New SAA-endorsed Inclusive Description External Standard

The SAA Council has endorsed "Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia: Anti-Racist Description Resources" as an external description standard. With the support of SAA's Description Section, the External Standards Working Group collaborated with the Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia Working Group to develop and submit this proposal in 2022. It was approved by Council in the fall. Find the new standard on the SAA website through the Standards Portal.

SCAA Unconference and Business Meeting coming up!

There is still time to register for the SCAA Unconference and Business Meeting! We are looking forward to a morning of casual conversation surrounding archival practices, activities, and events in our community over the past year. We will meet virtually on Friday, October 21, 2022 from 10:00am-1:00pm; the Unconference will take place from 10:00-12:00pm, followed by the Annual Business Meeting from 12:00-1:00pm. The Unconference and Annual Business Meeting will be hosted by USC Libraries virtually via Zoom (links below).

Our Unconference theme is “Advocacy Across the Aisle,” highlighting collaboration within the archival profession on a variety of topics and projects. In an increasingly connected world, archivists, librarians, public historians, and other information professionals must work together to advocate for their collections and communities they serve. Recent cultural and professional shifts have changed our ways of thinking about represented and underrepresented voices in our collections; what audiences we serve and who we need to serve; how we show up for our communities; and how we, as professionals, show up and advocate for one another on local, regional, and national levels.

The Padlet link yielded interesting topics to help steer our conversation. We took those topics and developed an outline for guiding our sessions. Below is the schedule for you to review. If any registrants have slides, images, materials, or even other topics, they would like to share, please email Erin Allsop (erin.allsop@cpcc.edu), Mae Howe (maeleebradford@gmail.com), or Ann Abney (aabney@mailbox.sc.edu). 

SCAA Unconference and Annual Business Meeting Schedule: 

Unconference Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/3BRwMeN ( Passcode 7*#S99 )

10:00-10:05am: Welcome and Introductions

10:05-10:15am - Unconference Discussion Topic 1: Diversity

·         What approaches are institutions using to collect material from and reach out to underrepresented communities? Who is involved in community archives activities?

10:15-10:30am - Unconference Discussion Topic 2: Outreach

·         Where are some places we can provide archival outreach, what kind of content would people be interested in hearing. 

10:30-10:45am : Unconference Discussion Topic 3: Reparative Description

·         What are your institutions doing about efforts around reparative description or reparative metadata? Have a controlled vocabulary you love for indigienous materials? Have you recently repatriated collections to tribal nations?

10:45-10:50am: Break

10:50-11:20am: Unconference Discussion Topic 4: SHRAB Regrant Program Update

·         The SC State Historical Records Advisory Board regrant program has awarded 12 institutions with funding from the NHPRC, including, historical societies, museums, universities, and rural/smaller SC towns representing traditionally underrepresented collections for this current grant cycle.  I would like to share information about these awarded collections as well as opportunities for future regrant awards.

11:20-11:50am: Continuing conversation about topics, resources, ideas, and updates.

11:50am-12:00pm: Preparation for Annual Business Meeting

12:00-1:00pm: SCAA Annual Business Meeting

·         Annual Business Meeting Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/3dQqBzF Passcode *@==.0

Similar to traditional conferences, an archives unconference brings together professionals to discuss important topics relevant to the archival profession. However, unlike traditional conferences, an archives unconference allows for attendees to contribute ideas and topic discussions relative to a theme that will help to develop a fluid outline for the gathering. We look forward to meeting with you all in this new capacity. For any questions or concerns, please contact us directly.

Sincerest Regards,

Erin Allsop, Second Year Director

Mae Howe, First Year Director

Ann Abney, SCAA President

Southeastern Archival Association Chats Live: Archives Month

On November 1, 2022 at 12:00 CST (1:00pm EST) the Southeastern Archival Association (SEAA) will hold its first live chat via Zoom.

Join SEAA for an informal virtual discussion about Archives Month. Talk about your successes, failures, and everything in between!

SEAA’s mission is "to provide an avenue for conversation and collaboration, to serve as an additional outlet for regional communication, and to support the archival community of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi." Membership is free and open to anyone, simply fill out the membership form. SEAA is a relatively new organization, but it has a listserv and is starting to do more programming.

Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/SEAAChatLive. Hope to see you at the chat!

SCAA Annual Awards 2022

It is award season for us!  Through its annual awards program, the South Carolina Archival Association recognizes outstanding individuals in the archival field.  Honorees need not be SCAA members, and we recognize current full-time archivists, distinguished retirees, volunteers and others who have done outstanding archival work in South Carolina.

Awards given include: 

South Carolina Archivist of the Year: Awarded to a current SCAA member, in recognition of extensive years of exceptional service to the profession, particularly in South Carolina, and forwarding the mission and goals of SCAA. 

Career Achievement Awards: In recognition of an extensive body of work on the preservation of historical materials about South Carolina and of service to promoting their use, and generally awarded upon retirement, relocation from South Carolina and similar events. 

Program Innovation Awards: To SCAA members, based on criteria such as, but not limited to:  Creating a viable archives where none existed; publishing materials that benefit archives or archivists; establishing successful new programs such as access to collections on the web or working with community groups to promote archives.  Successful efforts should be South Carolina-based.

Friends of the Archives Award:    To an individual or organization which promotes, advocates, and/or defends archives and archival programs in South Carolina.

The President’s Award:    To the outgoing SCAA President in recognition of their year of service to our organization and the state.

Please use the online form to submit your nominations by October 28, 2022.  If you prefer to send the nomination via email, please submit your response to Brenda Burk, Awards Committee chair at bburk@clemson.edu with the following information:  

•             Name of Nominee

•             Nominee's institution and contact information

•             Name of Nominator

•             Nominator's contact information

•             Name of Award

•             Describe the nominee’s accomplishments and why they are deserving of this award.  Please provide examples to help support the nomination. 

Thank you for helping us recognized individuals who are supporting and promoting the archival profession.

SCAA Unconference and Annual Business Meeting Announcement

In lieu of a more traditional annual conference, the South Carolina Archives Association will host a virtual “Archives Unconference” and Annual Business Meeting on Friday, October 21, 2022 from 10:00am-1:00pm.  The Unconference will take place from 10:00-12:00pm, followed by the Annual Business Meeting from 12:00-1:00pm. To register for the Archives Unconference and/or Annual Business Meeting, please fill out this Google form: https://forms.gle/RhWvv3hUNDF9tMNJA 

Similar to traditional conferences, an Archives Unconference brings together professionals to discuss important topics relevant to the archival profession. However, unlike traditional conferences, an Archival Unconference allows for attendees to contribute ideas and topic discussions relative to a theme that will help to develop the day's program. 

The 2022 Archives Unconference theme is “Advocacy Across the Aisle.” In an increasingly connected world, archivists, librarians, public historians, and other information professionals must work together to advocate for their collections and communities they serve. Recent cultural and professional shifts have changed our ways of thinking about represented and underrepresented voices in our collections; what audiences we serve and who we need to serve; how we show up for our communities; and how we, as professionals, show up and advocate for one another on local, regional, and national levels.

The SCAA Board of Directors, which serves as the Annual Meeting Planning Committee, invites you to submit themes and discussion relating to the theme of “Advocacy Across the Aisle” as it intersects with topics of interest to archival, library, and cultural heritage professionals, including but not limited to the following:

• Advocacy in archival education and training
• Advocacy in collection development
• Case studies highlighting collections or resources within collections
• Cataloging 
• Challenges in funding, physical resources, and staffing
• Collaborative partnerships and projects between archives, libraries, museums, cultural institutions, historical organizations, etc.
• Conservation efforts for collections, physical spaces (buildings, natural resources, etc.),
• Equity, diversity, and inclusion in archival education and training
• Equity, diversity, and inclusion in collections
• Innovative strategies for outreach and community partnerships (oral history projects, Wiki-edit-thons, finding aid terminology editing projects, 
• Instructional opportunities for graduate, undergraduate, and K-12 students that incorporate archive, library, and/or cultural heritage materials
• Making our collections accessible to a wider range of patrons and constituencies
• Methodology(ies) for creating and sustaining records management policies 
• 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 publications

Themes and Topic Discussions can be submitted to Padlet by visiting the following link:  https://padlet.com/cparchives/SCAA. Padlet is an easy-to-use tool that allows participants to collaborate online and add their ideas through a variety of formats. When opening the Padlet, click on the plus sign (+) icon on the bottom right of the screen and begin typing. You can add your own topic, or vote for topics already posted either by commenting on a note or by rating it. SCAA members and non-members are all welcome to submit.

The Board of Directors will review submissions and organize them to create virtual breakout sessions based on similar themes for attendees to attend at their leisure. The deadline for submitting discussion topics is Friday, September 16, 2022. For questions, please contact Erin Allsop (erin.allsop@cpcc.edu) or Mae Howe (MAEB@email.sc.edu). Thank you!

Erin Elizabeth Allsop
College Archivist, Library Services
Central Piedmont Community College