Spring Meeting 1999: Meeting Program
April 9-10, 1999
DoubleTree Hotel, Lowell, Mass.
Registration and coffee 8:00 - 9:00
Keynote Address: 9:00-10:00
Ann Newhall, Executive Director of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission
Break: 10:00-10:30
Sessions: 10:30 - 11:45
Session 1: The Archivist as Scholar: The Art and Science of Archival Research
Description: As we enter the information age, archivists have an ever-increasing need to explore new theory and develop new techniques. This session will review the research agenda set out in archival literature in the 1980s and discuss what has been done, what remains to do, and what new issues should be added to the list in the current environment. The panel will describe quantitative and qualitative research techniques and strategies to meet those research needs.
Chair:Philip Eppard
Speakers:
- James O'Toole, Professor of History, Boston
College
Paper title: Research Needs in Archives - Paul Conway, Head, Preservation Department, Yale
University Library
Paper title: Research Techniques
Session 2: The Archivist as Bureaucrat: Opportunities with Local Government Records
Description: Municipal records document topics that include administrative action, community planning, environmental science, urban infrastructure, business history, and public health. This session will highlight archival programs at a medium and large-sized municipality as well as the services provided by the Records Management Unit of the Massachusetts Archives. The speakers will address the development of their programs and the issues and challenges of caring and feeding for municipal records.
Chair: Lisa Plato
Speakers:
- Terry French, Records Analyst, Massachusetts
Archives
Paper title: Local Government Record Opportunities: A State Perspective - Anthony Reed, Archivist/Records Manager, Town of
Burlington
Paper title: Building a Town Archives and Selling the Profession: Lessons Learned - John McColgan, Archivist, Boston City Archives
Paper title: Three-and-One-Half Centuries of History and a Nine-year Program
Session 3: The Archivist as Information Manager: Forms in the Archives
Description: Forms, whether paper or electronic, are part of the archivist's daily life. This session will provide a hands-on approach to the development, implementation, and use of paper and electronic forms within the archival environment. Issues of privacy, ethics, and retention will also be discussed.
Chair: Rutherford Witthus
Speakers:
- Betsy Pittman, University Archivist, Thomas Dodd
Research Center, University of Connecticut
Paper title: Forms and Forms Management
Lunch and business meeting: 11:45-1:45
Sessions: 1:45-3:00
Session 4: The Archivist as Information Manager: Automation in the Archives
Description: As more archivists use off-the-shelf software to create automated systems, it is helpful to see how other archivists have successfully used software in their own repositories. The session will concentrate on presenting models for software solutions in management systems, cataloging, and public catalogs.
Chair: Rutherford Witthus
Speakers:
- Rutherford Witthus, Curator of Literary and Natural
History Collections, Dodd Research Center, University of
Connecticut
Paper title: Creating an Archives Management System with Microsoft Access - Tess Reismeyer, Consultant
Paper title: Cataloging in a Small Repository - Corey Seeman
Paper title: Building an OPAC with Off-the-shelf Software
Session 5: The Archivist as Teacher: Making Documents Accessible to Students
Description: The federal Education Reform Act of 1993 and state directives have had an immense impact on the use of primary source materials in classrooms. The panel will focus on curriculum development and the use of archives at the high school level. The session will include the perspectives of educators, librarians, and administrators who are trying to implement the new guidelines.
Chair: Lisa Plato
Speakers:
- Barbara Robinson, Director, Massachusetts Studies
Project, University of Massachusetts Boston
Paper title: Massachusetts Social Studies Standards and Curriculum Development in High Schools - Dean Eastman, Teacher, Beverly High School
Paper title: Use of Archives in a High School Setting - Kevin McGrath, Librarian, Beverly High School
Paper title: Use of Archives in a High School Setting - Dr. Kevin Manville (commentator), Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Beverly High School
- Thomas Scully (commentator), Director, Beverly Public Library
Session 6: The Archivist as World Citizen: Electronic Records on the International Front
Description: Archivists worldwide are attempting to deal with record keeping practices, access, and preservation of electronic records. Without reliable electronic records, institutions will not be able to manage or defend themselves in court and memory will be lost. This session will describe the research being done by archivists in Australia and Canada and by the International Council on Archives (ICA) as well as by the International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (InterPARES) project, which is developing the theoretical and methodological knowledge required for the preservation of authentic electronic records.
Chair: Tamar Granovsky
Speakers:
- Brien Brothman, Rhode Island State Archives
Paper title: Electronic Records in Canada and Australia and the ICAe - Philip Eppard, Dean, School of Information Science,
SUNY at Albany
Paper title: Inter PARES Meetings
Break: 3:00 - 3:15
Sessions: 3:15 - 4:14
Session 7: The Archivist as Publicist: Spreading the Word about Archives
Description: Outreach is not an "extra" task; it must be a part of every archivist's daily routine. The session will cover a broad array of ways that public awareness can be integrated into our work through press releases, marketing, etc. The importance of educating non-archivists to the importance of our work will be the focus of the session.
Chair: Maryann Campbell
Speakers:
- Megan Sniffin-Marinoff, Professor, Simmons
College
Paper title: The Archivist as Publicist: How to Spread the Word and Why It Is Important
Session 8: The Archivist as Librarian: Two Sides of the Coin
Description: Although many archives collections are housed within libraries, archives and libraries do not have the same theoretical base or practical procedures. Despite the dissimilarities, however, there are many commonalties. This session offers the insights of three archivists who work in libraries. Panelists will discuss the tendencies in both fields to draw too sharp a line between the professions, the necessity for archivists to make their needs known to upper management, and the inherent problems for serials in special collections.
Chair: Tamar Granovsky
Speakers:
- Terri Goldich, Curator, Alternative Press Collection,
Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut
Paper title: Nailing Jell-o to a Tree: Issues for Serials in Special Collections - Leslie Wilson, Curator of Special Collections,
Concord Free Public Library
Paper title: Archivists and Librarians, Peas in a Pod - Connell Gallager, Director of Research Collections,
University of Vermont
Paper title: Archives in Libraries: Making Needs Known to Upper Administration
Session 9: Technology Poster Session and Vendor Fair
Description: This information booth and poster session will highlight information technology resources and will provide vendor and product contact information. Imaging, EAD, web page development, and the use of off-the-shelf databases will be addressed. A sample records management inventory and cataloging database will also be available.
If you have procedures, tips, examples, or other useful information to share with your colleagues, please call Lisa Plato, 617 727-2816 (lplato@sec.state.ma.us) or give materials to Lisa at the meeting.
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