Concurrent Sessions

Friday, March 20^th  | 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 20^th  | 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 21^st  | 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Saturday, March 21^st  | 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.

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.

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.

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.

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