Category: General

New Coordinator of SAA Reviews Portal

Last December, Alexandra Orchard wrote a post about the SAA Reviews Portal. SAA just announced a new Coordinator, Gloria Gonzalez. I was excited to hear about Gloria’s appointment because of her participation in last year’s SNAP issue of Provenance. She was the reviews editor for that issue, and did a great job of thinking outside the book-review box and brought in reviews about three books, a digital platform, software, the Margaret Sanger Papers Project, and the 2015 Midwest Archives Conference.

The SAA Reviews Portal is a great opportunity to share perspectives  about non-book resources. Writing reviews is a great way to practice writing, and there are a plethora of opportunities with the Portal to explore technology and other resources pertinent to archivists. Give it a try!

from “In the Loop”

New Coordinator for The American Archivist Reviews Portal
Please welcome Gloria Gonzalez as the new Coordinator of the Reviews Portal! Gloria is the library strategist at Zepheira, helping academic and public libraries, archives, and rare book libraries incorporate principles from linked data into their work. Gloria succeeds Alexandra Orchard, who was recently named editor of Archival Issues. Interested in reviewing digital collections, websites, or other archival technology for The American Archivist Reviews Portal? Contact Gloria at gloria@zepheira.com or follow her on Twitter at @InformaticMonad to stay up-to-date on new tools and resources.

 

SAA Recap

Attending SAA is one of my favorite things. Seeing old friends, making new, hearing about projects and accomplishments, and seeing the excitement of archivists for our profession. And this year, it was great to go back to Atlanta where my publishing activities officially started.

First, I want to say thank you to those of you who told me this blog is helpful and that you read it. I’ve been doing this for just over a year and one of my upcoming goals is to do more to market it and gain more readership. So please help spread the word! I’m also hoping to get more contributors, so if you’re interested in sharing your experience or know someone who has something to say, let me know.

There were several opportunities at SAA to talk about publishing. I went to the SAA Toast to Authors, hung out at the bookstore, and attended the Write Away! breakfast. And, of course, there were many conversations in between.

I’ve attended the Write Away! breakfast since 2011. I always enjoy seeing the new faces interested in publishing, the ideas and accomplishments of SAA, and talking with people about writing. I talked to my table about the Reference and Access book and received some good tips and ideas of content. Some were already in my plans, which was helpful to know that I’m on the right track, and some were new ideas.

One question directed at SAA was how do archivists know what are topics of interest or what others are working on where they may want contributors or co-authors? I’ve had this or similar discussions several times over the past few years, and I think it’s time we start figuring it out. I have some ideas: an email discussion group, Google spreadsheet to find ideas and collaborators, live Twitter chats, and using this blog. Please post any ideas in the comments. Talking to each other will help advance writing and publishing!

Tribute to Brenda Banks

I was saddened to hear about the passing of Brenda S. Banks. In an indirect way, she affected my interest in publishing. In 2009, I was working at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History in downtown Atlanta. At the time, she was teaching “Administration and Use of Historical Archives” at Georgia State University in the Heritage Preservation Program. When she decided to not teach anymore, she called my colleagues to see if they were interested. Due to other commitments, neither of them could do it so they asked me. With only a couple weeks before the semester started, I agreed.

I used her syllabus and spoke to her about the class. I was excited to teach, even though I hadn’t taught before. This was 5 years after I finished library school and because at the time I was working on my PhD, I did not do much to keep up with archival literature. Teaching the class forced me, in a good way, to examine the literature and read much that I hadn’t read before. I taught the class three times and it helped me become an adjunct in the Master of Archival Studies at Clayton State University.

Naturally, it was much different reading, interpreting, and analyzing the literature as a professor than as a student, especially with several years of practical experience. With every class I taught since, I look for a wide variety of books and articles to incorporate into a syllabus to provide students with a breadth of resources. I spent hours researching and reading books and articles and gained a familiarity with specific resources plus ways to research different topics both within archival literature as well as related professions.

Teaching was one avenue that led to my interest in publishing. The knowledge of resources helped me while editor of Provenance, in that I frequently recommended literature for authors to read to help with their articles. It also proved beneficial while on the SAA Publications Board to again recommend resources to authors, but also understand gaps and needs in archival literature. And it continues to help as I write the reference book.

So thank you Brenda, for your role in leading me down this path.

Going to SAA? Opportunities to Talk about Publishing

Every year, there are opportunities to talk to SAA staff and editors about publishing. Speaking from experience, taking the initiative to speak to them can bring opportunities. At the very least, you’ll make a new connection and learn more about publishing with SAA. As I wrote a year ago, it was the SAA Write Away! breakfast that started my involvement with SAA publishing. That was five years ago and I’m still involved. And if you recognize names of authors, editors, or anyone else associated with publishing, I encourage you to introduce yourself and start a conversation.

As a former editor, I truly enjoy talking to anyone about publishing. I see everyone as a potential author and I want to motivate people to write and help them reach their potential. If you see me at SAA, I will gladly talk to you about writing a journal article, a book, or anything else about publishing. And if we don’t have time to chat at SAA, please follow up and we can schedule a time to talk. Truly, this goes for anytime, non just at or around SAA.

So go forth and converse about publishing and writing!

SAA Bookstore Hours:
8:30-5pm, Wednesday;
7:30-5:30 Thursday
7:00-5:00 Friday
8:00-10:00 Saturday

Thursday, August 4
One Book, One Profession Discussion: 12:15-1:30 Brown Bag
American Archivist Article Discussion: 12:15-1:30 Brown Bag
Toast to SAA Authors: 3:15-3:45

Friday, August 5
Write Away! Breakfast: 8:00-9:00
Office Hours, American Archivist, Publications Board, Dictionary Working Group: 12:30-1:30

 

Send Me Your Photos!

I like to post my posts to Facebook to help promote this blog. However, I have no image associated with it so it looks rather blah. I’d love suggestions on photos for the header image. If I get enough, I will rotate through them periodically. I’ve done some general Google searching but nothing struck me. I started searching DPLA and realized, who better to find cool photos than archivists? Images should be related to writing or publishing, but I’m open to suggestions. Post a link in the comments, submit suggestions, or email me at ccoest[@]gmail.com.

Thanks!

Thank you!

Thank you!

I’m very pleased with the responses about starting this blog. It’s clear to me that many need and want a resource about publishing.

I want to make sure to meet your needs. To do that, I need your help. Please send me your questions and suggestions for topics. I have several future post topics in mind already, but I truly want this to be a conversation. Ideas so far include advice for students and new professionals, who is qualified to write, how to know where to submit an article, the peer-review process, and citations. These ideas come from questions I’ve received or my personal observations and conversations. That’s a start, but it’s your involvement that will make this a helpful resource.

I can be reached at ccoest [at] gmail.com or submit a topic. I look forward to hearing from you!

Welcome to the Publishing in the Archives Profession Blog

Scholarly publishing is an important aspect of the archival profession. It is how we discuss ideas, share practices, and further our professional development. There are multiple platforms to share our knowledge, only two of which are books and journals. It’s easy to write about archives in blogs, social media, and newsletters, but it’s harder to publish a journal article, book chapter, or entire book.

As a journal editor and a future book author, I have frequent discussions with people about publishing. I recognize and empathize with the fear, intimidation, and the unknown of how publishing works. The more involved I become in various aspects, the more I realized that there are few resources available to archivists to embark on this rewarding experience.

This blog will focus primarily on book and journal publishing. While I have been involved in publishing for only a few years, I have learned a tremendous amount about it. One of the best ways I’ve learned is from feedback on my submitted writings, talking with colleagues, being a member of the SAA Publications Board, and reading the peer-review reports from Provenance submissions. As the adage goes, the more I learn, the less I know.

My goal for this blog is to create a forum to ask and answer questions, exchange ideas, and to engage the profession in the topic of scholarly publishing. Some ideas for topics are: how to get started; what to write about; how to write an abstract, book review, literature review; writing before you finish school; writing structure; how to deal with peer-review feedback; and citations. This list is not comprehensive and all ideas are welcome. Additionally, I encourage contributors. Multiple voices and perspectives from authors, editors, publishers, reviewers, and others are imperative in developing writing techniques and styles.

I hope current and future authors will find this helpful.