Publishing in the Archives Profession
A blog about scholarship, writing, and publishing for archivists.
Overview
The goal of this series is to foster ongoing conversation between new voices in the archives profession and authors whose work shaped the professional literature years ago.
The inaugural year of the series focused on the work of archives scholar, practitioner, Society of American Archivists (SAA) Fellow, and former SAA President John Fleckner.
The second year of the series will revisit select SAA Presidential addresses.
SAA Preservation Section: Seeking Presenters!
The Preservation Section is seeking presenters for short talks (5-10 minutes) on the theme of advocacy for preservation as a core archival value.
Have you played a role in leading preservation projects or programs? If so, we’re interested in hearing about your successes as well as lessons learned in raising the visibility of preservation projects and programs.
Potential topics related to advocacy:
-Funding: Strategies for those seeking grants, donations, and institutional funding.
-Communication: Effective ways to present the results of projects and programs.
-Awareness: Raising public awareness of preservation in the archival mission.
We’re also very interested in proposals for joint sessions with other SAA sections, to explore how to raise the visibility of preservation in relation to other core functions in archival work.
Proposals will be be considered for a session to be held in conjunction with our section annual meeting and for our ongoing series of informal Coffee Chats open to all interested SAA members.
If you’re interested in presenting on these or other topics related to preservation advocacy, please send a brief proposal to:
Peter Botticelli (peter.botticelli@simmons.edu) by February 15. Also, please email me with any questions!
The 2024 Student Program Subcommittee is accepting proposals for two special sessions dedicated to student scholarship during the 2024 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.
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 2023 through Summer 2024). Participant selection will be based on the quality of proposals submitted.
The 24th 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 2023 to Summer 2024).
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.
To submit a paper or poster proposal, please complete the proposal form no later than March 15. (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 2024. All presenters—including speakers, session chairs, commentators, and poster presenters—are limited to participation in one session. Please alert the 2024 Student Program Subcommittee if you have agreed to participate in another accepted session.
If presenters wish to attend any portion of the 2024 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.
Proposals received after this date will not be considered. If you have any questions, please contact conference@archivists.org.
The Collection Management & Description Sections will be hosting a webinar in April on the theme of “Getting Basic Descriptive Control over Collection Holdings” and we are actively seeking presenters!
Have you experienced a collection move and lived to tell the tale? Do you have helpful suggestions for people embarking on a backlog project or barcoding project? Are you a traditional archivist now responsible for getting basic descriptive control over “non-archival” materials, like books, periodicals, or museum-type artifacts? We welcome proposals around any of the following topics:
We are looking for speakers to share their experience in a 10-15 minute virtual presentation planned tentatively for a Monday in April, date TBD based on presenters’ availability. We would love to have diverse presenters and institutions represented: speakers from small institutions, HBCUs, and community archives are encouraged.
If you’re interested in presenting, please send a brief proposal to Sarah Jones (sarah.jones1@unlv.edu) by January 31st. Please feel free to email with any questions!
Please join SAA’s Issues & Advocacy Section Steering Committee for our 1st meetup of 2024 in the Hive Mind program series, in which we will be discussing Eira Tansey’s A Green New Deal For Archives on Thursday, January 25th from 2-3pm EST (1-2pmCT/12-1pmMT/11-12pmPST). Zoom information below.
Tansey’s important work brings up a lot of issues archives and archivists are facing and calls for us to take action in demonstrating the centrality of our work.
We invite you to join us for this conversation to talk about this thought (and hopefully action)-provoking piece. Topics we plan to discuss include:
We look forward to seeing you there! Please reach out with any questions or concerns.
Issues and Advocacy Section Steering Committee
Elizabeth Call is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: I&A Hive Mind
Time: Jan 25, 2024 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 915 7596 8470
Find your local number: rit.zoom.us/u/amko9M5Sv
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 9, 2024, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. CT.
RSVP required for Zoom security.
At the forum, SAA publications staff 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, and members of 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”!
Submit to Year Two of Intergenerational Conversations
This year, the American Archivist Reviews Portal initiated its new series, Intergenerational Conversations, to foster an ongoing dialogue between new voices in the archives profession and authors whose work shaped the literature years ago. The second year will revisit select SAA presidential addresses. Editors Rose Buchanan and Stephanie Luke are actively seeking authors to contribute to the second year of the series. To apply, fill out this Google form by November 22. Reach out to reviewseditor@archivists.org with any questions.
The last three years have seen substantial changes in the world—a global pandemic, calls for social justice, climate change, economic uncertainty, and political division. Changes that are often beyond our control but affect our work and work life. We must consider the lasting impact of these changes—and ones still to come—as we look to the future of our profession.
Rather than offer a theme to focus the conference around, the Program Committee seeks a multitude of opinions and perspectives from a wide variety of regions and institutions about the state of the field and its future. For those looking for somewhere to start, the Program Committee suggests thinking about the following concepts:
We are also open to proposals on other topics related to archives and archival work.
The Program Committee invites submissions for 60–75 minute sessions (live and/or hybrid) and poster presentations. This year, we are introducing one new proposal format and one new session format, which are described below. Proposals are welcome on any aspect of archives, records, and information management—local, state or territorial, national, and international—especially their intersections with other professions and domains. Each proposal will be evaluated on its completeness and the strength of the 150-word abstract. Proposals should incorporate one or more of the following:
We expect program sessions to reflect SAA’s commitments to a diverse and inclusive program and profession. Each session should include individuals and/or organizations with varied personal and professional experiences, perspectives, and identities. Please indicate—in a summative way—how your proposal reflects individual, organizational, or geographic diversity and/or supports the development, inclusion, and stewardship of a diverse profession or cultural record. This could include positionality statements that reflect on the unique identities of the panelists in relation to the work they will discuss, a recognition of dominant positionality inherent in your identity or organization, or the ways in which privilege and power manifest in the session and how you will use or respond to it.
The Program Committee encourages submission of proposals that may include, but are not limited to, the following formats:
NEW in 2024! Bring Your Own Breakfast (BYOB). To foster more connection for in-person attendees, we are introducing “Bring Your Own Breakfast” sessions in the morning, before the convening of the main conference. These informal sessions are an opportunity to gather archivists interested in similar topics, particularly emerging areas (like Artificial Intelligence) for connection and collaboration. By proposing a BYOB session, you are committing to facilitating discussion amongst attendees. Similar proposals may be combined.
NEW in 2024! Mix and Match. “Mix and Match” is a new proposal format that will allow individuals to propose an individual talk, rather than a full session. We hope this option will encourage individuals who have not previously submitted a proposal to do so and to provide an opportunity to connect archivists who might not have otherwise met one another. We will accept proposals for 5 or 20-minute presentations.
Lightning Talks. Session consisting of eight to ten lively and informative 5-minute talks. The session chair secures commitments from speakers and compiles all presentation slides into one single presentation to ensure timely speaker transitions.
Panel Presentation. Session consisting of a panel of three to five individuals discussing or presenting theories or perspectives on a given topic. Session may consist of a series of prepared presentations or a moderated discussion, and should include time for audience feedback. If giving prepared presentations, presentation titles should be provided and will be printed in the program. A moderator is required (this role may be performed by the chair); a commentator is optional.
Poster Presentation. Report in which information is summarized using brief written statements and graphic materials, such as photographs, charts, graphs, and/or diagrams mounted on poster board (if in person) or in a PDF document (if virtual). Presenters will be assigned a specific time at which they must be with their poster to discuss it with attendees, if presenting in-person.
Alternative Format. Don’t feel confined by the prescribed formats—suggest an alternative or create your own! Alternative format sessions may take a variety of forms. Examples include world café and fishbowl discussions. Propose a moderated debate offering opposing points of view, or an “experiential” format involving simulation, role play, or games to convey key principles and learning objectives. We welcome your creative ideas about how your topic might best be addressed! Proposals in this category must: 1) specify the format and session facilitator and 2) describe briefly how the format will enhance the presentation of the material. You may suggest up to four presenters for the session.
Your format choice will not affect the Program Committee’s decision. The Committee may, however, recommend that the proposed format be changed if it believes that a different format may better serve the session’s learning objectives or desired audience.
Proposals for the 2024 Annual Meeting are due on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. CT. The Program Committee will not consider proposals received after the deadline.
Submission form will be available by November 20, 2023.
For additional guidance on submitting your proposal, read 2021 Program Committee member Sharmila Bhatia’s five tips for writing successful session proposals.
See Frequently Asked Questions: Submitting a 2024 Session Proposal
| The 2024 Program Committee has created a Google spreadsheet to be used as an informal tool to connect individuals who are seeking ideas and/or collaboration on session proposals for the 2024 Annual Meeting. It is not monitored by SAA or the Program Committee and is not part of the official submission process. |
Questions? Contact the Conference Office at conference@archivists.org.
The Society of American Archivists- Archivists of Religious Collections Section invites you to a Lunch and Learn: How to write for American Archivist.
Join Amy Cooper Cary for a presentation on how to write for the flagship periodical, American Archivist.
Nov 16, 2023 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/…
American Archivist Editor Amy Cooper Cary is Head of Special Collections and University Archives at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has served as Editor of Archival Issues, Reviews Editor for RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Cultural Heritage and American Archivist, and has been a member of the Editorial Board for Journal of Archival Organization. Outside of her editorial work and writing about archives, she has published various nonfiction articles, encyclopedia contributions, translation from French, and original poetry. She is a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists.
The Graduate Archival Education Subcommittee (GAES) is leading the effort on a strategic priority of the Society of American Archivists to advocate for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) informed curriculum in graduate archival education programs. For this effort, we are developing a resource kit that archival educators can use to integrate DEIA concepts into their courses. These resources might include readings, videos, lesson plans, and rubrics for activities and assignments. A beginning list of these resources, compiled by GAES and the 2022-2023 Archival Educators’ Section Steering Committee, is available at https://bit.ly/deia-in-archival-ed.
We are soliciting suggestions for resources to include in this kit from practitioners and educators in archives and adjacent fields. We are organizing the resource kit around the core archival functions (as articulated in the Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archival Studies) to facilitate instructors in using the resource kit to supplement their existing courses. We believe that DEIA concepts are integral to all aspects of archival curriculum.
Please submit citations, URLs, or files for materials not available online using this form. Feel free to share this form with colleagues who may know of additional resources that should be included in the kit.
If you have any questions, please contact Colin Post (ccpost@uncg.edu), a member of the GAES.
Publishing in the Archives Profession 