Update (10/27/2021): The South Carolina Archival Association (SCAA) 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting is just two days away! The meeting will be hosted by the University of South Carolina Libraries and the Medical University of South Carolina Libraries on Friday, October 29, 2021, via Zoom. The conference theme will be “Crossroads,” and will feature keynote and presentation sessions relating to the theme. There's still time to register! Check out the conference program which contains meeting links. Zoom details for the Business Meeting will be emailed to SCAA members.  See you there!

The A*CENSUS II All Archivists Survey is now live! This is a major nationwide survey of the archives profession. It aims to gather information from every archivist and community memory worker in the US on their demographics, educational backgrounds, job placements, and salaries, as well as perspectives on key issues in the field. A*CENSUS II findings will be shared widely with the profession, and the more people who participate, the stronger the data and resulting action will be.  

The All Archivists Survey is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and was collaboratively developed by the Society of American Archivists, Ithaka S+R, and the A*CENSUS II working group. It will take about 30 minutes to complete the survey, linked here: 
https://surveys.ithaka.org/jfe/form/SV_4UfKQtGLT3mf2u2?Source=ACA 

If you have questions about the survey or require technical assistance, please contact Ithaka S+R by sending an email to surveys@ithaka.org. 

Please do your part to help the profession as a whole. Take the survey! 

Institute for Research Design in Librarianship 2022

The William H. Hannon Library at Loyola Marymount University is issuing a call for applications for the Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL Online) 2022. IRDL is a continuing education program for academic and research librarians and archivists designed to create a growing community of confident librarian-researchers. The year-long program begins with a Summer Research Workshop, to provide novice researchers with social science research training, followed by a year of peer and formal mentor support in completing a research project of their design.

The Summer Research Workshop, traditionally delivered as an in-person experience, will shift to an online format, from 2022-2024, thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The program will again be offered at no cost to participants, open to librarians and archivists in the United States and Canada in full-time positions; librarians in a full-time residency are eligible to apply.

The 2022 Summer Research Workshop will be offered from June 6-17.

We seek librarians with a passion for research and a desire to improve their research skills. IRDL is designed to bring together all that the literature tells us about the necessary conditions for librarians to conduct valid and reliable research in an institutional setting. The cohort will be chosen from a selective submission process, with an emphasis on enthusiasm for research and diversity from a variety of perspectives, including ethnicity and type and size of library.

Selection criteria:

• Commitment to the year-long process of participating in the IRDL research community and conducting the proposed study within the 2022-2023 academic year;
• Significance of the research problem to the operational success of libraries or to the profession of librarianship;
• Thoughtfulness, thoroughness, and clarity of the research proposal;
• Enthusiasm for research and a desire to learn.

We will be accepting applications from December 1, 2021 to January 28, 2022. Scholars accepted to the Institute will be notified in early March 2022. Application information may be found at https://library.lmu.edu/irdl/apply/overview/.

Please contact Project Directors with any questions about the Institute or the application process:
Marie Kennedy, Serials & Electronic Resources Librarian, Loyola Marymount University (marie.kennedy@lmu.edu)
Kristine Brancolini, Dean of the Library, Loyola Marymount University (brancoli@lmu.edu)

The South Carolina Archival Association (SCAA) announces its 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting, which will be hosted by USC Libraries on Friday, October 29, 2021, via Zoom. The conference theme will be “Crossroads.” The year of the pandemic presented unprecedented challenges, but it also ushered in opportunities for growth and rebirth. The same holds true for archival institutions, including the physical spaces, collections, projects, workflows, staffing, and services offered. Tentatively, the slate of sessions will range from individual and group presentations to panel discussions and will include the annual business meeting.

This meeting will feature opening and closing keynotes by Jermaine Fowler, author and producer of The Humanity Archive, and Micha Broadnax, project manager for the Black Teacher Archive at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Fowler and Broadnax's work sheds light on giving voice to underrepresented minorities in archives, and they will be speaking about their work as it pertains to this year’s theme, “Crossroads.”

In many ways, the archival world is at a crossroads in finding more effective ways of documenting, preserving, and providing access to the histories of underrepresented minority groups. This work not only applies to the collections that archivists steward, but in the spaces shared with colleagues, other library professionals, and users.

To register, please complete the SCAA 2021 Annual Meeting Registration form. Links to the Zoom sessions can be found on the schedule that will be sent to members and registrants or on the Events page of the SCAA website. The link to the Business meeting will be sent to SCAA members via email.

Jermaine Fowler

Micha Broadnax

Presentation proposals, lightning rounds in particular, are still needed for the 2021 SCAA Annual Meeting, which will be held virtually on Friday, October 29, 2021. This year’s conference theme is “Crossroads.” The year of the pandemic presented unprecedented challenges, but it also ushered in opportunities for growth and rebirth. The same holds true for archival institutions, including the physical spaces, collections, projects, workflows, staffing, and services offered.

Lightning round presentations are brief individual and group presentations of no more than 7 to 10 minutes in duration. Proposals should relate to the theme of “Crossroads” as it intersects with topics of interest to archival professionals, including but not limited to the following: 

•             Advocacy, diversity, and inclusion in archival education and training

•             Advocacy, diversity, and inclusion in collections

•             Case studies highlighting collections or resources within collections

•             Cataloguing

•             Challenges in funding, physical resources, and staffing

•             Collection development during COVID-19

•             Conservation

•             Creating finding aids and similar resources for patrons

•             Innovative strategies for outreach and community partnerships

•             Making our collections accessible to a wider range of patrons and constituencies

•             Methodology(ies) for creating and sustaining records management policies that work

•             Opportunities and obstacles in digitizing traditional resources

•             Opportunities and obstacles in managing born-digital resources

•             Raising awareness of and promoting collections through events, exhibits, and publication 

In addition to lightning round presentations, proposals are still being accepted for the following presentation formats: 

•             Individual presentation (45 minute session)

•             Group presentation (45 minute session; one presentation with multiple speakers)

•             Discussion (45 or 60 minute session; one or more panelists lead a discussion)

•             Student poster presentation

The Board of Directors will review proposals and select those best suited to a virtual meeting that will be of interest and value to our wide range of members.

NOTE: Please limit your proposal to 250 words maximum.

The number and format of sessions will be determined in part by the proposals but also by the platform(s) and technological requirements available to the SCAA for hosting a virtual meeting.

The deadline for submitting all presentation proposals has been extended to Thursday, September 30, 2021. SCAA members and non-members are all welcome to submit.