Preserving Digital Archives: Concepts and Competencies

What do you need to know to preserve born-digital materials successfully once they’ve crossed the archives threshold? With an emphasis on modern records and technology, you’ll learn about the concepts and competencies you need to construct and administer digital archives. You’ll examine accepted digital archives models and implementations and emerging standards of practice, as well as preservation metadata schemas and their use in digital archives.

To register, please visit this link on the Society of American Archivists website.

Mark your calendars for the 2012 Midwest Archives Conference Fall Symposium to be held October 19-20, 2012. The Symposium is titled “Engaging Students & Teachers: Integrating Primary Sources in K-16 Curricula,” and it will gather archivists and educators to learn and discuss methods for connecting students with primary sources. Expert speakers will provide hands-on opportunities to work with primary sources, develop assignments and lesson plans using primary sources, and dialogue about best practices.

The Symposium will be held at the Radisson Hotel Cincinnati Riverfront in Covington, Kentucky. The hotel is located directly across from Cincinnati, Ohio on the Ohio River and near I-71/I-75.

For updates and further information, please visit the Midwest Archives Conference website at www.midwestarchives.org.

• In the Member Spotlight, STA member Mandi Pitt-Reed shares a few details about herself, and her thoughts on archives.
• Vice-President/President-Elect Eric Head discusses the 1940 Census.
• Amanda Carter provides a student’s perspective on the profession.
• President Gordon Belt reflects on the role of social media and collaboration in the digital age.
• Co-editor Chapel Cowden and Gordon Belt team up to produce an article about Pinterest, and how archivists can utilize this social media phenomenon.

Also, be on the lookout in our next newsletter for information concerning our next annual meeting, held this year in Knoxville, Tennessee on Oct. 15-17. During this election year, the theme for this year’s meeting is “Red, White, Blue, & Recorded: Collecting and Preserving Politics in Tennessee.” It should be a great conference!

Click here to read more from the Spring 2012 Tennessee Archivist Newsletter.

• College of Arts & Sciences, Center for Appalachian Studies & Services, Archives of Appalachia, Professional, Level 7. Position contingent upon grant funding. Effective January 2012. Essential functions: Responsible for all aspects of collections work, including appraisal, acquisitions, arrangement, cataloging, description, and preservation. Includes digital collections management and web outreach. Assists in grant preparation and donor relations. Supervises student assistants. M.A. degree required with coursework in archival studies or related field. Excellent written and oral communication skills. Excellent computer skills. Ability to move 40 lb. box and tolerate exposure to dust/mold. Prefer individual with archives or library experience. To learn more about the Archives of Appalachia, visit their website at http://www.etsu.edu/cass/archives/.

• The University of Tennessee Libraries invites applications for the Modern Political Archivist. We are seeking an organized, goal-oriented, and creative professional to process and manage the collections. This non-tenure track faculty position is in the Special Collections department, a service-oriented team that provides access to rare and unique primary materials in support of the research community. Required Qualifications: Master’s degree from an ALA accredited program. Knowledge of current issues and trends in archival practices. Demonstrated knowledge of the principles, practices, and techniques of archival descriptive standards such as Encoded Archival Description (EAD). Familiarity with preservation practices. Understanding of digital projects and digitization standards. Evidence of strong technical and computer skills. Excellent organizational, interpersonal and communication skills. Ability to thrive in a highly collaborative environment and work independently. Commitment to providing quality service. Preferred Qualifications: Experience in archives or special collections. Experience with Archivist’s Toolkit. Familiarity with one or more metadata standards such as MODS, METS, Dublin Core, DACS, and OAI_PMH. Familiarity with html and css. Coursework in political science. Project management experience and demonstrated leadership skills. Experience providing reference services. Additional information about this position and the UT community is available at http://www.lib.utk.edu/employ/faculty/mpa.html.

• The Governor John Sevier Memorial Association (GJSMA) is recruiting applicants for the part-time position of Assistant Director for the Marble Springs State Historic Site in Knoxville, Tennessee. Marble Springs was the last home of John Sevier, first governor of Tennessee, and includes five historic structures and other outbuildings on a 35-acre site. We host a variety of events that pertain to the life and times of the late 18th and early 19th-centuries. Bachelor’s degree in Museum Studies, History, Public History, or related field. Professional experience comparable to above education will be considered. Successful applicants will have computer knowledge; have an interest in public history and general knowledge of non-profit organizations. Familiarity with collections care, Appalachian frontier history and living history is highly desirable, experience in education or a museum-related field is an asset. Visit the MuseumProfessionals.org website at http://www.museumprofessionals.org/forum/administration-jobs/7574-assistant-director-knoxville-tn-usa.html for additional information.

LYRASIS Digital & Preservation Services and the Tennessee State Library and Archives would like to invite you to participate in the development of a Regional Emergency Response Network model to assist cultural heritage institutions with the creation of community-wide networks and to support in joint planning, response and recovery while fostering emergency readiness amongst the individual members of the network. As part of an NEH Preservation and Access grant, LYRASIS is asking cultural heritage professionals throughout the state to attend, participate, and provide feedback to aid in refining the model. The goal of this project is that participants will then be able to use this model in their home regions to develop or support an existing emergency response network.

In an eight (8) week period from the week of May 14th- July 2nd, 2012 participants are will attend two, 2 hour webinars and two 2 day face-to-face training sessions. (A more detailed schedule is included at the end of this message.)

LYRASIS will provide training on disaster planning and recovery skills, facilitate regional recovery team building, coordinate online class registration and face to face meeting locations, and provide refreshments at face to face facilitations.

Participants need attend all the training sessions outlined above as well as committing to creating or reviewing their institutions’ Disaster Plan. This will require the use of time outside of the sessions and a consultation/coaching call with instructor to review disaster plan/ask follow-up questions with each participating institution.

For the online sessions participants must have access to a computer with headset/speakers and microphone, capable of working with the training software platform. (Adobe Connect)

The face-to-face training will be held at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, 403 7th Avenue North on June 5th-6th and June 26th-27th. Participants are responsible for funding their own travel expenses.

As this is a development project, participants will be asked for feedback throughout the sessions but we also ask that you attend an online follow up session (1-2 hours online) to provide feedback help us refine the program.

The training sessions will be lead by LYRASIS staff member Alix Bentrud.

If you have and questions please contact Carol Roberts, carol.roberts@tn.gov or Alix Bentrud, alix.bentrud@lyrasis.org.

If you are interested in participating please fill out the registration survey found at the following http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22F3CYUJX5X. Please fill this out not later than April 21st, 2012.

Schedule

• Week 1: May 16th – Live Online Session Introduction to program 11- 1 ET 10 – 12 CT
• Week 2: May 23rd – Live Online Session 11- 1 ET 10 – 12 CT
• Week 3: May 28th week – No session – completion of tasks from online session
• Week 4: June 5th-6th –Face to Face Sessions; 2 days at Tennessee State Library and Archives
• Week 5: June 11th week – Phone Calls and Coaching – completion of tasks from Face to Face session
• Week 6: June 18th week – Phone Calls and Coaching
• Week 7: June 26th-27th week – Face to Face Sessions, 2 days at Tennessee State Library and Archives
• Week 8: July 2nd week – Live Online Recap/Wrap up

The Society of Georgia Archivists Program Committee announces a call for
presentation proposals for the 2012 SGA Annual Conference.

The SGA Annual Conference will take place this year in beautiful Saint Simon’s
Island, Georgia, on November 8th and 9th, 2012.

The conference theme is Brave New World: Next Steps in the Archives Profession.

The Program Committee is soliciting presentation proposals for sessions touching on
a variety of topics under this theme, including:

· Practical and theoretical foundations for new archivists, including
appraisal, accessioning, arrangement and description, and public service approaches

· Making digital resources accessible by creating useful descriptive
metadata, promoting interoperability standards for the distribution of digital
content, investigating content management software, strategies, etc.

· Project Management- from various angles for anyone managing any kind of
project, including personnel management, project life cycle, concrete tools and
techniques, strategic planning, etc.

· Electronic Records Primer- intro covering the appraisal, maintenance, use,
and preservation of born-digital records, and ways to address the challenges of
technological change and format obsolescence

· Self Assessment- tools and methods archivists use to self evaluate and
measure our impact, determine needs for improvement, prove value, and structure
workflow

· Electronic Preservation Case Studies- examples from the archives community
of working digital preservation strategies, including successes, failures and next
steps.

Interested individuals should submit proposals
here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHF0QkFHYjVrSG8zZHFNcF9GQnVwR3c6MQ#gid=0
by March 30 for consideration. If you have any questions, please contact the SGA
2012 Program Committee at program@soga.org.

To host a successful competition for the students, their teachers and parents, the Tennessee Historical Society needs volunteers to serve as judges of student projects. I am writing to you today to ask you to please consider joining STA in this volunteer effort on April 21st. Attached you’ll find details on the specific needs and the required commitment.

Each year, the STA awards $50 to the best History Day project in both the Junior Division and Senior Division that uses primary sources such as letters, diaries, personal papers, photographs, etc., for research on a historical topic. The sources must be from an institution located in Tennessee. Primary sources in Tennessee can be found in archival repositories such as city or county archives, church archives, history museums, local history departments in libraries, or the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Special consideration will be given to students who do on-site research at the repository rather than using online resources.

We’d like to make sure that STA is well-represented at Tennessee History Day. If you would like to volunteer to be a judge, or provide assistance in some other way, please contact Jennifer Core, state coordinator for Tennessee History Day, at the Tennessee Historical Society by phone at: 615-741-8934 or by e-mail at: historyday@tennesseehistory.org. I hope you’ll consider joining me and the Society of Tennessee Archivists in this rewarding experience.

Thank you,

- Gordon