to use a digital camera without a flash, but scanners are forbidden. (14) And the University of Winnipeg judges whether to allow scanner use on a case-by-case basis, and “a supervision/setup charge may apply.” (15)

Of course, archivists should be aware that sometimes they may need to prohibit personal reproduction devices in order to protect especially fragile or valuable materials. The Huntington Library is one of many rare book and manuscript repositories that performs all reproduction by its staff. (16) Other archives leave the decision to the archivists’ discretion—the Field Museum in Chicago, for example, does this “if copying will either damage or degrade the material, or if donor, acquisition or legal restrictions prohibit reproduction.” (17) Some archives prohibit handheld scanners, on the rationale that putting the pressure of a handheld scanner on top of a document could damage the paper. As stated in Managing Local Government Archives, “The archives should always reserve the right to refuse any technique of reproduction that might endanger the document.” (18)

But in most cases archives and libraries can only benefit from providing free use of personal cameras and scanners to researchers. As an OCLC Research report stated in 2010, “the benefits to researchers, repositories and collections is undeniable.” (19) And as an archivist on the SAA Lone Arrangers list put it, “The amount of time and resources that we’ll be saving by not photocopying is a major payoff in itself.” (20)

Sources Cited

(1) John H. Slate and Kaye Lanning Minchew, Managing Local Government Archives. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016, p. 119.

(2) “ACRL/SAA Joint Statement on Access to Research Materials in Archives and Special Collections Libraries,” accessed August 6, 2016, http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/jointstatement.

(3) Todd Richmond, “Attorney General Says Clerks Shouldn’t Charge for Court Copies Made With Personal Technology,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 30, 2014, accessed August 6, 2016, http://www.startribune.com/ag-clerks-shouldn-t-charge-for-personal-copies/287124321/

(4) State of Wisconsin Department of Justice, Opinion of Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen, December 30, 2014, accessed August 6, 2016, https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/oag/recent/oag_12_14.pdf.

(5) “Courts Paint Phony Picture to Justify Fees,” Wisconsin State Journal, March 25, 2016, accessed August 6, 2016, http://host.madison.com/wsj/opinion/editorial/courts-paint-phony-picture-to-justify-fees/article_3b8d1a03-85e8-54cf-aa8c-c0d8121247a3.html.

(6) Jonathan Anderson and Sari Lesk, “Want Court Records? Pay Up,” Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, March 22, 2016, accessed August 6, 2016, http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/story/news/investigations/2016/03/18/want-court-records-pay-up/81874300/.

(7) Ibid.

(8) “Our Fees,” Colorado State Archives, accessed August 6, 2016,  https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/archives/our-fees.

(9) “Reading Room Procedures,” Missouri History Library and Museum, accessed August 6, 2016, http://www.mohistory.org/lrc/your-visit/doing-research/procedures.

(10) “Personal Camera Use,” Maryland Historical Society, accessed August 6, 2016, http://www.mdhs.org/personal-camera-use.

(11) Nell Darby, “The Cost of Historical Research: Why Archives Need to Move With the Times,” The Guardian, May 23, 2013, accessed August 6, 2016, http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/may/23/history-research-costs-archive-fees.

(12) Mutschler, Charles V., <cmutschler@ewu.edu> “Re: Camera Use Fees,” October 22, 2015, SAA Archives & Archivists List, <http://forums.archivists.org/read/messages?id=158241#158241>, accessed August 6, 2016.

(13) Slate and Minchew, p. 118.

(14) “Ohio History Connection Digital Camera Use Form,” accessed August 6, 2016,  https://www.ohiohistory.org/OHC/media/OHC-Media/Learn/Archives-Library%20Documents/DigitalCameraUseForm_Policy.pdf.

(15) “The University of Winnipeg Reproduction Fees,” accessed August 6, 2016,  http://archives.uwinnipeg.ca/info-for-researchers/reproduction-fees.html.

(16) “Imaging services at the Huntington,” Huntington Library, accessed August 6, 2016, http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=1924.

(17) “Field Museum Archives Policies,” accessed August 6, 2016, https://www.fieldmuseum.org/science/research/area/museum-archives/museum-archives-policies.

(18) Slate and Minchew, p. 119.

(19) Lisa Miller, Steven K. Galbraith, et al. “ ‘Capture and Release’: Digital Cameras in the Reading Room,’ “ report produced by OCLC Research, 2010, accessed August 6, 2016, http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2010/2010-05.pdf.

(20) Schergen, Rena, <renaschergen@archstl.org> “Re: Researcher Camera Policy,” October 24, 2013, SAA Lone Arrangers List, <http://forums.archivists.org/read/messages?id=114374#114374>, accessed August 6, 2016.

Other Sources

“Digital Camera Use Policy,” Houghton Library, accessed August 6, 2016, http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/digital_camera_policy.cfm.

“Archives: Find Resources,” Pratt Institute Libraries, accessed August 6, 2016, https://library.pratt.edu/find_resources/archives/.

“Digital Photography Policy,” Ukrainian Historical and Education Center of New Jersey, accessed August 6, 2016, https://www.ukrhec.org/collections/archives/digital-photography-policy.

“King County (WA) Copy and Service Fees,” accessed August 6, 2016, http://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/records-licensing/archives/about-us/fees.aspx.

“New York State Archives Fee Schedule for Copies of Records,” accessed August 6, 2016, http://www.archives.nysed.gov/research/res_serv_fee.shtml.

 

The I&A Steering Committee would like to thank the General News Media Research Team, and in particular, Daria Labinsky, for writing this post.

The General News Media Research Team is:

Jeremy Brett, Leader

Anna Trammell

Daria Labinsky

Chelsea Gunn

Meghan Kennedy

If you are aware of an issue that might benefit from a Research Post, please get in touch with us: archivesissues@gmail.com.

 

 

September 9, 2016June 24, 2022 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Research PostTags: acquisition, digital cameras, government archives, lone arrangers, patrons, photography, record restrictions, reproduction, Research Teams Leave a comment

Great Advocates: Dr. Rand Jimerson

Back in March, we asked you to nominate “Great Advocates”–SAA members who inspire you with their advocacy efforts. Thanks to your nominations, we have a fantastic slate of Great Advocates.

You are cordially invited to join I&A’s gathering at SAA in Atlanta on Friday, August 5 from 7:30-9:00 am (it’s early, but there will be donuts and coffee!) for an engaging Q&A with leaders of advocacy efforts from SAA’s recent history, reflecting on their work and the future of advocacy within SAA.

To get everyone in the advocacy spirit in these weeks leading up to SAA, we’re publishing Q&As with each of our Great Advocates (including some who won’t be able to join us on August 5th).

To submit questions for the in-person session and follow the event, please tweet at @archivesissues using #GreatAdvocates or email archivesissues [at] gmail [dot] com.

Once they’ve all been posted, you’ll find all of the Q&As in the series here.

Great Advocates Q&A with Dr. Rand Jimerson, Western Washington University

How would you define advocacy?

SAA’s “Core Values of Archivists” defines advocacy by stating what archivists do as advocates: “Archivists promote the use and understanding of the historical record. They serve as advocates for their own archival programs and institutional needs. They also advocate for the application of archival values in a variety of settings including, to the extent consistent with their institutional responsibilities, the political arena. Archivists seek to contribute to the formation of public policy related to archival and recordkeeping concerns and to ensure that their expertise is used in the public interest.”

For me, advocacy means any effort made to connect the work of archivists and the documentary evidence we select and preserve with the needs, concerns, and interests of our institutions, users of archives, and the society we serve.

What was the very first lesson you learned about advocacy–either how to do it or why it’s important?

Sometimes we learn the hard way. Early in my career, as the first archivist ever employed by a public state university, I developed and directed a two-year grant project to conduct a survey of all university records being produced in offices and to establish a records management program. This would be necessary in order to determine what functions of the university needed to be documented and what records should be selected for the archives. I thought that showing the administrative benefits of good recordkeeping practices, such as cost savings and efficiency, would provide the best argument to fund and expand a combined archives and records management program.

Unfortunately, I had not identified correctly the internal power systems of the university. The Vice President for Finance and Administration recognized the benefits of improved recordkeeping and endorsed our request for two full-time staff members. However, the Vice President for Academic Affairs (to whom I reported via the University Library) did not see the academic or research value of such a program. This was the more senior VP. Thus, we did not receive funding and I remained as the “lone arranger” in the University Archives.

Moral of the story: Know who has the authority and power to make decisions that affect the support needed for archival programs. Explain the benefits of good archival practices and programs in ways that this person (or persons) will appreciate.

Describe your most memorable experiences with advocating for archivists and archives.

My most memorable advocacy moment was speaking with Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy about the importance of the National Archives and Records Administration. I was President of SAA in 2004-2005. The George W. Bush administration had just forced Archivist of the United States John Carlin out of office, despite legal provisions that prohibited politically-motivated appointments for this position.

Late one evening I was waiting in Boston’s Logan Airport for my flight home from a library/archives conference. In a nearly empty lobby I looked up to see Senator Kennedy speaking with someone. When the other person left, I took a deep breath and approached the Senator. I introduced myself and stated that SAA was concerned about the dismissal of Carlin and about the proposed nomination of historian Allen Weinstein to be the next Archivist of the US. Kennedy asked about Carlin and SAA’s concerns and then gave me the phone number of his chief assistant on such matters. “Call her on Tuesday when you get home,” Kennedy told me.

As Weinstein’s nomination moved forward, SAA developed, in collaboration with NAGARA and the Council of State Archivists, a list of questions for the Senate committee reviewing Weinstein’s nomination to ask the nominee. Weinstein invited me to have lunch with him at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, during one of my visits there. My brief meeting with Senator Kennedy and SAA’s involvement in reviewing the nomination did not make a direct difference—SAA Council determined that we would neither support nor oppose the nomination, but instead issued a statement critical of the partisan nature of Carlin’s improper dismissal—but at least we were consulted as the Weinstein nomination proceeded.

The lesson I took away from this was that it is always good to be prepared and to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity to speak up on behalf of archival concerns. Being part of the conversation is essential, even when there is little chance to change the outcome of events. Advocacy requires preparation—knowing what one needs to convey (perhaps as an “elevator speech”)—and then taking advantage of any opportunity that might arise.

If you could encourage archivists to do just one thing to help advocate for the archival profession, what would that one thing be?

I think every archivist should be proud of the title “archivist.” I always wear hats, so it is natural for me to wear an SAA baseball cap with the word “ARCHIVIST” boldly on the front. One of my earlier SAA caps carries the term “100% ARCHIVIST.” When I introduce myself to people I say, “I am an archivist—and also an historian,” putting my primary professional commitment first. (Many archivists might say, “I am an archivist—and also a librarian,” or whatever is appropriate.)

Any encounter can become a “teachable moment.” It’s always good to have in mind an “elevator speech”: what can you say in 30-60 seconds that will explain the importance of being an archivist? For example, I might say, “I am an archivist. Archivists contribute to society by determining what information from the past and present will be needed in the future. Archival documentation contributes to social memory, holds public officials and leaders accountable to their constituents, enables us to apply knowledge of the past to future decisions, provides a basis for social and group identity, and can assist in promoting social justice and the public good.” (Or I might use a shorter version of this, as appropriate.)

What strategies and skills would you recommend archivists use when they are advocating for something in their local context (for example, for additional funding or personnel, policy changes, etc.)?

It is important to remember that there is no single answer for the best strategy for advocacy. Each situation will require special insights into the ways archivists can promote their repository’s needs or the good of the profession or of society. For ideas, I recommend reading about other archivists’ experiences and ideas. A good starting point is Many Happy Returns: Advocacy and the Development of Archives (SAA, 2011), edited by Larry J. Hackman. It contains more than a dozen case studies and reports of advocacy efforts in a wide variety of institutional settings (academic, government, business, artistic organizations, etc.).

One key to effective advocacy is identifying the important decision-makers in your organization. Find out their priorities, interests, and goals, and try to show how the archival program can contribute to the good of the institutions. Each person may have a different perspective, and it is important to identify and respond to their concerns.

Another thing to remember is that advocacy is a continual process, not a one-time “event” or activity. It needs to be built into everything an archivist does. Since few people know much about archives, this will be an educational process. Learn how to communicate the benefits of archives for your institution, rather than focusing first on the needs of the archives. If those who control funding (resource allocators)  recognize the contributions that the archives makes or could make, they will be more likely to provide the necessary funds than if you simply complain about your lack of resources. How can you make their jobs easier or more effective?

In promoting the ways that the archival program enriches or benefits the larger institution, find opportunities to communicate effectively throughout the institution and beyond. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.) can provide a platform on which to build an effective advocacy and public awareness program for the archives. So can old-fashioned “word of mouth” and print media.

What is an archives issue that means a lot to you and requires advocacy?

Ever since my teenage years in the early 1960s, when my father worked for civil rights in Alabama, I have been committed to social justice, equality, and the dignity of all people in society. Archives contribute to these purposes in numerous ways: by holding public leaders accountable to the people, by documenting human rights infringements, by providing one means to redress grievances and abuses, and by helping to ensure that the past will not be forgotten. These are issues that require continual advocacy.

Not all archivists would agree with the goal or function of advocacy for such “political” issues, but as a profession I believe that archivists need to take an activist role. The American Library Association, for example, speaks out actively in defense of freedom of information and other social causes. I think it is especially important for archivists, who select and preserve primary source documentation—which often does not exist in multiple copies or locations—to recognize that all of our actions inevitably take place in a political environment. If we do nothing to redress or prevent social wrongs, we support the status quo and forces of oppression. In order to promote a balanced and fair approach to documenting society, we should encourage and support affirmative action (what I call “affirmative archives”) on behalf of those who otherwise might not have a voice in public affairs or a recognition in historical documentation.

What motivates you to continue when the going gets rough?

The importance of archives to the life of society and the protection of individuals’ rights provide motivation for my commitment to the archival enterprise. In our day to day work it sometimes seems difficult to remember the ultimate purposes we serve. But in the words of the civil rights era song, we need to keep our “eyes on the prize.” Especially when the going becomes difficult we need to commit ourselves to the people we serve by providing authentic and reliable documentation of the past and present for future generations.

July 22, 2016June 24, 2022 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: News from I&ATags: accountability, ALA, archives profession, grants, Great Advocates, Interviews, job security, lone arrangers, memory institutions, patrons, professionalism, records management, SAA, social justice 3 Comments

Response from I&A Poll Discovery or Not?

On June 24, 2016, we opened the I&A Poll Discovery or Not? The poll was inspired by two opinion pieces which were dated the previous week but were later pointed out to be from several years ago, regarding whether or not something could be discovered if it was in an archives. The poll remained open through July 1, 2016 and received 83 responses. Of those 83 responses, 19.5% identified as a member of the Issues & Advocacy Roundtable; 46.3% as a member of the Society of American Archivists but not the Issues & Advocacy Roundtable; 28% as an archivist but not a member of the Society of American Archivists; and 6.2% as someone who is not an archivist but wanted to weigh in.

Respondents were asked to read the two pieces and then asked what they thought. They were given four options and the results are as follows:

Respondents were asked if they had any other thoughts to share. Responses have been redacted to remove any potentially identifying information and have not been edited to fix any typos. The responses were:

• There is a comment on each of the stories from an author who claims he cited the very same document in his 2008 book. It was not the original report at NARA, but a copy in a file at Georgetown. That basically refutes the researcher’s claim that “no one knew [it] was there.” But I also think her argument is flawed in general – just because archival collections are not processed to the item level does not mean every item found in that collection is a “discovery.” Perhaps the argument is semantics – based on how someone defines the term discovery. But the original article’s point that these “discoveries” often devalue or exclude the work archivists have done with historical material is an important one. I feel the researcher’s response missed that point.

• Saying that a researcher “discovered” something in the archives is an unethical erasure of the massive amount of labor it takes to manage archives in the first place. Even if a contemporary archivist doesn’t specifically know about one piece of paper in a collection, that shouldn’t negate the labor and efforts of the repository or that one archivist’s predecessors. The records came into the archives because an archivist made the decision that they had enduring value.

• “Discovery” depends on context. If it’s unprocessed or minimally-processed material, then it’s a lot easier for archivists or researchers to feel that thrill of seeing something for the first time in years. Even if the material is processed/described/accessible, if it’s highlighted or put to a new use, that also has the glow of discovery. My kneejerk negative reaction is that popular use of “discovery” also includes processed and described materials being put to perfectly ordinary use (there’s a difference between not CARING that something exists and not KNOWING it exists and/or an innovative way in which it can be used), and tends to disregard the fact that processing archivists discover things every day.

• I agree with the researcher (who is also an archivist) that discoveries can be made and it is not to discount the efforts made by archivists. As a lone arranger archivist myself and under the time constraint of a two-year grant, I know perfectly well that I won’t know everything there is to know about my collection, it spans four generations and my best bet is to get it organized and then catalog what I can so that researchers can at least have a starting point. Archivists often do just make general decisions about a collection without sitting down and reading every item, we look at an envelope perhaps confirm the to and from and then file it where it belongs in the arrangement without ever looking at the actual content. I have even made these types of decisions when it comes to digitization, its time consuming and at times costly, you just choose those series you think most valuable to researchers but never know if one small item in the miscellaneous or another small series could be that one thing that changes a researcher’s whole angle on their topic. So yes, researchers make discoveries and their findings are very valuable to institutions, the public may not recognize the effort put in by the archives staff but those researchers do.

• It seems that archivists have a lot of internal definitions that the general public does not share. I wonder about the broader importance of this issue. It seems that, as researchers’ skills and expectations change with the emergence of digital collections, we might revisit the importance of description. There is no way to describe a collection for every future researcher’s interests, but we do have a responsibility to ensure that description establishes appropriate context rather than assuming that researchers can hit control-f and find the items they require. To me, the issue here is whether we are enabling discovery (in archivists’ parlance) for modern researchers with different expectations and training than those of years past.

• Discovery seems to me to be reliant on the concept of use and observation. I would argue that Columbus “discovered” America for Europe, for example, far more than did the Vikings who arrived there hundreds of years earlier. The former’s efforts resulted in actual change, whereas the latter’s attempts at colonization were scattered and ultimately doomed to failure. In the same way, an item may linger on the shelves for years or decades, but its value is only realized when a researcher or archivist finds it and makes use of it.

• Even in the most well processed collections, archivists make decisions about what they’ll describe. In theory, we strike the perfect balance between brevity and detail that leads the researchers straight to the smoking gun, even if we don’t describe that gun itself. But maybe we don’t. And there are always items in the collections that even the archivist didn’t realize were there. So can the answer be yes and no at the same time? Schrodinger’s Hollinger box? Anything inside is both discovered and not discovered until the box is opened?

• I don’t think the researchers analogy of King Tut’s Tomb holds water. A more acurate analogy would be saying that the tomb was “discovered” it in the 1300’s BC when it was built it is like saying Leland “discovered” the document when he wrote it. But of course in between when Leland wrote the report and when the researcher “discovered” it, there was an archivist at the National Archives who processed it…

• I would say that the situation is nuanced but is also kind of boring and therefore requires less discussion

• There are a lot of different ways we can think about “discovery.” You don’t have to be the first person in living memory to see something to “discover” it. I think “discoveries” are made in the archives all the time–it’s that aha moment, such as when a researcher finds what they were looking for. However, more to the point, archivists cannot necessarily know every single sheet of paper in their repository (although I would not say it is impossible). Even if a researcher finds an item that the archivist was unaware of, the item still falls under the responsibility of the the archivist. Users should be confident that the archivist has “taken care” of the items. I think documentation is a really important factor. Archivists do not have to describe at the item level to gain familiarity with the material and make note (if not in the finding aid, in an accession record or processing notes) of items that might be the most significant to users. Also, I think that archivists should provide means for researchers to comment on their research experiences. We should ask them: did you find what you were looking for? how could we improve our finding aids? did you find any discrepancies between the finding aid and the actual content of the boxes? Since researchers are the ones using the materials, archivists should respect their input and allow them to participate in the process of “describing” archival materials. Maybe then we can fill in some of the gaps and get a better understanding of the materials in our collections.

• the articles in question appear to be from 2012, not a month ago or this week

• I also blame MPLP. And sheer volume of materials. Archivists don’t look at item level. Why can’t this be a “discovery” with mutual shared credit (even, shared “author-ity”). Archivist led researcher to collection. Researcher found item. Neither possible w/o the other

• If we’re not describing collections at the item level, let’s give researchers their due for highlighting discoveries from collections described at the folder/box/series level. If we really think that we’re not missing interesting records when we MPLP a collection, we’re deluding ourselves.

• The original articles were written 4 years ago, not a month ago, but still quite relevant.

• Even if an item is “findable,” the archivist’s knowledge of it doesn’t move it into the public arena as a scholarly/historical resource. It needs to be a partnership of archivist and researcher to save/protect/make available on one side and to explore/spend the time/read the documents/make connections on the other.

• This question is nuanced, but I generally thought the “yes” opinion to be closer to my views. I think it is possible that there are uncatalogued items that no archivist in recent memory knows are there (like the Lincoln report). I also think there are many times when an uncatalogued item is well known by the archivists and is not truly a “discovery” for a researcher. It’s clear that more advocacy about the nature and value of the work that archivists do is needed.

• Perhaps we can liken this to “personal discovery”….i.e. a friend could tell you your book purchases boarder on obsession long before you “discover” that truth when confronted with the bill. Archivist’s set the stage for discovery. It is up to the researcher what to do with that discovery.

• We can’t possibly remember or know what every piece of paper is or says, even if we have come across it in our work. That’s much like saying that a librarian should know what content is on every page in every book in a library’s collection. Plus, our researchers find documents that have been long forgotten and it is a new discovery not only because we located it again but, also because we just located it within this time and place with a different perspective. The analysis of history changes over time depending on new discoveries and someone may have come across a certain document decades earlier; however, there may not have been any well-documented context for it until the recent ‘discovery’.

• From nearly 40 years in the Archives biz I’d say that each person who discovers what he or she had not previously known, well, they’ve made a DISCOVERY! Does publication mean it was previously discovered? Do multiple copies mean it was previously discovered?

• Repositories differ on levels of cataloging and amounts of metadata made available. These differences are often due to funding levels and/or size of the repository. If funding challenges and lack of personnel force archives to not list creator names, describe materials of note, or even make their finding aids public electronically, findability is restricted. Yes, researchers who have time and funds to make in-depth searches make “discoveries”. But archivists would make more discoveries themselves if afforded the opportunity to catalog in a more detailed way. It’s unfortunate that MPLP often becomes “no product because no process” in lone arranger situations.

• If it’s in an archives, even if unprocessed, someone decided the materials were important & needed to be preserved & cared for. Regardless of the stage of care, it’s presence in an archives makes it accessible & thus findable on some level. If the media & scholars would just acknowledge & understand the scope of what we do across formats & time with extremely limited financial & staffing resources, I don’t think it would rankle so bad when they claim to “discover” a document. These “discoveries” never turn into additional staff or supplies though. Given that they must market themselves & their research to get tenure, I doubt the media hype will change.

• Discoveries can be made by both parties, either working together or separately. Plus, many of our institutions have poorly-described or unprocessed collections that could contain countless treasures.

• It’s naive to think that our esoteric access tools make it obvious or easy for the general public to be aware of the contents of our collections. It can also be reductive and offensive to archivists’ hard work to imply that a document was completely unknown when it simply hadn’t been written about yet. HOWEVER, if the archivists themselves are completely unaware of a document’s existence, for example in the case of folder-level processing where specific contents are not understood, then I do think it can be framed as a discovery. It’s important to still emphasize that the item was well cared for and managed within a collection, not rotting in a forgotten basement.

• Can’t they both me given credit?

July 8, 2016June 24, 2022 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: I&A PollTags: appraisal, archival description, archival processing, arrangement, decolonizing archives, discovery, erasure, government archives, grants, lone arrangers, NARA, patrons, selection, surveys Leave a comment