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Participants in MayDay 2007
The following groups and repositories notified us that they helped to spread the word or participated at some level in MayDay 2007 activities. Thanks for helping to save our archives!
Australian National Committee of the Blue Shield (ANCBS), Collections Council of Australia
Adelaide, South Australia
[Participation details] [http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/]
Council of State Archivists (CoSA)
Iowa City, IA
[http://www.statearchivists.org/]
Depot Museum
Henderson, TX
[Participation details] [http://www.depotmuseum.com]
Ford Motor Company Archives
Dearborn, MI
Heritage Preservation
Washington, D.C.
[www.heritagepreservation.com]
King County Archives
Seattle, WA
[http://www.metrokc.gov/recelec/archives/archives.htm]
Illinois State Archives
Springfield, IL
[Participation details] [http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/archives.html]
Lane Community College, Archives and Records Management
Eugene, OR
[Participation details] [http://www.lanecc.edu/archives/ARresources.html]
Litchfield Historical Society
Litchfield, CT
[Participation details] [http://www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/]
SAA Preservation Section
[http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/preserv/]
Saint Michael's College
Colchester, VT
[Participation details] [http://www.smcvt.edu/library/archives/collections.asp]
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne, VT
[http://www.shelburnemuseum.org/]
Syracuse University, Archives and Records Management
Syracuse, NY
[http://archives.syr.edu/]
Australian National Committee of the Blue Shield (ANCBS)
Adelaide, South Australia
“I write to you both now to thank you for your generous support of the proposal I put to you only a few days ago - that the Australian National Committee for the Blue Shield (ANCBS) use the MayDay idea in Australia.
On 26 April we made the adapted MayDay information live on the Collections Council of Australia website. This included use of all of the logos Lawrence kindly provided to us….
[The MayDay page is located on the Blue Shield homepage under Projects > Current > Second Announcement. However, we have also linked to it from our Events page in two places - as 'MayDay! MayDay! MayDay!' and as the first event on the 'May - a special month for collections' page. The Collections Council also happened to release its e-Bulletin #15 on 27 April 2007, so it contains a reference to MayDay as well. To subscribe to this occasional e-Bulletin please go to e-Bulletin under Tell Us on the Collections Council's homepage]….
MayDay is the first ANCBS announcement which has been distributed to all the collections sector list-servs / e-Bulletins that the Collections Council uses to distribute sector-wide information….
The Collections Council was established to provide nation-wide coordination for collecting organisations in Australia. Our strategic plan was released in July 2006. One of the key projects that the Collections Council is on the verge of promoting is a system of support to regional collections. If we are successful in securing government support for this 10-year (establishment) scheme, it will provide the perfect conduit for channelling such campaigns as MayDay in the future.
Thank you for taking the initiative in creating MayDay, and for being so generous in your support of the ANCBS in promoting the campaign for Australia.
—Veronica Bullock, Development Officer
Depot Museum
Henderson, Texas
'We used May day as day to get our Emergency Preparedness Report written. We had a visit from the Fire Chief and discussed our fire threat.”
—Susan Weaver, Director
Illinois State Archives
Springfield, IL
“The Illinois State Archives joined other archives, libraries, museums, and historic preservation organizations across the country on May 1 in observing MayDay, an annual national event focusing on disaster preparedness and emergency response. The Society of American Archivists began MayDay in 2006 as a way for archivists and other cultural heritage professionals to think about disaster preparedness.
Archives staff members participated in a variety of activities, including rereading the Archives' Internal Disaster Recovery Plan, taking note of the location of fire exits and fire extinguishers, and participating in an evacuation drill. In addition, new emergency evacuation warden signs have been placed throughout the building.”
—Elaine Shemoney Evans, Illinois State Archives
Lane Community College,Archives and Records Management
Eugene, Oregon
“…I wanted to send an update on our May Day "Red Bag" lunch. We invited people from the college community to a casual lunchtime discussion of procedures in the face of a records emergency. We set up a display of various pamphlets, books, the Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel, and damaged materials.
We started with a definition of what constitutes a records emergency or disaster. We broke it down into three types of disasters: environmental, technical, and security. This led to into a general discussion of concerns, questions, and ideas. Then, we gave participants a tour of the Archives, showing them where we keep our first aid kits, fire extinguishers, alarms, flashlights, and emergency supply kits. We reviewed the importance of updating phone numbers, the employee emergency manual, and the locations of exits and alarms. Then we discussed some best practices for records storage, such as not keeping boxes on the floor, keeping records in boxes or file cabinets, and identifying critical records with brightly colored stickers. We provided suggestions for where participants could access information at the local, state, and national level, as well as resources such as the Library of Congress, NEDCC, and Solinet websites.
Finally, we talked about electronic records and some special considerations for digital preservation.
We were encouraged to do another lunchtime discussion for those who couldn't make it. We are considering it, but focusing on specific types of disasters (environmental, technical, and security).”
—Tiah Edmunson-Morton, Processing Archivist
Litchfield Historical Society
Litchfield, CT
“At the Litchfield Historical Society, we have a "back room" and a smaller room with air handlers in it that turned into catch-alls for everything we were saving because we thought we might use it again- lots of empty boxes, craft supplies, broken electronic equipment etc. The director, curator, and archivist decided to use MayDay as an opportunity to rid ourselves of this potential hazard, and we cleaned all day. We hauled out truckloads of stuff, some to Goodwill, some to the dump, and at least 10 pounds of dust. Attached are photos of the piles we removed and the cleaned up spaces. We have reclaimed our collections workspace, and found room for the interns coming this summer to work on any number of projects. Additionally, our administrative assistant/ gift shop manager updated and reprinted our Emergency Manual for each employee.
We (and our collections) thank you for the MayDay idea!”
—Linda Hocking, Curator of Library and Archives
Saint Michael's College
Colchester, VT
“At Saint Michael’s College, we used the occasion to hold a long overdue meeting of our Disaster Committee. At the meeting, we decided that we would use the May 1 date as our disaster plan annual update date. We also decided that we would do an annual disaster/emergency training/update/in-service at the library staff meeting that falls closest to May 1 next year.”
—Elizabeth B. Scott, Archivist
You can help “save our archives” by participating
in MayDay 2008!
Last updated on: April 11, 2008
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