Webinar: Reframing Organizations: Managing Change as You Move Your Organization Forward
What does transformational change in an organization look like? In this workshop you will be given tools to help you study what is needed, make a plan, and adjust along the way. In this workshop you will learn about the changes that Folsom History, formerly known as Folsom Historical Society, implemented to become more relevant in their community. Small breakout groups will allow you to discuss ideas and steps for you to implement changes in your own organization. Finally, a group reflection will allow for discussion on critical issues to address when transforming an organization or department.
Dr. Rita Mukherjee Hoffstadt; Executive Director, Folsom History
1:30pm - 3:30pm
Webinar:Unlocking Learning Landscapes: Leveraging Place in Archival Instructional Programming
Game-based instructional programs, especially through escape experiences, are innovative ways to teach with archival, primary sources to a more engaged and diverse audience. For three years, Georgia Southern University’s Special Collections has successfully developed game-based programs that have come to be a highlight of October’s Archives Month. In exploring how this program series might be continuously improved, they most recently partnered with their local Botanic Gardens. The recent program was thematically centered around the Garden’s rich natural and cultural history and, more critically, was offered on-site to participants. In addition to building on common values between the two institutions to offer historically driven opportunities that connect learners with the cultural heritage of the region, the program saw a dramatic increase in attendance and patron engagement.
In this interactive workshop, presenters will explore the impact of providing programs outside of the archive and how place-based initiatives can effectively immerse participants in a conducive learning environment for success. The benefits of applying principles of place-based education will be explored as well as how archivists can play a more active role in creating these types of immersive learning experiences. Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with game components as well as develop game scenarios utilizing archival and primary sources, alongside a specific setting.
Autumn M. Johnson, Special Collections Librarian and Assistant Professor, Georgia Southern University; Erin K. Patterson, Gretsch Project Archivist, Georgia Southern University; Dawn “Nikki” Canon-Rech, Sustainability Librarian and liaison to the College of Science and Mathematics, Georgia Southern University.
MONDAY, APRIL 15
Conference sessions
9:00am
New Member Meet and Greet
Join the Membership Committee at this informal gathering to meet your new colleagues. All new members are welcome, as are returning or veteran members who'd like to welcome those new to SCA.
9:45am
15-minute break
10:00am
Plenary: Erin Thompson
Opening plenary address by Erin Thompson, art historian and author of Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of America’s Public Monuments.
11:00am
Beyond Efficiency: An impact assessment of the UC Guidelines for Efficient Processing
A report of findings from a recent research project on backlogs and processing practices in UC Libraries. The Guidelines for Efficient Archival Processing in the University of California Libraries has been an influential resource for archivists nationwide since its publication in 2012. This research project seeks to understand the Guidelines' impact on backlogs, collection management policies, and day-to-day archival practices over the last dozen years across the UC Libraries, by taking a fresh look at current practices, collections, and perspectives. Our research will assess how the Guidelines' strategies for managing materials, accessioning, and processing have or have not been effective. A forthcoming article summarizing our findings will answer the following questions: (1) What elements of the Guidelines have been successfully adopted in archival collections management at the UC over the last ten years?; (2) Has a systemwide mandate for efficient processing helped UC libraries cope with significant backlogs?; and (3) If not, what are the practical barriers to implementation of efficient processing and successful collection management?
Kate Dundon, UC Santa Cruz; Courtney Dean, Yale University
11:15am
Make new friends and keep the old: relying on old and new partnerships to finish an overdue grant initiative with grace
When I accepted my position at Pepperdine Libraries, I inherited an incomplete grant project. The project was proposed by the person who held my position in 2019 as a series of community digitization days in South Los Angeles, the home to an historical Black community in LA and Pepperdine's original campus. By the time it arrived on my desk, one other person had held my position, and the pandemic had forced the library to shift away from the original proposal. Added to this complexity was Pepperdine's relationship with South LA. Founded in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood in 1937, Pepperdine accepted a donation of land in Malibu in 1968, and eventually sold its original campus in 1981. This timeline is punctuated by several significant events, including the Watts uprising of 1965 and the tragic death of Larry D. Kimmons, an African American boy who was shot by Pepperdine's head of campus safety in 1969. During this presentation, I will talk about the partnerships at the university and in the community that enabled me to complete the project in a way that fulfills the spirit of the initial proposal, honors the South LA community, and recognizes the complexities at play.
Bailey Berry, Pepperdine University
11:30am
Implementing a Trauma-Informed Practice Training Module
In the fall of 2022, and in partnership with the inaugural Reparative & Inclusive Description (RID) Survey Scholar, the Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA) department of Gleeson Library at the University of San Francisco developed a new set of guiding principles for addressing how we approach processing and collection development. Of the seven principles, SCUA decided to focus on utilizing trauma-informed practice in the work that we share with our staff and student assistants as a follow up project. Inspired by our RID internship curriculum and the experiences of our student assistants, we wanted to implement a trauma-informed approach to not only our descriptive practices, but also to our staff and student internal training. This presentation will discuss how in the spring of 2023, we created a trauma-informed practice training module that aims to bring awareness to engaging with potentially traumatizing collections and the potential for vicarious trauma experienced through processing. The presentation will also discuss future plans to implement trauma-informed practice more broadly to our department policies and research services.
Annie Reid, University of San Francisco; Maura Wilson, University of San Francisco
12:00pm
Lunch break
1:00pm
Preservation of Video Game Modifications
In our session, we aim to document the history of different fan-made sites, forums, and spreadsheets that house video game modifications (mods). The preservation efforts of these fan communities contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of video game history and access to materials.
Mods serve as essential artifacts that document human interaction, community building, and creativity in the digital age. Modding is a collaborative effort of a built network through which gamers discuss and share creations. The mods and the communities that grow around them become historical and cultural artifacts, reflecting specific time periods, cultural influences, and technological advancements. Players shape their virtual worlds to mirror their own values and identities.
Modding communities are at risk of disappearing. In an age where digital content is easily lost or becomes obsolete, preserving video game mods is a critical step in safeguarding the cultural legacy of gaming communities. We specifically mention the impact and history of mods from popular video games like The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Sims 3, and Titanfall 2. The ephemeral nature of digital content, the legal complexities surrounding intellectual property, and the evolving technological landscape all present obstacles to preservation efforts.
Sydney Kysar, UCLA; Nichole Wong, UCLA
1:50pm
Something from Nothing: Building a Digital Project with Outside Support
This panel discussion will present a case study on how to create public access to a large archival collection without institutional support. When the Henry Anderson Papers were donated to the Labor Archives and Research Center in 2017, a small donation was given with the collection to support processing, as it was largely unorganized and presented unique challenges. Archivist Eva Martinez will share her experience processing the collection, and how she applied the tenets of anti-oppressive description in her work. When the processing was completed, the Anderson family asked if the collection could be fully digitized. Tanya Hollis, LARC’s Director, will then talk about the preparation of a proposal, timeline, and budget for a two-year digitization project to secure external funding from Anderson Family Trust to hire a project archivist, contracting with California Revealed and their vendors to digitize the materials, and collaborating with campus partners for additional support. Digital Archivist Leah Sylva will then address the work of the project itself, which involved working with California Revealed as our outside vendor, the ethical concerns of digitizing content related to the Bracero Program, use notes, etc. around bracero program material, and securing copyright clearance and determinations for photography and audio.
Tanya Hollis, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University; Leah Sylva, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University; Eva Martinez, J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco State University
2:50pm
Wrap up/End of Day 1
TUESDAY, APRIL 16
Conference sessions
10:00am
"Pardon Our Dust": Managing Archives During Library Renovations
In 2022-23, Cal Poly prepared and successfully moved their collections and operations to temporary spaces in preparation for a two-year library renovation. The planning process involved confronting decades of inconsistent decision making and a lack of collections control for 8,000 linear feet of collections and thousands of architectural drawings. Persistent advocacy was required to achieve full collections access and to secure multifunctional spaces for research, processing, digitization, and instruction. Cal Poly will share their experiences with this major move, including approaches to data-focused collection control and rehousing projects, and the ways spaces were prepared and services were relaunched.
In May 2023, Chico State Meriam Library’s third floor closed for building renovations that included abatement, an upgraded HVAC system, and new lighting fixtures. Special Collections was tasked with protecting and conserving its collections, located in four rooms across the library’s third floor. With no external storage, LSPC faculty and staff advocated for, and secured, limited space in an administrative office and two temporary work rooms. Through collaboration and consultation with campus and community stakeholders, we balanced research and conservation needs when evaluating collection accessibility. We will share our outcome: equitably prioritizing student research while protecting the most vulnerable materials.
Laura Sorvetti, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; Jessica Holada, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; Maryam Momeni, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; Zach Vowell, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; Ryan Browar, California State University, Chico
11:00am
10-minute break
11:10am
The University Student Employee: Managing student employees in an archives setting
At California State University, Northridge (CSUN), 70% of the total population of full-time students are first generation higher education students. Many of the students who have walked through the doors say that they have never set foot in an archive before. If this is the reaction from our general population, how do we expect student employees to navigate and understand working in an archive? In this session I'll discuss how hiring and managing students through the lens of “transitioning into careers” assists students, from all majors, to work at CSUN’s Special Collections and Archives as a stepping stone into their own career, sometimes into the archives field.
Julieta Garcia, California State University, Northridge
11:25am
SCA Awards
12:00pm
Lunch break
1:00pm
Managing the Transition of Archival Materials from a Community Archives to an Institutional Repository
This panel will explore and compare two projects (at different stages) involving the transfer of community-based archival collections to academic institutional repositories. Presley Hubschmitt and Lara Michels will discuss the transition of the Western Jewish History Center (WJHC) collections to The Bancroft Library. The WJHC collections moved to The Bancroft Library in 2010 when the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, California became part of the University of California, Berkeley. The process of integration continues to this day. Nikki Lynn Thomas will discuss the 2022 transfer of the Charlotte Jewish Archives collections from the Levine-Sklut Judaic Library and Resource Center to UNC Charlotte, Atkins Library. Despite the physical holdings transfer being accompanied by extensive metadata, the arrangement and description process has become increasingly complex.
We believe this will be an informative discussion of the very real challenges, as well as the opportunities, that arise when community-built collections are absorbed by larger archival institutions. The panelists will discuss a range of topics, including changing community relations and accessibility and the challenges of technical integration of archival materials from another institution, in the hope that we can provide some insight into how to (and not to) manage similar projects.
When Nothing is Life or Death: Motivation and Prioritization in Archival Work
Archival work is generally a chill profession full of a variety of projects with flexible and/or long timelines for completion. Certainly there are emergency projects, teaching, tours, disasters, etc. that need immediate attention and must be done now. However, this session is an opportunity for all of us to share how we prioritize the want-to-dos, need-to-dos, and should-dos immediately, soon, eventually, and “oh, someday.”
Mike Wurtz, University of the Pacific
Are the National Archives Prepared for AI Application?
Increasingly, there are digital-born documents created by the United States government. Just as frequent, more of these electronic materials are sent to the archives for preservation. Although there are greater restrictions placed on these documents when it comes to access, who's to say the AI tools employed by the National Archives is adhering to these restrictions? We will review the potential negative and positive impacts AI tools could have on the National Archives, along with offering suggestions to new best-practice techniques that will ensure trust, access, and preservation to the digital repository.
Alexandria Lowery, San Jose State University
Pioneering Child Studies Digitization Project
In 2021, UCSF Archives and Special Collections was awarded a grant by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) in support of the project titled Pioneering Child Studies: Digitizing and Providing Access to Collection of Women Physicians who Spearheaded Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics. The grant supported the digitization of 68,000 pages and creation of a digital collection on Calisphere containing materials from five collections held at UCSF documenting life and work of five women physicians and social workers, Drs. Hulda Evelyn Thelander, Helen Fahl Gofman, Selma Fraiberg, Leona Mayer Bayer, and Ms. Carol Hardgrove, who were pioneers in the developmental-behavioral pediatrics research, patient care, and public-health policy. In September 2023, the project was completed in partnership with UC Merced Library’s Digital Assets Unit. The poster presentation will explore the workflow, logistics, and tools used for this project. It will also display the outcomes, the benefits, and challenges of the project.
Edith Escobedo, UCSF Archives and Special Collections
2:30pm
Redirect: Navigating a Major Website Redesign at the UCSF Industry Documents Library
The UCSF Industry Documents Library (IDL), a digital archive of more than 18 million documents used for public health research, is currently navigating a comprehensive redesign and rebuild of its website and underlying search applications. This lightning talk will discuss how the IDL approached the “Alpha” phase of the website redesign to respond to the changing landscape of researchers' needs (such as expanding interests in computational analysis and AI); provide continuity across the UCSF user experience by adhering to updated University branding guidelines; and ensure alignment with current accessibility best practices.
It will highlight the approaches used to identify and work with user groups to document user needs and feedback using various interview and testing methods. It will also discuss how the IDL team determined which resources and technological tools would work best across a remote team of archivists, librarians, software developers, User Experience and User Interface designers, and a program coordinator to ensure that the project management and execution of the Alpha rollout of the IDL website redesign was successful for the collaborators, key partners, public health researchers, and other stakeholders.
Rachel Taketa, UCSF Industry Documents Library; Kate Tasker, UCSF Industry Documents Library; Melissa Ignacio, UCSF Industry Documents Library
3:00pm
Wrap-up/End of Day 2
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17
Conference sessions
10:00am
Change Management: Navigating Transitions and Every-Day Workloads in Smaller Repositories
Repositories with small teams often struggle when it comes to responding to changes, unanticipated or planned. In this panel the presenters will discuss the challenges that face lone-arrangers as they attempt to juggle routine archival tasks and service levels with looming concerns about the precarity of resources and staffing. Changes in the archival field and expectations from internal and external stakeholders often accelerate priorities and this panel intends to discuss the ways in which small repositories respond to those changes. Some of the topics that will be discussed include: succession planning; goal setting and strategic planning; and personnel shifts.
Heather Lanctot, Yolo County Archives; Hannah Keeney, Fresno Pacific University
10:30am
Pivoting for Access and Engagement: Leveraging Browser-Based VR in Libraries, Archives, and Museums
In the ever-evolving landscape of archival practice, the need for innovative solutions to enhance access and engagement with historical records and materials is paramount. In this enlightening session, I will delve into the transformative potential of browser-based Virtual Reality (VR) as a tool to pivot our approach to archival engagement.
Through a live demonstration of my ongoing project at the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum, I will showcase the practical application of browser-based VR. This technology has the power to democratize access to archival collections, making them more inclusive and immersive than ever before.
In a dynamic and interactive session, I will guide you through the fundamentals of browser-based VR, shedding light on its possibilities and limitations. You'll gain insights into how this innovative technology can revolutionize archival engagement and respond to the changing needs of our field.
Whether you're a seasoned archivist, librarian, or museum professional, or simply curious about the future of heritage preservation, this session will offers a unique opportunity to explore browser-based VR's role in archives and how it can be harnessed to foster progress.
Aisha Abdul Rahman
11:00am
5-minute break
11:05am
Disaster Risk Assessment Virtual Discussion
Every archives has its own unique set of hazards that threaten the building, people, and collections. Risk assessment studies the probability that specific hazards will result in disaster.
The virtual discussion host will encourage participants to talk about which hazards are most significant to their site or collection. In discussion, participants will be encouraged to discuss how their archive’s building, staff, and collections might be at risk due to each hazard.
Participants will be encouraged to talk about ways their archives eliminated or mitigated sources of risks. This aspect of the roundtable discussion may generate ideas that participants can utilize.
The virtual discussion will provide expertise in emergency preparedness planning and risk assessment best practices and include insight from the host's experience with risk assessment at locations across California.
Mario Gallardo, NEDCC
12:00pm
Lunch break or...
12:00pm
Brown bag: OAC/Calisphere Contributor Meeting
Are you a current contributor to the Online Archive of California (OAC) or Calisphere? Are you thinking about becoming a new member? Join us to meet fellow contributors, ask questions of program staff, and learn more about new developments with the services.
We will highlight and share work-in-progress updates from our OAC and Calisphere roadmaps.
Christine Kim and Adrian Turner, California Digital Library
1:00pm
Archivists AND : Transitioning from and Sharing with Other Responsibilities
In the archival profession, securing a permanent position is a task that can require a lot of time and patience. When archivists do find positions, they often find themselves filling in support gaps at institutions where needed or shifting roles year to year until a permanent or tenure-track position opens up. In this talk, four archivists share how they define and redefine their careers by sharing their career pivots and discussing how they manage (or mismanage) juggling multiple responsibilities.
Gillian Goldberg, University of the Pacific (facilitating); Erika Esquivel, San Diego State University; Stephanie Geller, California State Library; Ignacio Sanchez-Alonso, UC Davis
2:00pm
Wrap-up/End of 2024 AGM sessions!
2:10pm
SCA Annual Members Meeting (open to all members)
All SCA members are invited to the Annual Members Meeting! We'll announce the results of the 2024 election, report on the work we've done over the past year, and what we have in store for 2025.
Want to be more involved in SCA, but not sure where to start? We're always seeking volunteers to help shape and lead SCA and this is a great place to learn more about our committees and volunteer for the upcoming year!
Please note: this meeting will be available via a separate Zoom link to allow access to all members.
THURSDAY, APRIL 18
Committee meetings
10:00am
SCA Leadership Meeting (open to all members)
All SCA members are invited and encouraged to attend this meeting of the SCA Board with Committee chairs and others. This year's meeting will feature overviews of SCA's new records management procedures and handbook editing procedures in Github.
Please note: this meeting will be available via a separate Zoom link to allow access to all members and will be recorded.
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