The Society of California Archivists Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held online April 27-30, 2021. The Program Committee would like to invite you to submit your session proposals to make our first ever virtual meeting a successful and exceptional experience.

The theme of next year’s AGM is “Diversity and Inclusion” and the Program Committee welcomes proposals on all aspects of archival practice and research. We are especially interested in proposals that feature:

• Aspects of discrimination, equity and bias in staffing, collections and collection development, access and description

• Institutional responses to the current pandemic (including remote work and workspaces, remote access, what is considered "essential," the effect on labor, etc.) and the effect of the pandemic on user services and outreach

• Labor and precarity

• Archivists as activists

• Successes and failures in archival practices

• New technologies and tools

First time presenters, current graduate students, early career professionals, lone arrangers, and other individuals who work with archival materials in less traditional or unconventional roles are encouraged to apply.

Presentations that are framed within archival theory and promote discussions that are more broadly applicable to a range of organizations/individuals will be given preference over sessions that simply discuss completed projects with narrow applicability. We strongly encourage presentations that are thought-provoking, inform decision-making, and/or advance thinking on archival topics.

If you have an idea for a proposal, please fill out and submit the 2021 SCA AGM Session Proposal Form which is available at https://calarchivists.org/AGM2021

The deadline for submitting session proposals is Sunday, November 15, 2020.

If you have any questions, or ideas to discuss, please don’t hesitate to contact me at lmarshall@sourisseauacademy.org. Thanks so much for helping us make next year’s conference a successful one!

Leilani Marshall
2021 AGM Program Committee Chair
Society of California Archivist

It is difficult to imagine a more dire situation for those of us living in California right now, with wildfires raging throughout the state in the midst of an ongoing pandemic and the increasing threat of unemployment as the State faces deep budget cuts that will affect the its ability to support institutions, universities and the communities they reside in. And yet, I am heartened and inspired by the activism and ongoing commitment to social justice that I have witnessed in the archives community, and the care and support you all have shown each other.

Amidst all the uncertainty of the current moment, it is with a heavy heart that once again the Board of SCA was compelled to decide that for the health and safety of our members, it will be best not to meet in person in 2021 in Palm Springs. Though we were all looking forward to being together in person again, there was little that led us to believe that the current pandemic would be resolved in time for us to safely meet. Fortunately, this early decision gives our Local Arrangements and Program Committees the lead time they need to plan for a virtual meeting for 2021. We are now planning to reconvene in 2022 in Palm Springs again; we’ll share more in 2021 as we finalize details and have a better idea of what type of meeting we can hold safely. 

This cancellation was particularly painful, as we intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary of SCA together in 2021. Started in 1971, SCA has aged into the robust organization it is today through the hard work of many dedicated leaders and committed member volunteers, aided by  the support of an engaged membership, and we looked forward to celebrating their achievements. Despite the change in plans, the Golden Anniversary Committee has continued their planning to mark this momentous occasion. Work has already begun to solicit photographs and other media from the membership, and an oral history program will soon be underway. If you have a story to tell or memorabilia from years past, please reach out to me at president@calarchivists.org, and I will connect you with the Committee’s chair, Gabriele Carey or one of the committee’s other hard working members: Lynn Downey, James Eason, Sue Hodson, Jennifer Martinez-Wormser, David Uhlich, and Chuck Wilson.

To help maintain and strengthen our professional community while we are unable to meet in person, our new First Friday monthly meetings, led by Membership Director Alix Norton with the support of Steering Committee members Courtney Dean, Chris Marino, and Robin Schiff, have created a vital way for us to connect and engage with one another.  Most recently, we met to discuss and share the actions our members have started to take to confront structural racism and bias in our descriptive practices. Using Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia’s Anti-Racist Description Resources as a guide, we’ve begun the work of critically examining our institutions’ archival description for racist language, be it language of erasure or explicit terms, in order to dismantle inherited practices and cultivate more accurate and just ones.

Acknowledging that the outstanding topic for many of our members continues to be working conditions in the archives profession and the precarity of many of our positions, we have also devoted time in these meetings to talk about our labor. Though it has not happened as of this writing, on September 4 our Labor Task Force, co-chaired by Courtney Dean (UCLA) and George Thompson (CSU, Chico), will have shared results from their recent survey on current labor issues in California archives and provided a space for open dialogue. This task force is charged with reviewing labor issues within the archival profession and suggesting ways in which SCA can better advocate for its membership, and the Board is looking forward to their final report. If you have a related topic, or another issue you’d like to discuss in a casual forum with your colleagues, I encourage all of you to join us, and if you have an idea for a meeting, to reach out to Alix or any of the Steering Committee.

Before signing off, I want to extend my deepest thanks to outgoing Western Archives Institute Administrator Sue Tyson. Her navigation through the current crisis has been admirable, and we owe her a debt of gratitude for her quick and deliberate decisions and planning for the ongoing success of WAI.

Once again, recognizing that many of you are struggling due to job loss and family needs, I want to encourage those that need assistance to apply to the SAA Foundation’s Archival Workers Emergency Fund. Those of you that can afford to, please consider contributing.

My best wishes to you all for good health, safety, and financial security for you and your loved ones.

Tanya Hollis, President, Society of California Archivists 2020-2021

For other recent SCA news, see the Fall 2020 SCA Newsletter.

We are excited to announce the publication of the Fall 2020 SCA Newsletter! It is now online at http://www.calarchivists.org/Publications/SCANewsletter. Thank you to all those who submitted articles and news items for this issue. Another issue will be coming out this winter, so please consider submitting an article or some news about your work. A call for submissions will go out shortly.

Happy reading!

Amanda Mack, Sue Luftschein, and Patricia Delara

SCA Newsletter Team

The Society of California Archivists' (SCA) Nominating Committee is now accepting nominations and self-nominations for the following positions: Vice President / President Elect (3-year term); Secretary (2-year term); Membership Director (2-year term); Member at Large (2-year term); Nominating Committee (2-year term). Submit your name or the name of a colleague by completing the SCA Candidate Nominating Form: https://forms.gle/sq9r3dsE2mTw3gVe8. SCA service is a great way to have an impact on the archival profession in California. It provides opportunities to engage with colleagues while sharing, learning, and developing leadership skills. Furthermore, it's a chance to work with a team of wonderful archival colleagues from around the state. More information about each of these positions and their responsibilities can be found in the SCA Handbook, sections 2-2, 2-4, 2-7, 2-8 and 3-12 (http://www.calarchivists.org/About_SCA/Handbook_Bylaws).

All nominations must be received by November 11, 2020.

Thank you,

SCA Nominating Committee 2020-2021

Eric Milenkiewicz

Erin Hurley

Elena Colón-Marrero

The Society of California Archivists' Publications Committee is seeking a Newsletter Layout Editor to join the team! The SCA Newsletter is the official voice of the Society, and is overseen by the Publications Committee. It carries professional news; reports the Board’s actions; announces Society meetings, seminars, workshops; and informs members of other archival issues and events of interest. The Newsletter is provided free with membership. In cooperation with the Newsletter Committee (which includes the Chair and Editors), the incoming Newsletter Layout Editor is responsible for producing four newsletters a year, in accordance with the publication and editorial guidelines and standards set by the SCA Board of Directors. Primary duties include:

1. Working closely with the Newsletter Editors to ensure submitted articles, advertisements, and photos are prepared for the layout in advance.

2. Compiling the newsletter articles onto Canva, a graphic design platform, on a quarterly basis (Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer issues). *No prior experience on Canva is required, as the current Layout Editor will assist with training on the platform.

3. Requesting input and editorial direction from the Publications Committee Chair on an as-needed basis.

If you are interested in this position please email publications@calarchivists.org by Friday, October 9th.

The Los Angeles Archives Bazaar is coming soon. This virtual event will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2020 from 8am-8pm. Check the Archives Bazaar website to see program details (with more to be announced). Also learn how you can participate by creating virtual exhibitor booth videos about your L.A. collections, submitting your homespun sound and audiovisual recordings to Home Movie Day and Basement Tapes Day, and volunteering in the Reference Room. Thanks to this virtual platform, the event will also feature special guests from Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Toronto! So invite your colleagues, family, and friends far and wide— national and international— to celebrate the 15^th annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar as well as the 25^th Anniversary of L.A. as Subject. Although the environment will be different than past years, the spirit of showcasing L.A. archives “all day, all in one place” will be ever present.

Hope to see you there,

The 2020 Archives Bazaar Planning Committee