Tag: SAA

Virtual Book Discussion: Access in the Trends in Archives Practice Series

Approach privacy protected records with confidence! Join Megan K. Friedel and Ashlyn Velte, authors of the recently released Providing Access to Privacy-Protected Records at Public Institutions in the Age of Radical Empathy: Cases and Considerations, in conversation with Menzi L. Behrnd-Klodt, author of Modules 5 and 6 in Rights in the Digital Era, for a conversation about modern considerations surrounding privacy laws and professional ethical standards.

The panel takes place April 11, 12:00–1:00 p.m. CT, and will conclude with a Q&A session with all three authors.
Register Now

CFP: 2025 SAA Research Forum

MAY 2 DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS FOR THE SAA RESEARCH FORUM 

On behalf of the 2025 Research Forum Committee, we invite you to submit abstracts (of 300 words or fewer) for either 10-minute platform presentations or 5-minute lightning talks. Topics may address research on, or innovations in, any aspect of archives practice or records management in government, corporate, academic, scientific, or other settings. 

The 2025 Research Forum will be conducted as two Zoom-based virtual sessions, each four hours long, on July 23 from 12:00 – 4:00 pm CT and July 30, 12:00 – 4:00 pm CT. 

The 2025 Research Forum will be made up of 10-minute platform presentations and 5-minute lightning talks, extended from 3 minutes. A limited number of presentations will be accepted to allow for longer presentation times, extended Q&A periods, and opportunities for discussion between attendees. An abstract submission rubric will be used by the Committee to evaluate submissions. The 2025 Research Forum webpage provides additional information about the schedule and links to past Forum proceedings.

We invite presentations on research results that may have emerged since the 2024 Joint Annual Meeting Call for Proposals deadline, as well as reports on research completed within the past three years that are relevant and valuable for discussion as defined by the rubric. On the submission form, please indicate whether you intend a platform presentation or a lightning talk. See the full call here: https://www2.archivists.org/am2025/research-forum-2025. 

The Research Forum Committee and CORDA encourage submissions on a range of topics, which may include:

  • Global challenges and their implications for archives and archivists, such as climate change, armed conflicts, environmental disaster, and human rights; 
  • Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (EDISJ) as a core value for archives and archivists; 
  • Collaborating across domains-archives, libraries, galleries, and museums; 
  • Repository-level data: how archives measure their output, outcomes, and activities over time;
  • Centering users in the design of archival systems for discovery; and/or, 
  • Building audiences to increase the impact of archives on society. 

These themes can be found in the SAA Research and Innovation Roadmap (v1.4). 

Abstracts will be evaluated by the 2025 Research Forum Committee convened by Chris Marino (Stanford University) and Emily Lapworth (Kennedy Presidential Library).

Deadline for submission of abstracts: May 2, 2025. You will be notified of the Committee’s decision by June 2, 2025.

Proposals should be submitted here.

CFP: Graduate Student Program Proposals SAA Annual Meeting

The 2025 Student Program Subcommittee is accepting proposals for two special sessions dedicated to student scholarship during the 2025 Annual Meeting in August. Work from both master’s and doctoral students will be considered. This call encompasses proposals for sessions to be presented either in-person or virtually during the hybrid Annual Meeting.

Graduate Student Presentation

The work of three current archives students and/or SAA student chapters will be selected for presentation. Each speaker will be allotted fifteen minutes to present a paper. Be creative! Proposals from individual students as well as SAA student chapter groups will be considered. Proposals may relate to the student’s applied or theoretical research, research about the archives profession itself, or even practical/internship experiences. Student chapters may consider presenting on projects or initiatives conducted in the current term (Fall 2024 through Summer 2025). Participant selection will be based on the quality of proposals submitted.
This session will be held in-person.

Graduate Student Poster

The 25th annual Graduate Student Poster Session will showcase the work of both individual students and SAA Student Chapters. All posters will be presented in-person and virtually in PDF format. More information about preparing posters will be shared upon acceptance. Posters will be available to all meeting attendees throughout the week of the conference and on the virtual platform.

Individual posters may describe applied or theoretical research that is completed or underway; discuss interesting collections with which students have worked; or report on archives and records projects in which students have participated (e.g., development of finding aids, public outreach, database construction, etc.). Submissions should focus on research or activity conducted within the previous academic year (Fall 2024 to Summer 2025).

Student chapter posters may describe chapter activities, events, and/or other involvement with the archives and records professions. A single representative should coordinate the submission of each Student Chapter proposal.

Submission Instructions and Deadline

The submission form will be available by February 14. To submit a paper or poster proposal, please complete the proposal form no later than March 24. (Proposals received after this date will not be considered.) Emailed submissions or submissions in any other format will not be accepted.

SAA encourages broad participation in the ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2025. All presenters—including speakers, session chairs, commentators, and poster presenters—are limited to participation in one session. Please alert the 2025 Student Program Subcommittee if you have agreed to participate in another accepted session.

If presenters wish to attend any portion of the 2025 Annual Meeting, they will need to secure institutional or personal funding to register for the conference. SAA is not able to consider complimentary registration for student presenters.

If you have any questions, please contact conference@archivists.org.

Proposals for posters and presentations for the 2025 Annual Meeting are due Monday, March 24. Proposals received after this date will not be considered.

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). 

CFP: SAA Records Management Section Colloquium

I am pleased to share a call for proposals for the upcoming SAA Records Management Section Colloquium. This colloquium is a great way to share your records management expertise and connect with your colleagues! We are seeking proposals for short presentations (6-12 minutes) on records management topics. The colloquium will be held virtually and is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 2025, from 3-4:30 PM ET.

If you are interested in presenting, please complete the following proposal form no later than Friday, February 14, 2025. We will review proposals and notify presenters by the end of February.

The event will be free!

Send any questions or concerns to the section chair, Sophia McGuire, at sophia.mcguire@gahanna.gov.

Please find the form here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/…

Thanks!

SAA RMS Committee

Call for Panelists: AI in Archival Description

The Description Committee is thrilled to announce a call for panelists for an exciting event: a panel of lightning talks on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in archival description, to be held in Spring 2025.

We’re seeking individuals and/or teams who have explored or implemented AI solutions in their archival workflows. Whether you’ve run experimental projects, tackled quality assurance challenges, or discovered unexpected insights, we’d love for you to share your experiences, lessons, and reflections with the community. We are also interested in hearing how you might have handled the ethical and environmental considerations of integrating generative AI into your work.

Topics might include (but are not limited to):

  • Use cases for AI in archival description
  • Challenges or successes with implementing AI-assisted descriptive workflows
  • Quality assurance processes
  • Findings from experimental projects or pilots
  • Scaling AI descriptive solutions
  • Addressing biases in AI-generated metadata
  • User experiences (both archivists and end-users of AI-assisted description)
  • Techniques for prompt engineering or metadata management using AI tools

Why participate?

  • Share your expertise and contribute to the evolving conversation about AI in archives.
  • Hold an open and nuanced conversation about the challenges of working with AI in archives.
  • Network with peers who are also navigating this transformative technology.
  • Gain visibility for your innovative work.

Interested in joining us as a panelist? Please contact [specific contact person here] at [email address] by [deadline]. We will set a date for the event, to be held on Zoom, once we have our panelists lined up!

We can’t wait to hear your stories and insights! Let’s explore how AI can shape the future of archival description together.

Best,

SAA Description Section Steering Committee

New Issue: American Archivist

American Archivist 87.2 (Fall/Winter 2024)
Table of Contents

(Review access here)

From the Editor

Articles 

Reviews

Online Event: SAA Write Away Forum

Wondering what it takes to write a research article? Draft a book proposal? Prepare a case study on archival practice? Review a professional resource? Define terminology in the archival lexicon?

Join SAA to find out how! There are a wide range of opportunities to write for SAA and contribute to its newsletters, blogs, case studies series, reviews portal, magazine, journal, dictionary, and books. Whether you are a novice writer, an experienced voice, or anything in between, learn how to share your experiences and expertise through SAA’s writing opportunities at this free virtual forum on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. CT.

Register Here

RSVP required for Zoom security.

At the forum, SAA publications staff Savanah Tiffany and Hannah Stryker will kick off a discussion with Publications Editor Stacie Williams, American Archivist Editor Amy Cooper Cary, Journal Reviews Editors Rose Buchanan and Stephanie Luke, SAA staff Julia Pillard on Archival Outlook, Emily Lapworth from the Committee on Data, Research, and Assessment (CORDA), as well as the Dictionary Working Group. Each speaker will highlight their respective publishing outlet and address how to submit content, topic trends, and new directions. There will be a Q&A session following the presentations, as well as more information on how to connect with the editors after the forum.

Join SAA and “write away”!

Call for Panelists: AI and Archival Description

The Description Section Steering Committee is thrilled to announce a call for panelists for an exciting event: a panel of lightning talks on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in archival description, to be held in Spring 2025.

We’re seeking individuals and/or teams who have explored or implemented AI solutions in their archival descriptive workflows. Whether you’ve run experimental projects, tackled quality assurance challenges, or discovered unexpected insights, we’d love for you to share your experiences, lessons, and reflections with the community.

Topics might include (but are not limited to):

  • Use cases for AI in archival description
  • Challenges or successes with implementing AI-assisted descriptive workflows
  • Quality assurance processes
  • Findings from experimental projects or pilots
  • Scaling AI descriptive solutions
  • Addressing biases in AI-generated metadata
  • User experiences (both archivists and end-users of AI-assisted description)
  • Techniques for prompt engineering or metadata management using AI tools

Why participate?

  • Share your expertise and contribute to the evolving conversation about AI in archives.
  • Network with peers who are also navigating this transformative technology.
  • Gain visibility for your innovative work.

Interested in joining us as a panelist? Please contact Scott Kirycki at skirycki@nd.edu by Friday, January 31st. We will set a date for the event, to be held on Zoom, once we have our panelists lined up!

We can’t wait to hear your stories and insights! Let’s explore how AI can shape the future of archival description together.

Best,

SAA Description Section Steering Committee

Call for Nominations: SAA Publishing Awards

C.F.W. Coker Award  (for finding aids, tools or projects that involve innovative development in archival description)

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)