NEA taking the past into the future

Spring 2015 Annual Meeting

March 19-21, 2015
Park Plaza hotel | Boston, Massachusetts

#NEAsp15


WITH THE MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL ARCHIVES CONFERENCE (MARAC)


Meeting Schedule

Wednesday  |  Thursday  |  Friday  |  Saturday

For full program, complete with hotel maps, view the pdf.

Schedule-at-a-glance

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Registration (Georgian Checkroom)


Thursday, March 19, 2015

8:00 am – 6:00 pm

Registration (Georgian Checkroom)

9:00 am – 5:00 pm

W1. Copyright Fundamentals for Archivists and Librarians (Arlington)
W2. Project Management for Archival Processing (Clarendon)
W3. Caring for Historical Records: An Introduction (Berkeley)
W4. Arrangement and Description (White Hill)

9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Day of Service: community service project at the Boston Public Library

10:00 am – 12:00 pm

T1. Boston Public Library

10:15 am – 10:30 pm

Workshop break (Mezzanine Foyer Railing and Dartmouth/Exeter Foyer)

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Lunch on your own

1:00 pm – 5:00 pm

NEA Board meeting (Stuart)

2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

T2. Boston Athenæum
T3. Massachusetts Historical Society

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Workshop break (Mezzanine Foyer Railing and Dartmouth/Exeter Foyer)

2:30 pm – 4:30 pm

T4. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

T5. Houghton Library, Harvard University

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

T6. Samuel Adams Brewery

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

T7. The Dark Side of Boston

6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

MARAC Steering Committee meeting (Georgian)



Friday, March 20, 2015

7:30 am – 6:00 pm

Registration (Georgian Checkroom)

8:00 am – 9:00 am

Call to Action! (Georgian/Arlington)

8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Vendor exhibits (Mezzanine Foyers Railing)

8:00 am – 9:30 am

Continental breakfast (Georgian Foyer)

9:15 am – 10:15 am

Friday Plenary: Danna Bell (Georgian/Arlington)

10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Concurrent Sessions: S1 – S6

S1. Revealing Hidden Communities through Dance (White Hill)
S2. Lessons Learned: Legal Aspects and Ethical Principles of Oral History (Georgian)
S3. Museum Institutional Records: Stewardship and Advocacy, Challenges and Rewards (Whittier)
S4. Choose Your Words Wisely: A Crash Course in Taxonomy Development (Clarendon)
S5. Delighted to Make Your Acquaintance: Introducing Users to Primary Sources (Plaza Ballroom)
S6. Genealogy from a Lone Arranger Perspective (Berkeley)

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

Lunch on your own

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Concurrent Sessions: S7 – S12

S7. Why Can’t Librarians Be More Like Archivists and Vice Versa: Waiting for the Revolution (Whittier)S8. Copyright and Archives: The Past and Future of Law and Digitization (Arlington)
S9. Advocacy, Outreach, and the Regional Organization: What We’re Doing for You (White Hill)
S10. Providing Access to Born-Digital Materials (Georgian)
S11. Nurturing Nature (Plaza Ballroom)
S12. History in Action: Collaboration in Academia (Berkeley/Clarendon)

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Break (Georgian Foyer)

3:00 pm – 5:30pm


"Office Hours" with NEA Inclusion and Diversity Coordinator Anna Clutterbuck-Cook (Plaza Ballroom)
Come and chat with Anna about inclusion and diversity issues you feel should be addressed by NEA.


3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

MARAC State Caucus meetings

Delaware (Berkeley/Clarendon)
District of Columbia (Berkeley/Clarendon)
Maryland (Berkeley/Clarendon)
New Jersey (White Hill)
New York (White Hill)
Pennsylvania (Whittier)
Virginia (Whittier)
West Virginia (Whittier)

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

NEA Roundtables (Plaza Ballroom)

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Reception (Georgian/Arlington)
Join us for a fun and relaxing reception at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. Enjoy light refreshments and games while mingling with your archivist neighbors to the north and south. You will also have a chance to test your knowledge at a Pub Quiz during the second half of the reception. 



Saturday, March 21, 2015

7:30 am – 1:00 pm

Registration (Georgian Checkroom)

8:00 am – 3:00 pm

Vendor exhibits (Mezzanine Foyers Railing)

8:00 am – 10:00am

Continental breakfast (Georgian Foyer)

8:30 am – 9:30 am

MARAC business meeting (Georgian)

8:30 am – 9:30 am

NEA business meeting (Plaza Ballroom)

9:45 am – 10:45 am

Saturday Plenary: Sands Fish (Imperial Ballroom)

10:30 am – 11:00 am

Break (Georgian Foyer)

11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Concurrent Sessions: S13 – S18

S13. Using RDA for Archives and Manuscripts (Berkeley/Clarendon)
S14. Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies: An Open Forum Discussion of a Collaborative Publishing Project (Back Bay)
S15. Provenance vs. Artificial Collections: To Restore or Not to Restore? (White Hill)
S16. Metrics and Assessment in Context (Beacon Hill)
S17. Revolt against Complacency: Combatting Hurdles in Professionalism (Whittier)
S18. Archiving and Preserving Research Data Using the New England Collaborative Data Management Curriculum (NECDMC) (Cambridge)

12:30 pm – 1:45 pm

Lunch on your own

12:45 pm – 1:30 pm

Lunchtime discussions

D1. Digital Preservation in Practice: A Tour of the Preservation Life Cycle Using Preservica (Stuart)
D2. MARAC Bylaws Revision (Berkeley/Clarendon)
D3. Finding and Initiating Mentoring Relationships (White Hill)
D4. ArchivesSpace Demo (Whittier)
D5. Making Your Own Luck in the Grant-Seeking Process (Back Bay)
D6. Crafting a Session Proposal (Cambridge)

1:45 pm – 3:15 pm

Concurrent Sessions: S19 – S24

S19. Shifts and Shake-ups: A Conversation about ArchivesSpace Implementation (Berkeley/Clarendon)
S20. Curating Multilingual Oral Histories (Beacon Hill)
S21. Physical vs. Digital and the User Experience (White Hill)
S22. The Next Generation Digital Stewards: The NDSR Program (Cambridge)
S23. Embedded Archivists: Archivists Outside the Archives (Back Bay)
S24. DIY Archives: Enhancing Access to Collections via Free, Open-Source Platforms (Whittier)

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

T8. The Tipsy Tour: Dram Shops and Drunken Sailors

Event Details


Plenary Talks

Danna Bell, The Education of an Archivist
Friday, March 20th, 9:15-10:15am

Though trained as an archivist, Danna Bell has focused on access and reference and currently serves as the reference specialist of the Educational Outreach Team at the Library of Congress. She has also worked as an archivistat the District of Columbia Public Library, American University Washington College of Law, and SUNY Stony Brook. Bell is a past Chair of MARAC and a past president of the Society of American Archivists.

Sands Fish, Media Innovation and the Networked Archive
Saturday, March 21st, 9:45-10:45am

Fish is a data scientist and computational artist focusing on the digital public sphere and communities of discourse in citizen media. He spent eight years as a senior software engineer at the MIT Libraries, and he is currently a research fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, a fellow at MIT’s HyperStudio, and a research affiliate at the MIT Center for Civic Media.



Tours

Thursday, March 19th

T1. Boston Public Library

Established in 1848 by an act of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts, the Boston Public Library (BPL) was the first large free municipal library in the United States. Within its collection of 23 million items, the library boasts a wealth of rare books, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, prints, and photographs. Among its significant holdings are the Barton collection of Shakespeare and Shakespeareana, the personal library of President John Adams, 250 medieval manuscripts, and the Anti-Slavery Collection of some 40,000 pieces of correspondence, broadsides, newspapers, pamphlets, books, and realia. Tour participants will be given an overview of the collections housed in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department and a 30-minute gallery tour of the Collections of Distinction exhibit.

Please meet in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department.
Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Fee: Free



T2. Boston Athenæum

Founded in 1807 as a public repository of learning and culture, the Boston Athenæum is one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States. Today its collections comprise more than half a million volumes, with particular strengths in Boston history, New England state and local history, biography, English and American literature, and the fine and decorative arts. The Athenæum maintains not only its own archives but also the archives of two earlier Boston cultural institutions, the Anthology Society and the Boston Library Society. A tour of the building and display of materials from the Archive will be followed by a small reception.

Please meet at the front door of the Athenæum.
Time: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Fee: Free



T3. Massachusetts Historical Society

Founded in 1791, the Massachusetts Historical Society is the oldest historical society in North America and holds one of the greatest collections of primary source materials on United States history. Highlights include the papers of two presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and most of the personal papers of a third, Thomas Jefferson. The connections among these millions of pages of documents form an exceptionally rich resource for the study of American history. In addition to manuscripts, the Society holds large collections of books, pamphlets, maps, newspapers, and photographs, as well as works of art and historical artifacts that support research in the library collections. The visit to the MHS will include a tour of its public spaces as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the Society’s operations and a peek at a few of its many treasures.

Please meet in the front lobby of the MHS.
Time: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Fee: Free



T4. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s visionary art collection includes more than 2,500 objects, paintings, sculpture, furniture, textiles, drawings, silver, ceramics, illuminated manuscripts, rare books, photographs and letters from ancient Rome, Medieval Europe, Renaissance Italy, Asia, the Islamic world, and 19th-century France and America. Isabella Stewart Gardner collected and carefully displayed these objects in a building designed in the style of a 15th-century Venetian palace, providing an atmospheric setting still enjoyed by museum visitors. In the museum’s archives are records from the institution’s founding in 1900 to the present. At the heart of these holdings are Gardner’s personal papers, with letters from Henry James, John Singer Sargent, Henry Adams, and Julia Ward Howe, as well as diaries, travel scrapbooks, guest books, literary and musical manuscripts, receipts for artworks, and photographs. This tour will include a behind-the-scenes look at the archives and a guided tour of the museum. On Thursday nights the museum is open until 9:00 pm, with special Third Thursday eventsundefineda concert, art-making activities, and a cash barundefinedbeginning at 5:30.

Please meet in the main lobby of the Museum.
Time: 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Fee: Free



T5. Houghton Library, Harvard University

The primary repository for rare books and manuscripts at Harvard University, the Houghton Library holds collections of Samuel Johnson, Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Margaret Fuller, John Keats, Gore Vidal, Theodore Roosevelt, T.S. Eliot, Henry James, John Updike and many others. Houghton also houses the Printing and Graphic Arts department, which collects on the history of the book and book arts, and the Harvard Theatre Collection, one of the largest performing arts collections in the world. The tour will include both public and limited-access areas of the library, including the Edison and Newman Exhibition Room, the Keats Room, the Emily Dickinson Room, and the Mary and Donald Hyde Suite of Samuel Johnson and his Circle, among others. A selection of highlights from the collection will also be on view.

Please meet in the library lobby.
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Fee: Free



T6. Samuel Adams Brewery

On this tour you’ll learn all about Samuel Adams, American brewer and patriot, experience the entire craft brewing process, taste the special malts and smell the Hallertau hops used to brew Samuel Adams®, and, of course, sample a few of the brewery's award-winning beers. Only guests 21 and older with a valid ID will be able to sample on the tour, so please remember a driver's license or passport!

Please meet at the Brewery at 30 Germania Street.
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Fee: $10



T7. The Dark Side of Boston

Get off the Freedom Trail and explore the darker side of Boston, where fact is often stranger than fiction! This original guided walk through misery, misfortune, malevolence, and murder is based on true historical events. As you uncover the city’s dark side, you will hear many stories not often shared with tourists. Topics include but are certainly not limited to: the scourges of smallpox and the Great Influenza, the dangers of Richmond Street, the vandalism of the Royal Governor's House, the Molasses Flood, body snatchers, and the infamous Brink's Robbery, all against the backdrop of Boston’s oldest neighborhood.

Meet your guide at the intersection of Hanover and Cross Streets across from the Greenway.
Time: 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Fee: $14



Saturday, March 21st

T8. The Tipsy Tour: Dram Shops and Drunken Sailors

Booze. Hooch. Liquor. Kill Devil. Grog. Applejack. It’s all covered on the Tipsy Tour! This tour is not a pub crawl but an exploration of Boston's boozy past. You will hear stories from the very beginnings of Boston’s history through Prohibition and meet some interesting characters along the way - including the Ice King, King Solomon, and Admiral Edward Vernon - who had their lives stirred and shaken by booze. Even John Hancock got into trouble because of Madeira…but not in the way you might think. We’ve brewed a batch of tales that cover pub life through the ages, Boston's role in the creation of early cocktails, the rise of the mob, and a duel.

Meet your guide at the boat dock beside 290 Congress Street, along the Fort Point Channel.
Time: 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Fee: $17




Workshops

Thursday, March 19th

W1. Copyright Fundamentals for Archivists and Librarians

Full-day Workshop: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Instructor: Peter Hirtle, Harvard University

In many institutions, the uncertain copyright status of some archival and special collection materials can make archivists and librarians uncomfortable. As repositories think about making more material available on the web, anxiety about possible copyright infringement increases. This workshop will explore what strategies special collections can follow to minimize the risks when reproducing and distributing unique and/or unpublished material. Topics covered will include an introduction to basic copyright law and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; exceptions to copyright restrictions, such as fair use and the specific exemptions for libraries and archives; methods for assessing the copyright status of materials; and issues associated with particular formats. Attendees will gain a better understanding of how to work with senior administrators to address institutional risk.


W2. Project Management for Archival Processing

Full-day Workshop: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Instructor: Vincent Novara, University of Maryland

This workshop offers archivists introductory techniques and common tools for project management, focusing particularly on strengthening prioritization skills and workflow planning for processing projects. The workshop will also address interpretive projects such as exhibitions and digital initiatives. Attendees from any size repository, including lone arrangers, will learn how to define project goals and objectives, compose project objective statements, establish work breakdown structures, estimate project budgets, create project and communication plans, schedule and track tasks using Gantt Charts, and conduct a post-project evaluation. The workshop will show how standard project management terminology can be applied to common archives tasks, as well as give an overview of Earned Value Assessment.


W3. Caring for Historical Records: An Introduction

Full-day Workshop: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Instructor: Anne Ostendarp, Consulting and Project Archivist

Geared toward those responsible for the care of historical records or those interested in developing a historical records collection, this workshop will be especially useful for staff and volunteers working in libraries, museums, historical societies, or municipal governments who have little or no formal training. Through a combination of lecture, group discussion, and exercises, participants will get an overview of the fundamentals of archival organization, including the basic principles and practices of identification, acquisition, preservation, arrangement, and description of historical records. Topics of access, reference, outreach, and policymaking will also be explored.


W4. Arrangement and Description

Full-day Workshop: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Instructor: Barbara Austen, Connecticut Historical Society

Intended for those with some archival training, this workshop will focus on day-to-day decisions one faces in arranging and describing archival manuscript collections that have minimal order. Topics covered include finding aid design, elements of finding aids, guidelines for establishing series and sub-series, basic conservation practices, and handling problem materials, with an emphasis on creating access to collections. Participants are encouraged to bring their questions about processing collections.



Day of Service: A Community service project

Thursday, March 19th

MARAC and NEA colleagues come together at the Boston Public Library to give back to the archival community. Volunteers from both organizations will work across four shifts onsite to convert addresses into geo-coordinates using Google maps to create greater online access to the Boston Pictorial Archive, a “Collection of Distinction” at this historic New England repository. The resulting efforts will locate historical images of Boston on a map tool in Digital Commonwealth, the statewide repository system for digital collections. Digital Commonwealth is also a service hub of the Digital Public Library of America.

The Day of Service is part of NEA’s annual volunteer outreach initiative, which began at the Spring 2013 Meeting with the StoryCorps project “Why Worcester?” and continued with the Portsmouth Public Library Project in Spring 2014. By continuing this annual event, archivists are able to come to together and help their colleagues improve access to important archival collections across the region.


A Call to Action!

Friday, March 20th, 8:00-9:00 am

MARAC and NEA are driven by the energy and talents of our members. Looking for ways to get involved? Join us for a resource fair featuring representatives of our committees, roundtables, and task-forces. New members are especially encouraged to attend, but all are welcome. Bring your questions and your desire to shape the futures of our organizations.


Concurrent Sessions

Friday, March 20th  | 10:30 am - 12:00 pm

S1. Revealing Hidden Communities through Dance
Dance documentation and preservation is commonly perceived to be a specialized process that emphasizes capturing performance. Yet the performances lose significance without contextual information and history about the communities and individuals that produce these artistic works. This open forum begins with a brief presentation of dance-focused initiatives that serve as case studies about what it means to document and preserve “hidden communities” through outreach programs, oral histories, grassroots publications, and the digital humanities. As part of the discussion, the panelists encourage ideas and questions from the audience about broader applications of the presented work.

Speakers:
Eugenia Kim, Emerson College
Imogen S. Smith, Dance Heritage Coalition
Sara Smith, Amherst College


S2. Lessons Learned: Legal Aspects and Ethical Principles of Oral History
This session focuses on best practices, legal aspects, and ethics related to designing oral history projects. Recent developments with Boston College’s Belfast Project have shed light on the importance of understanding principles, standards, and obligations in providing access to oral histories. Beginning with a discussion of the Belfast Project, the session will also explore the launch of the Pan Am Flight 103 Story Archives Collection, an oral history project that began in 2013 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

Speakers:
Christine Anne George, SUNY Buffalo
Cara Howe, Syracuse University


S3. Museum Institutional Records: Stewardship and Advocacy, Challenges and Rewards
Institutional records of museums and cultural heritage organizations pose unique and fascinating challenges in their stewardship, appraisal, preservation, arrangement, description, and access. A panel of six archivists working with a variety of museum records will introduce issues raised by their collections, including advocacy, restrictions and privacy, archival materials vs. museum objects, acquisitions, providing reference in a non-library setting, and the value of images as documentation. Inviting open discussion with attendees, the panelists hope to illuminate the changing model of the record life cycle in the museum context and the ways professionals meet the challenges of an evolving archives landscape.

Speakers:
Celia Hartmann, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sarah Demb, Harvard University
Patricia Kervick, Harvard University
Marianne Martin, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Shana McKenna, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Meghan Petersen, Currier Museum of Art


S4. Choose Your Words Wisely: A Crash Course in Taxonomy Development
This mini-workshop fills a gap in collections management training by introducing taxonomies and the roles they play in description, search, discovery, collection management, data exchange, and interoperability. Attendees will learn how taxonomy structure, terms, and policies impact communication within organizations and support improved management of collection materials across systems and stakeholders. Practical exercises introduce the phases of building a taxonomy: research, strategy, design, development, implementation, and management. Although applicable to a range of taxonomy development projects, these activities focus on the unique needs of organizations stewarding both physical and digital collections.

Speaker:
Kathryn Gronsbell, AVPreserve


S5. Delighted to Make Your Acquaintance: Introducing Users to Primary Sources
This lightning session features examples of exercises that explain how to use archival and manuscript materials inside and outside of the traditional classroom. Representing a wide variety of audiences, institutions, settings, and types of collections, the participants will offer an array of new ideas for teaching with primary source materials. The session is intended to be interactive, and attendees are invited to share their own experiences during the discussion period.

Speakers:
Peter Carini, Dartmouth College
Marta Crilly, Boston City Archives
Jennifer Fauxsmith, Massachusetts Archives
Mylynda Gil, Keene State College
Rachel Grove Rohrbaugh, Elizabethtown College
Matt Herbison, Drexel University College of Medicine
William Landis, Yale University
Doris Malkmus, Pennsylvania State University
Barbara Meloni, Harvard University
Nora Murphy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Brantley Palmer, Keene State College
Timothy G.X. Salls, New England Historic Genealogical Society
Donna Webber (moderator,) Simmons College


S6: Genealogy from a Lone Arranger Perspective
Genealogy has quickly become one of the most popular hobbies in the United States. More than ever, genealogists are regular visitors to archives, bringing special challenges for repositories managed by a single archivist. This session will consider the different ways that the “lone arranger” archivist can assist genealogists in their family research. Panelists will discuss the use of less familiar materials such as cemetery records and poll tax records in research, how to start an archives from scratch for a family history association website, and the types of services, resources, and outreach offered to genealogists at an archives within a public library.

Speakers:
Erik Bauer, Peabody Institute Library
Tom Doyle, Woburn Public Library
Jennifer Needham (moderator,) University of Pittsburgh
Cheyenne Stradinger, JPRA and the Descendants of William Dawes Who Rode Association



Friday, March 20th  | 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

S7. Why Can’t Librarians Be More Like Archivists and Vice Versa: Waiting for the Revolution
Although archivists and librarians share many core values, relationships between them are sometimes challenging, whether in academic institutions or in public environments. Differences in mission, terminology, and practice may create misunderstandings and even conflict. Drawing on data from the presenters’ forthcoming book, Archives in Libraries: What Librarians and Archivists Need to Know to Work Together, this roundtable will explore similarities, differences, and possible resolutions.

Speakers:
Jeannette Bastian (moderator,) Simmons College
Megan Sniffin-Marinoff, Harvard University
Donna Webber, Simmons College


S8. Copyright and Archives: The Past and Future of Law and Digitization
Technology has vastly outpaced copyright law, and archivists, eager to use the newest equipment to make high-quality digital copies for distribution to their patrons, may hesitate because they are unsure about the legal implications of their actions. This interactive session will examine the state of the law, especially copyright, with regard to archives. Looking at ways to reconcile our reliance on past laws with attempts to reframe our thinking in light of more recent laws, this session will provide the context for participants to take a fresh look at policy and technology.

Speakers:
Kyle K. Courtney, Harvard University
Emily Kilcer, Harvard University


S9. Advocacy, Outreach, and the Regional Organization: What We’re Doing for You
Bringing together representatives from local, state, and regional archivists’ organizations, this session will examine the hows, the whys, and the roadblocks concerning archival advocacy and outreach programs. Speakers will provide insight into the work of organizations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, sharing ideas attendees can bring back to their own communities as well as ways they can contribute to the organizations’ efforts. On a broader scale, this session is intended to foster greater awareness of the achievements of the regional organizations and the impact they have on our national archival landscape.

Speakers:
Tessa Cierny, Harvard Business School, for New England Archivists
Ryan Anthony Donaldson, The Durst Organization, for Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc.
Janet Bunde, New York University, for Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc.
John LeGloahec, National Archives and Records Administration, for Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference
Rodney Obien, Keene State College, for New Hampshire Archives Group
Debra Kimok, SUNY Plattsburgh, for New York Archives Conference
Rachel Chatalbash, Yale Center for British Art, for Regional Archival Associations Consortium


S10. Providing Access to Born-Digital Materials
More institutions are taking steps to process born-digital materials and must consider how to make these materials accessible and discoverable. In this roundtable discussion, three presenters will review their diverse projects: the emails of a former Virginia Governor, the digital records of a former U.S. Senator, and the digital materials of author Susan Sontag. The speakers will share how their institutions have provided access to these born-digital materials and address successes, setbacks, and lessons learned.

Speakers:
Roger Christman, Library of Virginia
Danielle Emerling, University of Delaware
Gloria Gonzalez, University of California, Los Angeles
Jason Evans Groth (moderator,) North Carolina State University


S11. Nurturing Nature
This lightning session is devoted to the actions, projects, explorations, and thoughts of archives staff who use and manage records about the environment, nature, or recreation in the natural world. Archivists find, salvage, study, survey, preserve, and teach with these materials while also managing repository relationships among local, state, and national-level groups and building connections across their own institution’s holdings. Speakers will illuminate aspects of papers and records associated with the natural world which may be unfamiliar to researchers.

Speakers:
Elizabeth Banks, National Park Service, Northeast Region
Jodi Boyle, University at Albany, SUNY
Myles Crowley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sarah Denison, Delaware Public Archives
Rachel Donahue, National Agricultural Library
Sean Fisher, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Katie Hall, Delaware Public Archives
Brenda Lawson, Massachusetts Historical Society
Deb Schiff, Chester Library
Elizabeth Slomba, University of New Hampshire
Greta Suiter (moderator,) Massachusetts Institute of Technology


S12. History in Action: Collaboration in Academia
As budgets shrink, it becomes increasingly important for college and university archives to collaborate with other departments. Often the obvious choice for a partnership is the history department, allowing undergraduate and graduate students to gain experience working with primary sources while the archives gains valuable products such as metadata and exhibits. But there may be many less obvious choices, like architecture departments, facilities departments, or university art museums, which can yield the same benefits. Archivists and students will discuss project management in addition to challenges and successes that have arisen through these collaborations.

Speakers:
Erin Faulder, Tufts University
Sarah Hudson, Northeastern University
Daniel Lavoie, Northeastern University
Daniel J. Linke, Princeton University
Carolyn Sautter, Gettysburg College
Jason Speck (moderator,) University of Maryland
Anne Turkos, University of Maryland



Saturday, March 21st  | 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

S13. Using RDA for Archives and Manuscripts
RDA (Resource Description and Access) is a new content standard that provides flexible guidelines for resource description. This session will explore the use of RDA, in conjunction with DACS, for describing manuscripts and archival collections alongside library holdings. The speakers will present their experiences learning about and implementing RDA, address reasons for implementation, and recount lessons learned from the process.

Speakers:
Allison Jai O'Dell, University of Miami
Adrienne Pruitt, Boston College
Katy Rawdon, Temple University


S14. Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies: An Open Forum Discussion of a Collaborative Publishing Project.
The editors of the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies (JCAS), a peer-reviewed, open-access online journal, will discuss the origins of the endeavor and the collaborative process through which the journal was launched in March of 2014. Attendees will also get a behind-the-scenes look at the editorial process and the opportunity to discuss potential publication projects directly with the editors.

Speakers:
Matthew Gorham, Yale University
Michael Lotstein, Yale University
James Roth, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library


S15. Provenance vs. Artificial Collections: To Restore or Not to Restore?
Many early archival collections were dispersed across artificial collections according to person, topic, or type, with the goal of facilitating access, but with devastating consequences for provenance. In some cases, restoring provenance simply involves reuniting a small group of materials intermingled across a few collections, but not every situation is quite so straightforward. Archival science has developed over the years, as have the tools available to manage collections. The panelists on this roundtable will share examples of provenance issues and the methods they have implemented to make each collection as accessible as possible.

Speakers:
Laura M. Poll, Monmouth County Historical Association
Molly Stothert-Maurer, Perkins School for the Blind
Annie Tummino, Metropolitan New York Library Council
Lindsay Turley, Museum of the City of New York


S16. Metrics and Assessment in Context
Assessment and metrics are hot topics in libraries and archives, but what exactly do we mean by these terms? What archival functions can we use them for, how do we apply them, and what role can they play in our planning and decision-making? This session will explore various aspects of metrics and assessment, including overall collections assessment, metrics for processing traditional and audiovisual collections, and user services assessment.

Speakers:
Celia Caust-Ellenbogen, Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Christian Dupont, Boston College
Joshua Ranger (moderator,) AVPreserve


S17. Revolt against Complacency: Combatting Hurdles in Professionalism
The NEA Roundtable for Early Professionals and Students (REPS), in collaboration with cohort members of MARAC, will host this lightning talk to address questions and issues relevant to archivists in the first stages of their careers. Speakers will cover numerous topics including ways for new archivists to overcome “impostor syndrome”; effective strategies for seeking out mentors and developing a professional network; opportunities for students and new archivists to develop skills they may not have gained in school; and the benefits of early involvement in professional organizations.

Speakers:
Caitlin Birch, Dartmouth College
Dan Bullman, Simmons College
Sofia Becerra, Berklee College of Music
Casey Davis, WGBH Educational Foundation
Genna Duplisea, Salve Regina University
Allyson Glazier, Dartmouth College
Hillary Kativa, Chemical Heritage Foundation
Susan Kline, Columbia University
Annalisa Moretti, Boston College
Blake Relle, National WWII Museum
Bryce Roe, Simmons College
VivianLea Solek (moderator,) Easton Public Library


S18. Archiving and Preserving Research Data Using the New England Collaborative Data Management Curriculum (NECDMC)
The New England Collaborative Data Management Curriculum (NECDMC) project is led by the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in partnership with several libraries in the New England region. NECDMC is an instructional tool for teaching data management best practices to undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers in the health sciences, sciences, and engineering disciplines, but it is equally applicable to archivists and librarians curating and stewarding electronic data and information. Introducing participants to the curriculum’s seven online instructional modules, this session will emphasize Module 7: Repositories, Archiving and Preservation. The speakers, who authored Module 7, will highlight options for archiving and sharing digital data, repositories, and best practices for the appraisal, long-term management, and retention of data.

Speakers:
Andrew Creamer, Brown University
Emily R. Novak Gustainis, Harvard Medical School
David Lowe, University of Connecticut
Darla White, Harvard Medical School


Saturday, March 21st  | 1:45 pm – 3:15 pm

S19. Shifts and Shake-ups: A Conversation about ArchivesSpace Implementation
The panelists in this session, representing institutions large and small, public and private, with varying levels of technical support, will come together to discuss their implementation of ArchivesSpace. Some panelists migrated from systems while others migrated from raw encoding. They will report on the process of importing existing EAD finding aids, creating new finding aids in ArchivesSpace, and making finding aids available in ArchivesSpace or through other publishing methods. They will also address implementation of the Accessions, Digital Objects, and Collections Management modules. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their own ArchivesSpace experiences.

Speakers:
Alston Cobourn, Washington and Lee University
Lora Davis, Colgate University
Marie Elia (moderator,) University at Buffalo, SUNY
Patrick Galligan, Rockefeller Archive Center
Jaime Margalotti, University of Delaware
Robin McElheny, Harvard University
Sarah Pinard, University at Buffalo, SUNY


S20.Curating Multilingual Oral Histories
Working with oral histories brings many challenges, but for archives dealing with oral histories in a mix of languages, there can be additional hurdles in both conducting the interviews and curating the finished projects. This session will address maneuvering through interviews done in a variety of languages, including English, Turkish, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Speakers will reveal insights and skills gained while shepherding a successful oral history project as well as share their experiences with the capabilities and limitations of current technologies used to make oral histories accessible.

Speakers:
Tessa Cierny, Harvard Business School
Doug Oard, University of Maryland
Hermann Teifer, Center for Jewish History
Rachel Wise (moderator,) Harvard Business School


S21.Physical vs. Digital and the User Experience
Humans interact with physical objects daily. In an increasingly technological world of digital devices that help us connect, communicate, and gather information, physical objects still possess meaningful attributes difficult or impossible to convey in the digital world. Speakers will explore questions such as: What information does the physical object carry that may not translate digitally? What additional context can we add to digital images to satisfy users? This session will have plenty of time for open discussion.

Speakers:
Susie Bock (moderator,) University of Southern Maine
Jane Metters LaBarbara, West Virginia University
Samuel Smallidge, Converse
Anastasia S. Weigle, University of Maine


S22. The Next Generation Digital Stewards: The NDSR Program
The National Digital Stewardship Residency (NDSR) bridges the gap between theory and practice by giving recent graduates the opportunity to apply their formal education to real-world projects in organizations actively preserving digital content. Through this collaborative opportunity, residents work to develop solutions to an array of digital challenges, enabling mutual learning and growth for both residents and the participating organizations. The presenters will speak to the benefits, challenges, and lessons learned from the diverse perspectives of the NDSR program managers, hosts, mentors, and residents.

Speakers:
George Coulbourne, Library of Congress
Andrea Goethals, Harvard Library
Nancy McGovern, MIT Libraries
Kris Nelson, Library of Congress
Margo Padilla, Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO)

S23. Embedded Archivists: Archivists Outside the Archives
An Archivist, a Records Manager, and a Cataloger walk into a bar.... In studying Archival theory and practice, we also learn valuable skills about how to process information. Come talk with an archivist, a records manager, and a cataloger, and discover how we all use our archivist skills, even when not working in an archives. These “embedded archivists” will also show you a few side doors through which to look for jobs.

Speakers:
Rebecca Goldman, La Salle University
Stefanie Maclin, EBSCO Information Services
Abraham Miller, Merrill Corporation


S24. DIY Archives: Enhancing Access to Collections via Free, Open-Source Platforms
Library and archives staff from a wide variety of organizations share their experiences working with open-source platformsundefinedOmeka, WordPress, CollectiveAccess and AtoMundefinedto manage, expand access to, and enhance interest in their institutions’ unique archival collections. Panelists will discuss their work using open-source collections management software with various levels of IT support and diverse metadata standards; enhancing access to and discoverability of materials through customization of CollectiveAccess and AtoM; and using WordPress and Omeka as versatile outreach and discovery tools.

Speakers:
Renée DesRoberts, McArthur Public Library
Rosalie Gartner (moderator,) Emerson College
Eugenia Kim, Emerson College
Rachel Moloshok, Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Surles, Rutgers University
Anne-Marie Viola, Dumbarton Oaks

Program organizers


Program Committee Co-chairs
Sharmila Bhatia (MARAC), National Archives and Records Administration
Liz Francis (NEA), Tufts University
Camille Torres Hoven (NEA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MARAC Members
Dara Baker, Naval War College
Lori Birrell, University of Rochester
Wesley Chenault, Virginia Commonwealth University
Margaret Hogan, Rockefeller Archive Center
Josue Hurtado, Temple University
Christine Peterson, Johns Hopkins University
Brian Keough, University at Albany, SUNY
Dawn Sherman-Fells, National Archives and Records Administration
Emma Stelle, Department of Defense
Laura Streett, Vassar College
NEA Members
Liz Andrews, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Erica Boudreau, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Renee DesRoberts, McArthur Library
Elise Dunham, University of Connecticut
Frances Harrell, Northeast Document Conservation Center
Aliza Leventhal, Sasaki Associates
Peter Rawson, The Hotchkiss School
Mary Richardson, Yale University
Aaron Rubinstein, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Local Arrangements Committee Co-chairs
Katy Rawdon (MARAC), Temple University
Christina Zamon (NEA), Emerson College

MARAC Members
Bethany J. Antos, Rockefeller Archive Center
Cindy Bendroth, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission
Joseph Coen, Diocese of Brooklyn
Rachel Jirka, The Society of the Cincinnati
Pamela Murray, Lafayette College
Adrienne Pruitt, Boston College
Liz Scott, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Jennifer Sharp, Hartford Public Library
Tara Wink, West Chester University
NEA Members
Meghan Bailey, University of Massachusetts Boston
Krista Ferrante, MITRE Corporation
Rosalie Gartner, Emerson College
Brendan Higgins, Boston Conservatory
Megan Schwenke, Harvard Art Museums
Emily Tordo, Phillips Academy
Jane Ward, American Textile History Museum

Workshop Coordinators
Stephanie Call (NEA), American Jewish Historical Society
Michelle Chiles (NEA), Handel and Haydn Society
Ilhan Citak (MARAC), Lehigh University
David Ranzan (MARAC), Adelphi University
Elizabeth Roscio (NEA), Bostonian Society

Vendor Coordinators
Donald Cornelius (MARAC), New Jersey State Archives
Jane Ward (NEA), American Textile History Museum

Registration
Tammy Hoffman, MARAC Administrator
Emily Tordo, NEA Registrar

Program Editors
Emily Rafferty (MARAC), The Baltimore Museum of Art
Caroline White (NEA), University of Massachusetts Amherst

Graphic Designer
Jessica Tanny (NEA)
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