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I just quickly looked over the inaugural issue of Trendswatch, a new annual report from the American Association of Museums’s Center for the Future of Museums.

The inaugural issue of TrendsWatch—TrendsWatch 2012: Museums and the Pulse of the Future—highlights seven trends that CFM’s staff and advisors believe are highly significant to museums and their communities, based on scanning and analysis over the past year:

• Crowdsourcing
• Threats to Nonprofit Status
• Mobile, distributive experiences
• New forms of funding
• Creative Aging
• Augmented reality
• Shifts in Education

For each trend, the report provides a summary, examples of how the trend is playing out in the world, comments on the trend’s significance to society and to museums, dozens of links to relevant news and research and suggestions for ways that museums might respond.

Download a copy of the report here

Needless to say the report is worth reading. But naturally my mind jumped immediately to what kind of list an equivalent group would makes for archives. I think the results would be somewhat different, don’t you? Since I don’t have the resources to assemble such a panel of experts, I just came up with a list of my own:   Continue reading →

Last Friday I learned on Twitter that Salman Rushdie was about to speak at Emory about the donation of his personal papers to the university archives. And due to the energetic livetweeting of Roger Whitson (@rogerwhitson) and Brian Croxall (@briancroxall) I was able to see that Mr. Rushdie had some very interesting things to say about his archives. Well, as promised the video is now posted on YouTube, and it’s worth a watch: Salman Rushdie Discusses Creativity and Digital Scholarship with Erika Farr. Here’s the description from YouTube:

University Distinguished Professor Salman Rushdie and Erika Farr, digital archives coordinator in the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) discuss how computers and other technology affect Rushdie’s writing and creative process. This builds on previous conversations and addresses new developments such as Rushdie’s acquisition of an iPhone and the ways in which mobile computing has an impact on his work. In addition, given Rushdie’s work on his memoir and his use of his paper and digital archives in MARBL, the discussion turns to the ways in which archival science and archival access changes the way he uses his own archives.

It’s about an hour long, and as I was watching it I took some notes on the parts of the discussion that might be of interest to archivists. I did my best to make my quotations accurate but it’s possible there may be some minor errors and of course I am only attempting to quickly summarize or characterize a much more complicated dialogue. If you have time, watch the video. If you don’t, here are some of my personal highlights:

Continue reading →

Despite some of my recent protestations, I do think that archivists could have a better understanding of how historians conduct their research (and note I think there must be many different methods and approaches). Therefore I’m happy to see the Ithaka S+R’s Research Support Services for Scholars History Project (funded by NEH) which will:

explore the information support needs and changing research practices of academic historians in the United States. The evolution of technology and its impact on scholarship in humanities has sparked and sustained the wide-spread Digital Humanities movement. Historians in particular have engaged new technologies and the subsequently enabled research methodologies and publication platforms are transforming the field. Consequently, many support service providers would like to better understand the evolving practices of historians and adapt their services to facilitate these new processes. This initiative will provide valuable information, on a national scale, about the research practices of academic scholars to inform service providers such as academic libraries, humanities centers, scholarly societies, and publishers as they continue to evolve to support new needs.

Although it’s not usually what we call our ourselves, archivists are certainly “research support professionals” for many historians. So I’d like to encourage you to engage with the project and comment on their latest blog post, which specifically asks for feedback from archivists and librarians about:

• What would you like to know about changing research methods in history on your campus?
• How can the RSS4S History project help you?

Interesting that they specifically say “on your campus” although I’m sure many archivists outside academic settings assist historians as well. Don’t let that stop you from commenting.

It’s an interesting question, and I look forward to seeing the results from this project. Note that they do have an interim report available for download which includes discussion of the interactions of archivists and librarians with historians as well as the impact of digitization of collections on scholarship. If you read the report and want to share your thoughts here, please do, and of course, please comment directly on the project’s own site.

I’m also happy to share that there is a new resource available, a National History Day and Archives Toolkit, created by SAA’s Reference, Access and Outreach Section’s National History Day Committee. The toolkit resides on a wiki, and is intended to provide support for both archivists as well as teachers and students participating in NHD. It has sections such as:

Information for Students and Teachers

• Introduction and Video
• Using Primary Sources
• What Makes Archives “Different”
• Finding Primary Sources in an Archives
• Making a Visit to the Archives
• Online Primary Sources
• Glossary of Terms about Archives
• Flyer to Print out to Give Teachers

Information for Archivists, Librarians and Media Specialists

• Introduction
• Whether to Participate in NHD
• Do’s and Don’ts for Archivists
• Timeframe
• Highlighting Your Collections
• Best Practices: Some Examples
• Preparing for Class Visits
• Flyer to Print out to Give Archivists

I know a lot of archivists who love working with National History Day students, and hopefully this resource will encourage more collaboration between archivists, teachers, and NHD participants.

It’s not really a blog, but it’s the best that can be done at the SAA website, as they explain in the inaugural post, “Let’s Talk About the Annual Meeting.” In this post, they are specifically asking:

So, here’s a question to start off our conversation:  we hear over and over that the most valuable experience for many annual meeting attendees is the opportunity to network with fellow archivists.  This can be at receptions, in the hallways, or at social events away from the meeting.  Believe us, we’re dying for the results of the member survey, due back soon, to see if this impression is validated by survey data.  Nonetheless, when you are making your plans to attend a meeting, do you, instead, justify any financial support you receive by citing sessions and workshops you will be attending?  Have you – or could you envision – making those same requests for support by citing the networking opportunities the annual meeting affords you?  We really want to know what you think, and your responses will help shape our discussions about the structure and content of the meeting.

So, all of you who shared your opinions here, please login on the SAA site and share your opinions there in the official forum. And, if anyone knows of a way to set up an RSS-like feed for updates to that site, please let us know to save us having to check in regularly for new posts.

Congrats to the task force for setting up a mechanism for getting direct member (and non-member) feedback!

I have a problem, dear readers. And I think the solution to my problem is that I need to get over my problem. But let’s get to the end of the post and see if you think that’s the right solution.

Regular readers will remember past discussion here about “the increasingly common use of “archive” as a verb,” the use of the phrase “citizen archivist,” and the evolving relationship between archivists and historians. I was reminded of some of these discussions as I started to delve more seriously into resources about the digital humanities to prepare to write a blog post and the role of the archivist in digital humanities. This is not that post. This post returns to the same old semantic ground as earlier posts. What should my reaction be when I hear scholars talk about the “archives” they have created, collected, or manage? Because right now my reaction is pretty much akin to my dog’s when the mailman approaches. A low threatening growl, possibly followed by sharp nasty barking if the situation escalates (well, I’ve never actually barked at a scholar, but you get the picture). When my dog does this, I try to calm her down and explain that the mailman is our friend. He brings us something we need. She is not swayed by these arguments. Neither does it matter that the mailman delivers mail almost every day and never enters the house. You’d think she’d get over her instinctual reaction to protect her turf, and yet every time she growls.  Continue reading →

This year SAA has two brand new awards that I’m very excited about because I think they  provide an effective upgrade and replacement for the two awards I’ve sponsored on this blog, the Best Archives on the Web and Movers & Shakers in Archives awards. I always hoped that eventually SAA would offer awards in these areas, and now that they have the Emerging Leader and Archival Innovator awards, I think ArchivesNext can retire from the field of awards.

So, first things first, the deadline for nominations for both is February 28, so you have to get moving on this.

The Emerging Leader award (brought forward and championed by SAA President Gregor Trinkaus-Randall) has the following purpose and criteria:

Created in 2011, this award celebrates and encourages early-career archivists who have completed archival work of broad merit, demonstrated significant promise of leadership, and/or performed commendable service to the archives profession.  Nominees will have more than two years and less than ten years of professional archives experience. Nominees must be SAA members and must meet as many of the following criteria as possible:

• Work of merit that has made a substantive contribution to an area (or areas) of the archives profession beyond the nominee’s local institution and that holds promise for future contributions.
• Demonstrated leadership through collaborative work or exemplary service to local, regional, and/or national archival and cultural associations.
• Formal archival education through a graduate degree program in history, library science, information science, or a related field; through participation in an archival or preservation institute; and/or through certification by the Academy of Certified Archivists.
• Involvement in successful outreach and advocacy efforts on behalf of the nominee’s institution and the archives profession.

Full information on the Emerging Leader Award is available here.

The Archival Innovator award (proposed, with love, by me) has the following purpose and criteria:

Created in 2011, this award recognizes an individual archivist, a group of archivists, a repository, or an organization that demonstrates, through a combination of as many as possible of the criteria below, the greatest overall current impact on the profession or their communities.

• Creativity or innovation in approaching professional challenges.
• Demonstrated ability to think outside of professional or institutional norms.
• Ability to translate creativity, innovation, and new thinking into working solutions.
• Development of an archives program or outreach activity that has an extraordinary impact on a community.
• Commitment to the advancement of professional knowledge through traditional or emerging information-sharing media.

Complete information about the Archival Innovator Award is available here.

I know time is short and I apologize for not posting this earlier, but you still have enough time to put nominations together. The people who deserve these awards are doing great work and should be recognized and celebrated. Please make the work of the awards committee difficult and send in some great nominations.

This Thursday at 2:00 EST Ted Ryan and Jamal Booker from the famous Coca-Cola Archives will be hosting a live Google+ Hangout giving people a behind the scenes look at their fantastic collections and a chance to ask questions in real time. You can read more about it here and here.

While anyone will be able to attend the hangout and ask questions, there will also be eight people featured on the main screen below the main event and who will be part of the live conversation. Ted and Jamal would like some of those featured people to be representatives from the archival community and so they’ve asked me to help put out the call for volunteers. It’s a great opportunity, so if you’re free on Thursday afternoon and have a webcam and a microphone, here’s your chance to become a Google+ star.

All you need to do is leave a comment below stating why you want to participate or why you think you’d be a good choice to represent the archival perspective. Ted and Jamal will review the comments and select the winner(s). Remember that you’ll be part of the live conversation so you need to be prepared to participate and ask questions. Please leave your comment no later than 2 pm [EST] on Wednesday. Let me know if you have any questions and don’t be shy about entering. This is your chance at 4 x 15 minutes of fame!

Those of you with good memories will recall that a few weeks ago I challenged you to share  your visions of a radically re-imagined SAA. And many of you answered the challenge, although some of your visions were not that radical. So, those of you with long attention spans may be asking, where’s my vision?  Continue reading →

To complete my series of posts related to the session “Archivists, Historians, and the Future of Authority in the Archives” held at the recent meeting of the American Historical Association in Chicago, below are the remarks made by my follow panelist, Peter Wosh. Peter should need no introduction to most readers of this blog, I’m sure. He directs the graduate program in Archives and Public History at New York University, where he has taught since 1994. He is also the chair of SAA’s Publications Board, and the author of the recent book Waldo Gifford Leland and the Origins of the American Archival Profession. As a reminder, each member of the panel for this session was asked to share his or her views on Francis X. Blouin Jr., and William G. Rosenberg’s book Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives.

Continue reading →