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Greetings Readers:

Recently, I realized that I wasn’t receiving notifications from the Google form I had on the Contact page. I have since adjusted the settings and it should working now! To those who had previously used the form – I apologize for missing your submissions and I hope you will submit again in the future.

I subscribe to and follow many journals, websites, organizations, and so forth. But of course it’s hard to find everything. If you hear of calls for papers or presentations, new publications and journals, or anything related to publishing in the archives profession, please send it along and I’ll be glad to post it.

Thanks for reading!
Cheryl

Call for Applications: Oral History Association Newsletter Editor

The Oral History Association (OHA) seeks to hire a newsletter editor to assist with communications within our organization and to the broader community of oral historians. Since 1966, the OHA has served as the principal membership organization for people committed to the value of oral history. The OHA Newsletter Editor will lead the creation, curation, and distribution of two regular digital newsletter publications that are described below. This position is responsible for editorial planning, content development, and ensuring that these publications reflect the mission, diversity, and evolving work of OHA’s membership. The two publications are as follows:

  • The OHA Newsletter has been published regularly since the founding of the Oral History Association. Its purpose is to inform and engage the membership of the OHA. It features general news, columns from the current leadership and the executive office, profiles of members, and information on OHA programming, initiatives, and resources. Starting in 2026, the OHA Newsletter will be published quarterly.
  • The Oral History Community Bulletin is a new publication that will be directed toward programs, institutions, and associations outside of the OHA membership. It will be framed to curate useful information for groups interested in the work of the OHA but also for matters related to many fields of oral historians in general. The digital publication will be produced three to four times per year

Review of applications will begin September 1, 2025. Position begins January 2026. To apply, send 1) a letter of application indicating your interest and qualifications and 2) a resume or CV. Submit these materials and any questions you have about the position to the Executive Director of the OHA, Stephen Sloan, at stephen_sloan@baylor.edu.

The Oral History Association is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Contact Information

Dr. Stephen Sloan 

Executive Director, Oral History Association

Director, Institute for Oral History

Professor, Department of History (Baylor University)

Contact Email

Stephen_Sloan@Baylor.edu

URL

Call for Applications: OHA Newsletter Editor

SHARP Annual Bibliography 2024

SHARP, the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing has compiled a bibliography of 2024 publications related to book, reading, and publishing history.

See also past bibliographies.

Break from April 25-May 16

I am on vacation so there will be no posts for a few weeks. When I return, I’ll do my best to catch up but of course may miss a few announcement deadlines.

I also want to say thank you to everyone who follows and reads this blog. So far this year there have been 80 posts, over 6,000 views, and over 3,500 visitors. I am so appreciative that people use this resource!

Happy writing, researching, presenting, and publishing!

Call for Peer Reviewers: Teaching With Primary Sources Case Studies

Call for Peer Reviewers

The Case Studies on Teaching With Primary Sources series sponsored by the Reference, Access, and Outreach (RAO) Section of SAA seeks individuals who conduct instruction work in archives and special collections to serve as peer reviewers for its open-ended series of case studies. Single-blind peer review is conducted using a rubric to evaluate and share feedback on submissions. 

To volunteer to become a peer reviewer, please complete our sign up form by March 15, 2025. A member of the editorial team will reach out to you after the deadline with more information.

For questions, please contact twps-casestudies@archivists.org.

ABOUT THE TWPS CASE STUDIES

Sponsored by the Reference, Access, and Outreach (RAO) Section of SAA, this open-ended series of case studies is designed to illustrate the application of the Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy. The guidelines were developed by a joint task force charged by SAA and the Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS). 

SAA Book Club

Hi All! I have scheduled a virtual meeting for the SAA Book Club on January 16th at 2 PM EST. This is a meeting to discuss ideas for updating the book club’s setup and our first three books.

Below is an invite for the virtual meeting. The meeting can only last 40minutes, so it will be a short one but hopefully an informative one as well. If you would be interested in being a moderator for the club please let me (Melanie) know during the meeting. Thank you!

You are invited to a Zoom meeting. 
Time: Jan 16, 2025 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83706400923

Melissa Gydesen

Creating a Research Agenda for the Archival Profession: Open Call to Participate

In late July of 2024, the Society of American Archivists received a $150,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grant program to establish a prioritized research agenda for the archival profession that builds upon SAA’s recently adopted Research and Innovation Roadmap. Spearheaded by the Committee on Research, Data, and Assessment (CORDA) and with funding from IMLS, SAA will convene 35 archival experts, educators, community leaders, and grantmakers—archivists from across key sectors and professional positionality as well as relevant non-archivist stakeholders—to be part of a professionally facilitated two-day forum to take place in Chicago on May 1–2, 2025. Travel, lodging, and food for participants will be covered by grant funds. The participants will transform the recently adopted SAA Research and Innovation Roadmap into a research agenda and develop a framework for its implementation and adoption.

Establishing a prioritized agenda is too important to too many stakeholders to consider developing it within CORDA alone, or even within SAA or the larger archival community. This agenda must be the collaborative work of stakeholders representing diverse perspectives in the archival endeavor. It is for this reason that the 35 participants will be selected from an open call application process to form the Research Agenda Advisory Collective.

To ensure the success and thoughtful design of the 2-day in person forum, CORDA in consultation with SAA leadership and funding from IMLS have hired a professional facilitator, RMC (Research Making Change). RMC Research Corporation was our top contender for this project as they worked with the National Endowment for the Arts on a similar project turning a complex strategic plan into a Research Agenda and engaging a diverse group of 46 participants in 7 focus groups. RMC works across education, healthcare and arts industries. Their clients include local, state, and federal agencies; philanthropic foundations; creative services organizations and other nonprofits; higher education institutions; and private businesses. Their research profile, track record of conducting research and program based evaluation, and capacity building across industries, many of which deliver public benefit, is well aligned with the focus and intent of this effort.

Application Evaluation

To select 35 applicants for the 2-day in-person forum, CORDA and RMC have developed an online application that takes approximately 30–45 minutes to complete. The application consists of 9 demographic questions, CV upload, and 2 open-ended questions regarding engagement, experience, and expertise, as well as a positionality statement asking applicants how their lived experiences and/or DEIA-related work connects to the development of the roadmap into a research agenda for the profession.

To ensure an inclusive and diverse group, we have developed a weighted rubric, aligned with the Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, to guide the selection of applicants to participate in the 2-day forum, based on the following criteria:

  • In and outside of the profession. Practicing archivists will form the majority of the Collective, including archivists affiliated with allied professional groups including the American Library Association (ALA), COSA, Regional Archival Associations, foundations and funders, as well as international organizations including either IFLA or UNESCO, grant makers, and educators.
  • Geographic location. Participants will primarily represent the United States of America, (West, Midwest, Northeast, South, Pacific, Caribbean). We will also allocate space and budgetary funds for one international participant (e.g. IFLA, UNESCO).
  • Socio-cultural factors. The Collective will represent different race/ethnicities and gender, related to individual and community identity, including the attributes mentioned in SAA’s Equal Opportunity/Non-discrimination Policy.
  • Employment seniority, status, and level. (1) We seek to include archivists that are individual contributors/solo archivists, managers, and senior administrators/executives in the profession. Archivists that are both contract/limited term vs. permanent. Archivists that are entry level (0-5 years), mid-level (6-14 years), and senior (15+ years) in their respective careers.
  • Archives sector. Participants will represent all sectors of the field including: Academic, Government Agency, Non-profit, For-profit, Self-employed, Community Archives, and Religious Archives.

How to Apply

Potential participants will have one month to apply and express their interest, as applications are due on December 20, 2024. Invitations to participate with further details will be sent by late January / February 2025.

Submit Your Application

(1) Classification based on the A*Census II survey and findings, see: https://sr.ithaka.org/publications/acensus-ii-all-archivists-survey-report/

Call for Applicants: Archives in Context Podcast Producer

Are you curious, energetic, and passionate about archives? Are you interested in story telling? Want to learn about podcasting? The Archives in Context team (an SAA Working Group) is seeking an additional producer, who will help us share stories of “archives and the people behind them”. We are embarking on our 9th season with new hosts and new stories to tell. 

To learn more and to apply, please go to www2.archivists.org/news/2024/….

We look forward to hearing from you,

Mary Caldera,

Archives in Context

Coordinator

SAA Publishing-related Volunteer Opportunities

SAA has put out the call for volunteers, and there’s a few publishing/research-related ones:

Available Positions

American Archivist Editorial Board (2) 

Committee on Research, Data, and Assessment (2) 

Dictionary Working Group  

Publications Board (2, 1 midterm) 

Podcast Working Group 

Awards:
Waldo Gifford Leland Award  (for writing of superior excellence and usefulness in the field of archival history, theory, or practice)
Preservation Publication Award  (for outstanding published work related to archives preservation)
Fellows’ Ernst Posner Award  (for outstanding essay in most recent volume of The American Archivist)
Theodore Calvin Pease Award  (for superior writing achievement by a student of archival studies as nominated by his/her instructor)

Application Deadline: December 15, 2024

Article Discussion: Variegated Order: Making Space for Neurodiverse Perspectives in Archives

Join the New England Archivists for a free reading group event on Thursday November 7th from 1:00-2:00pm ET. We will be joined by author Sophie Penniman to discuss the article “Variegated Order: Making Space for Neurodiverse Perspectives in Archives” from the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies. Attendees are invited to join in an open discussion of the article, where they can hear more from Penniman, pose questions to the group, and consider how the issues raised in the article reflect or inform their own work.

Register for the event here. The article can be downloaded for free at this link.

The article discusses how neurodivergent records creators and their recordkeeping behaviors often don’t fit within traditional archival paradigms which center verbal, written, and linear documents in specific organizational systems. The article brings together sources from disability studies, feminist and gender studies, library studies, literary analysis, and archival scholarship to imagine ways in which the principle of provenance could be expanded to fit the archives of neurodiverse creators (and archives that resist wholeness and completeness more broadly).