tag: Archives
Blog Post
August 28, 2023
Archives in the Anthropocene
An Interview with Eira Tansey
Cultural organizations and the government agencies that support them are increasingly devoting serious attention and financial resources to reducing their carbon footprints and climate-proofing their facilities. In a new addition to the growing body of literature on the topic, archivist and founder of the consulting firm Memory Rising, Eira Tansey outlines an ambitious policy agenda for mitigating the threats that climate change poses to archival collections and archivists. The agenda she proposes in A Green New Deal for…
Blog Post
January 31, 2023
Insights from the A*CENSUS II Archives Administrators Report
On Tuesday, January 31, we published the A*CENSUS II Archives Administrators Survey findings. The Archives Administrator Survey Report is the second report in the A*CENSUS II series, the first being the All Archivists Survey Report published in August 2022. The Archives Administrators Survey gathered data from the most senior archives leaders and decision makers regardless of the size of the archives, including administrators who oversee large archives organizations, archives units within broader institutions, and small community archives collections.
Past Event
February 17, 2023
Insights from the A*CENSUS II Archives Administrators Report
On February 17, from 2:00-3:30 pm (ET), Makala Skinner and Beth Myers will present findings from the A*CENSUS II Archives Administrators Survey during a webinar hosted by Ithaka S+R. The Archives Administrators Survey is the second survey of A*CENSUS II, the first being the All Archivists Survey, initially published in August, 2022. The Archives Administrators Survey report, published on January 31, includes data on budgets, collection sizes, staff recruitment and retention, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,…
Research Report
January 31, 2023
A*CENSUS II: Archives Administrators Survey
Seven hundred and forty-six archives administrators representing academic institutions, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, and community archives across the United States shared information about their organizations and their perspectives on key issues in the field by completing the A*CENSUS II Archives Administrators Survey. This report shares findings on archives’ budget and collection sizes, staff recruitment and retention, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility practices.
Blog Post
August 23, 2022
Understanding Archivists
Insights from the A*CENSUS II: All Archivists Survey Report
Earlier this week, we published the findings from the A*CENSUS II: All Archivists Survey, the first national survey in 17 years designed to gather information about the demographics, education levels, job placement, salaries, and student loan debt of archivists and community memory workers. The survey also explored the extent to which this community views the archival profession as inclusive, equitable, and diverse. Nearly 6,000 archivists took the time to share their experiences through the survey.
Past Event
August 27, 2022
A*CENSUS II Forum
2022 Society for American Archivists Annual Meeting
On Saturday, August 27, at 11:00 am, Makala Skinner will discuss the A*CENSUS II All Archivists Survey Report at the Society for American Archivists Annual Meeting. Joining Makala at the A*CENSUS II Forum are Beth Myers, Director of Special Collections at Smith College, Jacqualine Price Osafo, Executive Director of the Society of American Archivists, and Erin Passehl Stoddart, Michigan State University.
Research Report
August 22, 2022
A*CENSUS II All Archivists Survey Report
Five thousand, six hundred and ninety-nine archivists and memory workers across the United States took the time to share their experiences within the archives profession by completing the A*CENSUS II All Archivists Survey. The All Archivists Survey, fielded 17 years after the original A*CENSUS collected foundational data for the field, provides a measure of how far the field has come in nearly two decades as well as introduces new or expanded areas of exploration.
Blog Post
November 11, 2021
Engaging Undergraduates in Primary Source Research
An Interview with the Authors of Two New Books
Creating meaningful learning encounters with primary sources involves dynamic collaboration between instructors and those who work with cultural heritage collections, including librarians, archivists, and museum professionals. Here at Ithaka S+R we have been engaging in a series of studies in collaboration with academic libraries, archives, and museums to understand instructors’ support needs in this area, including how to support their teaching with digital cultural heritage materials as classes went remote during the pandemic. In addition to understanding instructors’ experiences…
Blog Post
July 26, 2021
SAA 2021 Annual Meeting
What to Watch For
Next month, archivists from across the country will convene virtually to discuss emerging and ongoing issues in the field at the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Annual Meeting, ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2021: Together/Apart. This year’s meeting will take place from August 4 to 6 (with some pre-conference activities earlier in the week) and will showcase 10 live sessions and 20 pre-recorded sessions with live Q&As. The conference will feature keynote speakers, general sessions, networking opportunities,…
Past Event
August 5, 2021
Makala Skinner at SAA’s ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2021
On August 5 and 6, join Makala Skinner to learn more about the A*CENSUS survey, which is a large scale census of archivists. The details for each session are below: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM EDT on Thursday, August 5 Conversation Lounge: Research and Innovation @ SAA: A*CENSUS II SAA has received funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to conduct a major research initiative: the second large-scale census of archivists. A lot has changed…
Blog Post
December 3, 2020
An Updated Snapshot of the Archival Profession
Gearing up for A*CENSUS II
In 2004, the Society of American Archivists led A*CENSUS, the first broadscale survey of individual archivists in the United States in nearly thirty years. The initiative resulted in tremendous impact for the archival field. For institutions and professional organizations, the data informed the design of new curricula and the assessment of current educational offerings; for archival institutions, the opportunity to advocate for resources, set goals, and benchmark against peers; and for researchers, the…
Blog Post
April 6, 2020
Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic
Archiving the Present for Future Research
As we go through the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, we are inundated by articles, images, video, statistics, and graphs through our handhelds and desktops coming from a variety of channels–including social media, news outlets, journals, and preprints. The sources of information expand from governmental agencies to research institutions, from policy makers to advocacy groups. And now archivists and others are asking how we can archive these rich and diverse sources of information–not only for future generations but also for…
Past Event
March 25, 2020
Researcher Behaviors and the Impact of Technology
Danielle Cooper Speaks at Virtual NISO Conference
On Wednesday, March 25, Danielle Cooper is presenting at NISO’s virtual conference on Researcher Behaviors and the Impact of Technology. Her talk, “Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication: Accessible, Ubiquitous Technologies & Their Affordances for Research,” is from 12:15-12:45. For more information on the conference, please see NISO’s website. About the presentation When we think of what technologies have the potential to drive research forward our minds often alight to exciting new developments that…
Past Event
June 14, 2019
Roger Schonfeld to Deliver Keynote Address at METRO Library Council Symposium
On Friday, June 14, Roger Schonfeld is delivering the morning keynote address at the METRO Library Council’s Symposium, “If We Build It…: Sustainable Funding in Libraries and Archives.” Roger’s talk, “Sustaining and Sunsetting Innovation and Collaboration,” begins at 10:00 am, and the symposium is being held at the METRO Library Council offices in New York City. For more information and to register, please see the symposium’s event page. …
Blog Post
June 14, 2016
On Archives Users Present and Future
Notes from the ACA Conference
It was perhaps unsurprising that the 2016 annual Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) conference was themed “‘Futur Proche’: Archives and Innovation.” “Futur proche,” refers to the future tense in French and is also arguably the primary orientation of most discussions about archives and their users. Archivists’ pre-occupation with the future reflects the underlying preservation mission of archives. Barbara Craig cogently defines the mission of archives is to “acquire, preserve and make available records of enduring value” (135) and that…