Tag: social media

More than a “Slap in the Face”: ICA’s Congress in Abu Dhabi Whitewashes the UAE’s Reality

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. This post does not represent the views or positions of the Issues & Advocacy committee or National Security Archive. The views expressed here are the views of Mr. Hermann, and are not the views of any other individuals or organizations.

Promotional image on the official website for the ICA’s Congress, screenshotted on Aug. 15, 2023, trying to legitimize their presence in the UAE. I re-examined the page before publishing this article and the numbers were the same.

Recently, there has been a hullabaloo on social media about the location of The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)’s World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in 2024. Set to occur in Dubai, the most-populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and capital of the Dubai Emirate, it was panned on social media as willfully ignorant, divisive, disappointing, embarrassing, spineless, craven, shameful, disgusting, disregarding queer librarians, driven by money, and resulting in a conference attended by “mostly bigots and…centrists.” Others criticized it as undemocratic, since the IFLA’s own press release showed majority opposition among those voting on the resolution, especially those from “Europe, North America…Latin America and the Caribbean”. Some proposed that the conference could be held any other location in the region that wasn’t hostile and “outwardly dangerous…to human rights,” stated they would not join the IFLA as a result, called for a boycott on the conference, or fumed that the decision was being blamed by the IFLA on members from “Asia-Oceania, the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.” It appeared there were a small number in favor, who seemed excited that IFLA’s conference was coming to their country, but it is not known how representative that is, as such individuals appear to be outliers. [1]

What is not talked about as much is the congress/conference of the International Council on Archives (ICA) in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, set for October 9 to October 13. Official materials call it a “unique chance” to network with fellow archivists and a place to promote the “best examples” of achievement in archival and records management. The ICA claims it will be somewhere where archivists can connect with professionals across the world to build networks to empower our “knowledge societies,” all under the “hospitality of Abu Dhabi.” Considering the response to the IFLA conference, I have to ask whether the ICA conference is, rather than being some networking opportunity, a slap in the face for queer people and unsafe for those people? It is an indication of the non-neutrality of archives and un-representative nature of the ICA? Should the conference, due to its location, be boycotted? [2] In this post, I’ll answer those questions and explain why the ICA’s reasoning is flawed, and talk about the deeper problems with this conference, which go beyond the conference taking place somewhere that is hostile to queer people.

Much of the opposition to the IFLA’s conference appeared to center around lack of rights in the UAE for queer people, more than any other reason. There was some mention of how the location went against the IFLA’s own values. Some called for a new location in a “developing country”. There are further problems with the ICA’s choice of Abu Dhabi as the conference location. It’s not the focus on climate change, sustainability, accessibility (of information), memory work, peace, and tolerance, nor even the theme of enriching “knowledge societies,” which are welcome. Rather it is that the conference is tied directly to the UAE’s government. One speaker, Abdulla Majed Al-Ali, currently Director General of the UAE’s National Library and Archives, formerly worked for Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism. He also worked in the country’s armed forces. Another speaker, Dr. Abdullah Al Raisi, chair of the ICA’s conference organizing committee, was formerly director general of that archives. That institution has a message from the UAE’s Vice President, Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the deputy head of state of the entire country, on its website. The archives declares that safeguarding documents is an important responsibility of a “sovereign, enlightened state,” notes the importance of improved archiving to preserve the nation’s history, and states that this archives will reinforce the concept of “institutionalization and enhance[d] national identity.” [3]

That isn’t all. The UAE’s National Library and Archives is directly involved in fostering nationalism, instilling loyalty, values, and virtues of the UAE’s founder, Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and “enhancing national identity.” Other pages state that the archives aims to enhance civic spirit. One individual working there even did public relations for Dubai’s Crown Prince. This goes beyond the archives’ objective to preserve the country’s history, duties, and agreements/partnerships/memberships in various international organizations. The institution’s approach appears to be very nationalistic. It is reinforced in part by having the National Records & Archives Authority, which focuses on preserving the “antique history” of Oman in an effort to “build a brighter future,” as an exhibitor and even more by having the Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau as a conference sponsor. The latter is an issue primarily because the Bureau aims to champion the Abu Dhabi Emirate, one of the country’s seven emirates (all are in a constitutional federation), as a “dynamic global business events leader.”  [4]

Surely, like the IFLA’s executives, some from ICA will defend this location choice. They may point to exhibitors such as non-profits like Al Ghadeer Emirati Crafts, or companies like Rookie Ninja, Phase One Photo, Clarivate, and Artefactual. They might point out that the Emirates News Agency is wholeheartedly supporting the conference, note that participants would join a “global community of archivists and industry professionals,” or note that you can visit interesting local sites (there is even a special program for one’s spouse or partner). These executives could says the country as tourist-friendly and “world-renowned for its social and modern environment.” They might declare that the conference can be a great business opportunity to reach a global audience, point to the expansive program with many topics and sessions, the conference’s sub-themes, or other features.

All of this ignores the fact that FamilySearch, a genealogical arm of the Mormons, uses prison labor to index records, as I’ve previously written about on this blog is a sponsor. Xerox, EXPM, Artefactual, NVSSoft, Zeutschel, and Nirvana Travel and Tourism are sponsors as well. Also, former French President Francois Hollande is a keynote speaker. [5] On the one hand, he supported the legalization of same-sex marriage and adoption for LGBTQ+ couples, which passed the French National Assembly in 2013. On the other, he strongly supported the U.S.-backed Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, which began in March 2015, and militarily intervened in a former French colony, Mali, from January 2013 to July 2014, obstinately to fight Islamic extremism, but also to protect “French interests” in the country, with a continued French military operation until November 2022. [6]

This conference is nothing to look forward to (as Preservica declared), praise, be grateful for, or treat it like just another conference, which was decided upon by the ICA sometime before November 2022. Is it possible to experience “Arabian hospitality” or “discover new horizons” in a country hosting this “cultural heritage” event which is strongly supported by UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan? [7] This conference is clearly positioned to promote the UAE, whitewashing its problematic elements. The U.S. State Department’s latest human rights report, not an unbiased source by any measure, on the country, cites “credible reports” of arbitrary detention and arrest, privacy invasions, media and free expression restrictions, internet freedom limits, unfair and unfree elections, curtailed political participation, criminalization of same-sex consensual actions between adults, and prohibition on independent trade unions. This conference will, without a doubt, boost the country’s role as a regional “trade and investment hub,” support the country’s desire to attract additional foreign direct investment, and push to shift the country’s economy to a so-called “knowledge economy” in the next ten years. [8]

This screenshot from a video on the official YouTube channel for the conference (mostly has Arabic-language videos), from February 2020, shows that planning for the conference there began at that time, if not earlier than that.

Ultimately, the ICA is shilling for the government of UAE. Its assessment of the UAE is no better than the country’s self-submitted Universal Periodic Review reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council. The official site for the conference boasts that the UAE is “ideal tourist destination,” declares that women have equal rights to men, and calls for modest dressing, especially in religious areas, and recommends visitors respect the “Muslim values of the local community.” While some of this makes sense, the description misrepresents the UAE as a rosy place. It boggles the mind that any of the other 21 Arab states, or any other states in Asia, Oceania, Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, or North Africa, were not chosen as a conference location instead. [9]

There is only one response to this decision by the ICA: to boycott the conference in Abu Dhabi and encourage sponsors, like Preservica, to pull out. This call is not Arabphobic, Islamophobic, nor does it engage in what some call “homonationalism“. Many governments in the Middle East have laws infringing upon LGBTQ+ rights, either due to religious conservative governments and/or holdover laws from colonial control. In the case of the UAE, although it was under British control between 1820 to 1971, the Arab rulers were nominally independent. They could “keep the peace,” with arbitration of disputes through the British, to abstain from relations with other European countries, while the British committed to providing the rulers, and their governments, with protection against any “unprovoked foreign aggression,” but did not interfere within the countries. This ended when the United Arab Emirates was formed in December 1971, ending the unofficial British colonies in the Persian Gulf region. [10]

As such, the homophobic laws of the UAE do not have roots in colonialism, but in the country’s legislative history. They include capital punishment for male-male and female-female sexual intercourse, punishments for sex “outside marriage” and cross-dressing, while gender reassignment surgery appears to be illegal (or hard to obtain). This “conservative” and regional hub for tourism reportedly allows lesbian or gay relationships under decriminalization of cohabitation by unmarried couples, in 2021. It is not known whether this is enforced evenly or if such relationships are socially accepted by residents. Previously, it has been reported that the country’s authorities investigated a children’s magazine which depicted a “multi-coloured character” with claims that it promoted homosexuality, resulting in its retraction. The UAE also refused to air Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (possibly because some saw Gwen Stacy as trans) in the country or films like Lightyear (for a kiss between lesbian characters). [11]

Even Arab countries like Bahrain, Djibouti, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria have better legal strictures toward queer people than UAE, even though they still are restrictive. The conference’s current location in Abu Dhabi runs afoul of the ICA’s own mission stating that archives are fundamental to “identity, democracy, accountability and good governance.” How is accountability and democracy possible when the conference is a vehicle for the country’s government to promote its interests? Will any criticism of the government be allowed? Or will it be discouraged to not annoy and anger the government? Will any topics about LGBTQ+ sessions be allowed? The IFLA said that the latter was not possible and admitted that homosexuality is not recognized by the UAE constitution “and therefore illegal.” [12] A well thought-out thread on X/Twitter by Naomi House opposing the location of the IFLA’s conference in Dubai argued that conferences need to be inclusive (already in-person conferences exclude many in the library field from participating) of all members, stated that this location has laws endangering many with “encoded legal bigotry,” and called for online conferences which are safe for all groups and members. The same logic can be applied to this ICA conference.

Considering that the ICA has invested time, and money, into this conference, its sponsors, and location, it is extremely unlikely it will be reversed. The fact that the conference is in the UAE is indicative that the values of the ICA do not matter when money, prestige, and influence win out over common sense. Whether “true universality and inclusiveness” can exist isn’t the issue, but rather that sets a bad precedent that only countries like the UAE “can afford to host.” It may hint at “institutional homophobia” of the ICA, and a stance against inclusion and diversity, all of which was said in opposition to the IFLA’s decision. Those in favor of this choice will declare that it will foster community spirit between archivists across the world, claim it will be “unforgettable,” joyful, or even say that the conference will enrich the “UAE’s society and the fields of documentation and archiving.” [13] Having the conference in the UAE will weaken any (likely underground) efforts, by those on the ground, to improve lives for LGBTQ+ people within the country, by legitimizing the country’s laws, hurting any possibility of change.

Some months ago, a LinkedIn message from Sara, the for the conference, strangely extended a special invitation through a LinkedIn message to the National Security Archive (NSA), even though I’m not a manager there. She declared that NSA has widely recognized expertise, advancing historical research, and promoting transparency. She tried to convince me by saying that discussions at the conference would be enriched by NSA’s participation, claiming that the event would be influential, exceptional, and highly anticipated, and make history as taking place in the “Middle East for the first time ever.” [14] This marketing effort could be why a search for the words “ica abu dhabi” is dominated by tweets from the official account on X/Twitter for the conference, and very few responses from anyone else. Recent tweets make this clear. One tweet only a couple days ago from Piql claiming that the conference will be the “world’s biggest archiving event.”

All these arguments ignore the unsustainable nature of the UAE. A supermajority of the country’s energy comes from petroleum, coal, and natural gas, and only a small sliver coming from solar, wind, and biofuels, according to the International Energy Agency. The Energy Information Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Energy, adds that the country is energy-intensive since it is one of the largest petroleum producers in the world. Their assessment states that the UAE economy is fueled largely by “natural gas…petroleum and other liquids.” Hosting the conference in the UAE stands against at least four of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, [15] which the IFLA claimed they followed. It is also why some have argued that the hosting of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (also known as COP-28) in the UAE from November 30 to December 12 of this year is a form of greenwashing. The country hired PR companies to promote itself as the COP-28 head, pay users to clean the Wikipedia page of the COP-28 president (Sultan Al Jaber), run promotional campaigns on social platforms, polish its “green credentials,” and preparation of a list covering “touchy and sensitive issues”. [16]

Those supporting Abu Dhabi as the conference location may echo arguments of library associations in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and elsewhere in the region which supported Dubai as the IFLA conference location. They supported the decision as a positive opportunity for Arab librarians and libraries, and for other reasons. As such, it makes sense there is positive sentiment by those individuals and groups toward this conference. Furthermore, there is value in standing against “historical biases towards Western countries” when choosing conference locations. [17] However, hosting the conference in the UAE makes it unlikely there would be open exchange of ideas, especially due to human rights violations, including about migrant workers and other individuals, within the country. In addition, the choice of Abu Dhabi by the ICA and Dubai by the IFLA stands against established principles of each organization. Both serve as promotional opportunities for the UAE. They whitewash the country’s reality.

The conference’s location in the UAE is interlinked with discussions about colonialism, Western imposition of values onto other parts of the world, and racism, at minimum. While archivists obviously cannot address this in one fell swoop, there is something that can be done at the present: boycotting both conferences. This should be accompanied with advocacy for a safer and more inclusive virtual/online conference. It could avoid librarians, or archivists, fighting among one other over a conference location, where nationalism comes to the fore, especially the case with the division between those opposing or supporting the IFLA conference’s location. Archivists should express these views on social media and directly to the ICA and IFLA management.

Dr Abdulla Alraisi (left), Cultural Adviser of the UAE Presidential Court and Board of Directors member and Member of the Executive Committee of the UAE National Library and Archives, and ICA President, David Fricker (right), virtually signing a memorandum for understanding for the ICA conference in July 2022. On the same webpage it is stated that the conference was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also claimed that the conference will have a “positive financial result for ICA’s ongoing programmes” and would provide “much-needed” financial resources for the ICA. Apart from the issue of the ICA depending on UAE oil money, one question comes to my mind from this screenshot: this signing could be virtual, why couldn’t the whole conference?

Notes

[1] See the IFLA’s press release on August 11, 2023, entitled “IFLA Governing Board decides on WLIC 2024” and tweets from Violet Fox, Annie Pho (past president of Asian Pacific American Librarians Association and Library Juice Press editor), Lauren Crossett, Valerie Hawkins, Tara Donnelly, Alex Brown, Niall O’Brien, Naomi House (see here and here), Mike Cosgrave, Liam Hogan, Siân Woolcock, Martin O’Connor, Alison Harding, Rob Bittner, Andrea Dillion, Karen Steiger, Ferran Burguillos, Franck Garot, Jamie Finch, Alan Carbery, Isalline, David Wright, Ric Paul, COBDC, Barbara Band, Peter Coles, Matthew Noe, Imogen Negomi, Richard Neil, Jo Wood, Cathal McCauley, Jo Harcus, Caroline Ball, Brendan Teeling, Lyn Robinson, Omorodion Okuonghae, Lesley Pitman, Scott Walter, Felicity Jupiler, Rob Thomson, Tarry MacDonald, CILIP Library and Information History Group, Stuart Dempster, and many others here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. For those in favor, see tweets from Adegbilero Idowu and Dr. Bashayer Alrandi (also see here).

[2] “About the ICA Congress,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “ICA CONGRESS ABU DHABI 2023,” LinkedIn, accessed Aug. 15, 2023;  and see tweets by Larry the Librarian, Louise Cooke-Escapil, Queer Library Alliance, Naomi House, Jennifer Bayjoo, and Piu Martinez, along with a tweet by ICA Congress Abu Dhabi here.

[3] See ICA tweets here, here, and here; tweets by Meg Phillips, Vice President of Programmes at ICA here and here; tweet by ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023 here and here; “Biography of Director General of the UAE National Library and Archives,” UAE National Library and Archives, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “SDAA, National Archives enhance strategic partnership,” Emirates News Agency, Oct. 20, 2020; “His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Message,” UAE National Library and Archives, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; the Library Association of Ireland’s “Response to the announcement by IFLA that Dubai, United Arab Emirates will host the 2024 IFLA World Library and Information Congress” statement, BibliotequesBCN‘s thread ending here, and my conversation with Piu Martinez ending here, my mention of the conference here, and my open support of a boycott here.

[4] “Travel Information,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Chairman of the National Library and Archives’ Board of Directors Message,” UAE National Library and Archives, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Vision, Mission & Values,” UAE National Library and Archives, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “About Us,” UAE National Library and Archives, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Our Duties,” UAE National Library and Archives, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Biographies,” UAE National Library and Archives,” accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Memberships/Partnerships/Agreements,” UAE National Library and Archives,” accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Halls of the National Library and Archives,” UAE National Library and Archives,” accessed Aug. 15, 2023; tweets by ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023 here and here; “Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau,” Experience Abu Dhabi, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Exhibitors,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023.

[5] See tweets by ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023 here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here; posts on the ICA Congress Abu Dhabi LinkedIn page here and here; “Sponsors,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023;  “Travel Information,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Delegate Site Visit,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Spouse/Partner Program,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Exhibiting Opportunities,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Programme,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Authors and sessions chair – ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Description of sub-themes,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “ICA Congress Bursary Program,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; “Hackathon,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; tweet by UAE National Library and Archives here.

[6] “The Role Of The Colonizer: France’s Intervention In Mali,” NPR, Feb. 4, 2013; Porter, Bernard, “Mali intervention: when former imperial powers step in,” The Guardian, Jan. 13, 2013; “French Intervention in Mali: Causes and Consequences,” Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Jan. 20, 2013; “France calls time on anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane in Sahel, ” BBC News, Nov. 9, 2022; Kane, Papa Samba. “The French colonial designs in Mali,” Al Jazeera, Aug. 22, 2019; Timothy Robbins, Hijab Shah, and Melissa Dalton, “U.S. Support for Saudi Military Operations in Yemen,” CSIS, Mar. 23, 2018; Reidel, Bruce. “A brief history of America’s troubled relationship with Yemen,” Brookings Institution, Oct. 22, 2018; “France voices support for Saudi campaign in Yemen,” France24, Dec. 4, 2015; “Pressure mounts on Western powers to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia,” France24, Aug. 23, 2016.

[7] See “Overview of ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023; tweets by EXPM, Preservica, Nicola Laurent (here, here, and here), and others here, here, here, along with tweet by the ICA here; tweets by ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023 here and here; posts on the ICA Congress Abu Dhabi LinkedIn page here and here. The first time the #ICACongressAbuDhabi hashtag was used on X/Twitter was on November 30, 2022.

[8] “2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: United Arab Emirates,” Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. State Department, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; “2023 Investment Climate Statements: United Arab Emirates,” Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, U.S. State Department, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; “Market Overview,” International Trade Association, U.S. Department of Commerce, Jul. 26, 2022.

[9] “Results of the WLIC 2024 Advisory Referendum and Volunteer Survey,” IFLA, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; “Universal Periodic Review – United Arab Emirates,” U.N. Human Rights Council, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; “Travel Information,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023. As I noted back in April, late Lebanese-American scholar and journalist Jack G. Shaheen in one of his seminal works, Reel Bad Arabs, defines Arabs as the hundreds of millions of people who reside in, and the millions around the world in the diaspora, from 22 Arab states: Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. One of the problems with the IFLA survey is that it does not say WHY people in regions defined as “Asia-Oceania,” “Middle East and North Africa,” and “Sub-Saharan Africa” supported Dubai as the conference location.

[10] “Trucial States in 1914,” The National Archives (UK), accessed Aug. 16, 2023; “Sharjah: the Gate to Trucial States,” UNESCO, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; Rizvi, Kishwai. “Eve Arnold in the Trucial States: The United Arab Emirates before Federation,” Platform, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; “United Arab Emirates,” United States. Department of State. Bureau of Public Affairs, 1985; “Secret deals ending Britain’s control in Gulf revealed,” BBC News, Aug. 30, 2022; “United Arab Emirates,” National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; “Barut, Slave Governor of Kalba,” British Library, Mar. 3, 2016. For more, see Tancred Bradshaw’s book, The End of Empire in the Gulf: From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates, and Rosemarie Said Zahlan’s book, The Origins of the United Arab Emirates: A Political and Social History of the Trucial States. On the interconnection of colonialism and homophobic laws, especially in former British colonies, see “Colonialism, homophobia and the legality of gay sex in the Commonwealth,” “From colonialism to ‘kill the gays’: The surprisingly recent roots of homophobia in Africa,” “Resisting Homophobia: The Colonial Origins of Anti-Gay Laws,” “How Britain’s colonial legacy still affects LGBT politics around the world,” and even the 2008 report from Human Rights Watch entitled “This Alien Legacy: The Origins of “Sodomy” Laws in British Colonialism.”

[11] “Federal Decree Law No. (15) of 2020 Amending Certain Provisions of the Federal Law No. (3) of 1987 Concerning the Penal Code,” UAE Ministry of Justice, p. 3; Torchia, Christopher. “Foreign couple arrested in UAE for unwed sex is released,” Associated Press, Mar. 10, 2017; Roberts, Rachel. “Couple arrested in the United Arab Emirates for ‘having sex outside marriage’,” The Independent, Mar. 8, 2017; Bamford, Emma. “Dubai court suspends jail term for beach sex couple,” The Independent, Nov. 26, 2008; “UAE jails Singapore pair for wearing women’s clothes,” BBC News, Aug. 24, 2017; Arafah, Adel. “Officials lambast capitals gay party youth,” Khaleej Times, Nov. 24, 2022; Boone, Jon. “What not to do in Dubai as a tourist,” The Independent, Oct. 13, 2017; Irish, John. “Dubai court hears French boy’s rape testimony,” Reuters, Nov. 7, 2007; Gardner, Frank. “Dubai closes club after gay night,” BBC News, Apr. 1, 2001; ZaZa, Bassam. “Two men jailed for consensual sex,” Gulf News, Apr. 10, 2012; Molloy, Parker Marie. “Brazilian Trans Women Detained in Dubai for ‘Imitating Women’,” The Advocate, Jan. 24, 2014;Gigi Gorgeous Was Allegedly Detained In Dubai Airport Because She’s Trans,” HuffPost, Aug. 10, 2016; “UAE rejects three transgender Emirati women’s bid for gender status change,” Al Arabiya News, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; Moukhallati, Dana. “New UAE law does not legalise sex change,” The National, Sept. 26, 2016; Singh, Namita. “UAE children’s magazine accused of promoting homosexuality with ‘gay issue’,” The Independent, Jun. 2022; “UAE retracts issue of children magazine after claims of ‘promoting homosexuality’,” The New Arab, Jun. 27, 2022; Hirwani, Peony. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse banned in UAE,” The Independent, Jun. 16, 2023; Mehta, Ashish. “New UAE laws: Is it illegal to be romantically involved with a married woman?,” Khaleej Times, Dec. 12, 2021; “The cohabitation of unmarried couples was recently decriminalised in the UAE,” The Law Reporters, Nov. 6, 2021; Cornwall, Alexander. “UAE bans Disney-Pixar film over same-sex relationship characters,” Reuters, Jun. 13, 2022; Turak, Natasha. “United Arab Emirates bans Pixar’s new Buzz Lightyear movie from theaters,” CNBC, Jun. 14, 2022; Gambrell, Jon. “United Arab Emirates bans Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’ from showing,” Associated Press, Jun. 13, 2022. Interestingly, the UAE let Barbie air despite the transgender character and feminist themes, following a month-long delay.

[12] “WLIC 2024: Briefing Paper to the Advisory Referendum,” IFLA, Jul. 2023. The same document noted that the IFLA previously chose Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a city in “a country with restrictive policies on same-sex sexual acts,” but they went through with it anyhow. They also admitted that “many LGBTQ+ potential delegates may feel unsafe or anxious” as a result of the conference location in UAE, answering the concern of one user, among others like here.

[13] See tweets by ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023 (see here and here), UAE National Library and Archives (see here, here, here, here, here, and here), Abu Dhabi Media Office, Andrew Asasiira, Maxwell Otte, Patrick Vanhoucke, Lesley Pitman, and CILIP Library and Information History Group; “Statement from the CILIP Library and Information History Group (LIHG) on the choice of Dubai for the 2024 IFLA World Library and Information Congress and subsequent Briefing Paper to the Advisory Referendum,” CILIP, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; “VOB staat niet achter WLIC 2024 in Dubai” [VOB is not behind WLIC 2024 in Dubai] (in Dutch), Bibliotheekblad, Aug. 11, 2023; “IFLA entscheidet: Weltkongress 2024 wird in Dubai stattfinden” [IFLA decides: World Congress 2024 will take place in Dubai] (in German), BuB, Aug. 11, 2023; Gordan, Rebecca. “Majoritet emot bibliotekskongress i Dubai – men Ifla står fast vid beslutet” [Majority against library congress in Dubai – but Ifla stands by the decision] (in Swedish), magasin K, Aug. 15, 2023; “Beslutet: Bibliotekskongressen hålls i Dubai trots kritiken” [The decision: The Library Congress is held in Dubai despite the criticism] (in Swedish), svt nyheter, Aug. 11, 2023; “Malgré l’opposition des associations, l’IFLA choisit Dubaï” [Despite association opposition, IFLA chooses Dubai] (in French), Actualitte, Aug. 14, 2023; Parker, Susan. “ARL Statement on IFLA Congress in Dubai,” Association of Research Libraries, Aug. 1, 2023.

[14] I never responded to her message, as it appeared to be spam, and may send her a message back after publishing this article.

[15] Specifically the goals “Affordable and Clean Energy”, “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, “Sustainable Cities and Communities”, “Responsible Consumption and Production”, and possibly “Climate Action”, with stated UN action toward these goals and others. The UAE claims that they are committed to ” achieve sustainable development…sustainable governance…[and] adopting consumption and production methods that enhance the quality of life of the present and future generations,” but alternate energies are not even listed on the page.

[16] Michaelson, Ruth and Patrick Greenfield, “UAE using role as Cop28 host to lobby on its climate reputation,” The Guardian, No. 26, 2022; Stockton, Nick. “Cop28 president’s team accused of Wikipedia ‘greenwashing’,” The Guardian, May 30, 2023; Carrington, Damian. “Army of fake social media accounts defend UAE presidency of climate summit,” The Guardian, Jun. 8, 2023; Hiar, Corbin and Zack Colman, “An oil state hired the biggest PR firms to buff its climate image. It didn’t help,” Politico, Jun 7. 2023; Carrington, Damian. “Leak reveals ‘touchy’ issues for UAE’s presidency of UN climate summit,” The Guardian, Aug. 1, 2023; Also see Amy Westervelt’s “So what if fossil fuel lobbyists have to declare themselves at Cop28? That won’t curb their power“.

[17] “Bestuur KVAN besluit geen afvaardiging te sturen naar congres ICA 2023 in Abu Dhabi,” [Board of KVAN decides not to send a delegation to the ICA 2023 conference in Abu Dhabi] (in Dutch), KVAN, May 5, 2023; “L’AAC comunica la decisió de no assistir al Congrés ICA Abu Dhabi 2023” [The AAC announces its decision not to attend the ICA Abu Dhabi 2023 Congress] (in Catalan), Associació de Professionals de l’Arxivística i la Gestió de Documents de Catalunya, Jul. 15, 2023; “Dubai to host IFLA WLIC 2024,” Lebanese Library Association, Jun. 23, 2023; “ALIA Statement on the IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2024,” Australian Library and Information Association, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; tweets by Saudi Library and Information Association, Emirates Libraries and Information Association, Arab Federation for Libraries and Information (also see here). The IFLA statement says Librarians Association of Malaysia (PPM) and Indian Library Association supported the location, but I cannot find a link to statements by either organization on the conference.

 

by Categories: Archivists on the IssuesTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Steering Share: Meet Burkely Hermann

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of Steering Committee member, Burkely Hermann, National Security Archive, and current I&A Blog Coordinator. Other members currently on the I&A Steering Committee include Danielle Simpkins, Caitlin Rizzo, Sheridan Sayles, Liz Call, Holly Rose McGee, and Claire Gordon.

1) What was your first experience working with archives?

I first worked in an archives after graduating from college with my B.A. in Political Science and History, as a researcher at the Maryland State Archives for a project trying to track down the stories of Maryland Revolutionary War soldiers, called the “Finding the Maryland 400” project, having a flexible start and end time, often either working with a historian on staff or independently. While that job only lasted six months as the grant money from a non-profit ran out, it began my interest in archives, which was rekindled in later years when I started my MLIS degree and worked at NARA’s College Park location as a work study in my last semester.

While I was drawn toward genealogy when working at the Maryland State Archives, I remember digitizing documents, using a push cart to move heavy books from the stacks to my desk, the in-house system I used to input information, or the many databases I used day in and day out. On the other hand, there were mold remediation efforts during the end of my time there. Worst of all, however, was the public transit nightmare I endured to get to the archives. Every day, I went on a light rail train to the end of the line, then a caught bus down to the archives itself. One wrong transfer or traffic would cause delays either by minutes or by hours. One major lesson I learned from the whole experience was to work somewhere that is accessible through public transportation!

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

That is a hard question. I would say precarity in the archives profession is very important, as many of my jobs since graduating have been precarious, whether working at a grant-funded position at the Maryland State Archives, an unpaid internship for NARA, or a graduate assistantship at University of Maryland, where I earned my MLIS degree, focusing on Archives and Digital Curation. Connected to this are those trying to unionize archivists, have fair pay, and safe working conditions, among other efforts to help archival issues.

Currently, I work at a non-profit which relies on grant funding, so in that way, it is a bit of a precarious position, I suppose, as a loss of funding could lead, possibly, to cuts in wages and benefits. I am glad that archival precarity has received a lot of attention in recent years and I hope that it continues to be seen as important by those in the profession, including in the SAA. This seems by the case from what I can gather when filling out the A*Census II.

3) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?

I hope to connect with like-minded archivists who are concerned with various archival issues, such as reparative processing, redescription, institutional sustainability, institutional racism, and preserving social media posts. I’ll be using my perspective to positively contribute to the Issues & Advocacy Section (I&A) to continue existing advocacy and outreach efforts, including continuing to promote the value and importance of the archival profession.

4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?

Well, read a lot of webcomics and watch a bunch of animated series. And I write reviews of shows and comics I read, some of which have archivists and librarians! Also, for fun, I write fiction and incorporate some archivists into some of my stories. I occasionally do family history research for both sides of my family and have some blogs about that as well. When I’m not doing all of that, and it’s good weather, I go on hikes and read books.

by Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments

Archivists on the Issues: LAC Union at University of Michigan

Archivists on the Issues is a forum for archivists to discuss the issues we are facing today. In this post, Steering Committee member, Sheridan Sayles, talks to a member of the newly formed LAC at University of Michigan.

In March 2021, Lecturer-rank employees at the University of Michigan Libraries—specifically the Librarians, Archivists, and Curators (LAC)—voted to form a union as part of the University of Michigan’s Lecturers’ Employees Organization. This involved coordinating among the Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn campuses and setting standards and goals for all three work environments.
The members of SAA’s Issues and Advocacy section stand in solidarity with the union and, beyond signal boosting their incredible efforts, we hope that getting an insight into the experience of unionizing will support others who wish to take this same path. In this exchange, Colleen Marquis of the Flint campus shares some of her experience.

  1. What inspired you to unionize?
    Our conditions on campus. The Flint campus is very isolated and struggling. The Ann Arbor administration treats us like the problem child rather than support us. Our librarians are overworked and underpaid and it’s embarrassingly obvious to students and fellow faculty in other departments. The breaking point was when we went to re-describe our job duties and redefine our roles (after several positions were left vacant) and realized that we all need two to three job descriptions while being some of the lowest-paid librarians not only in the University system but in the whole state.
  2. What issues were most important to you when forming your union?
    Equality across campuses, better cross-campus library collaboration, job security should the Flint campus close, pay, and better working conditions. 
  3. What research did you need to complete at the onset of your efforts?
    A lot! I learned about how to have the organizing conversation, how to be relentless when contacting people (even if it didn’t work!) and I of course researched ATF and LEO as much as possible. I wanted to be sure that LAC would fit well and it was soon obvious that this was the best way for us to organize.
  4. You were able to get a fairly disparate group together, what strategies did you use—communication or otherwise—in your organizing efforts?
    I used every tool at my disposal including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, every day I could to try to contact people I did. My efforts focused on the Flint campus though and with a whole faculty of 7 people in the library and archives and the realities of our working environment, it wasn’t difficult to get a majority to sign fairly quickly! I had a lot of trouble contacting and getting responses from Ann Arbor librarians.
  5. If you could change one thing about the experience of forming your union, what would it be?
    CoVID made it hard to get face to face with people and I feel like that could have made things go much smoother. It’s easier to ignore the hardships of someone telling you on a computer screen, much harder to ignore them in person. I had a conversation with someone who had no complaints about their job but when I spoke about the trouble I was having they said, “Yeah but that’s you in Flint.” It was harder to connect the individual with the whole community. 
  6. Lastly, what advice would you give to someone looking to unionize?
    You will have frustrating and dumb conversations. You have to remember that we live in a society that actively discourages organizing. There is a negative narrative surrounding unions that is pushed harder here than anywhere else.  You may come across as looking sneaky or non-transparent when working in secret is a necessary first step. Some people won’t let their egos go about not being the first person to be contacted for unionizing efforts, therefore they have a problem with the union. Others will nit-pick and bring up other issues they think are more important or need to be addressed before organizing. Just be ready with answers and be ready to repeat those same answers when their concerns are repeated back to you but with different wording (maybe this is strictly a problem with academics?!) Also, recognize when someone isn’t going to budge and then move on. If someone has strong idealogical (ie not based in their or anyone else’s reality) reasons to reject a union, move on to where your efforts will bear fruit. Finally, you need tenacity, you need to go after a yes over and over. Doesn’t matter if you feel like you are bothering them – you probably are and that’s good! Keep bothering them, push the issue, get them to make a decision cause they’ll have to justify that decision to themselves. Hopefully, they will realize inaction is a decision and will sign a card.  
by Categories: Archivists on the IssuesTags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Archivists on the News: Desiring Tumblr, Porn, and the Archives

Archivists on the News is a series where archivists share their perspectives on current news topics. This post comes courtesy of  Dani Stuchel, a Tuscon-based archivist and artist. Dani has performed and exhibited video work internationally, including the Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory (Pittsburgh, PA), Human Resources (Los Angeles), Whippersnapper Gallery (Toronto), University of Arizona Museum of Art, and Shot Tower Gallery (Columbus, OH). Dani’s writing has appeared in the Journal of Critual Library & Information Studies, Smithsonian Collections Blog, Cactus Heart, Steer Queer Art Zine, and Sundog Lit.  Alongside Dr. Time Haggerty and Harrison Apple, Dani serves as a volunteer archivist for the Pittsburgh Queer History Project, an oral history and media project focused on preserving the history of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s gay and lesbian after-hours nightlife from 1950 through 1990. To find out more about their work, you can find additional information at http://www.danistuchel.com

 

“Are archivists ready for porn?”

The above question came to me as I read about Jason Scott’s plan to save Tumblr blogs from the platform’s 2018 ‘porn ban.’ In December 2018, Tumblr announced it would use algorithms to seek out, “photos, videos, or GIFs that showed real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content—including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations—that depicts sex acts.” Algorithmically-marked content would then be hidden from everyone except the original poster. Tumblr had become something akin to storing your bookmarks in the cloud: effective, but dull. As porn studies scholar Brian M. Watson offers, “Their pornography ban [was] a betrayal to their entire fanbase,” and Tumblr users have subsequently exited the platform en masse.

Soon after Tumblr’s announcement, Archive Team – led by Jason Scott – shared a plan to make backup copies of various Tumblr accounts and add them to the Internet Archive. Archive Team’s goal was to circumvent Tumblr’s planned un-publishing of content by creating an uncensored copy elsewhere. However, it quickly became clear that individual users would not have control over what content was included in the backup. On one hand was Tumblr, threatening to suppress your content. On the other was Scott, promising to share your content but without giving you clear-cut control over it in the future.

Tumblr’s policy and Scott’s solution were both roundly critiqued by users, activists, and scholars, who noted that both tactics undermined the autonomy and free expression of sex workers, LGBT persons, women, fetishists, and every intersecting permutation. While Tumblr was denying users a highly-valued means of sharing positive depictions of bodies which diverge from ‘the norm,’ Scott’s approach threatened to divorce sensitive, personal, and complex exchanges from their context and put them on public display. If Tumblr was suppressing circulation, then Scott was threatening to make living relationships into a digital cabinet of curiosities.

Of course, these two oppositional approaches do not represent all possible engagements with porn. As curator of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at the University of Minnesota, Rachel Mattson teaches undergraduate and graduate students about histories of sexuality, film circulation, and homemade media — sometimes using analog porn found in the Tretter’s holdings to help students recognize that, “There is no timeless norm of sex,” and that all sex can be understood as historical. A historical, constructivist approach to sex was central to early gay & lesbian liberation movements and the development of LGBT studies as an academic field. This approach continues to influence contemporary queer & trans political organizing and scholarship. Mel Leverich, archivist for the Leather Archives & Museum in Chicago, adds that “By excluding sexually explicit material from the archives, we also deny that people’s private sexual identity and practices are an important part of lived experience, and replicate the stigmatization of non-normative sex.” Contextualized thoughtfully, porn is an invaluable educational resource.

When the term “pornography” was coined in the 19th century, it was a label for artifacts which historians feared would morally imperil, not educate, the general public[1]. Such panic was not new. Brian M. Watson offers that, “When [the printing press] was joined with increasing middle- and lower-class literacy, and book markets such as Holywell Street in London or the Grands-Boulevards area of Paris, it created a type of work that supposedly had an ‘undesirable’ effect upon the general population.”

In other words, the main charge against porn has not been that it is useless, but that its use should be feared. Centuries later, anti-pornography feminists of the 1970s and 1980s would claim porn led to child sex abuse, rape, and violence against women[2]. Tumblr echoed this line of thought when it explained its adult content ban as a means of ridding the platform of child pornography. (Very notably, Tumblr never attempted a similar algorithmic approach to white supremacy on the platform.)  While I cannot wade into these long debates within the space of this blog post, I would suggest that many scholars have come to see porn – like all media, genres, and forms – as neither inherently ‘good’ nor inherently ‘bad.’ Instead, power relationships, aesthetics, and desire unfold inside of porn to create complex documents meriting patient study and appreciation.

Archivists are in a perfect position to think about porn as complex documentation, and to devise strategies for working with porn in the archives. One question will prove critical in the coming decades: How do we tell ‘archive stories’ with porn, sex work, or sex as center – rather than as peripheral? One hypothetical example could be the papers of Colby Keller, a successful gay porn performer who reportedly voted for Donald Trump and who supported many of Trump’s political messages. Keller’s story as a political agent is noteworthy, and I would argue it is important to understanding the complexity of sexual-identities-as-political-identities, but it cannot be divorced from his ongoing work as a porn performer. Separating his politics from the specifics of his career is akin to telling the story of Steven Spielberg sans film. If we imagine a future wherein Keller donates his papers to an archives, many questions arise. How can archives tell stories which have sex work and porn as a center, not as a tangent? How can we think of porn context? How do we talk – with researchers, students, the public – through both the intellectual and erotic content of this work?

Alongside porn’s educational and research value, it is undeniable that porn is also a thing of desire. It is created in response to desires (those of the maker and/or the intended audience), consumed in desire (academic, artistic, sexual). If porn had no allure then its detractors would have nothing to fear. Linda Williams has written that part of watching porn is hoping to see what you don’t want to see, hoping to have your limits and boundaries pushed[3]. Porn is a desire for excess – very untidy, ‘unprofessional.’

“But archives are full of desire already,” Rachel Mattson redirects. Visitors enter all archives with a desire to see, to touch, to know. Not just the visitors – archivists, too. But desire is troublesome. It peregrinates through – but is not subsumed by – identity or selfhood. We desire things that go against our better judgement, that bring our identities into question. We have shameful desires. Desire disrupts the professional / personal boundary. As GVGK Tang puts it, in their discussion of arranging and describing porn, “To process porn, one must consume it and risk internalizing the notion that one is a pervert for doing so.”[4]

Facing sexual desire is a next step for archives which would engage with porn. In our discussion of LGBT archivists and archival collections, it is easy to elide sexual desire in favor of political organizing, creative aesthetics, or cultural traditions. This isn’t to say that sexual identities (including heterosexual identities) can be boiled down to sex acts, but it is to suggest that they can never be fully divorced. Though not an archives in the sense intended by most archivists, Tumblr was a valued space for producing, circulating, organizing, and keeping records of sexual practices. As a private platform, it had the unchecked power to shut out stories of desire despite public outcry. Their policies were unjust, but very telling. In the end, the platform lost the public’s confidence and investment. If we, as archivists, take seriously our mission (desire?) to tell complex stories, we cannot afford to do the same.

 

Footnotes

[1] David Squires, “Pornography in the Library,” in Porn Archives, eds. Tim Dean, Steven Ruszczycky, and David Squires (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2014), 83.

[2] For a description of the debates of this era, see Gayle S. Rubin, “Blood Under the Bridge: Reflections on ‘Thinking Sex,’” in Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011), 194-223.

[3] Linda Williams, “Pornography, Porno, Porn: Thoughts on a Weedy Field,” in Porn Archives, eds. Tim Dean, Steven Ruszczycky, and David Squires (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2014), 41.

[4] GVGK Tang, “Sex in the Archives: The Politics of Processing and Preserving Pornography in the Digital Age,” The American Archivist 80, no. 2 (2017): 444. http://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081-80.2.439

 

Many thanks to Mel Leverich, Rachel Mattson, and Brian M. Watson for agreeing to be interviewed for this post and offering their thoughts on the topics discussed.

by Categories: Archivists on the NewsTags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Intern Share from Kristin Hare

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of I&A Intern Kristin Hare.

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

My favorite thing about the archives profession is archivists! I’ve reached out to total strangers through Twitter, listservs, and professional organizations for career advice, graduate school assignments, or with processing questions and I’ve never encountered anything but encouragement and a genuine willingness to offer any help they can. The archival profession is full of hardworking, kind professionals that will go out of their way to assist the new kids.

I also love the chaos of introducing yourself to an institutional archive for the first time. I interned with the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina and my first encounter with their institutional archive was a rollercoaster of confusion, excitement, and feelings of rage towards scotch tape and paperclips.

What made you want to join the I&A steering committee?

I have a strong interest in the role of archivists as advocates for marginalized people, their histories, and records. The shift towards equitable access rather than equal access within the field is a movement that I firmly believe in and I’ve really enjoyed watching archives professionals advocate for change. I also feel a responsibility to consider how my own identity and values impact my work within the field. I think most would agree that neutrality as an archivist is nearly impossible. Getting involved with the I&A steering committee seemed like a great way to continue to learn about the diverse issues within archives and challenge myself professionally.

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

The inclusion and preservation of LGBT materials within archives is an issue that means a lot to me. During my graduate program, I researched the unique challenges archivists face when working with LGBT materials, including ethical concerns, cataloging and copyright issues, and privacy. I designed a research study to explore the information seeking behavior of transgender, intersex, and non-binary persons within South Carolina and I currently serve as a member of the South Carolina Library Association’s GLBT roundtable. I’m interested in the lack of representation and safe access to information within archives and libraries faced by LGBT persons and the steps professionals can take to bridge those gaps and improve services and programs for the public.

by Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Steering Share: Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen (for now)

Steering Shares  provide an opportunity to learn more about the I&A Steering Committee and the issues that the committee members care about. This final post comes from committee member Stephanie Bennett, Collections Archivist at Wake Forest University.

I signed up for I&A elections back in 2016 with a cavalier “I probably won’t win.” But I was very excited by I&A’s level of activity and the importance of our work buoying archivists and our work in so many ways: socially and governmentally, our use and language of labor, etc etc. When I managed to win and join the Steering Committee, I was – and have been – thrilled to continue this work and the level of activity that has come to be the norm for the I&A Section.

Over the last two years, I’ve learned more about how the Society of American Archivists works as part of my steering committee work. It’s an imperfect institution (aren’t all institutions?) but it’s populated by us – archivists who are pushing our profession to contribute to society in useful, unique ways, open new avenues of research and theory, move toward equity and justice in our institutional and professional practices. Corporate bodies are best reserved for name authority files, in my view, but I am warmed and spurred on by the individuals who populate and inhabit SAA in order to leave the profession better than they found it.

I look forward to continuing the work, though off this committee. Archivists, whether we pay SAA dues or attend national meetings, whether we work within the section or external to it, are a powerful community of knowledgeable experts. Our daily work, our records expertise, our historical perspectives are all powerful assets and activities. These we can share with one another, with our local non-archivists, with communities that have long been harmed through enforced invisibility and/or mistreatment.

If you have an axe to grind, an archival issue that is not discussed enough in our field, I hope that you find the I&A committee and its tools a welcoming place to share information and build community around that concern. We offer this blog, social media feeds, an annual meeting, and anything else you want to build or make use of in order to education and organize. I am grateful every day for the work of my colleagues around labor, for example. I did not grow up steeped in those concepts or language around work and solidarity, but being an archivist helped me become aware of imbalances and issues. By reading my colleagues’ articles and Twitter musings, and then beginning to join conversations and act, I am able to be a better advocate for the hours of labor we put in to make our corner of the internet rich in information and beautiful (or at least useful) metadata.

Thank you for the space you provide for these discussions, Issues & Advocacy, and thank you for your contributions, archivists and archives workers! I am a proud alumna of this steering committee.

by Categories: Steering ShareTags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Steering Share: Reflections on a Year as Committee Intern

Steering Shares  provide an opportunity to learn more about the I&A Steering Committee and the issues that the committee members care about. This post is by I&A Intern Samantha Brown. Along with serving as I&A’s intern and Social Media manager, Samantha works as an Assistant Archivist at the New-York Historical Society.  Thank you for your year of service, Samantha!

While it seems like my internship started just yesterday, almost a whole year has gone by. Never having served on a professional committee before, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started. I wasn’t sure if I would just be observing the committee’s work and working on my own small project or if I would be taking an active part in the committees work. Much to my surprise, I was warmly welcomed to the committee and treated like any other member.

In our first meeting, new members were assigned jobs that they would be fulfilling throughout the year. Since I had worked on social media as a graduate assistant, I was assigned the job of managing the committee’s Facebook and Twitter pages. As the job was explained to me, managing the pages would consist of sharing articles that discuss issues and advocacy within the world of archives and sharing new posts from the committee’s blog. After hearing this, I assumed the job would be easy and wouldn’t take too much time away from my work.

Overall, my committee assignment was relatively easy. The difficult part wasn’t finding content or managing the pages but juggling my responsibilities. Since I am working on strict processing deadline for contract position, I didn’t have any time during the day that could be devoted to searching for articles to post on the committee’s social media pages. At first I tried mult-tasking, trying to search for articles while Archivists’ Toolkit loaded or while I was waited for a file to load on my computer. I quickly discovered that this would not give me nearly enough time to find what I need. Instead, I decided that I would take a half hour to search for articles when I arrived at work. If I couldn’t find anything during that time then I needed to move on with my day and possibly make another attempt at finding something during my lunch break.

Taking this tactic worked well for creating social media posts but did not work as well for the other responsibilities that I had as a committee member. Throughout the year, committee members were expected to write blog posts and participate in any projects that happened to arise. This posed a problem for me since my current position does not allocate time for worked that is not directly related to processing our project. To make everything work and accomplish everything I needed, I had to fit things in where I could. For me, this meant I had to write blog posts on my days off and work on projects, such as #AskAnArchivist Day, on my lunch break.

Despite my struggle to fit everything in, I really enjoyed my time on the committee. Everyone was friendly and encouraging. No one ever made me feel like my opinion was of less value since I was an intern. In the future, I would be love to work on a committee again and become an active member of the archives community. From this experience, I’ve learned what it means to be part of a professional community and how to coordinate competing responsibilities. If was given this opportunity again, I would not hesitate to take part.

by Categories: Steering ShareTags: , , , , , Leave a comment

End-of-Year Steering Share: Accomplishments and What’s Next

Steering Shares  provide an opportunity to learn more about the I&A Steering Committee and the issues that the committee members care about. This post comes from soon-to-be-outgoing (but still current!) I&A Chair Rachel Mandell, Metadata Librarian at the University of Southern California Digital Library.

Though we are not quite down to the final moments of the year (in terms of the SAA leadership schedule), we are indeed approaching the final push and thus, as I&A Chair, it is my final Steering Share. First of all, I want to thank everyone on the Steering Committee for being such a great team. You were all vital components of the work that we accomplished this year and working with you all was such a treat! I can’t wait to see/meet all of you in August!

I wanted to take this opportunity to briefly recap everything that we worked on this year and what we hope to continue next year.

Projects accomplished this year:

  • Blog series: Probably our most focused project. We really tried to add valuable content to each of our 3 blog series.
    • Steering Shares: Each Steering Committee member writes 3 posts throughout the year
    • Archivists on the Issues: 3 contributors each writes 3 posts about a topic of their choice.
    • Research Teams: Two research teams each write 3 posts.
      • News Monitoring Team: This year, the News Monitoring Research team, led by our very own Steve Duckworth, created monthly updates as well as more focused posts.
      • Legis* Team: We revamped the Legislative Research teams this year. We encouraged each member on the team to monitor topics of interest relating to legislation, legislators, and/or resources relating to discovering information.
      • Also had some additional guest contributors like Eira Tansey and international blog follower François Dansereau
  • #AskanArchivist Day: Our Steering Committee participated by taking turns monitoring our Twitter feed. It was great fun!
  • Social Media: Our amazing I&A Intern, Samantha Brown, took on handling our social media—and she rocked it! Thanks, Samantha! See us on Facebook and/or Twitter!
  • Archives Design Share Portal in collaboration with the Regional Archival Associations Consortium (RAAC): Just getting started with collaborators at RAAC—hoping to get more going soon!
  • Collaboration with DLF’s Labor Working Group: Two phone calls to touch base and a possible project on the horizon!
  • SAA Advocacy groups quarterly calls. Keep each other informed, run ideas by each other. Also helped CoPP edit /update SAA’s public policy agenda
  • Developing program for section meeting at Annual Meeting

Projects to continue next year:

  • Continue the blog series tradition!
  • Collaboration with DLF
  • Temporary labor in libraries/archives survey/study
  • Archives Design Share Portal

While in many ways it seems like I wasn’t able to accomplish as much as I wanted, I also  definitely feel proud of what we did work on this year and the new projects that we got started on. I look forward to watching Courtney Dean, our esteemed Vice-Chair, who was really more of a co-chair, take over next year.

by Categories: Steering ShareTags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment

News Highlights, 2018 March

The I&A News Monitoring Research Team has compiled this list of recent news stories relating to archives, archivists, archival issues, and archival representations. This list was curated by SAA Issues & Advocacy News Monitoring Team, which includes Dana Bronson, Rachel Cohen, Samantha Cross, Shaun Hayes, and Beth Nevarez; it is managed by Steve Duckworth.

View the full list of news stories online.

Acquisition, Preservation, & Access

Archival Finds & Stories

Digital Archives, Technology, & the Web

Exhibits & Museums

Human & Civil Rights, Equality, & Health

Security & Privacy

The Profession

by Categories: Research PostTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 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

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:

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

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

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

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.

by Categories: Archivists on the IssuesTags: , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments