SGA Presents!A quick guide to SGA’s involvement at the SAA annual meeting.
SGA members have had a long history of involvement and activity with the Society of American Archivists and 2010 is no different. Archivists from Georgia are presenting on panels and have taken on leadership positions in several committees, roundtables and sections.
If you plan on attending SAA this year, be sure to check out the following panels and support your fellow SGA members. If you are unable to make it to Washington, D.C., keep the following names and topics in mind as good in-state resources.
On Thursday, August 12, David Carmicheal, Director of the Georgia Archives, is leading off the presentations by chairing Session 101, “Taking on the Big Issues in Government that Affect Us All.” The group discusses “how archives and records management programs can help address the big issues that governments at all levels are grappling with today. They will examine the economy, open government, transparency, green policies, IT infrastructure, security, emergency preparedness, civic engagement, and more.”
SGA member Margery Sly, Deputy Director of the Presbyterian Church USA Historical Society, is participating in Session 405 pm Friday, August 13 called “Survivor! Archives and Manuscript Repositories: Managing During Economic Crisis.” The session description shares that, “archival institutions everywhere large and small, rich and poor - have suffered in recent months and years. Panelists from local government, a religious institution, and a private, endowed university discuss how they have managed their institutions and helped them survive despite financial hardships. Whether caused by major cutbacks or "death by a thousand cuts," economic conditions have caused these archivists and their institutions to adjust programs, cut staff, and seek additional funds from non-traditional sources.”
Saturday, August 14, holds a series of panels featuring SGA members. Cheryl Oestreicher, Courtney Chartier, and Sarah Quigley are presenting during Session 509, “Working for Freedom: Documenting the Civil Rights Movement.” The discussion will center on how “African-American collections are vital to documenting American history, but many currently are hidden and/or unavailable to researchers. Panelists highlight the efforts of four institutions, collaborating under one CLIR grant, to unearth significant collections created by people and organizations of the Civil Rights movement. They discuss the opportunities and challengesof their joint and individual efforts to make these collections available utilizing Web 2.0 technology, Archon/Archivists' Toolkit ®, and processing techniques.”
Alix Bentrud is also participating in a Saturday session with former SGA member Kara McClurken. Session 510 is called “Walk Out of this Session with a Disaster Plan!” and will consist of attendees filling out a PReP (Pocket Response Plan) for their respective institutions. The panel suggests that people who would like to attend bring an emergency contact lists to the session if possible.
Session 606 is called “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Working with Dirty or Hazardous Collections and Your Health.” Renna Tuten will be chairing the panel that will discuss working with dirty collections and how an occupational health program for archivists might benefit the profession. Two archivists will discuss their work with dirty collections, an industrial hygienist will share safety standards in the cultural resources field, and a commentator will speak about establishing dialogues in our institutions and professional organizations to create a greater awareness of occupational health and safety.
Traci Drummond, archivist at Georgia State University, is presenting in Session 608, “Labor Records...and So Much More: New Directions in Acquisition, Access, and Outreach for Labor Collections.” The panel is described as the following: “Labor records, often so extensive that they pose accessioning, processing, and storage problems, can and must be appraised, selected, and described in ways that make for maximum research value. Three archivists who work or have worked with labor collections speak about their current practice -- including tips on how to "sell" the importance of labor collections to hard-pressed university administrators and how to attract a body of users far more diverse than traditional labor historians alone.”
If you are a member of any roundtables or sections, keep an eye out for the following SGA members who serve in leadership capacities. Christine de Catanzaro (Georgia Tech) serves on the Steering Committee of the Description Section and Laura Carroll (Emory) is the Web Co-Liaison for the Manuscripts Section. Jill Severn (University of Georgia) is a Steering Committee member in the Reference, Access and Outreach Section is also the Vice Chair of the Congressional Papers Roundtable. Dr. David Gracy (University of Texas) is Co-Chair of the Archival History Roundtable and his former student Courtney Chartier (Atlanta University Center) serves on the Issues and Advocacy Roundtable as a Steering Committee member. Tim Pennycuff (University of Alabama – Birmingham) is the Immediate Past Chair of the Science, Technology and Healthcare Roundtable.
Traditionally, SGA also books a table at SAA for office hours so that all attendees can discover what a great organization we have. Look for it listed on the annual meeting program so that you can drop by and say hello. Finally, join fellow SGA members and former members at our annual happy hour. It’s always a great chance to catch up with old and new friends and colleagues. The date, time and location have yet to be determined this year, but keep an eye out for details via the SGA listserv. PDF
SGA Spring Workshop
|
[Editors' thanks to Renna Tuten for
the great idea for this feature and her willingness to write it up--a
big help!]     |