Author: Cheryl

American Archivist Generative AI Statement

Introduction:

In Spring of 2023, American Archivist editors learned that authors had used artificial intelligence (AI) platforms such as ChatGPT in submissions to the Reviews Portal. This sparked a conversation within the Editorial Board about the ethical use of AI in American Archivist content. As ChatGPT and other AI programs are becoming ubiquitous, the American Archivist Editorial Board is endorsing the following Norms and Recommendations for AI use within our publications. 

The Editorial Board recognizes that the technological landscape is rapidly evolving with regard to AI in scholarship and journal publication. We recognize that AI has great potential to contribute to archivists’ professional work, including creating summary documents for finding aids and facilitating data analysis for large projects. The American Archivist Editorial Board recognizes the opportunity to engage AI for scholarship and professional growth.

For the integrity of the journal, our goal is to define standards for the journal and the reviews portal, and to encourage authors to be transparent about their use of generative AI platforms, including ChatGPT, in content they submit. While the Editorial Board will not reject a piece solely based on the use of AI, we want to be clear about how AI is used in any context in American Archivist. We value an ethical approach to publishing and transparency for our professional membership and our readership.

We recognize that there is a distinction between using AI for assistance with spelling and grammar, and using AI to generate content. Multiple disciplines are voicing concerns about generative AI, and as a journal representing one arm of the allied information professions, this is what concerns us most. First, generative AI may pose substantial issues for copyright and intellectual property: generative AI uses other publications and writings that appear online, and these may not be appropriately attributed for copyright purposes. AI generated content may also reproduce biases from existing online content, and spread misinformation. In addition, our own editorial experience has shown that AI generated citations may produce references to articles that simply do not exist.[1]

In an effort to discourage the spread of misinformation, in an effort to maintain integrity of the journal, and to value our responsibility to authors, Society of American Archivist (SAA) members, and readers, the American Archivist Editorial Board is setting forth these Norms and Recommendations for the use of AI in our publications.

Norms and Recommendations:

These Norms and Recommendations represent an ethical agreement between authors submitting content to the journal and portal, and the Editorial Board. They are intended to encourage transparency in the use of AI in the research and publication process. They are not strictly enforced, nor do they purport to be a legally binding agreement between SAA, American Archivist, or the authors submitting content. The Editorial Board will review these norms and recommendations on an annual basis.

• No article will be summarily rejected because of the use of AI.

• Articles containing purely generated AI content are prohibited. 

• Authors must disclose the use of AI when a manuscript (review or article) is submitted. This includes, but is not limited to, AI generated content and data analysis. For maximum transparency, this disclosure should appear at the beginning of the article—in an author’s note, the abstract, or a statement prior to the article’s introduction.

• All content—regardless of the use of AI—will go through normal review channels (double blind peer review and/or editorial review, as appropriate).

• Editorial decisions are made based on peer/editorial review, quality of writing, and content. 

• Editors reserve the right to request AI transcripts from authors as well as additional information about its specific use, including where and how AI was used in the piece.

• Editors reserve the right to provide AI transcripts to peer reviewers as context for the piece.

Adopted February 15, 2024

Next scheduled review: February 2025

[1] Why does ChatGPT generate fake references? – TECHE (mq.edu.au) 

Read other submissions guidelines here. 

CFP: International Oral History Association Conference

Biennial conferences of the International Oral History Association (IOHA) allow for reviewing the global conditions and problems of oral history, regardless of the actual conference theme. This time, the organizers of the 23rd IOHA Conference call on oral historians worldwide to consciously rethink the idea and practice of their discipline.

Oral history today faces both old and new challenges with long-lasting and unpredictable consequences: the crisis of liberal democracy, growing tensions in international politics, climate change with its devastating outcomes on human life, increasing inequalities, wars, and mass migrations. All of the foregoing not only affect the conditions in which oral history is made, but also compels us to rethink its very aim. For Central and Eastern Europe, the full-scale Russian aggression in Ukraine beginning in February 2022 and its consequences are an especially painful reminder of that. Though oral history was, and still is a part of history, it has always been conscious of the responsibility (oral) history has for the current society. Aware of that mission, we encourage the global oral history community to return to the core questions of our practice: what kind of histories should we tell and pass on to the current and future generations?

Therefore, we invite oral historians to rethink this essential issue during the conference that will take place in September 2025 at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. Participants are encouraged to address one or more of the following questions in their proposals:

– Political involvement or independence: is ethical neutrality achievable and morally correct in a polarized world?
– Methodological standards: how much does the technological development of AI challenge them?
– Healing the wounds: how far can the therapeutic role of oral history go?
– Oral history responses to human crises: what methodological and ethical problems of emergency documenting and archiving may we use?
– “Lending our ears” (Portelli): how can we provide silenced and marginalized voices access to the public discourse?
– Oral history and environmental history: what are the areas of cooperation?
– Empowering community archives: how to teach them to create their own oral histories?
– How do we balance the dominance of Western academia with the voices of the non-Western world? – agency and resources.
– Globality versus locality of oral history: how to translate local practices into internationally recognized scholarship?
– Post-coloniality: how does oral history help societies reckon with colonial pasts and assist in building post-colonial futures?
– Disseminating oral history: what new methods can we use to present interviews to our audiences?
– Multilingualism as a challenge to global oral history: how to record stories in mother tongues?

Proposals for individual papers, session panels (5 papers each), or audiovisual presentations (film/play screenings followed by round table discussions) are to be submitted by July 31, 2024, via the online form on the conference website: https://ioha2025.conference.pl. Members of national oral history associations are encouraged to check the appropriate box and provide the name of the relevant organization. Individual paper proposals (up to 300 words) must contain the title of the paper, an abstract, and a short bio-note of its author(s). Panel proposals (up to 600 words) must include the title and a description of the session, the titles of all papers, and short bio-notes for all participants. Panel proposals must be international in membership (representing at least two countries). Please indicate the language of your paper/panel (English or Spanish). Audio-visual presentation proposals, in addition to including a description of the film/play (up to 300 words), must provide the names and bios of all discussants. If the film/play is not in English, please make sure that it is subtitled. English will be the main language of the conference. Only the plenary events will be translated into Spanish.

Decisions on the acceptance or rejection of proposals will be announced by the end of September 2024. Registration will be open between October 2024 and January 2025. The conference’s program will be ready by February 2025.

The organizers will not cover travel and accommodation costs; however, IOHA may provide a limited number of travel grants (more information on how to apply can be found on the IOHA website: https://www.ioha.org).

In case of any questions, do not hesitate to contact organizers via email: ioha.krakow@gmail.com

Organizer: Polish Oral History Association
Co-organizers: Centre of Community Archives in Warsaw, European Network Remembrance and Solidarity in Warsaw (ENRS), Faculty of History, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, International Oral History Association (IOHA), The Remembrance and Future Centre in Wrocław

Contact Email

ioha.krakow@gmail.com

URL

https://ioha2025.conference.pl

CFP: Alaska Historical Society Annual Conference

Call for Papers

CORDOVA, ALASKA • OCTOBER 9-12, 2024

Located near the mouth of the Copper River, the site was a crossroads of trade and interaction among Eyak, Tlingit, Ahtna and Chugach peoples when Europeans sailed into Prince William Sound in the 1700s. Founded in 1909 as a railway terminus to deliver copper from the Kennecott Mines, Cordova also was near Katalla, Alaska’s earliest oil field. Fishing is the town’s major industry today.

OUR THEME

This year’s theme, “Rights and Responsibilities,” speaks broadly to Alaska’s history of determining which people and groups should have rights, and what responsibilities are attached to those rights. Disputes over rights and responsibilities have spanned Alaska history, including voting rights for women and Alaska’s Native people, fish traps and limited entry fisheries, subsistence rights, taxation, the Alaska Permanent Fund and responding to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

OUR PROGRAM

The conference will open with a Wednesday reception, with papers presented the following three days. Friday’s focus is on Prince William Sound topics and speakers. While presentations that address the conference theme are encouraged, the society welcomes proposals for papers, panels, roundtables, films or workshops on any aspect of Alaska history. The theme echoes the upcoming year’s National History Day theme, and students and teachers are especially encouraged to participate.

OUR KEYNOTE

This year’s keynote presenter is former Alaska Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer, an international climate change expert. She brings a broad perspective on Alaska’s history by virtue of her extensive public service as a policy analyst for Gov. Jay Hammond, Juneau mayor and state legislator.

SHARE YOUR RESEARCH

To propose a presentation, please email a title, proposal of 100 words and two-sentence biography to members@alaskahistoricalsociety.org. Typically, presentations are 20 minutes in length. Abstract submission deadline: May 31, 2024.

Political Science & Politics — special journal section on Archives in the History of Political Thought and Beyond

The latest issue of PS: Political Science & Politics (January 2024) includes a special section on Archives in the History of Political Thought and Beyond.

Introduction: The Archival Turn in Political Theory
Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson

Political Theory, the Archive, and the Problem of Authority
Matthew Longo

Anarchives: The Labadie Collection
Kathy E. Ferguson

The Archives of Colonial Trauma: Politics and Psychiatry in North Africa
Nancy Luxon

Archival Silence: How Do We Write the History of the Subaltern Who Cannot Speak?
Kevin Olson

“Does it Matter…?” Political Theory in the Archives of William F. Buckley, Jr.
Nicholas Buccola

Murder in the Archive
Alison McQueen

Conclusion: Working in a “Living” Archive
Peter J. Verovšek

CFP: Curtain Up! The Practice of Archiving Performance

Call for Papers

  • Date:  Tuesday 29 October 2024
  • Location:  The Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EJ
  • Abstracts submission deadline: 5pm on 3rd May 2024

This year the British Records Association (BRA) annual conference will be held in partnership with the Association of Performing Arts Collections (APAC), which is a network for all museums, libraries and archives holding performance arts materials in the UK and Ireland. This is an opportunity to share the work of the performing arts archive world with the wider sector and consider the transferability of particular methods and experiences of performing arts information professionals.

The theme of this year’s conference will be active archiving, with, through, and for practitioners. We aim to explore how archives can be developed in collaboration with the record creators, the practitioners themselves, to create more representative collections of performance for use by practitioners, academics, the general public, and beyond. Mirroring this collaboration is the use of these collections by practitioners to advocate for the archives, create new work, or share the collections with new audiences.

This can cover many areas of work:

  • collaborations with practitioners in creating and cataloguing collections
  • challenges and opportunities of practitioners being involved in the archiving of their work
  • how participatory archiving has been used with the performing arts
  • practitioners engaging with and interpreting performing arts archives to widen audience engagement
  • practitioners creating their own archives

Abstracts of papers (20 minutes) or lightning talks as part of a panel (5 minutes) should be a maximum of 200 words and should be accompanied by a biography of all participants of up to 150 words. These should be submitted as Word files to the BRA Hon Secretary, Amanda Engineer.

Enquiries regarding the call for papers should be addressed to APAC

The British Records Association is a charity which aims to promote the preservation, understanding, accessibility and study of our recorded heritage for the public benefit. It is open to anyone interested in records and archives whether local historians, academics, professional archivists, or custodians and owners of collections, or simply those who are curious about the record of our past.

APAC is the membership organisation for professionals, specialists, and other individuals working with or interested in performing arts heritage in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Our activity programme for members and non-members aims to inspire the widest possible participation in the enrichment of the UK’s performing arts heritage.

Announcement: Virtual Roundtable on Publishing, RBM Editorial Board

Join editors for printing history and special collections journals and book reviews on May 1 with your questions about publishing!

Have questions about how to turn your work into an article? Want to know more about the vast landscape that is special collections, printing history, and cultural heritage peer-reviewed publications? Join us for a conversation with editors of the following, who are all confirmed speakers:

  • RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage (Diane Dias De Fazio)
  • RBM book reviews (John Henry Adams)
  • American Printing History Association’s Printing History (Josef Beery)
  • Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (Sarah Werner)
  • Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research (Jennifer Hoyer)
  • Book History, journal of the Society of History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) (Greg Barnheisel)

Attendance to this special one-time-only event is open to the public and free, but you must register in advance through ACRL.

Register at the following link: ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/…

Title: ACRL RBM Editorial Board: Virtual Roundtable on Publishing

When: May 1, 2024

Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We looking forward to seeing you there!

CFP: AMIA Annual Conference

The AMIA Conference Committee invites proposal submissions for sessions, posters, and workshops for the AMIA Annual Conference to be held December 4-6 in Milwaukee, WI.

The Conference Committee works to present a broad-based program that speaks to a wide range of attendees with a balance of theory and practice, inviting new ideas and concepts that stimulate additional interest, involvement, and educational benefit. In keeping with our goals to be inclusive, we urge proposers to use AMIA Conference sessions as an opportunity to include new voices and offer diverse viewpoints.

We encourage you to read the Call for Proposals Notes and FAQ which explain the review process and offers information and tips on what the reviewers and the Conference Committee consider in the proposal process. You can contact our Proposal Help Desk with any questions throughout the process.

The Committee has created a Google spreadsheet to connect individuals seeking ideas and/or collaborators for session and workshop proposals. The spreadsheet is provided as a means of communication only: the Committee does not monitor the document and it is not part of the official submission process.

As in the past, AMIA 2024 invites various types of presentations (read more about each format here) –

  • Report or Paper Presentation (25 minutes)
  • Panel (60 minutes)
  • Forum/Conversation (60 minutes)
  • Lightning Talks Session (60 minutes)
  • Screening Session (60 minutes) held at conference hotel
  • Poster Presentation
  • Workshop Workshops are a half day (3-4 hours) or full day (6-8 hours) held pre or post-conference

AMIA 2024 will be an in-person event, with a primary emphasis on in-person participation.

More information and the proposal form are here: amia.link/2024CFP

The deadline for submissions is June 6, 2024.

Call for Nominations: AHS Archival History Article Award

The Archival History Section (AHS) is seeking nominations for its annual AHS Archival History Article award. The prize encourages and rewards an article or other short piece of excellence in the field of archival history, regardless of subject, time period, or national boundaries. Stand-alone chapters in edited essay collections or anthologies will also be considered. Nominations may include works by archivists as well as by others writing scholarly works on the history of records and archives. The work must be published in English during the previous calendar year (January-December 2023).

To be considered, please submit your article or short piece to Dane Flansburgh (dflansbu@syr.edu) by May 15, 2024.

Best Regards,

Dane Flansburgh, Chair, Archival History Section steering committee

New Podcast: Tales from the Archives

This new H-Net podcast, Tales from the Archives, features “scholars in the humanities and social sciences sharing interesting tales and discoveries from archives around the world.” Listen on Spotify and Apple.

New Issue: Collections

Collections Volume: 20, Number: 1 (March 2024)
(partial open access)

Focus Issue: Collections Cataloging in the Twenty-First Century: Case Studies of Evolving Practice, Multiple Voices, New Meanings

Introduction
Introduction to the Focus Issue Collections Cataloging in the Twenty-First Century: Case Studies of Evolving Practice, Multiple Voices, New Meanings
Juilee Decker and Barbara Wood

Collections Cataloging in the Twenty-First Century: Case Studies of Evolving Practice, Multiple Voices, New Meanings

Moving On: Rethinking Practice and Transforming Data at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Lucie Carreau and Imogen Gunn

Toward Centering Indigenous Knowledge in Museum Collections Management Systems
Kara Lewis

Collaborative Approach to Updating Object Records at the David Livingstone Birthplace Museum
Alasdair Campbell and Rachael Smith

Enriching Museum Collection with Virtual Design Objects and Community Narratives: Pop-up-VR Museum
Lily Díaz-Kommonen, Leena Svinhufvud, Susanna Thiel, and Gautam Vishwanath

Hosting and Integrating a Hawaiian Language Taxonomy in the British Museum’s Collection Database
Alice Christophe, N. Haʻalilio Solomon, Hina Kneubuhl, Victoria Donnellan, and Leah Caldeira

Finding the Marginal in Marginalia: The Importance of Including Marginalia Descriptions in Catalog Entries
Zoe Screti

Documenting the Divine: The Future of Sacred Objects in Museum Databases
Emma Cieslik

Museums Will Forget: Critical Approaches to Catalog-Centered Historical Research
Tehmina Goskar

Cataloging Architectural Drawings: Challenges and Opportunities in the Digital Age
Tom Drysdale

Defining Digital Design in the National Collection
Jessica Walthew, Andrea Lipps, and Wendy Rogers

Provisional Semantics: Addressing the Challenges of Representing Multiple Perspectives Within Public Collections
Anjalie Dalal-Clayton and Ananda Rutherford

Reflections

Inclusive Description in the Glasgow School of Art Library’s Published Catalog
Carissa Chew

Acknowledging the Colonial Bias in Early Museum Collection Records
Tharron Bloomfield