Society of American Archivists’ Post

We often talk about ‘archiving’ records on site, but to truly consider them safe, there are some archival standards we need to adhere to. Take a look at this article to check out some ways to ensure the safety of your records! (Or, if this is too complex for you, consider digitizing and then giving the records to the archives, a local museum or library, or your local historical society!!) #historicalrecords #recordsmanagement

Interested in science & technology museums? Then you might like to read 'unquestionably the best book so far published on the subject' (as judged by Robert Anderson in the latest _British Journal for the History of Science_). Nice. https://lnkd.in/emvDDtet

I have the privilege this week to present a webinar and workshop about American Association for State and Local History (AASLH)'s "Reframing History" project to staff and fellows at the National Park Service. The project offers research-backed recommendations for more effectively communicating the value of history and history organizations to members of the public. At a time when the work of historians, museums, teachers, and librarians are under growing political scrutiny, it is essential that we think strategically and intentionally about how we communicate the value that history—and inclusive history in particular—offers to society. Reframing History offers clear, actionable recommendations for how to do that most effectively. Even though it has been two years since we published our report and toolkit, these findings still hold up (and that is by design!). I am hoping to develop some additional tools to help make it easier to apply these findings in practice in the coming year. Thanks, as always, to the FrameWorks Institute for leading this incredible research! You can learn more about the project at https://lnkd.in/ea3XdCZH

So interesting to learn about The Archive of Destruction project this morning led by independent curator Jes Fernie - a storytelling platform that brings together narratives about the development and later destruction of public art, the social histories, stakeholders and controversy surrounding the changes to our public realm. It feels more vital than ever to capture and record international developments in cultural destruction and the social conditions of those involved - it feels like a real commitment to making the invisible visible which we should all think about more. https://lnkd.in/ebp2HE_W

Proud to have contributed to The Making of Technique in the Arts, edited by Marieke Hendriksen and Sven Dupré, which appeared this month in the TECHNE series of Brepols Publishers NV. In my article, related to the research on art terminology that I conducted years ago in context of the LexArt project, I discuss the Dutch words that early modern art theorists used to discuss technique, before the term itself came into use. https://lnkd.in/dVEM9Se5

A few words about my recent visit to the Letterform Archive.

In my recent work with @Hlengiwe Ncube https://lnkd.in/dj9k3wMD we interrogated the pedagogical value of museums in the teaching and learning of secondary school history. We intend to extend our interrogation to historical sites. The question is, are these sites ready to be used as locations for learning?

“The archives of the American-affiliated educational and research institutions profiled in this article have taken an active role in acquiring, preserving, and making accessible private archives in their countries of origin, investing considerable resources in keeping such archives in those locations, with the goal of furthering scholarship and open access to such archival materials that might not otherwise have been possible.” In #AmericanArchivist, four MENA repositories with American origins are examined as a case study. https://ow.ly/WOWx50Qqwh0

I'll be attending the annual Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists, held at the University of Nevada Reno in a couple of weeks. For this conference, I will be co-presenting a panel on "Creative Solutions: Archiving the Archives" where we consider how, exactly, do we archive the archives? What departmental records are necessary to keep? And, who should be tasked with keeping them? If you are an archivist, curator, or librarian working in the field, I have a question for you: Are there policies and practices in place at your institution that allow you to archive your departmental history? Send me an email or let me know in the comments!

🏛 Are you passionate about the world of museums, art, and cultural preservation? Do you believe in the power of storytelling through artefacts and exhibits? If so, this workshop is tailor-made for you! 💼 Cataloguing is an epistemological practice. Institutions catalogue objects (such as works of art, books, or archival fonds) to provide metadata that enables users to discover and access their collections. As materials are described and categorized for documentation purposes following established guidelines, knowledge is produced for internal databases. The increasing pressure on institutions to make their collections accessible online has highlighted the evolution of scientific standards in the documentation of material culture. The interpretations, biases, and judgments of the persons doing the cataloguing mediate between objects and viewers. This workshop explores recent critical approaches to knowledge organization and its implications. You will survey scholarship on mitigating the power of classification regimes that reproduce hierarchies of oppression and follow a handful of case studies before trying out some critical cataloguing techniques of your own. 🗣 Robyn Dora Radway is a historian of Habsburg central Europe and its imperial entanglements across internal and external borders. 📅 Wednesday, 27 September Register Now 👉 https://lnkd.in/d_wxe3Qs © The Trustees of the British Museum, Inv. No. 23339001 #ACMConference2023 #ACMC #ArtForward #CEU #ArtsAndCulture #ConflictAndContext #CMANproject #CulturalManagement #Cataloguing