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2004-2005 Annual Report
Student Members:
Cassie Pyle, Co-President
Jill Hershorin, Co-President, First-term
Christine Reed, Co-President, Second & Third-term
Rachel Austin, Treasurer, First-term
Michael C. Oliveira, Business Manager, Second & Third-term
Precious Langhorn-Cox, Secretary, First-term
Jennifer Cole, Secretary, Second & Third-term
Cristela Garcia-Spitz, Web Coordinator
Elizabeth Amrhein
Jennifer Bator
Sophie Madej
Gwen Mayer
Jonah McAllister-Erickson
Ian McDermott
Matthew Novak
Jamie Peretich
Halim Rhee
Charles Stanford
Chris Weber
Faculty Advisors:
Richard J. Cox, Professor, Archival Studies
Karen Gracy, Assistant Professor, Preservation Management Studies
Faculty Liaison: Kate Colligan, Archivist, Archives Service Center
Activities
June 4, 2004
Tour of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Museum Archivist,
Bernadette Callery guided the student chapter on a behind
the scenes tour of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Friday
June 4th. Dr. Callery
presented several examples of museum recordkeeping systems and arranged for
the students to meet with the Botany and Invertebrate Paleontology
Collection Managers.
June 17, 2004
Potluck & Discussion with Corporate Records Manager,
Christian Savine
On June 17th, 2004, the student chapter welcomed Corporate Records Manager,
Christian Savine, for an informal discussion and potluck. Savine, a graduate
of the Archives
Program who is currently serving as the Senior Records Analyst at NOVA Chemicals,
provided insight into the real world of corporate records and archives.
[Please note: June 2004 events were organized and attended by 2003-2004 members
of SAASC.]
November 7, 2004
Panel Discussion - Confused & Frightened About Your Future in Archives?
On Sunday, November 7, 2004, SAASC presented an informal discussion between
archives professionals and MLIS students to help answer students’ questions
about the work of archivists. The panelists covered many issues such as:
a typical day
in the life of archives professionals, their personal career paths and education
experiences, the professional organizations they suggest joining, and the
reasons they enjoy their work. Panel members included David Grinnel - Accessions
Archivist,
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania; Kate Colligan - Archivist, Archives
Service Center, University of Pittsburgh; Miriam Meislik - Archivist/Photograph
Curator, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh; Martha Berg -
Archivist, Rodef Shalom Congregation; Karen Gracy - Professor/Moving Image
Archives & Preservation,
University of Pittsburgh.
January 14, 2005
Tour of Iron Mountain
SAASC utilized the University’s relationship and proximity with Iron Mountain
to arrange for a tour of its underground vaults at its Boyer, Pennsylvania
location. Iron Mountain was established in 1951 as one of the first records
management
companies. It serves as a full-service provider of management and storage
services for business records, healthcare records, film and sound archives,
and vital
records. The tour included a presentation by Tom Roth on the history of the
Iron Mountain from a mining facility to records storage site. Students then
viewed
selected vaults within the facility, notably the Bettman Collection at Corbis,
the BMG-Sony vault, and the Warner Brothers vault, thus viewing different
storage and environmental conditions. Additionally, students had the opportunity
to speak
to professionals who work in the facility, especially those dealing with
sound and image manipulation.
March 2005
Writing of SAASC Constitution
In order to become an officially recognized student organization at the University
of Pittsburgh, members of the SAASC updated its constitution. Members Cassie
Pyle and Matt Novak worked on revising the constitution, which the SAASC
reviewed and ratified.
April 10, 2005
Remembering Polio: A Tribute to Pittsburgh’s Own “Polio Pioneers”
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Salk Polio Vaccine, the University
of Pittsburgh held a commemorative reception. During the April 10th reception,
SAASC
members, Jonah McAllister-Erickson, Cassie Pyle, Ian McDermott, and Carly
Reed participated as Oral Traditionalists in the videotaping of memories
and recollections
of the "Polio Pioneers," which include anyone who contracted polio, joined
in the early pilot studies and later mass immunization campaigns, or was
associated
in any way with the development of the Salk polio vaccine. The goal of the
organizing committee was to ensure that these interviews were conducted and
preserved in
a way that maintained their archival integrity for those who would like to
study this milestone in the future. SAASC Co-President, Cassie Pyle interviewed
Actor
and March of Dimes Spokesperson, Mickey Rooney at the event.
April 29, 2005
Tour of the Andy Warhol Museum & Archives
On Friday, April 29, 2005, students visited the Andy Warhol Museum, the most
comprehensive single-artist museum in the world. The collection consists
of more than 4,000 works of art by Warhol including paintings, drawings,
prints, photographs,
sculpture, film, videotapes, and an extensive archive that consists of ephemera,
records, source material for works of art, and other documents of the artist's
life. Collections Manager, Allison Smith led a tour of the archives, showing
the group an example of one of many “time capsules” created by Warhol himself.
During the tour, the group discussed issues that arise for the Warhol staff
as they attempt to remain faithful to both the artistic community and archival
standards
for preservation. This situation is especially problematic in dealing with
Warhol's time capsules, which are simultaneously seen as works of art and
documents of
Warhol's life. Smith also showed the group the museum database and discussed
description when cataloging time capsule items.
May 5-6, 2005
Trip to Washington D.C.
SAASC organized a trip to visit archival repositories in the Washington,
D. C. area. On May 5th, the group of 14 students visited Archives II, the
NARA facility
in College Park, Maryland, which houses the government’s twentieth century
archival materials. Employees James W. Martin, Jr. and Donna Melito provided
an introduction
to the NARA facility and the archival practices and procedures at Archives
II. Students toured different departments, such as audio, photographs, prints,
maps,
as well as research and closed stacks areas. Later that evening, Pitt’s student
chapter met with SAM, Student Archivists at Maryland, University of Maryland’s
archival student chapter, for dinner and conversation. On May 6th, students
went on a special guided tour of the museum section of NARA’s Archives I
facility, viewing the “Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom,” as well as the
Public Vaults exhibit, led by a visitor services representative. Finally,
the group met with
Deborah Richardson at the Archives Center of the National Museum of American
History, which is a part of the Smithsonian Institution. Richardson and her
colleagues described the mission and goals of the Archives Center, provided
a tour of the
facility’s workrooms and closed stacks, and described their work with images
and databases.
May 26-27, 2005
Speaker, John Kirk, Sony Pictures Film Specialist
SAASC along with Infinity, the student preservation organization, sponsored
two events with Film Specialist, John Kirk. Before MGM joined Sony Pictures,
Kirk
was Director of Technical Services at MGM Studios. On May 26th, John Kirk
presented the recently restored, extended version of Sergio Leone’s The Good,
The Bad, and The Ugly at the Oaks Theater, an independent theater in the
Pittsburgh area.
The screening was followed by a question and answer session with Kirk. This
was the first theatrical screening of the restored version in Pittsburgh.
It was
a unique opportunity to view the classic film and speak with the person responsible
for its restoration. The following day, May 27th, John Kirk gave a lecture
on film preservation and restoration on campus. He presented film clips and
discussed
the process and issues surrounding the restoration of such classic films
as Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, and Kiss Me Deadly.
February – August 2005
Poster Session – Creating Bridges from Breadcrumbs
Recognizing the benefits of recorded memory and continuity,
SAASC began a process of gathering and documenting information about the
chapter. The project implemented tools to: examine the additive value of
student chapters
to the graduate experience, document the history of the chapter by creating
physical and virtual archives, reconnect with former University of Pittsburgh
SAASC members,
and create a guide for future chapters. Students developed a poster for the
5th Annual Student Poster Session at the 2005 SAA Annual meeting in New Orleans,
Louisiana on August 16-21, 2005.
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