Lone Arrangers Roundtable
SAA 2009 Austin
Wednesday, August 12th, 5:30-7:30 pm
Accepting new bylaws and the usual lively discussion were on the agenda in Austin. Photographs courtesy of Christina Zamon (2009).
Meeting Minutes
There were a total of 35 people attending the Lone Arrangers Roundtable annual business meeting. A sign-in sheet was passed around that included attendees’ names, institutions, and e-mail addresses.
Alison Stankrauff, Co-Chair of the roundtable, welcomed all attendees, and mentioned that her Co-Chair, Russ Gasero, could not attend the conference due to funding issues. Alison thanked the 2008-2009 Roundtable officers for their service through the past year: the Steering Committee and the Webmaster. Copies of the Bylaws as well as the meeting agenda were circulated to attendees.
There was a brief presentation from Rosalye Settles, our Roundtable Liaison with SAA Council. She talked about her connection, and Council’s connection to SAA roundtables.
Following Rosalye’s talk, Tara Laver, a member from the Program Committee for the 2010 SAA annual meeting, spoke to make a plug for submitting proposals and provide information about deadlines, the theme of the conference, etc. It was duly noted that the Roundtable is, by Council guidelines, permitted to formally endorse two session proposals. Further, session proposals are due to the 2010 Program Committee by October 15, 2009.
The Bylaws were discussed and passed, with the understanding that the language should reflect that electronic elections will be how officers are elected in the roundtable. This way attendance at the conference is not a requirement for being able to be an active participant and voter in the roundtable elections. Electronic elections will go into effect following this meeting, for the 2010 year and beyond. The Bylaws will be posted on the roundtable website following the conference.
There was an update on the roundtable’s website from the Webmaster, Courtney Yevich. All of the great new resources that have been added in the past year were highlighted.
The election was conducted. There was a call for nominations, but none were given, therefore the slate secured previous to the meeting ran unopposed. The following were elected without exception:
- Alison Stankrauff is the 2009 – 2010 Chair
- Christina Zamon is the 2009 – 2010 Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect
- Courtney Yevich is the 2009 – 2010 Webmaster
- Russ Gasero is the Immediate Past Chair
The Steering Committee members still need to be fully verified, as not all members could be in attendance. Likewise, the Nominating Committee members still need to be fully verified, for the same reason as the previous committee.
It should be noted that the roundtable is now following the SAA Leadership guidelines (which are new as of this year) by having a Chair, a Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, and an Immediate Past Chair.
Christina Zamon took some photographs and mentioned that these images will be added to the roundtable website, so anyone who is not comfortable with their picture on the internet ought to let her know. No one voiced such a concern. Pictures were taken also at the dinner following the meeting.
There was a mention of the article that should appear in the September issue of the SAA Newsletter, Archival Outlook. Roundtable members Colleen McFarland and Courtney Yevich authored the article with generous contributions of content from many roundtable members (they had made a call for content via the roundtable’s listserv in June).
Following was a fruitful and lively discussion for the remainder of the meeting. It was a chance for lone arrangers to connect on issues that are of close and particular concern to them. Issues included, but were not exclusive to:
- Representation of lone arrangers in and collaboration with larger institutions.
- Grants (NEH and NHPRC grants were mentioned specifically) – how to write them, the idea of having a workshop on how to write them at the 2010 SAA conference, and having the roundtable sponsor a grant.
- Outreach within our own institutions so that our co-workers know just what we do and how it benefits the institution and each unit of that institution.
The Lone Arrangers Roundtable annual meeting was then adjourned. Those interested went on to dinner afterwards at a nearby restaurant. There were 24 at the dinner.
Minutes by Alison Stankrauff, Co-Chair.
Lone Arranger Dinner!
Roundtable members gathered and gabbed at Rio Grande Restaurant (top). Leilani Dawson, Brooklyn, Historical Society, and Bridget Bower, Ithaca College, enjoy good food and good company (bottom). Photographs courtesy of Susan Pevar (2009).
Lone Arranger Sessions
The panelists for the lone arranger session "Bridging the Gap: Sustaining Archives between Archivists." Shown left to right are Sara Schmidt, Christina Zamon, Gregory Kocken, and Alison Stankrauff (reading for Russ Gasero). Photograph courtesy of Courtney Yevich (2009).
Session 204: Keeping Up with the Deluge: Managing Digital Collections Responsibly with Limited Resources
Thursday, August 13th, 10:30 am-12:00 pm
Andrea Buchner, Chair
Center for Jewish History, Gruss Lipper Digital Laboratory
Lisa Sjoberg
Concordia College
"Accomplishing the Impossible: Consortia Agreements for Digitization Projects"
Andrea Medina-Smith
Jewish Women's Archive
"All the Ducks in a Row: Metadata Collection and Creation as Part of the Digital Management Cycle"
Robert Russell
Northern State University, Beulah Williams Library
"Two Hands, Three Tasks: Integrating Digitization in Small Archives Activities"
As archives continue to build digital collections, it is crucial for even the smallest repository to have knowledgeable staff to sustain them over the long-term, to responsibly provide access to materials, and to implement technology to reach these goals. This session will examine creative solutions to managing digital assets through workflow, technological resources, and collaboration. These solutions will assist lone-arrangers with limited resources as well as multi-staffed repositories to reach their digitization and preservation goals.
Session 206: Where Is Everyone? Staying Current with a Small Staff
Thursday, August 13th, 10:30 am-12:00 pm
Dawne Howard Lucas, Chair
Duke University Medical Center Archives
Pat Webber
Bates College, Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library
"You're WHO Again? Turning Big-Time Training into Small-Time Reality"
Valerie Gillispie
Wesleyan University, Special Collections and Archives
Marie-Nathalie Wheaton
Rush University Medical Center Archives
"Getting There is Half the Fun: Implementing Big Changes in Small Archives"
Having a small staff doesn’t mean your institution can’t be innovative and keep up with current archival practices, technologies, and outreach activities. Drawing from their previous experiences at larger institutions, speakers during this session will discuss the implementation of technologies including EAD, MARC, Archivists’ Toolkit, records management, and Web 2.0 technologies, as well as participating in outreach, without the resources they enjoyed in the past. This session particularly targets archivists working at small repositories, including lone arrangers.
Session 607: Bridging the Gap: Sustaining Archives between Archivists
Saturday, August 15th, 9:30-11:00 am
Christina Zamon, Chair
Emerson College, Archives and Special Collections
Russell Gasero
Reformed Church in America Archives
Gregory Kocken
University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center
Sara Schmidt
Schreiner University, Logan Library
When a solo archivist retires, changes jobs, or begins to resurrect an archival program, the archives can be in a precarious position. This session will examine three rarely discussed situations: the perspective of a student sustaining a program while in an interim position, a librarian who assumes the responsibility for the archives, and an archivist seeking to develop a responsible transition into retirement.
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Last updated: 25 August 2009
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